Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church

Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church Meeting September 15, 2022 Virtual Meeting Minutes Members Present: Laura Hull, Mary Sellers, Elise Neil Bengtson, Maureen Budetti, Ron Anzalone, Ellen Gross, Nikki Graves Henderson, Ari Autor, Katharine Stewart Liaisons: Corey Price, Keith Thurston, Letty Hardi, Ed Henderson, Marybeth Connelly, Jacqueline Connelly Guests: Regan Davis Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Laura Hull at 9:34 a.m. Receipt of Public Comments  No public comments were received Minutes: Minutes were approved for the August meeting Roundtable Discussions  Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation o Held 1st planning meeting for next year’s music festival on June 10th o Boy Scout Project, through the CATCH Foundation, produced 2 banners for Tinner Hill district with approval by EDA, with more banners to be produced. o Mural Project is still in talks with Foxes Music, the Optomotrist Building, and Ace Hardware.  Falls Church Chambers o Booth at Falls Church Festival on Sept 16 o Oct 4th - family fun night at Jefferson Park, community event o Nov 15 – Nonprofit Forum o Reminder to send text on upcoming events for e-newsletter  Friends of Cherry Hill Foundation o 3 weeks of summer camp were completed and summer tour attendance was strong o Oct 8 – Farm Day from 10 am to 3 pm o Fall newsletter coming soon o Board sent a letter to Council on the Great Streets Project  CATCH Foundation o Watch Night preparations moving forward  City Updates o Grant Review Committee has completed their recommendations and Arts & Humanities Grants will next go to City Council for final approval 1  o Boards and Commissions will require to go back to in person meetings starting October 1st o Reminder to continue surveying for the Arts & Prosperity Report  FCCPS o Regan Davis is the new FCCPS Community Outreach Coordinator and become the school representative on the AHC o Fall Musical Pippen is scheduled for November o Sept 29 & 30 - 7th grade classes will take a walking tour of the Tinner Hill Historic District o Veterans Day celebration will include honoring four George Mason Alumni who served in the Vietnam War with plaque approved by the Historical Commission  Falls Church Arts o Currently accepting art for upcoming show, Scapes o Sept 24- Plein Air Festival o Falls Classes include several watercolor classes and stamping classes  VPIS o Organization has submitted comments on the Great Streets Park Ave project o Working on Transition zoning issues  Creative Cauldron o Icabod production starts next month with musical theatre ensemble of young people o Fall classes underway with strong enrollment o Mondays from 7-8 pm – Acting and Improv class lead by Laura Hull, drop-ins are welcome. New Business:  City Council work plan o The two year work plan includes completing the Public Art Policy and 4 new municipal art wraps o How can the AHC support these City Council work plan goals?  Marybeth suggested using some of the fiscal year surplus towards hiring an individual to manage the municipal art wrap project.  AHC should make sure a certainly caliber of art is maintained when it comes to Public Art in the city.  Consider having art connect to the location its placed in (example- Tinner Hill Mural Project), connected to the history of the community  Need to make sure artists are compensated for their work  Maintenance needs should be considered for any public art project  Make an effort to value diversity  Could the AHC advocate for funding an arts manager as an ongoing line-item? How can we continue this funding?  AHC can communicate to developers that we are an enthusiastic resource  Staff is currently working on the Public Art Policy  Recommend the AHC write a letter to City Council advocating for a paid project manager for public art municipal wraps. 2   Ari has offered to work on the letter to City Council with the help from Maureen and Katharine. o AHC voted to write a letter to City Council on the above content  AHC Goals o Need to make sure goals give enough attention to culture o Goals should be items the group can accomplish in the next 5 years o Group decided to schedule a separate meeting to have a full conversation on this topic o Meeting was scheduled for Thursday Sept 22 at 9:00 AM Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 11:06 AM The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 20 at 9:30 am Submitted: By Corey Price 3