Regular Meeting

CITY OF ELKO ARTS AND CULTURE ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 4:30 PM, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2025 ELKO CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1751 COLLEGE AVENUE, ELKO, NV 89801 I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL Present: Mica Johnson, ACAB Chairperson – Arrived at 4:42 PM Sharon Owen, ACAB Vice Chairperson Casey Bennett, ACAB Secretary Amy Drost, ACAB Member Marissa Lostra, Councilwoman City Staff Present: Dale Johnson, Assistant City Manager Annette Robinson, City Clerk Nichole Stephens, City Clerk Technician II III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IV. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Vice Chair Sharon Owen called for public comment and did not receive a response. V. PRESENTATION VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Approval of Minutes for the July 2, 2025, Regular Session ** A motion was made by Secretary Bennett, seconded by Member Drost to approve the minutes from the July 2, 2025 Regular Session meeting. The motion passed unanimously. (4-0) VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Review, discussion, and possible action on the Power Box Project, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION August 6, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 1 of 5  Ms. Owen reported she had the opportunity to check in with Billie Crapo and Ms. Crapo had told her they were still deciding whether or not to finance the pilot. She noted that Ms. Crapo was traveling right now but would be back in September, and that could be a good opportunity to follow up with her. She added the board may also wish to consider some alternative funding sources to be able to support that particular project. She followed up with Nevada Energy to relay the locations the board had felt would be best and they all seemed favorable. She added she had not heard anything further from the community liaison that was exploring funding on their side. B. Review, discussion, and possible action concerning the 2025 Mayor Arts Awards, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION 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. Dale Johnson, Assistant City Manager, reported they had not received any submissions yet. He noted the posting that went out had a different date than the flyer, and recommended they use the August 29th deadline. Ms. Owen encourage everyone to do another push either through social media or any other connections. Chair Mica Johnson arrived at 4:42 PM. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Review, consideration, and possible award or rejection of bids concerning the 2026 Semiquincentennial Art Project, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Ms. Owen reported they had received some submissions. She asked Ms. Johnson how they had handled multiple submissions from artists in the past. Was there certain criteria that was given more weight than others? For example, was budget a primary consideration, or the locality of the artists, and were these things they needed to consider as a board when making those selections? Ms. Johnson responded they have always been grateful for any submissions, but budget was usually weighed above everything else. Ms. Owen asked Ms. Robinson to scroll through the submissions included in the agenda packet. Annette Robinson, City Clerk, walked the board through the four submissions included in the agenda packet. Secretary Casey Bennett asked to look at Ms. Smith’s submission a bit more, specifically the materials. He asked what the height of the lighting was. August 6, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 2 of 5  Materials included Steel sheets, rods, welded structure and supplies. It also included primer, weather resistant coating and sealants. The lighting height is 10 feet, and the proposed structure is also 10 feet. Mr. Bennett expressed concern about the lighting struggling to illuminate the piece due to how tall the structure is. Ms. Owen asked if we had any specs on where the light post was in relation to center of the dais. Ms. Robinson referenced the information that was sent out with the call to artists. “The sculpture should not exceed five feet in width, twelve feet in lengths, and ten feet in height.” She noted that Ms. Smith’s was seven feet and may be too large. Mr. Bennett noted that the actual piece is smaller and there may be a chance to try and make the base smaller or change the shape from circular to rectangular. Member Amy Drost noted that the submission from John Patrick Rice was also ten feet tall. Ms. Johnson responded she did not know if that one would need lighting since integrated lighting was part of the proposal. She added that ultimately it would be students at Great Basin College putting that piece together. Ms. Owen stated that was part of the reason she had asked about the selection criteria, since she liked that that particular one was a local artist submission and a little more community focused with the engagement with the college. She felt that was a positive attribute, and with the project estimated at $7,000, it would potentially leave them with $3,000 for an ancillary reader board or seating they had discussed previously. Ms. Johnson added it was a little more interactive than the other. Ms. Owen expressed concern with the submission from Jose featuring the glass tubes. She said in their environment, a single drop of rain or a sprinkler could potentially tarnish it and she didn’t know how well it would weather in their weather. She asked if there were any concerns from the city that would make any of the submissions not qualify. Mr. Johnson responded they should probably double check the pedestal sizes down at the block ends. Ms. Robinson noted that Ms. Smith’s bid would be disqualified since it is too big if they were looking at this as a real bid. Mr. Bennett noted there was no mounting included in Mr. Rice’s proposal. He was concerned that someone would try to knock over the heavy metal plates. Mr. Johnson agreed they would need to be anchored. August 6, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 3 of 5  Councilmember Marissa Lostra noted Mr. Rice put $1,000 in his bid for miscellaneous hardware. Ms. Johnson thought they needed to know how Mr. Rice would mount his submission, and if Ms. Smith would be willing to resize hers. Mr. Bennett felt that the angle of the art should be considered as well. He asked if that should be at the discretion of the artist. Mr. Johnson stated they could reach out to the artists to ask the follow-up questions. He suggested they table the item pending those questions being answered. He asked if they questions should be asked to the two specific artists or for all of them? The board collectively agreed to narrow it down to Mr. Rice and Ms. Smith’s submissions since they embodied the theme of the semiquincentennial. ** A motion was made by Secretary Bennett, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to table the semiquincentennial award to request follow-up questions for John Patrick Rice and Angie K. Smith. For John, the board requests more information on the mounting and installation of the piece. For Angie, the board requests more information regarding the pedastal size, and for both artists, the board requests more information on the orientation of their pieces, and to notify Jose, Ines Garcia and Alex Ochoa of the rejection of their pieces. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) IX. REPORTS Mr. Johnson reported Mr. Bennett had reached out to him on some other potential art projects, such as a highway sign coming off of the interstate and putting up a piece of artwork in either the NDOT right-of-way or, preferably, a city right-of-way. He noted it would be easier to obtain a revocable permit from the city, and they would need a building permit for the sign base. He added it was likely a long way off, but they could work through those details. Ms. Johnson stated the fairground mural was coming along very nicely. Ms. Owen added there were some progress photos she had taken of the wall that had been posted to their webpage. She agreed it was looking very good. Councilmember Lostra mentioned she had spoken with the Mayor and he had expressed concern over the wall where there is water that comes through. She said she consulted with her husband, and he suggested the paint be covered with some sort of clear epoxy paint to help protect the mural. Mr. Bennett added he had spoken with the Fair Board and they are aware of the issue. He had suggested to them they create something to promote more positive drainage on the wall. Ms. Johnson reported Pop Con was the following weekend and the Renaissance Fair would be in about a month. August 6, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 4 of 5  X. SCHEDULE THE NEXT MEETING ** A motion was made by Vice Chair Owen, seconded by Secretary Bennett to schedule the next Regular Session of the Arts and Culture Advisory Board on Wednesday, September 3rd at 4:30PM. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XI. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Ms. Johnson called for final public comment and did not receive a response. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:18 PM. Mica Johnson, Chairperson Casey Bennett, Secretary August 6, 2025 Arts and Culture | Minutes Page 5 of 5