Athens Cultural Affairs Commission

Agenda for ACAC Commissioners Meeting DATE: April 12, 2021 TIME: 6:00-8:00 PM PRESENT: Executive: Chair: Andrew Salinas Vice Chair: Patrice Green Treasurer: Darcie St. Onge Secretary: Madeline Bates Members-at-Large: Donna Brumby, Beatrice Brown, Helen Kuykendall, Linda Ford Advisors: Stephanie Raines, Marilyn Wolf Ragatz Staff: Tatiana Veneruso Guests: Misha Cahnmann-Taylor, Diana Jackson, Mel Cochran-Davis ABSENT: Jan Bush (Ex-Officio), Didi Dunphy (Advisor), Montu Miller (Member-at-Large) Approve Previous Minutes:  Motion to approve minutes: Beatrice Brown; Second: Helen Kuykendall. Passed with no discussion. Chair’s Report: ● Full time Public Art Coordinator Position update! Congratulations to Tatiana Veneruso for continuing as coordinator in this role. ● New member interviews 4/14 + 4/15, 8 applicants. All 8 applicants will be interviewed (virtually) this week. ● SPLOST Project 27 update: ACAC will not pursue 1% for public art for this project as there is no capital construction involved. Andrew will send a letter to notify the Mayor & Commission about this. ● Special guest: Mel Cochran-Davis, Assistant Director of LS - Macon Hwy Canoe/Kayak Launch o Middle Oconee River kayak launch site to be developed for non-motorized boats. Currently there is a project concept, not a detailed design. This will be a simple, small  project: a parking lot and paddler’s launch (kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, tubing, etc.). There would be $2,000 available for this SPLOST project via 1% for Public Art. o Mel’s ideas for what Public Art could look like at this site: a beautified fishing line recycling station; beautified signage, branding for the water trails that expresses the beauty of the river area. o Hear more information about this project tomorrow (4/13), when Mel is presenting at the Mayor and Commission Work Session. o Tatiana will coordinate a site visit with Mel and ACAC members. Volunteers for the site visit: Beatrice and Patrice. ● College Avenue Pedestrian Plaza project with MBA students and Athens Anti-Discrimination movement: Andrew has been working with his students to develop a proposal for incorporating Athens’ Black and Indigenous history into public art in the site. ACAC members can listen to this proposal presentation online on Monday, 4/19 from 4-5:00 PM. Treasurer’s Report: No updates. Project Reports: Clayton (contract executed), Greenway (artist selected, M+C approval pending, call for assistant), Fire Hall #2 (May), Cooperative Extension (In Progress), Dudley Park (Contract pending), Whitehall Roundabout (contract executed), Poet Laureate (selected, announcement TBD), Music Walk of Fame (phase 2 selections complete, announcement TBD)  Greenway: The Mayor & Commission will vote on this item at the May 4th meeting. Tatiana will publish a Request for Qualifications for artist assistants at the time the artist is announced publicly. The selected artist is looking for an assistant who is experienced or interested in construction and working with local materials. The sum will be an hourly rate up to a fixed sum. The project will have a month-long install, and the assistant would help with coordinating construction and sourcing materials (in advance). We will provisionally budget for up to 80 hours of work with a cap of $2,000 to be paid out at an hourly rate.  Whitehall Roundabout: trees have been removed from the site.  Poet Laureate: meeting with the selected poet is set for this Thursday to define the Scope of Work portion of the contract. There is an event set for April 27 (6-8 PM) for a virtual poetry event organized by Misha (chair of the Poet Laureate project). Tatiana and Stephanie will circle back with Misha about whether or not we can publicly announce the Poet Laureate before the contract is finalized, which may not happen by the time of this event.  Music Walk of Fame: We will follow the same timeline as 2020 for the next round of plaques, installing in late summer July. We will install 5 new plaques per year moving forward, including this year.  Firefly Trail: We need to facilitate a user group meeting. Patrice volunteered to take the lead on that process; Marilyn and Andrew will provide support. Tatiana can also attend as staff. 2   Clayton St: Diana has a work session with Mayor & Commission on 4/13 to talk about the changes that will be made to the Clayton St. streetscape to ensure enough pedestrian space in the space, which will influence the artist Eric Leshinsky’s plan. We may lose the planters on the midblock crossings from Leshinsky’s design but gain planters elsewhere.  Greenway project: The Mayor & Commission have expressed interest in installing a mural at the bridge that will be redeveloped on Oconee St. between the Greenway entrance and Dudley Park. Athens Clarke-County recently acquired new land that will be a part of the Greenway which may be an opportunity for public art. The user group will discuss how to move forward with the next phase(s) of the Greenway project. Arts in Community Awards (AICA): ● Resiliency projects are ongoing. ● ACAC members should check in with Advisees about whether they have received payments. ● Please share updates that could be reposted on social media with Tatiana to promote. ● No other updates. Outreach: ● Patrice - new outreach team, to schedule meeting soon. ● Helen and Madeline volunteer to join the outreach team. ● We plan to produce a report documenting the Arts in Community Awards: Resiliency grants. This will be an important resource to support ACAC budget requests in future. Tatiana and Stephanie will work on this. Other:  Andrew to establish a subcommittee to review the Public Art Master Plan and consider how the ACAC can realign with the initiatives and timelines established it establishes. Tatiana will organize this “ACAC Strategy” meeting via email.  Art happenings: Bea has artwork in an upcoming quilting exhibition at the Blue Ridge Art Center. Call for artists open through May 2 at Creature Comforts Brewing Co. Jaime Bull (an Arts in Community Award: Resiliency recipient) has a socially distanced event for Third Thursday this week at the Hotel Indigo. Next Meeting Date: May 10, 2021 3