Athens Cultural Affairs Commission

Athens-Clarke County Unified Government Athens Cultural Affairs Commission Meeting Name: Regular Monthly Meeting & Orientation Meeting Date: 2/10/2025 Meeting Called to Order: 6:04* ☐ a.m. / ☒ p.m. Location: Lyndon House Arts Center Community Room Virtual? ☐ Yes / ☒ No Public Input Requested or Received? ☐ Yes / ☒ No Voting Member Attendees: ☒ Mark Mobley ☒ Linnea Ionno (Virtual) ☒ Jessica Smith ☐ Montu Miller ☒ Francis Oliver ☒ Matt Stefek ☒ Marissa Chastain ☒ Jamie Berk ☒ Sally Kimmel- ☒ Ian McFarlane Shepherd Voting Members Absent: Montu Miller, Francis Oliver, Ian McFarlane 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:  January Minutes: Mark motioned to approve the January minutes. Matt seconded. Frances abstained. Unanimously approved.  Chair report: o New Member Call – 2 new vacancies open until Sunday, February 23. Please share with any potential new members.  Interviews are conducted virtually with Tatiana and several members of the commission. Matt, Jessica, Frances, and Mark volunteered to participate in the interview process. Tatiana will email date options.  Montu will cycle off in March so new members should be interviewed by the April meeting.  Staff/Project report: o Caitlin May with the ACLU joined us for this meeting as a makeup session for LEAD Athens. o Firefly Trail sculpture was installed by the Old Winterville Trailhead. An additional Firefly Trail sculpture will be installed later this year and the ribbon cutting ceremony will be held after they have both been installed. o A Blossoming Ode to Georgia’s Musical History has been completed at the Akins Ford Arena and was featured as the Flagpole Cover. Red Bass will be installed in the Arena Plaza at the end of February to complete the piece. An Arena art event/tour will be planned after the installation. o The RFQ for pedestrian gates on the Hawthorne side of Bishop Park went out last week. The art installation will create a more inviting entryway to the park. The same artist will complete both gates. There is a $45,000 budget for this project. There will be an opportunity for ACAC members to participate in this selection panel. o About 40 submissions for Linnentown were received, but not all were eligible due to project qualifications. The selection panel is upcoming with 3-4 commission members participating. o Flight of the Fireflies call for temporary light sculptures ended last month. Four proposals were received and all four were accepted. These will be on display at the Lantern Parade at Dudley Park on March 8th at 7pm.  Frances suggested having the sculptures displayed after the parade. Not possible this year due to space constraints and requirement descriptions already issued to artists, but will consider this idea for future years.  The parade will start a little earlier this year with lineup beginning at 6pm. Our poet laureate will join us again to kick off the parade. Members are encourage to attend and spread the word! o Public Art Master Plan Update: Todd is wrapping up interviews with government and community members. He is putting together a presentation for our next commission meeting. o Upcoming Projects:  Introductory meeting with user group for East Side Library will be held next week. In this meeting Tatiana will discuss potential sites for art and  types of installations that would be feasible. After that meeting, options will be presented to the ACAC.  Tatiana will meet this Friday with SPLOST Project Managers regarding the covered bench projects made with recycled wind turbines. This meeting will shed light on the program cost of the benches and full installation. If more funding is needed, it will be presented to the ACAC for a recommendation. If funding from SPLOST 2011 budget is needed, it will also need to be approved by the Citizen Oversight Committee.  Outreach: o The ACAC is encouraged to participate in The Lantern Parade. No sign up is needed.  The Bishop Park call will still be open at this time so we can promote it. Tatiana will send a QR code. o ACAC members are encouraged to wear their nametags at any art-related events! o Upcoming tabling opportunities:  Pride – June 7 (possibly an evening time) – We will plan to table here ideally.  Hot Corner – June 14  AthFest – June 21-22 – We have not yet scheduled the Music Walk of Fame announcement but it has traditionally been held on the Friday night of AthFest.  Star Spangled Classic – June 28  Porchfest o Outreach committee is currently Jessica, Frances, and Montu. The committee is seeking new members since Montu will be rolling off.  Misc: o Thursday, February 13th from 6-7:30 is the soft launch of the Athens Creatives Directory at the Lyndon House. The majority of the event will be networking and there will be a brief presentation on how to use the directory. o Thursday, February 13th at 7:30 is Faculty Follies at PAC. o Rachel Waldrup is the new director of The Athenaeum. o EADC Spring Performance is next Saturday and Sunday at the Morton Theatre. o Saturday, Feb 22 – Lyndon House is hosting a studio visit to Carol John’s studio o Warrior Women on display at Taylor-Grady House through Feb 21 o March 4th – Advanced Estate Planning for Artists o The Games Afoot – Athens Creative Theater at Quinn Hall in Memorial Park Mar 6-8 o There will be a lantern-making workshop here likely on the day of the parade, but final details have not been announced yet. Votes Taken with Motion / Second / Results (Unanimous or Number of Yes / No Votes and names) (if applicable):  Motion made by Mark to approve January minutes. Seconded by Matt. Frances abstained. Unanimously passed.  Motion made by Matt to adjourn. Seconded by Mark. Unanimously passed. Motion to Adjourn made by: Matt Seconded by: Mark Result: Unanimous Meeting Adjourned at: 7:16* ☐ a.m. / ☒ p.m. Minutes Drafted By: Marissa Chastain