Cultural Arts Advisory Board

Cultural Commission December 09, 2019 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF TARRANT § CITY OF BEDFORD § The Bedford Cultural Commission met in regular session on December 9, 2019, with the following members present: Thomas Jacobsen Summer Finley Alexis Perez Sergio Santos Josh Santillan Kimmie Hamm Donna Lively Kim Brown Wendy Hartnett – City of Bedford Charlenia Castillo – City of Bedford Amy Sabol – City of Bedford CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order at 6:31 P.M. by Mr. Jacobsen. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Consider approval of the following Cultural Commission minutes: a. October 14, 2019 The minutes for were approved with no changes by a motion by Ms. Hamm and Ms. Lively seconded the motion. BUSINESS 1. Discussion of purpose, structure, and strategic plan for the Commission. ￭￭ Ms. Brown – Provided reasons and examples as to why we need or have subcommittees. ￭￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Asked a couple of questions, before looking through his notes, regarding subcommittees, in addition to other things from our previous meeting. – Indicated from last time the desire for two goals in the coming year—one of them being toward public art using our remaining funds, and a subcommittee, among other things, for “self-directed art.” – Wondered if any of us were willing to form a subcommittee of our own (requiring no more than four members). 1  Cultural Commission December 09, 2019 ￭￭ Mr. Hamm – Questioned if the new subcommittee called for exactly four people, with a fifth person who may otherwise encompass the head of said subcommittee being the exception. Ms. Hartnett and a couple others answered: “Four people only.” ￭ ￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Asked by show of hands those in favor of this approval or item. ￭ ￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Said there was a thought of using additional money—which we have to petition the council for—to hire/submit to a commission of artists to use a possibly Veterans-themed public art. (This was the second idea broached in the last meeting.) – Added the thought of a subcommittee who may be open to examining this request, so as to know if there are any significant Veterans-themed opportunities, and whether there are artists who are appropriate or qualified for this endeavor. ￭ ￭ Ms. Lively – Asked, humorously, if the previously mentioned project would be something that commemorates veterans, or would it be artists who were veterans doing the work. Mr. Jacobsen’s response was “no” to mean it will be a project done by artists to honor veterans. ￭ ￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Used Japan as a quick example on how they incorporate art everywhere and in different ways in their culture, which we can put into practice for Bedford. ￭ ￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Proposed forming another subcommittee. ￭ ￭ Ms. Hartnett – Had looked at [her] calendar, stating that our next meeting is January 13, 2020 (second Monday of that month). ￭￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Hoped Ms. Brown would inform us later on the council’s stance concerning our newfound subcommittees. (She was later thanked by Ms. Hartnett for her help and suggestion.) – Checked with Ms. Hartnett about the two subcommittees that need be approved. ￭ ￭ Ms. Hartnett – Covered the names of the subcommittees and members separately: 1) the committee for Veterans Art, consisting of Mr. Jacobsen, Ms. Lively and Mr. Santos, and 2) the committee for Self-directed Art, consisting of Mr. Santos, Mr. Santillan, Ms Perez, and Ms. Hamm. (Note: Names for one if not both subcommittees may be subject to change.) ￭ ￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Recalled with Kim having come up with strategic plans in the past before suggesting we come prepared next meeting with any other plans for the following year. 2. Discussion and update on Phase Next/Old Bedford School. ￭￭ Ms. Hartnett – Talked about branding or renaming the park—and building—which was up for discussion the following night (December 10th) at the council, for the Boys Ranch. Part of Phase Next. 2  Cultural Commission December 09, 2019 ￭￭ Ms. Hamm – Pointed out how some people have more or less come to disown the building’s name, Boys Ranch, because it is “antiquated.” ￭￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Pointed out, too, the problem others have with the name as well, having been drawn to think it is a boys’ reformatory. But then, he goes on to say how several—both sides, really—have agreed that keeping its name is keeping its history. ￭￭ Ms. Hartnett – Said the Old Bedford School property has been officially designated a park as of September. (We are still unaware the scope of the contract.) 3. Discussion and possible action on a Public Art Program. ￭￭ Mr. Santos and Mr. Santillan – Mentioned the Chamber of Commerce, the multiple projects undertaken which are murals modeled after old postcards, and the Central Arts of Bedford, among other things. 4. Discussion, updates and possible action on upcoming art/cultural programming, including the City of Bedford Tree Lighting, ArtsFest, and Twilight Concerts. ￭￭ Ms. Hartnett – Mentioned questions from last year as we begin moving forward the HEB ISD and the HEB Reads (scheduled May 2nd). “Do we want to continue to do our Talk event?” ￭￭ Ms. Lively – Asked Ms. Hartnett to explain the Talk event, as she was unfamiliar with it. Ms. Hartnett went on to give a quick but thorough explanation of what it is and what it provides to our local community—the Chalk Walk event being one of the finer points illustrated. ￭￭ Ms. Hamm – Made a suggestion as to how we could participate more creatively in the next Chalk Walk event. ￭￭ Ms. Hartnett – Reminded our latest members of their new nametags, all of which are set to arrive soon since putting in the order. ￭￭ Mr. Jacobsen – Made a motion to approve a proposal. Mr. Santillan, without hesitation, approves it. ￭￭ Ms. Hartnett – Asked if Public Art was still being discussed. Ms. Brown proceeds to answer. – Brought up the plan to approve all that we pursue to accomplish and “have grants ready as soon as the next budget cycle hits;” have them paid out by October. (Arts Grants-related.) – Alongside Mr. Santillan and Ms. Brown, the discussion of money saved on paint and the BluesFest event. 3  Cultural Commission December 09, 2019 ￭￭ Ms. Hartnett – Listed off events to come by 2020: ArtsFest (April 4th), HEB Reads plus the Chalk Walk (both May 2nd). Also, in May, the Twilight Concert series—only on Fridays (May 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th). ADJOURNMENT There being no additional business, Mr. Santillan made a motion for adjournment of the meeting; Ms. Perez seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 7:41 P.M. Thomas Jacobson, Chairperson 4