The future Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) next to Steel Lake Park in Federal Way will include public art via a large security wall outside the facility, but members of the city’s Arts Commission have expressed frustration over the plan.

In fact, the commission wants more of that money to go directly to an artist instead of the security wall.

The site is located next to Steel Lake Park on 28th Avenue South.

After being moved from the agenda on March 18, Public Works Director EJ Walsh presented to the Federal Way City Council on April 1 that about 2% of the project’s budget would go toward arts.

$810,444 was originally allocated for the “art in public places” budget from the project via an ordinance that requires 2% of certain capital project budgets to be spent on public art.

A total of $565,847 of this was ultimately spent on changing the design of the security wall around the perimeter of the building as a workaround to be able to satisfy stipulations in both city code and the terms of the bond that’s funding the project.

Ultimately, less than $200,000 will actually go to an artist to create art.

The challenge in applying the 2% for the arts program begins with the bond that is funding the construction of the new OMF. Funds from the bond can only be used for the construction of the OMF and cannot be transferred into any other fund.

Another issue is that the OMF will have only limited access for the public, leaving very few options for public art on the premises.

The 2% for the arts ordinance allows art to be displayed off site, or the funds to be used for other public art projects, but this is restricted by the bond limitations.

City staff found a way to satisfy the requirements by changing the style of security fencing to one that would be more conducive to supporting public art.

The original plan was to have a security fence, but the design team decided to create a cast-in-place concrete wall instead that has aesthetic features including “a form-liner mimicking wood grain texture of varying depths and painted,” according to the preliminary art budget found in meeting notes for the special city council meeting.

Changing the style of the wall was expensive, cutting into the funds to spend on paying artists directly. Some councilmembers and Federal Way Arts Commission members are critical of the solution, with some going so far as to say they are violating city code.

Arts Commission Chair Karen Brugato expressed her frustration with what she described as a lack of prioritization for public art in the city after the presentation at the special meeting on April 1.

Brugato asserted that the final funding that’s going toward art specifically is much lower than 2% and that the total original art in public places budget should be transferred into the general public art fund.

Public Works Director EJ Walsh explained during the presentation that a transfer into the public fund would violate the bond, and that there is nothing specific that would stop them from using the 2% for the arts funding to pay for the wall’s construction.

He also painstakingly laid out how the process for choosing and paying for art at the OMF has followed the same procedure as the Performing Arts and Event Center.

There was also discussion around the Arts Commission’s role and responsibilities in participating and advising on the selection of public art and how that functions within the city council’s decision-making framework.

“That money represents the public’s money. It’s the public whom we would use to put up artwork, contracting with local people,” Brugato told the Mirror.

The call for artists is open now and the Request for Qualifications are due to be submitted by May 10, 2025, with the current timeline seeing the art installed in spring 2026.