A Request for Proposals was developed to elicit artist and artist teams to respond with a design concept that incorporated an illumination feature that enhances the architectural elements and/or treatments to the glass panels or exterior facades. This request aligns with a national public art trend and ultimately furthers Carlsbad’s public art reputation.

The Request for Proposals was released nationwide through multiple outlets on July 6, 2021 and the deadline for submissions took place on Aug. 10, 2021. There was a total of 12 submissions. Four proposals that rose to the top and rated 85 or above. Each artist proposal captured the spirit of innovation, which aligns to the design and spirit of the building and to the Fire Department’s focus on having an innovative approach with their daily work. 

On Nov. 10, 2021, the Public Art Advisory Subcommittee selected artist Mary Carter Taub’s design concept for the city’s new Fire Station 2 project located at the intersection of El Camino Real and Arenal Road. 

Mary Carter Taub’s design concept was unanimously selected and received the highest rating. The role of the subcommittee is to ensure the public art project for the city’s Fire Station 2 meet the goals and criteria for the selection of the artist and artwork as outlined in our city’s Art in Public Places guidelines. 

This included evaluating the artist proposed artwork for: 

• Artistic merit
• Appropriateness in terms of scale, materials and context relative to this site 

Selecting the proposed artwork based on the artist qualifications as demonstrated by past work, appropriateness of the proposal for this project and its probability of successful completion 

This particular location provided the artist with an opportunity to develop a high-impact, visual experience that will be meaningful to the firefighters who work there. The design concept of the public art highlights the architectural elements of the fire station.

Watch Public Art Advisory Subcommittee meeting, Nov. 10, 2021

On May 5, 2022 the Carlsbad Arts Commission made proper motion and voted, determining their support of the final design concept by artist Mary Carter Taub.

Mary Carter Taub is an artist living and working in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She received an MFA from School of Visual Arts in New York and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and has 25 years experience making site based work and community engaged work. She is the recipient of grants and awards including North Carolina Arts Council Mary B. Regan Community Artist Grant and Orange County Arts Commission Artist Grant.

Mary has created public art for Nashville International Airport in Tennessee, Bay Area Discovery Museum in California, and Islip Art Museum and 92nd Street Y in New York. In North Carolina she has created work for City of Raleigh, City of Durham, Town of Cary, Town of Chapel Hill, Duke University, University of North Carolina, Wake Forest University, PTI Airport, NC Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, TEDx and Red Hat headquarters. Her work has been featured in The Raleigh News & Observer, The New York Times, Vogue and Qué Pasa Periodico.

Upcoming projects include collaborating with New York City Department of Transportation to create artwork surrounding Horseshoe Playground in the Bronx in 2022; partnering with Town of Cary in North Carolina to create artwork for the new 20-acre Carpenter Fire Station Road Park, under construction in 2022-23; and teaming up with The Roundhouse Foundation to create community engaged artwork at Pine Meadow Ranch in Sisters, OR in 2023.

Mary has family in Carlsbad, as well as Irvine, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach and regularly visits them. As a teenager she spent summers in Paso Robles where her grandmother lived. As an adult, Mary lived in San Francisco from 2003 to 2009, where she met her husband there, both of her kids were born in San Francisco, and her husband still works in the city. Mary’s husband lived in La Jolla for 10 years so she feels vicariously connected to the area through his experience. Mary loves CA!

The concept of the fused glass artwork that will be installed on the garage bay doors and tower of the station is an abstract representation of Carlsbad’s roadways and landmarks including the Batiquitos Lagoon shoreline, along with colors inspired by the city’s coastal sunsets, the Flower Fields and the Victorian homes in Olde Carlsbad. In addition, the artwork’s sweeping lines will serve as a visual contrast to the strong angles of the building. It will be the first artwork of its type in the city's public art collection and the first public art installation in south Carlsbad.

Feedback from the “in person” Meet the Artist workshops and the online survey helped shape the final design concept. You can read the public input report here. The artist's final design concept was shared at the City Council meeting on July 26, 2022 and was unanimously approved. City staff will continue to work with the artist and key stakeholders on the fabrication portion. 

The artwork for Fire Station 2 was fabricated by cutting the colored glass to align to Mary’s design concepts for the tower artwork, then the fused glass was kiln fired. Then the fused glass artwork was laminated onto insulated glass units for the tower. The fabrication of the garage bay artwork was a lengthy process involving custom paint to create different levels of opacity. The artwork design was created in collaboration with firefighters, local community, the City of Carlsbad and project stakeholders.

At Fire Station 2, Mary collaborated with the City of Carlsbad, firefighters and local community to create a site-specific glass artwork embedded in the windows of Fire Station 2. She believes fire stations are great equalizers in community— providing response and support to improve lives while functioning as a community hub; the artwork shall reflect those values. Mary is committed to create a strong public artwork that resonates with community for years to come.

The city’s Art in Public Places Program began in 1985 and was the first public art program established in San Diego County. It’s tied to the city’s Capital Improvement Program budget and plan, which follows a set of policies and procedures that designated 1% of the overall project value that guides the entire process, from artist selection through to final installation of the work. 

Carlsbad Municipal Code 2.18.110 (Appropriations for arts) allocates 1% of the total cost of certain construction projects to fund permanent public art. The overall construction budget of the new Fire Station 2 Project No. 4060 allows for $130,000 to be put toward the permanent public art budget.