Art in Public Places Board Chair Jeremy Smith makes the opening remarks during Thursday afternoon’s ribbon cutting ceremony for the artwork featured outside the Los Alamos Teen Center. The colorful globes and two benches were created by San Francisco artist Colin Selig. The pieces are made from repurposed propane tanks. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
A crowd of Los Alamos County staff and members of the public participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony held Thursday afternoon in front of the Los Alamos Teen Center. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos County Council Chair David Izraelevitz speaks Thursday afternoon during the ribbon cutting ceremony. He explained how public art gets funded. For every large capital project, Izraelevitz said, 1 percent of the project cost goes toward the Arts in Public Places fund. Even road projects, he said, have 1/2 percent of the budget designated for artwork. ‘It’s to beautify our whole community,’ Izraelevitz said. He added the public art shows Los Alamos’ pride in its community and the value it places in art. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Damien Tsiagkouris discusses the impact the Teen Center has had on her life and thanked the community for giving this facility to its youth. She called the center ‘a pillar of support’ in her life. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos County and Teen Center representatives including Teen Center Assistant Director George Marsden, left, Teen Center Director Sylvan Argo, and on the right, Art in Public Place Board Chair Jeremy Smith, Los Alamos County Council Chair David Izraelevitz and Councilor Pete Sheehey snip the ribbon to officially welcome the new artwork into the community. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
In addition to celebrating the new artwork in front of the Los Alamos Teen Center Thursday afternoon, the community also honored the Teen Center itself. The building showcases a LEED certified plaque, which was awarded for the remodeling that occurred on the building in 2016. LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, recognizes the enivronmentally friendly features done to the building, which include energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as water conserving features in the kitchen area, restrooms and landscaping. Plus, the project allowed for an entire building to be reused rather than building from scratch. County Project Manager Wayne Kohlrust, right, said earning the LEED certification ‘is pretty outstanding because this building is now 70 years old’. Tom Wilber of NCA Architects, which worked on the renovation project, added having the Teen Center be LEED certified is a great example for the younger generation. It sets the norm for what should be done in the future, he said. Here, Wilber, left, and Kohlrust stand beside the plaque. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
