Multi Outcome Construction Policy (final report)

Client 2 represented education and stated that the biggest time problems were facedby the end user representative. For example it was reported that “most of the meetingstended to be held during school time. This meant that the parent representatives wouldhave to be available to get away from work and teachers representatives away fromclass”. Likewise the participation of students required their absence from otherclasses.Another cost involved within the WA Percent for Art policy is the extra costsinvolved with the maintenance of the artwork. According to the Clients, maintenanceof the artwork is a financial cost. For example, Client 5 “as a client group, we arereluctant to do maintenance on something that we did not want to have in the firstplace”.Moreover, according to Client 6 “problems arise with the Percent for Art projectswhen the artwork is too complicated”. For example, one project featured music,however the music failed to play and maintenance became too expensive. The resultwas that the artwork was turned into a static display. In this way, the art became more‘Plonk Art’ because the majority of the meaning was located within the music whichdidn’t work, so the art was no longer understandable in that context. Client 5 alsomentioned that the art work did not have any meaning for the anticipated users of thebuilding, and they felt the money could have been better spent on equipment. It isworth noting that these concerns were a minor refrain in the interviews, and in general‘plonk art’ was avoided in the arts projects, largely due to the engagement ofstakeholders early in the projects.Costs according to DHW contract managersThe major costs involved within the implementation of the WA Percent for Art policywas the time involved with policy implementation. However, similar to the resultswithin the other stakeholder groups, the enjoyable process and the benefits achievedfrom the WA Percent for Art policy outweighed the costs incurred from the extratime. For example, according to DHW Contract Manager 3, “the implementation doestake a little more time, because of our briefing and coordination, but it is not huge,and the returns that we get for it is one hundred fold”.110