The 4-1 vote keeps the loaned artwork off a Civic Center Park sports field, but staff must still return with confirmed costs, funding and a final location in the planned north Palm Desert park.
A $30,000 grant from the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation will fund conceptual design work, but construction could ultimately cost the city as much as $300,000.
The Cultural Arts Committee wants more detailed economic impact data for 2027 and is exploring moving the student art exhibit to the Palm Desert Library.
With rising costs threatening to downsize major economic drivers like Fashion Week El Paseo, city leaders are debating a $450,000 annual sponsorship agreement.
The committee backed accepting the $700,000 Jedd Novatt sculpture, funding a $40,000 dog park mural and moving a 15-year City Hall fixture, though some members raised concerns about the donor's anonymity.
The Cultural Arts Committee voted unanimously this month to acquire a sculpture from the El Paseo exhibition while also agreeing to explore a resident's proposal for a dog-themed mural at Civic Center Park.
The sold out show at the Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage drew Joshua Homme's childhood friends and fellow desert rock pioneers backstage for a night that was equal parts homecoming and theatrical spectacle.
Phase 1 will see the city seek proposals for art at Fire Station 102 and the new library. The multi-year effort will include community engagement at each project site.
Now in its 39th year, the Student Art and Essay Contest drew 65 individual works and 11 class murals on the theme "What Grows in My Dream Garden."
The two finalists' proposals will next go out for community input through Engage Palm Desert and other outreach before the City Council makes a final selection in April.
