Public Art Committee

Public Art Committee Meeting Summary Minutes Wednesday, September 14, 2022 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Zoom Meeting For more information on how to join, visit: https://durhamnc.gov/453/Public-Art-Committee Committee Members Present Mya Castillo-Marte Nicole Oxendine Caroline Dwyer, Vice-Chair Laura Ritchie Patricia Harris JP Trostle Molly Matlock Committee Members Absent Allison Wilson Abijah Gattis Shante Stewart City, County and Guest Present Rebecca Brown, City of Durham Jeannette Brossart, Artist Brenda Hayes-Bright, Durham County Alexandra Benson, Downtown Durham Linda Salguero, Durham County Aaron Earley, Artist Annette Smith, City of Durham Anna Fiore, Discover Durham David Stein, Duke I. Call to Order and Guest Introductions a. The meeting was called to order at 12:02 a.m. by Vice-Chair Caroline Dwyer. II. Approval of Minutes a. Staff requested to defer the approval of the PAC August meeting minutes until the following meeting, as staff capacity is limited at this time. III. Adjustments to the Agenda a. Staff requested to defer the review of South Ellerbe Restoration Public Art Project’s design review to allow more time for Public Works and City staff to review the submitted design proposal by the artist team. IV. Announcements a. The Artist Capacity Building Survey is open, here: https://www.durhamnc.gov/4723/Local-Artists-Survey. Staff provided a report of the current number of submissions, 49 responses as of 9/14/22 up from the 45 responses received by 8/22/22. Trostle shared a reminder with artist he knew. Harris requested that  staff extend the closing date to November 1, 2022; Harris and Castillo-Marte asked staff to share the responses thus far. Staff will update according to the PAC collective direction. b. Staff shared updates on the Durham Cultural Advisory Board (DCAB) and the Cultural Roadmap updates i. Interlocal Agreement between the City and County is on schedule to be voted on by both elected bodies. Staff will send press release, social media and email to the public once the County Commissioners have adopted the ILA during their Work Session on 10/3/22. ii. The Durham Cultural Advisory Board will appoint members of the Cultural Roadmap Steering Committee beginning during their meeting on 10/19/22. Staff and DCAB members have anticipated that the Steering Committee to be larger than 25 individuals and may have content specific sub-committees as needed. iii. Steering Committee will begin meeting on a monthly basis in November. Staff reported that they are currently drafting RFPs, anticipating the release of Consultant RFP in November 2022. DCAB members and Staff are also including the process to include artists and creative engagement team around the same time. The goal is to have the consultant and Creative Engagement Team to begin work by February of 2023. iv. Caroline Dwyer shared that she will send a template email of support for the Cultural Roadmap directed to elected officials with the Public Art Committee members to edit and share. c. County Public Art Program Updates i. The Durham County’s Public Art Program has closed their Call for Artist on 8/31/22, sharing that the contracting process for the projects will begin after the first of the year. ii. Linda Salguero, Durham County Public Art Coordinator, will retire from Durham County on September 30, 2022. V. New Business and Presentations a. Chair and Vice-Chair Vote i. The Chair and Vice-Chair vote will be held. Currently Caroline Dwyer has been nominated for Chair, with Mya Castillo-Marte, Molly Matlock, and Nicole Oxendine. The members discussed their availability and commitment to the committee. ii. MOTION: To appoint Mya Castillo-Marte for Chair to serve a term of one-year ending July 1, 2023 and Molly Matlock for Vice-Chair to serve a term of one-year ending July 1, 2023. (Dwyer, Trostle 2nd). iii. ACTION: Approved. (6-0). b. New Member Process i. The committee discussed the recommended candidates for the Public Art Committee. Staff shared that Carlos O’Briant was not eligible to serve on the Public Art Committee due a City policy that restricts staff from serving on City boards, committees, and commissions per the City Clerk’s office. Staff informed the committee that recommended members were contacted to confirm their interest prior to the meeting. Two candidates (Myra Weise and Doreen Jakob) did not response to requests for confirming their interest by an established deadline. David McClay was not interested in serving due to a location change. Ritchie recommended that all five of the remaining candidates move forward to the approval process. Oxedine shared that Weise had changed jobs and suggested that staff reconnect with Weise. Oxendine also shared that she would connect  with Weise. ii. Harris recommended to move forward with the slate of nominee that the committee currently has received and recommended. iii. Brown recommended that the committee list the candidates in ranking order, in the event one of the candidates is not available to serve. The committee concurred, ranking based on long-time applicants and their experience. iv. The committee recommended the following in ranking order for the five vacancies, including the following: 1. Myra Weise 2. Doreen Jakob 3. Christina Perkins 4. Kathryn Desplanque 5. Jaime Chaves 6. Ann King v. MOTION: To recommend Myra Weise, Doreen Jakob, Christina Perkins, Kathryn Desplanque, Jaime Chaves, and Ann King in ranking order for the five vacancies to the Durham Cultural Advisory Board for appointment to the Public Art Committee with terms beginning September XX, 2022 and ending on June 30, 2025. (Matlock, Mya 2nd) vi. ACTION: Approved. (7-0) c. Merrick Moore Park – Design Review i. Smith provided a brief introduction to the public art project at Merrick-Moore Park and the nature of the request from the committee. As this is a DPR project, the committee should provide feedback and formal approvals will be held by DPR Department Director. ii. The artist team selected by the community artist selection panel for the project, Aaron Earley and Jeannette Brossart present their concept and described engagement with the Merrick-Moore community thus far. iii. The artist team shared images of the artwork concepts, that included a sculptural seating element that would be monumental in scale. The artist team would like to engage community in the making of mosaics that will be inlayed into the sculptural work. iv. The committee asked the artist team if they had engagement with public historians and spoken with Andre Vann. v. The committee expressed concerns with the thickness of the steel and the laser cut panels’ thinness (3/16” to ¼” inch panels), in addition to concerns about vandalism. The committee was also concerned about the benches retaining heat in the summer. vi. The artist team shared that the: 1. Imagery will be simplified so that it will not be as easy to bend or alter. 2. Mosaic will be installed in concrete on steel panels. 3. Benches will be perforated to cool to some degree; however there is no complete way to cool the benches. d. 2022 Goals for the Public Art Committee i. The committee discuss options for providing dedicated time each month for task forces and discussed which committee members should and can lead the task forces. 1. Support the Durham Cultural Advisory Board’s planning process for the Cultural Road Map. • Laura Ritchie lead • Task force members:  2. Review and recommend training opportunities based on the results of the Capacity Building Survey and input from the Public Art Committee members. Identify capacity building solutions for local artists. Develop mentor and mentee guidelines/opportunities and other artist resources to address local artists' needs. • JP Trostle, lead • Task force members: Mya Castillo-Marte 3. The Public Art Committee will develop the skills needed to assess, identify and address where implicit and explicit bias may impact or affect arts and culture in Durham, in order to develop a set of best practices for public art with a focus on anti-racism, community accountability and equity, and to uplift intergenerational, gender diverse, racially diverse, and LGBTQIA+ artists. • Nicole Oxendine, lead • Task force members: Caroline Dwyer, Patricia Harris ii. The committee noted that Allison Wilson, Shanté Stewart and Abijah Gattis have not committed to the task force work. Stewart and Gattis have attended the monthly meetings since July 2022, and Allison Wilson has not attended since February 2022. iii. The committee asked staff if the meetings could begin to meet in person. Staff shared that the governors order has been rescinded and the committee could meet in person. Staff noted that hybrid meetings are not feasible at this time. iv. Smith shared that she could help connect committees via zoom, if needed. v. Dwyer shared prior to the meeting that the task force groups should meet and come up with action items for each goal. VI. Updates/Old Business VII. Public Questions a. No questions were submitted by the public. VIII. Adjournment a. Final Thoughts and other reminders by Chair/Vice Chair. b. Next Meeting, the Durham Station design review will occur. Additionally, the PAC will discuss a public proposal from the Hayti/Southside History project. c. The meeting was adjourned by Caroline Dwyer at 1:25 p.m. County Durham Public Art Program: https://www.dconc.gov/county-departments/departments-a-e/engineering-and-environmental- services/durham-county-public-art-program City of Durham Cultural & Public Art Program: https://www.durhamnc.gov/450/Cultural-Public-Art-Development Submitted respectively, Annette Smith, Rebecca Brown