Arts Commission

Arts Commission Minutes City of Bellingham, Washington Tuesday 5:00 PM October 7, 2025 City Council Boardroom & Zoom Video Recorded https://meetings.cob.org Call to Order The Arts Commission meeting (video) was called to order by the Chair at 5:05 PM. • Commission members present: Patricia McDonnell (Chair), Amy Chaloupka, Blake Hudson, Eric Shew, Jody Bento and Phillip Freytag Staff members present: Darby Galligan, PCDD; Taylor Webb, PCDD; Carol Rofkar, Public Works, Approve August Meeting Minutes Amy Chaloupka/Phillip Freytag moved approval of the July minutes. Motion approved 4-0. Agenda Items 1. Nocturnal Lanterns Final Review p. 5 The Whatcom Museum has been working with Sparks over the past several months to design the lantern installations and mural on the Lightcatcher Building in the alley way. Staff is seeking final approval of the design prior to installation. Heather Sparks presented her design concept, Nocturnal Lanterns, which focuses on nocturnal animals. The art installation will encompass 80ft on the back wall of the building and will be comprised of several lanterns that will cast light and shadows down the wall. Motion to approve the design with a preference for the bottom design (showing feather and moth and desire for flow in shapes) by Phillip, seconded by Patricia. Motion approved 6-0. 2. Whatcomm Signage p. 27 Carol Rofkar, Public Works Facilities, shared the possible sign designs for the new Whatcomm Building. The City does not want the building to be highly visible to the public given the sensitive nature of the work, so the signage is internal the site. They plan to partner with someone from BTC to fabricate the sign. Motion to suggest the use of font weight to create visual interest by Eric, not seconded.  Motion to the approve the sign and share input from the commission by Patricia, seconded by Eric. Motion passed 6-0. 3. Art RFQ Update p. 29 100 artists applied to the open RFQ. The jury reviewed the applicants and marked the applicants that they were unsure about whether or not they met the qualifications. Some artists who applied were muralists and/or sign artists, and it was decided not to move those artists forward since there are no active projects for that style of artwork. There were also two artists who IT had identified their emailed application got caught in our firewall. Those applications were forwarded to us by IT and then they were passed on to the jury and were deemed qualified. Ultimately, only 81 artists were selected to be added to the roster. Motion to approve the roster of artists by Jody, seconded Amy. Motioned passed with 5 approved, 1 abstained (Blake Hudson), and 0 opposed. Other Business Public Comment Period Alex McLean expressed excitement that we may open the RFQ again later for local artists. For the Good of the Order and Announcements - Tour of Big Rock Garden park on 10/14 at 3:30pm - Lakeway mural is finished! Paper Whale will cover maintenance for one year and keep track of maintenance needs. - Invitation to Sunset Alley tour on 10/15 - Sceptor sculpture got fixed, it is no longer jewel-toned unfortunately but it is lit up. - Weston Lambert will be coming next week to assess the piece next to the Museum that has maintenance concerns. - The missing bronze shipwheel of the Confluence piece was replaced by the artist Gerard Tsutakawa. - Clayton Binkley will be installing the large ceramic piece in the PSOC building in early November. The installation will take several weeks with the first employees moving into the building before Thanksgiving. - The head of the National Galley will be coming to Bellingham 10/21 to give a talk about the 3 French Masterworks in the Whatcom Museum. Meeting adjourned at 6:30pm Minutes prepared by: ____________________________________________ Taylor Webb, Development Specialist II Minutes edited by both staff and Arts Commission members.