Public Art Committee

Durham Cultural Advisory Board’s PUBLIC ART COMMITTEE Meeting, Oct 19, 2016 8:30 a.m. at City Hall Members Present: Jennie Barbour Kathy Bartlett X Margaret DeMott X Dan Ellison X Chris Ogden (Chair) Nola Paterni X Charlene Reiss Julie Rhodes X Katie Seiz X Sarah Serventi Gail Williams General Services: Stacey Poston, Jessica Kemp, Dave Delcambre The meeting was called to order by Chris Ogden at 8:35 a.m. The minutes, with one edit to remove the reference to Charlene from the PAN process, from the September meeting were motioned for approval by Sarah Serventi, and the motion was seconded by Charlene Reiss. The motion passed with one abstention. Chris updated the committee about the $29M sale of the University Ford property. Consensus was to reach out to the owners to begin discussions about public art in the development planning process. Chris also informed the committee of the population growth trajectory for Durham, which is expected to grow by 36% to 750,000 + residents by 2040. Committee concurred that other cities experiencing similar growth patterns are spending more money on public art, and Durham should do the same. Chris thanked Stacey Poston for her work on the RFQ for the county to include public art in the renovation process of the Durham County Judicial Building. The committee discussed location of the building, and Stacey informed the committee that she would be working with the city, county and public art officials once the RFQ was released for bids. Charlene Reiss stated the importance of “way finding” with public art in the city and county municipal buildings in Durham. Chris reminded the committee to join the Public Art Network (PAN) listserve and to use their membership to explore a wealth of relevant info, and informed the group about the upcoming annual PAN conference on June 16-18 in San Francisco. Chris shared updates on the Liberty Warehouse Arts Wall project, for which the City Council approved accepting $25,000 from the developer… The City previously entered into a Party Wall and Easement Agreement with Liberty Warehouse Apartments which was approved by City Council in 2014 (DB October 19, 2016 Durham Public Art Committee Minutes page 1 of 6  7545 Page 765). This Agreement empowered the City Manager to specifically determine the terms of an art donation by the developer. At the direction of the City Manager, the General Services Department is collaborating with Liberty Warehouse Apartments, LLC to facilitate the donation of $25,000 to the City to be utilized for Public Art on the Historic Liberty Warehouse Wall overlooking Durham Central Park. Once these funds are received, the City will collaborate with the Public Art Committee, Durham Arts Council and Durham Central Park, Inc. to develop a process to issue an RFQ and formulate an artist selection panel for commissioned public artwork. To orient the committee to the location, Chris projected photos from the street, illustrating that only some street locations will offer a view of the wall. The best street view seems to be from the skate park, which will probably become obstructed up by upcoming shade trees (as per Erin Kaufman, Central Park director). Thus, the wall likely be most visible to those in the interior of the park. Chris approached Erin about the project and she said that the Central Park committee are in agreement to use the wall for public art. Charlene and Margaret agreed it would be an interesting use of public art to make the wall a hidden surprise, and to include elements of trompe l’oeil. Chris also thanked Sherry DeVries for her work on lighting information that was compiled for the Corcoran/Ramseur Parking deck, which will be helpful in considering other lighting options for Liberty Warehouse wall and Police Headquarters. The committee agreed that it would be helpful to set aside a task force of the PAC, local businesses, the developer, and Central Park to ensure the public art on the warehouse wall was in keeping with all the stakeholders’ needs. Sarah volunteered to begin the process of building the task force, and Chris said he would introduce Erin to Sarah to begin the process. Dave offered to work on collecting images to guide the eventual RFQ process and even do some Photoshop mockups. Charlene also mentioned the use of some her Pinterest board images to begin the brainstorming process. Stacy, Jessica, and Katie all mentioned names of people we could connect to serve on the task force, and Stacey requested to be kept in the loop about the project moving forward. We will inquire with Central Park on feasibility of matching funds. In terms of the types of art, brainstorming included:  Light Sculpture (cool, but probably add a zero to budget)  Bas Relief Sculpture  Canvas Banners - photo(s) of old durham/liberty warehouse history, painting(s) - abstract / representational?  Kinetic Sculpture / Mobile  on removable panels (that could be changed out)? o Graffiti / Cartoons o Traditional Mural Chris cautioned that we be sure to include a budget to maintain whatever is installed. Stacey Poston gave an update on General Services. She informed the committee that she was moving forward with an intern position, whom once on board starting around October 19, 2016 Durham Public Art Committee Minutes page 2 of 6 January, will assist her with grant writing and aide in moving the public art through the procedural steps in the city. Stacey introduced Dave Delcambre to the committee, and his art and design background. The committee was pleased to hear about his past work, and his new work with the scoring sheets, and design aide in putting together idea images for the garage banners for HPC. In discussion, Dan Ellison mentioned he could assist Dave in this process, and updating the RFQ boiler plate language. Chris reiterated that the RFQ should reflect the scope of the public art project, and include budget targets to help artists understand project scope. Jessica Kemp also informed the committee of alternative options of adding a look book with the RFQ to help artists have an idea of the expectations and ideas. Stacey also updated the committee on the public art website for Durham. She was in the process of discussing the ownership of the website with the Nasher. The committee concurred that the website directory of public art should be larger than just murals. Dan agreed and wanted to emphasize there were tangential items like the audio descriptions that needed to be housed with the directory. Margaret reminded the committee of the first inventory of public art, and Charlene emphasized the need to continually update the directory with new art. Stacey wanted to meet with the city, public arts committee, and Nasher to determine the next steps. Charlene and Margaret agreed, and stated that the upkeep of this directory should be specifically stated in a city, or Nasher employee’s job description to ensure its longevity. Jessica added that the use of apps with tags for the art could be really helpful in filling in the gaps of the current directory. This would help the database grow organically. Jessica also mentioned exploring the crowd source model of the Falling Fruit App and involving the Code for Durham. Chris mentioned involving the Caktus Group who previously offered to help. Charlene emphasized that importance of including the temporary art, and involving the community in the process of tagging art. The committee agreed that it would be best to keep the data in an open source platform. Stacey updated the committee on the design update at Police Headquarters. We are in a holding pattern around costing items while the $50M bid package works through the process. Dave mentioned issues with the UDO which strives to keep downtown as uniform as possible, which works against creative art pieces. Stacey mentioned that the public right of way and the green space in front of the police headquarters could become an issue to comply with UDO, but we could possibly replace trees with art. Chris asked whether we might work around some of the UDO design restrictions by citing security concerns. Jessica informed the committee of possible changes at UDO. General Services has hired Nia Rodgers, formerly of Planning, who might be a good information conduit. Chris will be reaching out to Drew to involve the county in the upcoming conversations with UDO. Stacey mentioned that Matt at DDI was still working on the Main Street lighting project. October 19, 2016 Durham Public Art Committee Minutes page 3 of 6 Stacey informed the committee of the status of the Carry Forward Budget. Stacey put in the appropriate paper work for the funds, but the current proposed budget to City Council does not seem to include the $160,000 for (Neighborhood Improvement) public art funds. Stacey urged the committee to reach out to their city council representatives to inform them of this change. Chris concurred, and is drafting a letter to city council. Dan and Charlene are both reaching out to city council members. The committee unanimously agreed this was an urgent action item for the committee. Margaret gave an update on the SmART Grant. She informed the committee that the parking deck, and back porch area was the first priority for the grant. Stacey gave update on Dave’s help with the project, and Margaret concurred and was very grateful for his help with the imagery and renderings for the garage. The stakeholders are in the process of reviewing the RFQ. Margaret also reiterating the lighting concerns, and noted the group was working with the DPAC designers to ensure the lighting was effective and safe. Dave mentioned the importance of street scape and ground plane art with lighting, and Margaret informed the committee that DDI estimated that the street would be stable for approximately 6 months, before it was repaved etc. Charlene concurred and reiterated that the art should be durable. Stacey said she would attend the next work session, and work with the Jack Tar group on the art outside front door area. Margaret, Dan, and Chris addressed the plaza and hoped that 21C would take over the area. Dan informed the committee that the restaurant space would be accessible in February of 2017. Dan will connect Chris with Greg Hills, whom he sees at the Washington Duke regularly. Chris asked about the potential for art in the Hendrix project. Stacey mentioned she would ask the developers about public art. Chris said he would be happy to work to inform them of the variance options to include % of public art, as a value add. Stacey will introduce Chris to the appropriate project contacts. In Brian’s stead, Chris transitioned the meeting to discuss public art in and surrounding City Hall Viewshed. Chris informed the committee of options for public art around City Hall and the Black Wall Street project, as the defining points of the area to be considered. Stacey also included Rotary Park. Stacey is meeting with Eno Ventures to discuss public art in the Rotary Park on Oct. 28, at 8:30 am. Margaret will be attending as well. Since it’s likely that Rotarians will have their own budget and personnel, the committee agreed to focus on other parts of the viewshed. The Committee agreed it was important to incorporate public art in the Smart Art corridor, Rotary Park, and Black Wall Street. The committee discussed the various options for public art around City Hall. The funding for this art would be directly coming from the Carry Forward funds in question. The committee determined that the art should be dynamic, and the group discussed options for live walls on the parking deck to prevent a heat island, as well October 19, 2016 Durham Public Art Committee Minutes page 4 of 6 as sculptures for the front of City Hall. Stacey reminded the group the pad was already built to hold a sculpture. Several committee members agreed we should try to have a sculpture from a local collection on loan for the City Hall entrance. The committee also agreed to the following list of places to prioritize placing/using public art... City Hall Viewshed Public Art Prioritized List (Working DRAFT) 2016-10-20 by Chris Ogden with the PAC Strawman to start community input conversations... • City Hall Sculpture Pad - get a significant/important piece, not just "plunk art." Procure a more challenging/engaging/signature piece, possibly a Dynamic Sculpture (eg, smoke dragon in Chapel Hill, Vol Simpson Whirligigs, Light Sculpture, wind, etc.) Possibly explore (temporarily) borrowing a piece from Masher / NCMA / NCCU / Liberty Arts / etc. •Parking Deck- East Wall • Get on board with other movements across the USA to make it not "read" as a parking deck. • Explore Live Walls (like at Duke) adding green downtown which will chip away at the heat island. 50ft vines are like trees. Might start in pots in the garage until grow up on structure. Kudzu Wall (tongue in cheek, maybe) note: May need to boost the lights and security cameras inside the deck. • Explore Patrick Doherty type sculpture or Thomas Sayre • Light Panels would be very cool, changeable, programmable, etc. but likely way out of budget • Already doing banners at SmART deck, so ideally do something different. •Parking Deck- East Greenspace Triangle (where Kevin Lilley recently added some benches and pavers) • Possibly "connect" with Parking Deck Wall with attached cascading metal sculpture • look at adding more comfortable seating, tables, with game pieces/charging outlets •Traffic Signal Control Boxes (two of them - low hanging fruit with printed vinyl wraps, paint like other cities) •City Hall Plaza Crosswalks and/or intersection striping (ala Mik Young Kim SmART Grant ground plane art); (City Street so no NC DOT needed) •City Hall Brown Wall (below Tom’s window) - possibly visually connect with Parking Deck East Wall to ground plane type art? Changing light panels? See Pinterest October 19, 2016 Durham Public Art Committee Minutes page 5 of 6  •Black Wall Street South (working with neighborhood group; may want to leave open spaces; Duke Power transformer cardinals; placemaking likely a priority here; activate the spaces with inexpensive movable furniture, checkers/chess pieces, etc.?) Honor Howard Clement? • Parking Deck - South (lower priority given the # of trees blocking the view) •Inside of City Hall (local art programming? incl. some students?) •Frontier Building - 3 Bays (low hanging fruit; potentially diff. programmed seasonally by different groups?) • Before I die wall? A super low hanging fruit for one of the bays at the Frontier Building (across from City Hall) and/or green space could be a “Before I Die” wall. I ‘ve experienced them at Look3 and at the Waterworks Museum where I had work hanging. Quite different and quite moving… http://beforeidie.cc/site/ •Black Wall Street North (Winding Out there; note: not a park, GSA maintains) •Deck West •Deck North •Deck Elevator Tower •City Hall low ceiling overhang when come out from ground floor (lower public visibility/priority) •Orange Street/Alleys (connect local businesses? social media - play spaces, ground plane art?) •Rotary Park (help coordinate/strategize, but leverage Rotarians fund raising) •Dumpsters (problematic given their uses, but maybe future) The group left the conference room, and took a walk around the perimeter of City Hall and up and down N Magnum in the viewshed. The group commented on the location of the “City Hall” wall, and it’s prominence to both those going to City Hall, and all patrons entering downtown via Mangum. The committee agreed that ground plane art would be very effective in Black Wall Street Plaza and Orange Street. The walk was helpful for the entire committee. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted by Sarah Serventi October 19, 2016 Durham Public Art Committee Minutes page 6 of 6