Public Art Committee

Public Art Committee Meeting Summary Minutes April 11, 2023 5:45 p.m. to 7:15 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, Chair Christina Perkins Jaime Chaves Laura Ritchie Patricia Harris Myra Weise Doreen Jakob Ann King Molly Matlock, Vice-Chair Committee Members Absent Abijah Gattis Nicole Oxendine Shanté Stewart JP Trostle (excused) City, County, and Guests Present Summer Alston, City of Durham Melody Dawkins, ROI/REDEV Rebecca Brown, City of Durham Taylor White, Artist Annette Smith, City of Durham Alexandra Benson, DDI Stephanie Minor, City of Durham Brenda Hayes-Bright, Durham County I. Call to Order and Guest Introductions a. The meeting was called to order at 5:46 p.m. by Chair Mya Castillo-Marte. II. Approval of February Meeting Minutes. a. MOTION: To approve the minutes from March 14, 2023, meeting. (Matlock, Ritchie 2nd.) b. ACTION: Approved. (7-0.) III. Adjustments to the Agenda a. The Public Art Committee began this meeting below quorum, and attendance and votes were delayed until enough members joined the meeting. IV. Announcements a. City of Durham is Hiring a part-time Cultural and Public Art Coordinator. To apply, visit:  https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/durhamnc/jobs/3972240/cultural-and-public- art-coordinator-part-time?keywords=Art&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs Workdays: Monday – Friday; hours: 29 hours or more per week; compensation: $26.63 - $29.96 hourly; position is posted until filled. V. Old Business a. Cultural Roadmap (CRM) & Cultural Roadmap Planning Group (CRPG) Updates i. The Cultural Roadmap Planning Group (CRPG) has a meeting on Tuesday April 11, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. ii. The contract with AMS Planning & Research, the recommended consultant for the Cultural Roadmap, will be voted on by City Council on April 17, 2023. iii. The Cultural & Public Art Program has an intern starting work this week who will focus on the on the Cultural Roadmap. The intern, Sterling Elliott, is a student at North Carolina Central University. b. Public Art Committee (PAC) Member Appointment and Recommendation Governance Updates i. The PAC Member and PAC Member Student Member application deadline was extended to April 7, 2023. There are two PAC Member vacancies, and three Student Member vacancies. There are currently four PAC Member applications and two PAC Student Member applications. 1. MOTION: To recommend Bren Vienrich-Felling and Oliver Hess to the Durham Cultural Advisory Board (DCAB) as Student Members of the Public Art Committee (PAC) while continuing to promote the opportunity until the third vacancy is filled. (Ritchie, Matlock 2nd.) 2. ACTION: Approved. (7-0.) ii. PAC Attendance Updates on Compliance with DCAB Policy 1. PAC Members are required to attend at least 50% of meetings within a calendar year. Two PAC members, Shanté Stewart and Abijah Gattis, are not compliant. Staff has drafted letters to both members to ask if the members have any obstacles preventing them from attending the meetings. Ten days after the first letter, staff will follow the policies of the City Clerk and will release a series of notifications to the members based on their lack of attendance. If the members are nonresponsive, PAC and DCAB can take collective action to remove members from the committee. VI. New Business and Presentations a. Planning UDO Review, W. Morgan St. Overpass Bridge –601 W. Morgan Street, Durham, NC 27701 (15 minutes) i. Background: The City/County have a Unified Development Ordinance that includes requirements for public art, if public art is included in the building process. See below for the UDO section, which outlines that builders can provide public art in lieu of trees, benches or other public facing amenities. As a part of the UDO requirement, the Public Art Committee is a part of the review process and votes to provide a recommendation of approval for the presented design, if the majority of the PAC members are in favor. If PAC is in favor, then City/County staff provide a letter to the Planning Department of PAC’s determination. In the event that PAC is not in favor, the presenter may be asked to re-present amended public art designs addressing the committee's concerns, or PAC may issue a letter of decline that will be presented to the Planning Department. The  Planning Department makes final determination for all approvals for the builder owner(s). ii. Presenters: Melody Dawkins from ROI/REDEV, Taylor White, artist iii. For reference, the UDO section regarding public art requirements: 1. UDO Sec. 16.4.2E.3.b.(3)) b. Alternatives 2. Street tree alternatives specified below shall be used, individually or in combination, and shall comply with the associated standards. a. (1) Spacing and location requirements shall be consistent with those required for street trees. b. (2) Maintenance of alternatives shall be the responsibility of the property owner(s) of the development site. c. (3) Table of Alternatives I. Shall provide a minimum of 100 square feet of public art along the street frontage for each required street tree. Additionally: • 1. Public art shall be permanent and include a maintenance agreement. • 2. All-weather materials shall be used. • 3. Public art shall not include advertisements, but can include a placard indicating the name of the artwork, the name of the artist, and information about the artwork. • 4. Public artwork shall require a recommendation of approval from the Public Art Committee of the Cultural Advisory Board. https://durham.municipal.codes/UDO/16 .4.2E.3.b iv. Presentation: Melody Dawkins from ROI/REDEV and Taylor White, artist, introduce themselves and the project. White presents each of two sides of the artwork. Side A, facing northwest, represents White’s interpretation of the culture of Durham highlighting food and music, while paying homage to the tobacco slogan "Quality Product, Quality People" originally on the building. Side B, facing southeast, represents White’s interpretation of the local environment, incorporating native birds and foliage. v. Questions from PAC: 1. Matlock asks about past and future community engagement. Dawkins responds with their past engagement, including contact with Beth Yerxa at Triangle ArtWorks, a Duke Professor, and the developer’s operation team. No formal survey was released. White responds with their past engagement, including contact with their friends and acquaintances based in Durham. 2. Castillo-Marte suggests additional community engagement beyond personal connections and suggests reaching out to other Durham community organizations and Downtown Durham, Inc. Castillo-Marte suggests that White’s source of inspirations, including Duke Gardens, the Eno River, and the Central Park Farmer’s Market may not be accessible to all of Durham’s residents. 3. Staff member Smith recommends further research on possible existing Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company trademarks relating to the proposed language. 4. Ritchie suggests revising the Artist Statement and description of the  artwork in terms of culture, to make space for the history of the building and place. Ritchie suggests using https://www.opendurham.org as a resource. 5. Castillo-Marte suggests depicting native foods that represents the Durham community as a whole. 6. Jakob, who works at the Central Park Farmer’s Market, shares her perspective on figs in particular, and disagrees with Castillo-Marte's evaluation of the fig represented in the artist’s design. Jakob suggests the discussion is headed into tricky territory. 7. Harris draws attention to the Black history of Durham, specifically the tobacco industry’s deep roots in slavery. Harris spoke of the skywalk where the artwork will be installed and its purpose at the time during Ligget & Myers tobacco production. Harris suggests the imagery does not reference this history, and the imagery in the artist’s proposal is limited because of this; Harris suggests the artist take the time to research this history. 8. Harris states that the PAC is under directive from the Durham Cultural Advisory Board (DCAB) to increase the cultural competency of the PAC and to make sure that their values are incorporated into their selection and review processes. DCAB and PAC are tasked with promoting representation of diverse communities in Durham through the visual language of the City. vi. MOTION: To recommend artist Taylor White proceed with additional community engagement, and return to the Public Art Committee with a revised artwork design and statement. (Castillo-Marte, Harris 2nd.) vii. ACTION: Approved. (7-0.) b. Goals and Task Forces Reminder to Meet i. Goal One: Support the Durham Cultural Advisory Board’s planning process for the Cultural Roadmap. 1. Task Force members: Jaime Chaves, Doreen Jakob, Laura Ritchie, Myra Weise. Staff support: Annette Smith 2. Jakob shares updates from the Task Force meeting. They are developing a list of individuals within the creative industry sectors to help share news and opportunities. ii. Goal Two: 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. 1. Task Force members: Mya Castillo-Marte, JP Trostle, Christina Perkins, Molly Matlock, Myra Weise 2. Trostle reached out to Margaret DeMott from the Durham Arts Council (DAC) to inquire about an existing program within DAC that connects developers with artists. The task force will meet again to compare the DAC program with the PAC goals. iii. Goal Three: 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. 1. Task Force members: Patricia Harris, Nicole Oxendine, Ann King 2. King shares updates from their task force meeting and suggested a professional moderator or training to help PAC work towards addressing existing biases. The task force is working on a brief survey for PAC  members to highlight potential biases. VII. Updates/Old Business a. None. VIII. Public Questions a. No questions were submitted by the public. IX. Adjournment a. Final Thoughts and other reminders by Chair. b. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 9th from 5:45 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. c. The meeting was adjourned by Castillo-Marte at 7:17 p.m. X. Documents Taylor White, artist renderings – UDO W. Morgan St. Overpass Bridge: Durham County 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 Durham Cultural Advisory Board Agenda Center: https://www.durhamnc.gov/AgendaCenter/Cultural-Advisory-Board-6 Respectively submitted, Stephanie Minor