Public Art Commission - January 15, 2026

Commission deaccessions digital artwork after recurring technical problems

The Public Art Commission approved deaccessioning Susan Narduli’s interactive digital artwork Conversation from Palo Alto’s permanent collection after staff documented growing technical instability. The motion passed, but the transcript recorded four yes votes without capturing the response from the fifth commissioner called, leaving the exact tally unavailable.

Conversation was commissioned for $174,477 following an open call that drew 107 applicants. Installed and unveiled in the City Hall lobby in 2016 under a 10-year contract, the work was designed as a continuously changing digital-media installation.

The city has spent approximately $20,664 on maintenance and repairs since 2015. That total includes $10,356 for kiosk redesign, installation and development support; $6,280 for software development, repairs and maintenance; $3,038 for hardware repairs and replacement; and $990 for website domain and cloud support. Staff attributed the work’s instability to changes in external platforms, software updates, computer-to-monitor connection problems and monitor failures.

Staff said the artist had been notified and supported deaccession. No public letters were received during the evaluation process. The city will disconnect the computers supporting the artwork and work with Narduli regarding materials to retain or return. The lobby monitors will remain in place, while an operational clone and backend archival material will preserve a record of the work.

Two Palo Alto murals are expected to begin in January

Two mural projects were expected to begin shortly after the meeting. Staff said Mona Karan’s mural at Max Smoke Shop would start the following Monday and take about one week, while Nigel Susman’s mural at Pacific Art League was expected to begin during the last week of January and take five to six days.

Staff also reported that two additional murals remained outstanding and approximately 40 private-development projects were in process.

Commission prepares for February work-plan retreat

Staff and commission leaders will prepare a working draft of the annual work plan for a Feb. 10 retreat, where commissioners expect to review priorities, multiyear public-art and capital-improvement work, and a potential revision of the city’s public art master plan. The attached work plan identifies a $32,000 annual maintenance allocation.

Staff described a compressed approval timeline and said the commission anticipated holding a special meeting two days after the retreat to approve the plan in time for the City Council packet. No motion or vote occurred on the work plan at the January meeting.

Primary sources

Watch the meeting on YouTube · Read the official meeting packet