Athens Cultural Affairs Commission

Athens-Clarke County Unified Government Athens Cultural Affairs Commission Meeting Name: Regular Monthly Meeting & Orientation Meeting Date: 9/9/2024 Meeting Called to Order: 6:02* ☐ 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: Mark Mobley, Montu Miller, Francis Oliver 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 Bressi (Public Art ☐ Kent Kilpatrick Master Plan) ☐ Helen Kuykendall Items Discussed:  Review of May and August Minutes. Jessica moves to approve May meeting minutes, Marissa seconded. Linnea moves to approve August minute, Matt seconded.  Staff Report: o Emails have been issued to new members. BAC Training is forthcoming. o Move Oct & Nov ACAC meetings due to ACC holidays. New dates are October 21st at Memorial Park and November 18th at the Lyndon House. o Tomorrow (9/10/24) is the deadline to apply for the Triangle Artworks class. We have at least a dozen signed up right now and we can accommodate up to 20.  Project Report: o Poet Laureate has been very active and has established a writer’s group at the library which just had its second meeting. Has been very well-received o SPOLOST Project Updates:  Greenway – Artist Elaine Stephenson is currently working on installation. Updates have been posted on Instagram. Artist talk is next Thursday, September 19th at the Lyndon House. All Triangle Artworks students will be invited to meet up for that event since the program will be online.  Firefly Trail – Both sculpture projects are in the fabrication document stage right now, moving into the fabrication stage next. Installation will likely be early next year.  Arena – The 2 murals and 1 sculpture will be installed before the arena opens in early December.  Bishop Park – Call for pedestrian gates will be going up soon. The gates will be placed at the Hawthorne entrances. o Recommendation: Morton Theatre Mural/ Funding  Secured funding from ADDA (5K) and GA Power (5K) and are seeking matching funds to install a larger piece. This will allow the mural to cover three main walls in the lobby area outside of the theater entrance.  The mural should tell the story of the theater’s history.  Seeking recommendation to add 10k from SPLOST Project #21 to fund the remainder of this project.  Commission unanimously recommends Option 1 to provide 10,000 in additional funds for the Morton Theatre Mural. o Recommendation: Canvus Benches for TSPLOST Projects  Canvus produces benches made from recycled wind turbines in multiple styles. They can be delivered primed and ready to be painted by local artists using exterior latex paint. Functional and durable with a small footprint. Great for smaller project budgets with potential for larger program.  Seeking recommendation using Canvus products for a group of small budget TSPLOST public art projects. Will likely require additional funding to execute these projects. Tatiana has identified 10 projects  that could be a good fit for these. Ideally the artist would just be responsible for painting them so it presents a very accessible project.  Commission unanimously recommends Option 1 to move forward with this project option.  Next steps:  Identify TSPLOST Projects, locations, and budget  SPLOST oversight Committee  Project concept for Mayor and Commission approval  Call for Art  Art Selection  Art for Mayor and Commission approval  Todd Bressi – Public Art Master Plan Update o Program Activities  Establishing a process to encourage and support artist and community- initiated projects  Creating approaches to provide access and support for local public artists  Establishing criteria for taking on projects that are not SPOLOST projects  Strategies for developing projects that reflect social issues in the community o Program Implementation  Clarifying staff and ACAC roles – the first staff role overseeing public art was implemented during the first public art master plan  Evaluating staff/ACAC capacity  New projects, community engagement, collection management/maintenance  Improving ACC staff and community understanding of program’s goals and processes  Project selection, artist selection, community engagement, ongoing public communication for projects in progress  Maintenance program  Optimal location of public art in ACC – currently housed within Leisure Services – is this the best place for it? o Outcomes  Vision – Why we are investing community resources into this plan  Program Plan – Where are your opportunities?  Implementation Plan – Managing the projects, staff, and commission roles  Operations Guides – One page/poster explaining how public art staff and commission does their work in order to invite the public into the process and easily explain the master plan o Planning Process   Project kickoff – September  Reaserch and Assessment, initial meetings, interviews, and visit – September  Second visit and additional meetings, presentation of findings and recommendations – November/December  Creation and presentation of plan, final visit – February/March  Monthly ACAC progress check ins – Oct-Feb  Four blog posts/public updates throughout o Methodologies  Review ACAC documents – RFPs, meeting materials, workplans  Review ACCGov/external documents – plans, studies that indicate directions, opportunities  Key stakeholder interviews (20)  Questionnaires to artists and ACAC members  Public survey (optional)  Learning exchanges (TBD) – similar to a focus group  Approach to engagement that allows the consultant and stakeholders to take a focused look at key issues  Topics decided by consultant, staff, and ACAC  Consultant brings field knowledge and stakeholders bring localized perspective o Provides stakeholders with a wider view on the topic and the consultant will provide necessary input  Can be organized locally, by videoconference, or hybrid  Can include guest resource advisors  Can be documented through blog posts on ACAC web page, written by local arts writer o ACAC Role  Serve as a sounding board to the consulting team regarding the development and content for the plan  Provide connections and access to the broader community  Advocate for the plan once it is complete, and advocate for the implementation of projects in the plan o Questions  What outcomes do you expect from this process?  Transparency of process/progress  What aspects of ACAC’s public art vision and projects have been most successful, which have been less so?  What aspects of ACAC public art process have been most successful, which have been less so?  What opportunities/community issues should ACAC connect with through public art?   Opportunity to educate the public on the public art process so they better understand how they can get involved and why things happen certain ways  What “Learning Exchange” topics should we organize?  Who should we be connecting with during this process?  Civic groups such as the East Athens Business Coalition  Youth, what do young people think about current public art  Outreach o ACAC will be tabling at PrideFest 1-6. Jessica will be there the whole time and Francis will be there for a portion of the time. Matt and Linnea volunteered to help for a few hours as well.  Sally requested batteries and bubbles for the bubble machine.  Jessica and Matt will coordinate with Tatiana to pick up items for the festival.  The intention is to get folks to sign up for the email newsletter for outreach and selection panels.  Misc/Community Announcements o Create Athens is meeting next Tuesday morning and will receive an update from Kaptiv8 about the Athens Creative Directory which is slated to launch in February. Taking suggestions for a new name for the directory. o Michelle Dross Print Sale at Hidden Gem on September 18 at 6pm Votes Taken with Motion / Second / Results (Unanimous or Number of Yes / No Votes and names) (if applicable):  Motion made by Jessica to approve May minutes. Seconded by Marissa. Unanimously passed.  Motion made by Linnea to approve August minutes. Seconded by Matt. Unanimously passed. Motion to Adjourn made by: Sally Kimmel-Shepherd Seconded by: Matt Stefek Result: Unanimous Meeting Adjourned at: 7:46* ☐ a.m. / ☒ p.m. Minutes Drafted By: Marissa Chastain