Athens Cultural Affairs Commission

ACAC Board Meeting Minutes: 2020.04.13 Present: Executive: Chair: Andrew Salinas Vice-President: Holly Alderman Treasurer: Darcie St. Onge Secretary: Madeline Bates Members-at-large: Beatrice Brown, Melisa (Misha) Cahnmann-Taylor, Linda Ford, Patrice Green, Helen Kuykendall, Montu Miller Advisory: Marc Beechuk, Stephanie Raines, Marilyn Wolf-Ragatz Staff: Lizzie Zucker Saltz Absent: Advisory: Didi Dunphy Ex-officio: Jan Bush (AAAC) • Approval of March 2020 minutes o Approved without changes. • Chair Report | Andrew Salinas o In agenda, did not discuss. • Treasurer’s Report | Darcie St. Onge o In agenda, did not discuss. • Outreach Team o In agenda, did not discuss. • Projects Team Report o Gateway (Beatrice):  The results of the public meeting were compiled, but no progress since. Bea will follow up to see if they are getting closer to the selection of the type of art they would like to see. Call for art has not gone out yet, as the survey results should inform the call for art. o Greenway / Dudley Park:  Marilyn sent Andrew/Keith a draft for the RFP; when that is finalized, a final application date can be set. o Clayton Street  Contract is with County Attorney  Georgia Power & gas company have work to do before streetscape work can begin  While contracts are proceeding through the attorney’s office, Andrew might need to get with SPLOST about updating the artist’s travel timeline.  The artist’s concept has been approved, but a final design will not be ready until he gets here and can engage with the business owners & community members. o Whitehall Roundabout (Mischa)  Small group meeting tomorrow (4/14) to discuss comments on the two proposals received and to gain clarity on unexpected fees & other new information. It is possible that a new call might need to be issued due to new information. Typically user group comments (asking for changes) are sent to the artist after their proposal was selected (and the artist can choose to make the changes or walk away from the project); perhaps that same route could be taken here with the two proposed designs.  Patrice asked for information about SOP for infrastructure/DOT/ACC Transit-related projects; Marc says he will reach out to Rani and other members of Public Works to get a SOP document rolling. This would be a procedural reference document that will help inform future projects, even if there need to be small deviations on a case-by-case basis. o Bus Shelters  Helen & Marc are working on a bus shelter map!  Marc is working with GIS people so there will be a digital community map in addition to a print version  Plaques are a big obstacle, as the ACAC’s request is for many more plaques than would typically be produced in a year. • Could we pivot to just digital (supplemented with printed maps) for all the information in lieu of information on plaques? • Idea to create an advertising campaign to share information about the bus shelters inside the buses. Could also create games for kids, like an “eye spy” game to play while ride the bus. If plaques are not made, we could use the funds to support this campaign instead.  Original AAAC bus shelters are in the inventory in our Google Drive and can be included in bus shelter map • Some of the original AAAC bus shelters are showing wear– discussion of maintenance plan: o New projects include maintenance notes & suggestions. Older projects in the inventory need to be in the maintenance plan. ACAC could potentially reach out to the artists for information. Older major projects should have a reference book with maintenance notes. We need to locate these objects and make a plan. o In the Public Art Master Plan there is a suggestion to regularly review the status of projects for suggested maintenance. Holly suggests we could budget for this, hiring someone every few years to review. o Lizzie could take photos and make a prioritized punch list. Stephanie could bring this list to Central Services’ attention.  o Co-Op: Artwork placement might be taking place now, but not confirmed. o FH #2: Artist contract finalization is not confirmed. o Walk of Fame:  ADDA/Linda taking this on this project moving forward and will issue the press release about the project and plaque artists. Contract for design is almost ready to go. Since AthFest is not happening, the process will move forward sooner.  ADDA is probably not going to be able to spend all the tourism grant money by end of fiscal year but have confirmation that is ok.  Mayor’s office has tracked down all but two of the musician awardees addresses to contact them. o Poet Laureate: On hold for now, will revisit later in year. • Arts in Community Grants (AICG): Rounds 1 and 2 (tentative) o For Round 1:  ACAC has availability in remaining our discretionary “use it or lose it” budget to increase number of grants from 3 to 5 (from $4,500 in 2019 to $7,500 in 2020).  Maintaining same amount per grant: $1,500.00/ea  Application will be due May 20, 2020. o For potential Round 2:  There was quorum via email about creating second wave of grants funding utilizing proposed $15,000; per the finance commission’s suggestion we need M&C’s approval, and this has not yet been approved  This could be a new grant and does not have to use AICG title  This opportunity will not be announced until after the May 20 AICG deadline to avoid confusion. o 45 Dunaboard panels (10’ x 5’) are available, could potentially be wrapped into Round 2 of funding  Andrew idea for a mural project theme: Envisioning Athens past/present/future, perhaps in 50-year increments  Where would the mural panels live? Idea to collab with ADDA’s “Activating Alleys” initiative. Could place in alley next to Chick Music or next to Community  Could we cut the boards in half to 5x5’ for $1000 awards to make more sense? o Related to the Resiliency Package: Athens Community Corps. People would be paid WPA-style. Will be set out in phases. • Show & Tell from Andrew: Photo of Hot Corner mural in a pamphlet issued by UGA. Let’s start collecting things like this to help better inform relationships/partnerships in the future. • Mural Fest: One day! There may be opportunities to work with partners in the community, such as UGA.