Enduring partnership brings affordable homes and public art to North Auburn
Artists Norm Tucker and Stan Padilla selected to create permanent installations
Auburn, California – A year ago, Mercy Housing California (MHC) and Placer County inaugurated the future Mercy North Auburn site, a new community that will soon provide beautiful, affordable homes to 79 mixed-income Auburn families.
Today, MHC and the Placer Community Foundation (PCF) announced the names of two talented Auburn artists who will create a sculpture and artwork in the indoor-outdoor community space that will connect this new community to the wealthy Auburn history and culture.
âPCF believes that everyone’s aspiration for a high quality of life for themselves and their families must begin with adequate and secure housing.
Veronica Blake, CEO of the Placer Community Foundation
âAs this partnership project demonstrates, affordable housing is just the beginning of what makes a healthy community thrive,â said Doug Shoemaker, president of Mercy Housing California. âMercy Housing California is proud to partner with the Placer Community Foundation and the Auburn Champions of the Arts to create original works of art honoring Auburn’s unique heritage and the Miwok, Nisenan and Maidu Indians who inhabit this land. . Mercy North Auburn’s 79 new affordable residences will showcase the beautiful natural scenery that Placer County has given us and, with generous support from the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, we are addressing the issues. of the region. extreme shortage of affordable family housing.
Advocacy for affordable housing
âThis housing marks a great victory for PCF’s advocacy for affordable housing at the new DeWitt government center from 2016,â said Veronica Blake, CEO of PCF. âPCF believes that everyone’s aspiration for a high quality of life for themselves and their families must begin with adequate and secure housing. These art projects are a celebration of the many that made the construction of these units possible. The end result will be a community of residents who can be proud of the heritage and cultures that founded the land in which they now live. We feel so lucky to have PCF donors who support our vision of access to affordable housing and our donor Mary Ann Flemmer whose PCF fund provides the resources for historical sculpture.
âThe quality, affordable homes that Mercy North Auburn will provide are an important contribution to our community and to our reimagined Placer County Government Center campus,â said Robert Weygandt, chair of the Placer County Board of Supervisors. âThese works of art are a suitable complement and we are delighted with their selection. We congratulate and thank the artists, Mercy Housing California, Placer Community Foundation and their funding donor, Mary Ann Flemmer, for their contribution to our community.
Art & Sculpture
The MHC will fund the community space art project, while the sculpture project will be funded by the Mary Ann Flemmer Arts and Environment Fund of the Placer Community Foundation. Artist and metallurgist Norm Tucker will create the sculpture, which will serve as a new local landmark for residents and the general public. His sculpture “Three Feathers” represents the Miwok, Nisenan and Maidu tribes. The feathers signify trust, honor, wisdom, power and freedom. These virtues will reflect the dignity and pride of housing within a compassionate community.
The community hall room will be created by muralist Stan Padilla. This work will integrate the vision and values ââof Auburn’s Native American communities and will be co-created with the residents of Mercy North Auburn. His bas-relief, multi-panel mural for the community hall is a positive recognition and affirmation of the Miwok, Nisenan and Maidu peoples as the first culture on the land on which the housing project is located. The community engagement project on the adjacent patio features handcrafted clay tile mosaics impressed with local plants, acorns, leaves, textures and animal prints.
Mercy North Auburn’s three-story apartment buildings and two-story detached townhouses will be available to families with a wide income range, ranging from 30% to 60% of the region’s median income. The community is accessible by public transit and close to high quality schools, stores and medical providers. Construction will be completed in October 2021.
About Mercy Housing California
Mercy Housing California (MHC) is the largest regional office of Mercy Housing, Inc. (MHI), a leading national affordable housing nonprofit organization. MHC’s mission is to create stable, vibrant and healthy communities by developing, funding and operating affordable housing and enriched programs for families, seniors and people with special needs who lack the necessary economic resources. to access quality and secure housing opportunities, serving income families, seniors and people who have experienced homelessness. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento, MHC has developed more than 10,000 affordable housing units across California. To learn more about MHC, please visit www.mercyhousing.org/california.
About the Placer Community Foundation
Placer Community Foundation (PCF) leverages local giving to strengthen our community by connecting donors who care about the causes that matter. Recognized for its sound financial management and knowledge of the non-profit sector, the Community Foundation continually monitors the region to better understand the nature of local needs, so that it can invest in areas such as arts and culture, education, health and social services, animals and the environment. Visit placercf.org for more information.