Athens Cultural Affairs Commission

Athens-Clarke County Unified Government Athens Cultural Affairs Commission Meeting Name: Regular Monthly Meeting & Orientation Meeting Date: 8/12/2024 Meeting Called to Order: 6:04* ☐ a.m. / ☒ p.m. Location: Lyndon House Arts Center (211 Hoyt St. Athens, GA 30601) Virtual? ☐ Yes / ☒ No Public Input Requested or Received? ☐ Yes / ☒ No Voting Member Attendees: ☒ Mark Mobley ☒ Linnea Ionno ☐ Jessica Smith ☒ Montu Miller ☒ Francis Oliver ☒ Matt Stefek ☒ Marissa Chastain ☒ Jamie Berk ☒ Sally Kimmel- ☒ Ian McFarlane Shepherd Voting Members Absent: Jessica Smith Voting Members Leaving Before End of Meeting & Time of Departure (if applicable): Staff / Ex-Officio Attendees: ☒ Tatiana Veneruso ☒ Madhuri Angadi ☐ Stephanie Raines (SPLOST Liaison) ☒ Jan Bush ☒ Todd (Public Art ☐ Kent Kilpatrick Master Plan) ☐ Helen Kuykendall Items Discussed:  Minutes – Approval vote tabled ot the next meeting.  Chair Report – Introduction of new members: Matt, Jamie, Ian, and Linnea  Staff Report – o New members will receive ACCA email and BAC training information soon. o October and November meetings will move from the second Monday to the third Monday. o Triangle Artworks is the nonprofit we are working with for the free public art class (virtual) offered to anyone in ACC and surrounding counties. Free six week class to learn how to become a public artist - covering contracts, insurance, working with clients and fabricators, etc. End of Sept through early Nov. Press release with link to application will go out tomorrow. Help needed from commission to spread the word and recruit attendees. Will promote through Lyndon House and other community partners. o New Poet Laureate has been doing a lot of events and will be starting a writers group with the first meeting being this weekend at the ACC Library. Free and open to the public. o New Athens Music Walk of Fame plaques were installed in late July. The location map online has been updated. o Busy time for projects through the rest of the year:  Water is Life Greenway mural is being installed on the East Campus connector part of the Greenway. The artist will be working 8/22 through late September and will have an artist’s talk at the Lyndon House in Sept.  2 firefly trail sculpture projects are in the works  Classic Center Arena opening in early December. Both exterior pieces will be installed in October and the interior mural will be installed in November. The location change was approved to relocate one of the exterior murals to the parking deck.  Will be doing a call for Bishop Park soon for gates on the Hawthorne side of the park. o Recommendations needed from the commission tonight:  Sandy Creek Nature Center  The center celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. There are existing murals with a blank wall in between that will be the site for the new mural. This will be designed by an artist and digitized to be commercially reproduced and applied like wallpaper.  Options are to approve site & type for art (wall mural in doorway area to connect existing art) or to not approve it. o Marissa motioned to approve Option 1 to approve the site. Frances seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.  Costa Building  Currently undergoing renovations  Home of the Hot Corner Mural  Budget: 35k  Will house ACC Economic Dev, People & Belonging Department, HCD, and spaces for student and community   Public art goals for this project are visibility, accessibility, unique identity, more murals downtown, and more opportunities for local artists  The façade and other side of the building cannot be painted because they are historic brick. One of the areas that was discussed is the stucco wall that will be adjacent to an outdoor seating area. Inside areas were also considered as there is more wall space although it is less visible to the general public.  Themes discussed include history, community/unity, decorative/colorful  User group’s preference is to do a combination of interior and exterior.  Seeking a motion to approve site and type for art: mural, exterior and interior combination. o Discussion: Mark expressed a preference to leave the theme broad when issuing the call for art so that there is more room for artist interpretation. Frances requested clarification on the exact site and Tatiana o Mark motioned to approve the site and art type for the Costa building. Matt seconded and the motion passed with a unanimous vote.  Outreach o Thank you Sally & Jan for tabling at AthFest! Sally shared that their main objective was to get people to sign up for public art selection committees. o Frances asked if there is a way to utilize space at the Lyndon House for ongoing presence. Tatiana recommended doing it with a specific event for better turnout. o Summer was challenging with travel schedules but we hope to reenergize as we move into the fall. o Members are invited to attend the Outreach Committee Meeting on August 26th at 6:00 at Jittery Joe’s on East Side. Votes Taken with Motion / Second / Results (Unanimous or Number of Yes / No Votes and names) (if applicable):  Vote to approve site and type of art for the Sandy Creek Nature Center: Marissa motioned / Frances Seconded / Unanimous  Vote to approve site and type of art for the Costa Building: Mark motioned / Matt Seconded / Unanimous Motion to Adjourn made by: Mark Mobley  Seconded by: Frances Oliver Result: Unanimous Meeting Adjourned at: 7:00* ☐ a.m. / ☒ p.m. Minutes Drafted By: Marissa Chastain