Athens Cultural Affairs Commission

Agenda for ACAC Commissioners Meeting DATE: October 12, 2020 Time: 6:00 to 8:00 PM PRESENT: Executive: Chair: Andrew Salinas Vice Chair: Holly Alderman Treasurer: Darcie St. Onge Secretary: Madeline Bates Members-at-Large: Beatrice Brown, Donna Brumby, Melisa (Misha) Cahnmann-Taylor, Patrice Green, Helen Kuykendall, Montu Miller Ex-officio: Jan Bush Advisory: Marc Beechuk, Didi Dunphy, Marilyn Wolf-Ragatz, Stephanie Raines Staff: Tatiana Veneruso ABSENT: Jan Bush (Ex-oficio) Approve Previous Minutes:  Motion to approve previous minutes: Beatrice Brown. Second: Holly Alderman. Passed with no discussion. Chair’s Report: • Mellon Foundation $250M monuments initiative o The ACAC’s public statement last month to the UGA Presidential Task Force on Race, Ethnicity, and Community was amplified by local media including Flagpole and Athens Banner-Herald online. The ACAC should hold itself accountable for the same guidance it issued in this statement regarding public art that is truly representative of the local citizens and history. o Mellon Foundation opportunity: a five-year process with potential for major funding. The ACAC should consider how it could apply for funding for public art in Athens. In the first year we will get a sense for the award amounts, and case studies by end of year one or two. o The Mellon Foundation’s major funding opportunity could lead to a citywide monument initiative. This type of grant proposal would require strong partnerships with local  experts as well as people representative of the communities that would be impacted by the art. o Andrew has been invited to speak in November to the National Association for the Study of African American History due to the ACAC’s open letter to UGA. This group may be a great model for how to establish meaningful partnerships for the Mellon Foundation proposal. Andrew will report back. o Timely opportunities for dialogue about creating common spaces and experiences for all Athenians: new College Ave community space in its pilot run phase; proposed West Downtown historic district currently taking public input. o Didi suggests looking at Monument Lab in Philadelphia for potential case studies to reference while preparing a proposal o Volunteers to serve as advisors for proposal process: Patrice, Beatrice. Everyone else, please read into the grant information Andrew shared and see if you would like to participate. o In November, we should discuss further who should be invited to partner with ACAC on this proposal. Treasurer’s Report: No major updates as not much has been happening. The plaques for the Athens Music Walk of Fame were a $10,000 purchase. Old Business: • Schedule new member knowledge sharing event soon o Tatiana to send out a Doodle poll for a 5:30 meeting in the next two weeks. Project Reports: Clayton, Greenway, Fire Hall #2, Cooperative Extension, Bus Shelters, Dudley Park, Firefly Trail, Whitehall Roundabout, Art Pianos, Poet Laureate • Whitehall: Artist has approved the finish change and the contract is under way. SPLOST has agreed to assist in tree removal and laying a foundation, but they need a timeline from the artist. • Dudley: User group met last week and agreed upon one of the four artists, with a change from the proposal. The artist approved of the change. Next step is to submit the selection as a Mayor & Commission (M&C) agenda item to go on the December agenda. • Clayton Street: The contract is under way. The Purchase Order has already been issued by SPLOST. A virtual public input session has been scheduled for early November by SPLOST. We are hoping to get the M&C’s approval on this in January so that the project can get underway in early spring. • Oconee River Greenway Project: The national call for art was issued today ($55,000 budget). There is a public opportunity for a site visit on October 27th for prospective applicants to ask 2  questions about the project. Tatiana could potentially livestream the visit on Facebook as a virtual attendance option, which would make it easier for people out of state to ask questions. • Poet Laureate: Targeting an April 2021 start date. The call should be issued ASAP with a deadline of December and mid-January review of applicants. We plan to submit this as an item for February agenda setting meeting for a March M&C vote. Poet Laureate position would have a 2-year term through March 2023. We need to find out to what extent Mayor Girtz would like to be involved in the selection process; Didi to reach out to Mayor’s office about this. Misha needs to share the call to share with Public Information Office (PIO). The first screening committee, tentatively: Didi, Misha, Trudy Green, someone from M&C, Patrice, and Montu. • Play On! Pianos: Both schools (Cedar Shoals & Clarke Central High School) have a piano in hand with their art programs. We need to do a monthly check-in with the schools; Misha to reach out. One or two pianos from Round 1 still need permanent home: the one at Classic Center should be moved, while the one at Bishop Park is well protected under the tennis court awning so it could potentially stay there if the Bishop Park staff are okay with it staying there; Stephanie will reach out to Mark McCoy, supervisor at Bishop Park. Holly to double check with Grace about moving piano from Classic Center to Career Academy. • Firefly Trail: Further down the pipeline but SPLOST wants us to begin talking about it. Initial user group meeting to be organized by SPLOST. Potential site visit to the trail. Split into Athens side and Winterville side. SPLOST ok with treating this as a bundle project, so that there would also be constituents from Winterville in the first user group meeting, or there could be multiple separate meetings. Could look at it holistically for things like wayfinding art, pieces at gateways, etc. Could be one or several calls for art. • Future of the Athens Music Walk of Fame: Didi is writing up the process plan with costs to inform future iterations. ADDA’s brochure has been printed. Tatiana to reach out to PIO to see if we can link Mayor Girtz’s launch video on ACAC site. Current approval rate by Citizens Oversight Committee and M&C: 2-3 plaques per year over the next 2 years (2021 and ’22). Andrew suggests grant-writing to do an additional 10 all at once instead of paying out slowly to do a few each year wherein the costs would be totally assumed by ACAC. Andrew to set up an outing for ACAC members. • Related to Jackson Street Art Walk: Input sessions for the north downtown/Bethel Homes redevelopment planning happened today; Helen attended to hear updates that surround Jackson St. Art Walk. Major update: a new plaza space would take away from an area in front of the Lyndon House and that would take away some of the Jackson St. plaza and adjacent playground. Helen recommends the ACAC issue a statement to the ACC Commissioners about this potential major impact on the Jackson St. plan, and how important it is to keep to the Jackson St. Art Walk plan as it was approved by the PLOST Citizen Advisory Committee. Individuals can also make comments through the online form. Marilyn to talk with Keith to gain clarity on the absolutes of the approval process. Helen to draft official statement to M&C. New Business: 3  • Arts in Community Awards: o MOUs are done and will be sent out within the week. October 30 is deadline to get paperwork back from awardees. o Tatiana and Stephanie plan to do an introductory livestream session for the 50 awardees o No longer planning to do regular progress reports in a formal way, but cohort leads should ask their projects to tag ACAC on social media so that ACAC may re-share images and collect them for future reports. A formal final report is still mandatory. o Stephanie and Tatiana to create a timeline of the projects to promote once the paperwork is back and timelines are better established since some have changed from the time of submission. Bigger events could potentially be promoted with PIO but smaller events will need to be promoted by ACAC through social media, Mailchimp, etc. • ACAC’s future: o Collaboration across Athens: Our bylaws’ 4 ex-officio spots  Only one ex-officio spot is currently filled (Jan Bush). Let’s think about who else should be invited to have these spots. Other: • ACAC pledged via email to fund a video promoting the importance of shopping local this holiday season, but instead, we will pivot funds to print, radio, and social media campaigns. Stephanie and Didi are working on drafts of ad kits. Notes: - Upcoming art events: o Get Artistic events at Creature Comforts the next two Wednesdays: DIY Fair 10/14 6-8, and Get Artistic Wrap Event on 10/21. o Historic Athens’ Virtual PorchFest is this Thursday through Sunday o Any ACAC Commissioner who is a maker is qualified to submit for an online show with Lyndon House o Lyndon House 46th Juried Show Juror will be the Contemporary curator from the Birmingham Museum of Art. Call for art will be virtual for the first time. o Athens Creative Theater (a part of the Leisure Services Arts Division) will do a live outdoor performance behind the Lyndon House this Saturday. Need to call a number to purchase tickets. o Third Thursday is this week on Thursday 10/15. Next Meeting Date: November 9, 2020 4