Citizens' Community Enhancement Commission

MINUTES MEETING OF THE CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION CITY OF DEKALB December 19, 2016 The Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission (CCEC) of the City of DeKalb, Illinois held a regular meeting on Monday, December 19, 2016 in the Haish Conference Room of the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 4:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Roll was recorded by Economic Development Planner, Jason Michnick, and the following members of the Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission members present were: Susan Johnson, Chair, Bob Boey, Brad Hoey, Brad Pietens, and Deborah Booth, and Michael Mooney. Cohen Barnes was absent. Also present were City Manager, Anne Marie Gaura, and Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University, Paul Kassel. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION Chair Johnson asked for someone to make a motion to approve the agenda, which was made by Mr. Boey. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hoey and was carried on a voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION Chair Johnson requested a motion for approval of the minutes. Mr. Pietens moved to approve minutes. Mr. Boey seconded the motion. Motion carried on voice vote. BUSINESS 1. Collaborative Opportunities with NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts Planner Michnick introduces Dean Kassel and provided a background of the projects that the commission has been engaged in, and their desire to work with the art programs at NIU to introduce more public art into the community. Dean Kassel introduced himself to the commission and stated that he also had a desire to see more engagement of art students in the community. His vision for achieving this revolves around incorporating public art in the community into the curriculum of students. With how busy students are during the semester, one-off projects that have a call out to artists may not result in the desired engagement and submissions. Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission December 19, 2016 Page 2 of 2 Embedding community engagement into the curriculum could result in a more sustainable and effective program that is continual and responsive to the current times and trends. Dean Kassel stated that it would ultimately this would bring more vitality to the community and improve the quality of life, which the group agreed with. Dean Kassel explained that art should S.E.A.P. into the community. This acronym stands for sustainable, engaged (predictive), accessible, and permeable. Dean Kassel provided both good and bad examples of communities with universities and their engagement in the community in regards to art. Grand Rapids, Michigan, home to Western Michigan University is a good example. There is a public-private partnership devoted to public art, and the community hosts one of the largest art festivals in the nation. An example of poor engagement was Poughkeepsie, New York. There are comparisons that can be made to DeKalb. Poughkeepsie had a devastated downtown, similar to the struggles of downtown DeKalb. The University there was looking to create a maker’s space in a former underwear factory, but the project never gained traction and several members of the community spoke out against the project. Dean Kassel also shared two documents with the commission of resources and examples of programs that could be modeled. Those documents have been attached as Exhibit “A” and Exhibit “B”. The commission and Dean Kassel discussed specific projects that they had interest in pursuing, including: • The railroad underpass on Annie Glidden, just south of Lincoln Highway • Window Painting/Cling program for vacant windows • Using lights to illuminate the side of McCabe’s • More festivals like ArtiGras and the Art Walk • Collaborative art projects between the community artists and university artists • Monument sign on Annie Glidden and in downtown area Dean Kassel stated that truly effective programming would take time, and that the community would need to be patient and persistent. It may take five or six years to get things really going, especially with events. There are already great things going and too many “best kept secrets” in the community, such as the steel drum band. We need to do a better job of telling those stories. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Chair Johnson requested a motion for adjournment. Mr. Boey moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Mr. Mooney. Motion carried on voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 5:02 p.m. _____________________________________ Jason Michnick, Economic Development Planner