Public Art Committee
Regular MeetingDurham, NC · March 20, 2019
Minutes
Public Art Committee
SUMMARY MINUTES
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 8:30am
General Services Department
Committee Members Present
Simon Betsalel Caitlin Margaret Kelly Katie Seiz*, Chair
Mya Castillo-Marte Chris Ogden* Wade Williams
Margaret DeMott* Charlene Reiss *Cultural Advisory Board
Kyesha Jennings Laura Ritchie member
City of Durham Present
Alex Benson, GSD Stacey Poston, GSD Annette Smith, DPR
Laura Biediger, NIS Jina Propst, GSD
Others Present
Linda Salguero, DCE Rachel Wexler*, DDI
I. Call to Order and Guest Introductions
8:35am
II. Approval of Minutes
MOTION: Motion to approve Public Art Committee summary minutes from January 16, 2019 and
February 20, 2019.
(Kelly, Castillo-Marte 2nd)
ACTION: Motion passed. 10-0.
III. Adjustments to the Agenda
i. Hillside Basketball Court Project, Annette Smith
The City of Durham Department of Parks and Recreation was approached by FILA and the
Grant Hill Foundation as part of their national corporate engagement program. As part of
this multi-year project, the FILA and the Grant Hill Foundation are working together to
renovate basketball courts in three communities important to Grant Hill: Durham,
Detroit, and Orlando. To continue the project, Grant Hill and FILA plan to come back to
Durham in 2020 to coach a 3-on-3 tournament at Hillside Park.
Public Art Committee
The renovations include three courts total with one mural to help activate the lower end
of the park and help regain a sense of security for residents. The conceptual piece was
designed by Sarahlaine Calva, the artist selected to complete a park project in East
Durham last year. Currently, this project is still “under wraps” and information about the
project should be shared sparingly. FILA is coordinating the majority of communication
materials but the Public Art Committee will be notified when social media posts start
going live. On April 13th at 9 am, a Ribbon Cutting will be held at Hillside Park with Grant
Hill in attendance. Committee members are encouraged to come.
ii. Durham County Public Art Policy, Linda Salguero
Linda Salguero, a Project Manager with Durham County Engineering, is working to
establish a Public Art Policy for Durham County. Durham County went with a full 1% for
public art in their proposal to the Durham County Commission. However, the County will
not have a staff person for public art if it is passed and will likely be a .25 FTE position.
Since the adopting policy will likely mirror the public art program that the City has in
place, the goal is to have a joint City-County Public Art Policy with the approval process
for artists and artwork going to the Public Art Committee. If passed, the County
anticipates 3-4 large projects a year. Durham County Commission meets on April 1st to
decide on whether or not to proceed with the draft Public Art Policy.
The Request for Qualifications for public art at the Durham County Library received 209
applicants and about 40 of those applicants have been shortlisted. The Artist Selection
Committee is continuing to work towards gathering Finalists.
IV. Announcements and Presentations
i. Retreat in April, Katie Seiz
The Public Art Committee Retreat has been moved to April 17th, 2019 from 8:30am –
1pm. It will take place at the Duke Arts Annex Center and will be broken into three
segments: 1) Reviewing Mission/Value Statement as a team; 2) “Nuts & Bolts”
presentation and discussion around general processes/funding; and 3) Activity around
prioritizing public art projects. Catering will be done by Saladelia and Committee
members are to fill out the “PAC Retreat 2019 – Menu Selection” Google Spreadsheet.
Resource materials for the “Nuts & Bolts” segment will be sent out at least a week in
advance to the Retreat for review. Members should come to the Retreat with their
questions noted.
V. New Business
i. Neighborhood Matching Grants, Laura Biediger
Laura Biediger, the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Neighborhood
Improvement Department, came to discuss potential opportunities for public art funded
Public Art Committee
by Neighborhood Matching Grants. In its previous years, this grant has funded needs-
based projects ranging from clean-ups and community gardens to walking trails and food
pantries in neighborhoods around Durham. These grants fund up to $2,500 in costs and
require some sort of matching component – whether it be cash, in-kind donations, or
volunteer hours. The grants are open for any resident to apply that has a neighborhood
improvement project in mind. The only restrictions are that no more than $250 be used
to pay for food or beverages and the funds cannot be used to pay utility bills. There are
two cycles of the Neighborhood Matching Grant per fiscal year and about 12 projects are
funded.
The department has been contacted about these grants being used to fund public art
projects but haven’t received any applications for it yet. The Public Art Committee and
Program have been tasked with creating an information packet on planning a public art
project, technical assistance, project examples, local resources, and potential Public Art
Committee liaisons, etc. to present to residents looking to fund public art projects in their
neighborhoods through this grant program.
ii. Budgeting 101, Stacey Poston
Stacey Poston, Special Projects Manager, provides a quick presentation on the various
pools of funding that the Public Art Program is able to use.
The City funding sources include: CIP Funding up to 1%, CIP Public Art Specific Projects,
Participatory Budgeting, Departmental Funds, and Management Agreements.
- CIP Funding up to 1%: When 1% of total Capital Improvement Project
budgets are allocated specifically for public art to be created (Examples:
Solid Waste Management, Hoover Road Athletic Complex)
- CIP Public Art Specific Projects: The City Manager recommends up to 1% of
the general CIP budget be set aside in the Project Fund for Public Art. For
the last two years, the Cultural and Public Art Program has received
$75,000 specifically for public art projects.
- Participatory Budgeting: Residents and City Departments have been
working on proposing projects to be funded by the City. There are two
public art projects in line for this year’s Participatory Budgeting: the
Fayetteville Street Corridor starting at Hayti Heritage Center and the
Durham Convention Center area. Public voting opens in May. Funding gets
approved July 1st.
- Departmental Funds: The General Services Department receives
operational and staff funding for the Public Art Program from the City.
- Management Agreements: GSD has agreements that the City manages but
other entities operate that include funding tied to cultural activities
Public Art Committee
(Examples: Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham Convention Center,
etc.)
Alternate funding sources include: Grants, Donations, Development
Agreements, Private Funding, and Partnerships.
- Grants: The City applies for grant funding for projects from outside
sources. (Examples: Duke student grants, Walmart Community Grant,
AARP, etc.)
- Donations: Donations from individuals or foundations to the City that are
specifically allocated for public art or cultural events. (Example: The City
received a $10,000 private donation to help mitigate costs for renovations
at Black Wall Street Gardens)
- Development Agreements: A legally binding contract between a Developer
and the City that includes terms related to the allocation of funding for
public art. (Examples: Liberty Warehouse Apartments and the Pixel Wall,
Miracle League Ballpark and fencing for public art)
- Private Funding: When an external entity comes to the City wanting to do a
project using City-owned resources. (Examples: Hillside Park Renovations
by FILA/Grant Hill Foundation)
- Partnerships: When other entities want to share resources with the City for
one public art initiative (Example: pop-up Trash Can Bouquet Installations
by the North Carolina Museum of Art)
The funding pools will be expanded upon at the Public Art Committee Retreat. A
potential agenda item for the Retreat is to identify the larger projects that the City wants
to tackle over a 3-5 year period and creating a way for committee members to track
upcoming grants. A requested agenda item for May is to begin moving forward with
logistics around making the Department of Parks and Recreation an official fiscal agent
for the Public Art Program. Another requested agenda item for May is establishing best
practices for individuals wanting to volunteer with the City’s Cultural and Public Art
Program.
iii. Pre-Qualified Artist Registry, Alex Benson
Committee members have suggested filtering the artists into different groups tiered on
their artistic merit and portfolio. The groups categorizing the applicants would be divided
by: 1) Artists who are absolutely pre-qualified and are ready to be commissioned for
public art; 2) Applicants with a strong portfolio who will be contacted for professional
development opportunities; 3) Applicants who would qualify for potential
apprenticeships/mentorships; 4) Applicants who will be contacted on all Calls for Artists
and public art opportunities. The Public Art Committee will work on finalizing a rubric
Public Art Committee
with criteria identifying which applicants belong into which categories.
A joint-task force group was suggested to work together and sift through the robust
number of applicants to the registry. One person from each Task Force would meet
together to discuss options on how the rubric should be structured and the joint-task
force would begin sorting applicants into the pre-determined categories.
As requested by the Committee, the Pre-Qualified Artist Registry’s deadline has been
extended to July 31, 2019 to ensure the maximum amount of local and regional artists.
The Public Art Committee will work together to optimize outreach for the Registry in the
Durham-Triangle area.
iv. Museum of the Moon, Stacey Poston
Presentation on this information has been moved to the Retreat on April 17, 2019.
VI. Updates/Old Business
i. Public Art Committee Task Team Highlights
a. Advocacy and Project Cultivation: Simon Betsalel, Charlene Reiss, Laura Ritchie, Chris
Ogden
Committee member Laura Ritchie was contacted by artist Stacey Kirby to discuss
potential locations for her temporary public art project hosted by For Freedoms. This
sparked the request for the City to have some sort of a platform similar to the
“matchmaking” project run by the Raleigh Murals Project that allows for artists and
building owners to connect if they’d like to involve one another. The City is currently
working on expanding partnership opportunities with Mural Durham and igniting Mural
Durham as a middle platform between the City and the public. The City is now able to
act as a back-end editor on Mural Durham platforms.
There is also opportunity for a collection of murals to be installed at the University Hill
development/mixed-use development at 15-501 by private development planning.
This Task Force Team requests for the Public Art Committee to be making sure all
members are up to date about public art opportunities and city-funded projects that
can be passed onto artists while also cultivating relationships and building information
sources with other private entities.
b. Capacity Building for Local Artists: Margaret DeMott, Kyesha Jennings, Caitlin Margaret
Kelly, Mya Castillo Marte, Chris Ogden, Wade Williams
This Task Force Team has been working diligently on developing guiding best practices
for “Apprenticeships” and “Artist-Mentee Matchmaking”. While each apprenticeship
Public Art Committee
will undoubtedly be on a case-by-case basis, the Committee suggests utilizing
interviews to determine which potential apprentices would fit best with each project.
Committee members that wish to contribute to the working document are requested
to submit their comments in the side-bar of the Google document.
c. Community Engagement, Communication, and Outreach: Johanna Rose Burwell,
Caroline Dwyer, Kyesha Jennings, Chantal Winston
Team not present during Committee meeting. Updates to be shared via Google Drive.
d. Public Art Committee Governance: Simon Betsalel, Caitlin Margaret Kelly, Stacey
Poston, Charlene Reiss, Katie Seiz, Chantal Winston
The Mission and Values statement is continuing to be fine-tuned and is now formatted
in an official proposal draft uploaded to Google Drive where Committee members have
the ability to comment. There have been no updates on the Chair and Vice Chair
positions – the defined roles are also continuing to be finalized. Simon Betsalel has
offered to act as the “Interim” Vice Chair.
VII. Adjournment
10:06am
Respectfully submitted,
Alexandra Y. Benson
Agenda
Public Art Committee
AGENDA
March 20, 2019 at 8:30am
General Services Department
Committee Members
Simon Betsalel Caroline Dwyer (Call-in?) Charlene Reiss
Johanna Rose Burwell Valerie Gillispie* Laura Ritchie *** CALL IN
Marcella Camara Kyesha Jennings Katie Seiz*, Chair
Mya Castillo-Marte Caitlin Margaret Kelly Wade Williams
Margaret DeMott* Chris Ogden * Chantal Winston (Call-in?)
* Cultural Advisory Board member
Annette Smith
Rachel Wexler
Laura Biediger (neighborhood improvement department)
Linda Selaria (Durham County Engineering)
Jina Propst
I. Call to Order and Guest Introductions
8:35 am
II. Approval of Minutes
Motion to approve (
(Caitlin 1st, Mya 2nd)
III. Adjustments to the Agenda
i. Hillside Basketball Court Project, Annette Smith (5 minutes)
Approached by FILA; create a national corporate engagement program
centered around Grant Hill career right now
Renovating basketball courts in three communities important to Hill: Durham, Detroit,
and Orlando
Parks that were popular; parks linked to Grant Hill; Hill took summer school courses at
NCCU
Conceptual piece by Sarahlaine Calva (also selected to do park project at East Durham
last year)
used to be only recreational center for people of color
pressure washing done last week; entire refurbishment of the courts; re-painting, re-
landscaping
Call-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Conference Code: 769537
Public Art Committee
April 13th at 9am – Ribbon Cutting at Hillside Park (Grant Hill in attendance) (Duke
alumnae weekend)
Multi-year project; Grant and Jerry coming back next year to coach a 3-on-3 tournament
at the courts
Funding split 50/50 between FILA and Grant Hill Foundation
will have a PR letter/FILA coordinating majority of communication materials, some
collaboration with DPR
PAC and CAB to be notified when social media posts start going on
3 courts total; one court with a mural
courts located in “lower” part of park that were originally not as activated
help regain sense of safety and security in the park
IV. Announcements and Presentations
i. Retreat in April, Katie (5 minutes)
Retreat moved to April 17th at Duke Arts Annex Center
8am – 1pm
Broken into three parts:
Mission/Value reviewing as a team
Nuts & Bolts piece – questions around processes
Activity around project queue – which projects to prioritize
Catering done by Saladelia
All materials sent at least a week in advance to PAC for “Nuts & Bolts” review
V. New Business
i. Neighborhood Matching Grants, Laura Biediger (15 minutes)
Community Engagement Coordinator with Neighborhood Improvement Department
Beginning of 4th year for this grant
Helping residents connect to City; residents connect to residents
projects include: clean-ups, community gardens, walking trails, food pantry, etc.
all neighborhoods identify their own need
low barriers; doesn’t need to be a 501c3 to apply
up to $2500
Matching: in-kind donations, volunteer hours (valued at $24.69 each), and cash
People have contacted Laura about public art; applications haven’t necessarily come in
yet
neighborhoods understanding public art process / how to paint the mural / etc.
usually 12 projects a year
two cycles per year (deadlines on handout)
application and selection process remain the same
provide guidance to neighborhood on how to plan a public art project
information packets, discussion sessions
Call-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Conference Code: 769537
Public Art Committee
$2500 could be used to pay an artist; no more than $250 can be used to pay for
food/beverages; can’t be used to pay utility bills
Southside Community project utilized public art
A lot of people call and are interested
Next steps: list of local resources, technical assistance, project examples, etc.
PAC members could choose individuals to be “technical liaison” or it could be done on a
project-by-project basis
ground-plane projects by city not related to neighborhood improvement grants
do neighborhoods adopt a project and stick with it? What is the reality of these projects?
project period is only a 3-month project; part of application process about sustainability
and maintenance
applications range all over
could be a full info session; could be a one-pager
is there a tiered list of potential projects that would fit within a $2500 budget?
could be applied for once a year; potentially projects could be done in “phases”
application is hardest part of process – ultimately a project plan
City to create a list of projects done within different budgets ($1500 traffic boxes, $3500
morreene rd park)
BIG RESOURCE SHEET WITH POTENTIAL PAC LIASIONS and local resources; potentially
capacity building for local artists Task Force to take-on creating that list
ii. Budgeting 101, Stacey Poston (20 minutes)
City funding and other sources of funding
City Funding: CIP up to %1, management agreements, departmental funds, participatory
budgeting, CIP Public Art Specific Projects
CIP Public Art Specific Projects – last two years received $75k as a department specifically
for public art projects; talking about dedicating those funds at the retreat
Participatory Budgeting – residents have been working on proposing projects, budget
delegates involved, two public art projects (Fayetteville Street Corridor starting at Hayti
Center) and Durham Convention Center area; funding gets approved July 1st
Departmental funds: GSD receives operational funding
Management agreements: GSD has agreements that the City manages but other people
host out (DPAC, DAC, Convention Center, etc.) funding tied to cultural stuff
long-term lease agreement with Convention Center
is participatory budgeting voting open to public? PUBLIC VOTING IN MAY
Other Sources: Grants, donations, partnerships, private funding, development
agreements
$10k donation to BWSG work
Development agreements – developer comes to city and wants something (easements);
pixel wall funded by development funder, matched with City
blue Heron developing apartment complex near Durham Central Park; $13,000 for public
Call-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Conference Code: 769537
Public Art Committee
art in that development agreement
Miracle League ballpark easement – get a fence on their property; donating construction
of fence to put art on
private funding – grant hill foundation example, someone comes to City and wants to do
something on city property; Corcoran project similar to that
various partnerships – Art in Bloom trash can bouquets examples
Grants – Duke student grants, Walmart community grant, AARP, etc.
Caitlin – donations, DPR being collection point for donations. Can we start moving
forward to make that an official partnership? Logistics of DPR/PAC agreement; are they
the best fiscal sponsor? How to move forward to get it done? Potential agenda item
Writing grants – anyone on PAC participating in the grant writing process? Charlene
participated in creative placemaking grant process two years ago
PAC work on grant research and identifying areas
using the retreat to identify priorities for what PAC/Public Art Program wants to work on
in the next two years
Mya: people who want to volunteer their time? Potential volunteer grant writers? Is that
an agenda item? MAY DISCUSSION
replicating the funding source information as part of orientation materials (just “beef” it
out)
Agenda item for retreat (Charlene): identify over time the larger projects (smart corridor,
etc.), knowing that we want them but don’t necessarily have money for them; then we
can immediately pull those when youre about to apply for a grant
what would we do with a million dollars?
a lot easier to find funding if you know what project youre wanting to do
Z Smith Reynolds Foundation
iii. Pre-Qualified Artist Registry, Alex Benson (10 minutes)
*filtering the artists into different groups (absolutely pre-qualified, a group of people that
are signed up for professional development projects; potential apprenticeships/mentees,
“but they still get information” group. Could be notified for) clearly defined criteria for
that
we’re trying to encourage other artists to apply for these projects
diverse pool of applicants; some people are technically skilled but aren’t logistically
skilled;
Why have a registry if it doesn’t have a deadline?
1-2 year registry list helps keep the list updated
apprenticeships: we see you have potential
where are these artists from? Are we getting good responses from our group in
NC/durham/this region? Are they from elsewhere?
Should task teams create this rubric?
joint-task force group (one person from each task force to meet together and discuss
Call-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Conference Code: 769537
Public Art Committee
options on how the rubric should be structured)
An email sent out to PAC to come up with these recommendations (Mya volunteered)
iv. Museum of the Moon, Stacey Poston (10 minutes)
MOVED TO RETREAT
VI. Updates/Old Business
i. Public Art Committee Task Team’s Highlights (30 minutes, 7.5 min for a, b, c, d)
a. Advocacy and Project Cultivation: Simon Betsalel, Charlene Reiss, Laura Ritchie, Chris
Ogden
Laura: received an email from an artist Stacey Kirby; potential public art project hosted
by For Freedoms; wants to know what her options are to have this project at another
location, funding sources, “matchmaking” project similar to Raleigh Murals Project –
click here if youre an artist or building owner
1. Making sure we’re up to date about public art opportunities, city-funded projects
that can be passed on to artists
2. Cultivating relationships and building information sources with other private
businesses and sources
Working with MuralDurham as a middle platform – City is now available as a back-end
editor on the MuralDurham platforms
public art idea bucket to be presented at retreat?
Private development planning to do a bunch of murals at University Hill development;
mixed-use development at 15501
b. Capacity Building for Local Artists: Margaret DeMott, Kyesha Jennings, Caitlin Margaret
Kelly, Mya Castillo Marte, Chris Ogden, Wade Williams
using different resources on document in task force for reference
commission for artists? Re-structuring budget?
Austin provides stipend for apprentice and travel funds, etc. they choose the
apprentice for the artist
Austin has evaluation of challenges/successes they experienced during the
apprenticeship process
“Apprentice does not have to produce art during his apprenticeship”
add comments to the side of the document
model of matchmaking apprentices and artists – Calvin and BWSG example
interviewing apprentices
a case-by-case basis
Austin lets commission artists draft their mentor proposals themselves
Call-In Number: 1-857-232-0157
Conference Code: 769537
Public Art Committee
c. Community Engagement, Communication, and Outreach: Johanna Rose Burwell,
Caroline Dwyer, Kyesha Jennings, Darin Johnson, Chantal Winston
UPDATES VIA EMAIL – TEAM NOT PRESENT
d. Public Art Committee Governance: Simon Betsalel, Caitlin Margaret Kelly, Stacey
Poston, Charlene Reiss, Katie Seiz, Chantal Winston
mission and values statement has been massaged a bit more – now in an official
proposal draft; pac members can make comments on doc in google drive
focus on: Durham, local artists, transparency, diversity + equity
No updates on vice chair / chair positions
summer term
roles defined
Simon going to grad school and moving; “interim” vice chair
LINDA: project manager with durham county engineering
16 months ago, city council commissioners
public art policy for durham county
county doesn’t have volume of space to do art
will very likely be adopting policy that mirrors what the city is doing with public art
approval process for artists and art would go to Public Art Committee
durham county admin II building – call for artists
library public art project received 209 applicants; shortlisted to about 40
durham county commission meeting April 1, draft documents to decide on whether or
not to proceed with public art policy
joint city-county public art policy
durham county went with a FULL 1% percent for art policy!!!!!
any action item for City percent policy to go up to a full one percent
County will not have a staff person for public art; possible .25 FTE position (could be
Linda)
county anticipates 3-4 projects a year
analyst position: offer to be made soon
VII. Adjournment
10:06am
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