Public Art Committee

Durham Cultural Advisory Board PUBLIC ART COMMITTEE Meeting, August 26, 2014, 8:00 a.m. Adaron Hall, Durham Arts Council MINUTES Members Present: ___ Joanne Andrews _X_ Kathy Bartlett ___ Dot Browne _X_ Dan Ellison _X_ Steven Gatlin _X_ Mark Hough _X_ Noel James _X_ Chris Ogden (Chair) _X_ Charlene Reiss _X_ Julie Rhodes ___ Karen Slotta _X_ Gail Williams OEWD Staff Present: _X_ Peter Coyle Also Present: Kevin Lilley, Rene Leverty, Sherry DeVries, Colin Copeland The meeting was called to order by Chair Chris Ogden at 8:03 a.m. Chris Ogden welcomed the new members of the committee. Returning and new members introduced themselves. Ogden thanked Mark Hough for his past service as committee chair. Colin Copeland, of Caktus Consulting Group, introduced himself and expressed an interest in participating in a discussion of ways to increase business cooperation with the public art program. Mark Hough made a motion to accept the minutes of the July 22, 2014 meeting. Noel James seconded the motion. It was approved unanimously. Ogden reviewed the rules and procedures of the committee and provided an overview of the committee’s structure and its role as an advisory body to the Durham city government and the Cultural Advisory Board. The committee discussed creating an online repository for committee-related documents to allow new members to quickly become familiar with the committee’s history and “institutional memory.” The repository will hold the resolution creating the Committee, the past minutes, public arts process/procedure/planning documents, project documents, and other relevant resources. It will placed on a web site for all to access the information. Peter Coyle agreed to work with the city’s information technology staff to do that. Ogden reviewed the terminology used by the committee and referred members to committee documents, which had been forwarded to the committee members in advance of the meeting. Coyle reviewed the City Council resolution which created the City’s public art program and authorized the creation of the committee. Ogden opened a discussion of potential subject matters for the committee to consider and take action on in coming meetings. This included a discussion of the need for the committee to establish realistic priorities for the coming year and define what “success” would look like. The current funding mechanism for public art in the City and the need to develop or encourage more resources was discussed. Mark Hough suggested that the committee needs to come to a clear understanding of the goals. Is the committee primarily a reactive body, to review and approve proposals brought to it, or a proactive group, to initiate projects? He suggested the need to avoid potential conflicts of interest if it does both. He suggested that the priorities of the committee should be based on the committee functions defined by the City Council in the Public art Policy Resolution of November 2011. Ogden asked if the committee would be interested in scheduling a retreat, to allow for more extended discussion than is possible in the structure of the monthly meetings. Six committee members expressed their preference that time be set aside in regular meetings for this discussion over several meetings if necessary. Two members expressed interest in a retreat. Three members suggested that emails could be used for discussion between meetings of issues to be discussed and finalized in meetings. Kathy Bartlett suggested that if a retreat is to occur it would be better to wait until new members are more familiar with the committee’s work. Charlene Reiss suggested that the meeting time could be extended to two hours for a one or more special meetings in the regular monthly schedule, focusing on priority discussions. Ogden raised the issue of the scheduling of the regular meeting times for the coming year and indicated that some members would prefer that the committee not have 8:00 a.m. meetings. He also indicated that the Hayti Heritage Center had offered to host the meetings. He will send out a doodle poll with suggestions for alternate meeting times. Coyle reported that work is moving forward on the completion of the Civil Rights Mural project. He noted that due to weather and other issues the completion date has been delayed. The contract with the artist has been extended until October 31. The artist is hopeful she can complete the mural in September. Coyle and Kevin Lilley, a City of Durham General Services staff member, updated the committee on the Status of the Liberty Arts donation of a sculpture from the Bull City Sculpture Show. The City staff is in discussion with the artist concerning maintenance issues and various legal rights issues. It is hoped that the issues and a staff recommendation on a location for the work can be completed by mid-September. Coyle reported that the Downtown Durham Incorporated donation of a sculpture by Al Frega for CCB Plaza has been delayed by an illness by the artist but that it is hoped the piece can be completed and installed by the end of September. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 a.m.