Regular Meeting

CITY OF ELKO ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 4:30 PM, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2025 ELKO CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL Present: Mica Johnson, ACAB Chairperson Sharon Owen, ACAB Vice Chairperson Casey Bennett, ACAB Secretary Amy Drost, ACAB Member Marissa Lostra, Councilwoman City Staff Present: Annette Robinson, City Clerk Nichole Stephens, City Clerk Technician II Dale Johnson, Assistant City Manager III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IV. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC V. PRESENTATION VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Approval of Minutes for the June 11, 2025, Regular Session ** A motion was made by Councilmember Lostra, seconded by Secretary Bennett to approve the minutes from June 11th, 2025 as presented. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Review, discussion, and possible action on the Power/Signal Box Project, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Vice Chair Sharon Owen stated she had a couple of updates for the board regarding the project. She suggested they remove the name “signal” from the agenda item in the future because these were actually utility boxes, more commonly known as transformers. The signal boxes are the white boxes at the intersections and are not the target of the equipment that Nevada Energy has. She added she had a great walkthrough with the Nevada Energy team, and they were able to peek at the July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 1 of 7  junction boxes closest to the four major intersections they had identified. She took some pictures that can be found in the minutes packet. She noted they ranged in height from three to five, roughly five and half feet. She said there were a couple of options for the board that stay fairly true to what they were trying to accomplish at those intersections. She felt that the location could really have their own personality, should the board like the environment to be an influence on the art. She said she had been unable to catch up with Billie Crapo at the Chamber and did not have any definitive information about potential funding. However, Nevada Energy had told her they would follow up with their community liaison to see if Nevada Energy may have some funding for the project as well. Secretary Casey Bennett suggested they do consider doing signal boxes in the future since Reno, Salt Lake and parts of Las Vegas are doing their art on the signal boxes. Chair Mica Johnson stated Scott Wilkinson had told them the signal boxes have to be carefully climate controlled. Mr. Bennett noted one of the big restrictions in other cities was to not allow any dark-colored paints. Dale Johnson, Assistant City Manager, said he had followed up with Justin Alanis, the Facilities Superintendent, and he had sent him something right out of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) that states traffic control devices or their supports shall not bear any advertising message or any other message that is not related to traffic control. He added Mr. Alanis is really not in favor of it because of the colors and the boxes potentially overheating. Ms. Owen asked if she could enlist some help in following up with Billie. Councilmember Marissa Lostra said she would follow up and report back to the board with an update. She asked if there was a suggested dollar amount they are looking for. Mr. Bennett responded they had originally suggested $4,000; at $1,000 a box, that would give them four boxes. ** A motion was made by Secretary Bennett, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to remove remove signal from the project name. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) Ms. Owen asked if anyone would like more time to consider the locations. She wanted to note the two boxes outside of Maverick were different than the two transformer boxes across the street, and the transformers are larger. Related to the parking corridor, that would be adjacent to Silver Dollar and Everton. She noted the transformer was larger than the box that’s located across from Stockman’s. Both of those locations could be an either-or situation. She did note there was a lot of tagging on the one by Maverick. She thought the transformers that are by the shopping center and adjacent to the Fizz drive-thru would be highly visible and a good cross-section of the population. She added some of the ones that were located in the parking corridor might need more maintenance than others. July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 2 of 7  Ms. Johnson agreed the ones near the Fizz drive-thru would be nice and really visible. Mr. Bennett suggested they could see if Fizz could sponsor the box. Ms. Johnson said there was always the option to see if one or both of the high schools want to paint one of the boxes. Ms. Owen asked if they had any preferences on the boxes that would be most adjacent to Silver. Mr. Bennet said he liked the bigger one because it allows for more art, whereas the short one seems graffitied. He would be afraid they would graffiti on it again. Member Amy Drost added it seemed like it might get kind of lost with the parking situation and the transformer seemed a little more visible. Ms. Owen said she would circle back with NV Energy, narrowing it to those four as they continued working through the funding. Ms. Drost asked Mr. Johnson for clarification on the signal boxes and if it was a city policy or something else. Mr. Johnson responded that the manual Mr. Alanis sent to him is on traffic control devices and is a federal document. ** A motion was made by Secretary Bennett, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to amend his previous motion to include the locations of the power boxes, including two transformer boxes on Idaho Street near Fizz, and the Silver Street transformer behind Everton Furniture Store. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) B. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning the 2026 Semiquincentennial Art Project, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Ms. Johnson asked if they had received any submissions for the sculpture. Mr. Johnson replied he had not heard if they had received any. Ms. Owen encouraged everyone to keep sharing and promoting it on their personal Facebook pages to keep it in people’s social media feeds. She added the the Travel Nevada grant had opened the day before and it might be an opportunity for them to explore the specifications of that to see if it would be something they could use towards the project. July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 3 of 7  VIII. NEW BUSINESS C. Review, discussion, and possible action adjusting frequency of Arts and Culture Advisory Board meetings , and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Arts and Culture Advisory Board Bylaws Article III Meetings, Records, Quorum, and Voting Section 1 The Arts and Culture Advisory Board shall hold a minimum of one (1) regular meeting per quarter during January to March, April to June, July to September, and October to December. Special meetings may be held at the call of the Chairperson. All meetings shall comply with the Nevada Open Meeting Law (NRS 241.020). Mr. Bennett thought meeting monthly has been really good; they have been able to find projects and get them going with voting and discussion. He asked Ms. Johnson if they had met quarterly previously because there just wasn’t a lot going on. Ms. Johnson responded that as far as she knew, they have always met monthly. Ms. Drost noted the first sentence stated at least a minimum of one regular meeting per quarter. Ms. Robinson confirmed it was the minimum. She added they are covered because they have been meeting monthly, but it would also cover if there was not a quorum. Mr. Bennett noted the monthly meetings have saved them a lot on time-sensitive projects. Councilmember Lostra agreed with Mr. Bennett and said she did not necessarily agree with amending the bylaws. If there is a month where there is nothing going on, they can decide they do not need to meet that month. Ms. Owen suggested they work through this year and potentially revisit the quarterly model next year so they can get through some of their more immediate deadlines. She added they could do a little longer-term planning and still not have to amend the bylaws. ** A motion was made by Vice Chair Owen, seconded by Secretary Bennett to reject amending the the current bylaws for the Arts and Culture Board. The board will continue to meeting monthly, the first Wednesday at 4:30 PM through 2025, and reassess their schedule needs in January, 2026. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) A. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning the 2025 Mayor Arts Awards, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 4 of 7  The Mayor Arts Awards event is a two-step process. 1. Selection of an artist to create the award. 2. Selection of award recipients. The board needs to establish a date range for the “Call to Artists”, along with a final submission deadline. There was lengthy discussion on the proposed timeline for the Mayor Arts Awards. Based on the spreadsheet the board worked off of, found in the minutes packet, the board created a tentative timeline: • Post a Call to Artists for awards creation by Monday, July 14th, with a submission deadline of August 15th • Dates for submissions for nominations will be discussed at the August meeting • Proposals for the awards will be reviewed at the September meeting and an artist will be chosen • The submissions for the awards nominations will be confirmed at the October Meeting • Awards would be conferred with a preference to the 11/25/2025 City Council Meeting ** A motion was made by Secretary Bennett, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to request a Call to Artist provided by city staff with the same description posted as last time with a submission deadline of August 15th and review of the proposal in the August meeting. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) ** A motion was made by Vice Chair Owen, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to amend review of the submissions be held at the September meeting. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) B. Review, discussion, and possible action on the Fairgrounds wall mural and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Mr. Bennett said they had received a total of four submissions. He asked if everyone had seen them. Councilmember Lostra noted Gina Holmburg’s submission was over budget. Mr. Johnson noted that Sandy Beeler’s was also over budget. Mr. Bennett said he liked the Black Cat Chalk Art and Murals. He thought their work on their website and Instagram was immaculate and the colors were beautiful. Ms. Drost noted the artist had participated in several other mural opportunities and some signal boxes and transformers in other places. Ms. Owen said she liked Alyssa Cumpton’s previous work a lot but didn’t really see her conceptualize the project. Ms. Drost added she would have liked a sketch or something. July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 5 of 7  Ms. Owed added she thought Asia Clyde’s was very warm. Ms. Johnson added she liked the fact that Ms. Clyde was going to use Drylok, as it would plug leaks in cement and masonry. She noted Ms. Clyde’s picture she included was an inspirational picture. Mr. Bennett stated he liked Ms. Cumpton’s. He could visualize the idea through the text and with the previous work that is on her website it was clear she knew how to draw an animal. Ms. Johnson added it would fit in well at the Fairgrounds. Councilmember Lostra asked if they would be able to ask her to include some fair-related livestock such as horses, cattle and sheep. She could also include some of the Native Nevada animal artwork she’s proposed. Ms. Owen said she liked the tie-in if there was that opportunity; the horses especially made the most sense in that space. Ms. Johnson agreed she would like to see more fair-related animals. ** A motion was made by Chair Johnson, seconded by Secretary Bennett to approve Alyssa Cumpton as the artist for the fairgrounds mural for the cost of $2,000, to be finished by August 17th. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) Mr. Bennett asked who would like to meet with Ms. Cumpton about the requests for horses and other livestock animals. Ms. Drost asked if anyone knew the square footage, and if it was something they could find out. She assumed some of Ms. Cumpton’s amounts would be at least doubled. Mr. Bennett offered to provide the square footage by Friday. Ms. Johnson said she would reach out to Ms. Cumpton to set up a meeting and asked who would like to join her. Ms. Drost responded she would be happy to. Councilmember Lostra asked if her materials needed to be adjusted based on the square footage provided that it be added to the agenda for their next meeting. July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 6 of 7  IX. REPORTS Mr. Bennett reported Overland Stage Theatre company will be hosting their show Annie Jr. at the Elko Performing Arts Building from July 31st to August 2nd. He added the Elko High School Theater Department was going to be hosting their Summer on Ice and registration would be open July 14th through the 18th. Summer Daze would be July 18th and PopCon was next month. The 2025 High Desert Music Fest was going to be held at the Fairgrounds on July 10th-12th. Councilmember Lostra reported Art in the Park would be held July 11th and 12th with setup on the 10th. The Renaissance Faire moved a weekend and was now September 6th and 7th in Lamoille Grove instead of the canyon. Ms. Owen reported she had been looking for grant opportunities, and T-Mobile has a program called Hometown that does grants primarily in rural communities. She asked if anyone had experience with this maybe at a city level or within the board. Ms. Johnson responded she had not, but she offered to ask around. X. SCHEDULE THE NEXT MEETING ** A motion was made by Secretary Bennett, seconded by Chair Johnson to schedule the next meeting for August 6th at 4:30 PM. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XI. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Lori Gilbert from Elko Broadcasting added Silver Stage Players would be performing 12 Angry Jurors at the GBC Outreach Center July 15th to July 19th. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 PM. Mica Johnson, Chairperson Casey Bennett, Secretary July 2, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 7 of 7