Lawrenceville Arts Commission

LAWRENCEVILLE ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, September 14, 2021 Third Floor GWMA Large Conference Room 6:00 PM 70 S. Clayton St, GA 30046 Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM, recognizing a quorum Approval of Agenda Motion to approve the agenda was made by Commission Member Sanders, Seconded by Commission Member Walden. Voting Yea: Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders Voting Abstaining: Commission Member Clark, Commission Member Abuaisheh Commission Member Clark arrived at 6:05 PM Commission Member Abuaisheh arrived at 6:25 PM Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes 1. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes Motion to approve prior meeting minutes was made by Commission Member Sanders, Seconded by Commission Member Stone-Collins. Voting Yea: Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders Voting Abstaining: Commission Member Clark, Commission Member Abuaisheh Commission Member Clark arrived at 6:05 PM Commission Member Abuaisheh arrived at 6:25 PM General Discussion 2. Community Outreach  Amber Walden led a presentation from the Arts Commission to the Lawrenceville Women's Club at their September meeting. Women Club members have been volunteering at the DTL Rocks events. The Lawrenceville Women's Club wants to help where they can. They liked the idea of a lantern parade and also discussed a birdhouse project. DTL Rocks have been scheduled on Feature Friday for League of their Own and will be there for an hour. Oktoberfest is tentative due to a prior commitment and will need another Arts Commission member to help run that event. Aura-Leigh Sanders indicated she may be able to help. (Bob Clark Arrived) DTL Rocks will be participating in Pawfest (October 16th), Boofest (October 29th) and Lawrenceville Harvest Festival (November 6th). "Free" signs will be displayed to help bring in people to participate in painting rocks. Amber indicated they would be reaching out for artwork for the Art Walk as well as the digital displays, and that Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) can also participate. Alice Stone-Collins indicated she would be able to help out on the committee and the group could possibly use Zoom to be able to hold meetings to make it easier for members to participate in sub- committee meetings. 3. Grants Committee Aura-Leigh Sanders indicated the group met by Zoom and talked about getting the basics on grants and funding, and will also meet over the next 2 weeks. They have identified 5 areas: Research grants they can apply for, Sponsorships and Sponsors to help sponsor events, Fundraiser Events, Development Partners, following Suwanee's model with development coming into the City, and Memberships, where private individuals or groups can purchase memberships and if any perks will be attached to those memberships. Aura- Leigh set an information goal for the first of the year to find a grant and apply for it. Once the first grant has been applied for, it should be easier to apply for others. Jasmine Billings indicated she will talk to Finance to see how this process will work. 4. Alleyway Updates Jasmine Billings shared the current alleyway picture. The alleyway is currently shut down for other construction and bids are being taken for the alleyway project. She was not sure if there were any other naming conversations, and Bob Clark indicated that they would probably talk about it Wednesday at the Work Session and then at the normal Council meeting. 5. Art Walk Update Jasmine Billings reached out to the vacant space owners and five (5) are good to go. The Arts Commission will need to be up-to-date on the rental status of the vacant spaces where art is installed. 14 businesses are on board to have art pieces in their space. Aura-Leigh Sanders has pieces that are ready to be installed in a lot of spaces, but probably not all right away. Information about the artist and how to contact them will be displayed with each  piece of art and any sales of the art will be directly between the customer and the artist. Matching art pieces to locations was discussed and it was determined that some locations would not be appropriate for certain subject matter. Nancy Abuaisheh arrived at 6:25 PM. The Commission Members will need to determine when the art will be installed, how long they will stay up, what happens if a piece sells and the wording of a waiver for a business owner and artist. Aura-Leigh Sanders has a short release that the artists can sign to release the business from responsibility for the artwork. The City's legal representative will need to look over the waivers which should also include that the Lawrenceville Arts Commission is not liable. A fact sheet will be created for businesses for information pertaining to art, sales, etc. and the questionnaire should ask if there is a specific type of art they cannot have in their location. Eventually, it will come to be a partnership between the business and the artist. Viewing the different vacant spaces will help determine what will needed to display the art pieces. Empty spaces would be a good place for easels but easels may not be good in public spaces. Jasmine can meet with the different owners to determine where the pieces will be displayed. The Historic Courthouse reached out and showed interest in being a host. Commission members had some concerns based on commission from the artist, type of art and previous art shows. Jasmine will reach out and provide the Commission members with updates. The artist and the business should work together to install art pieces. Commission member will identify 5 spaces, with at possibly 3, or all 5, being vacant. Once the vacant spaces have been viewed, it may be ruled out as a location to display art. For the initial art installation, the Commission members will choose 3 vacant spaces, Southern Performing Arts, and one other location. These locations will be reviewed to see what artwork will work in the space. A Proposal will need to be drafted and ready for the next meeting. Eventeny can be utilized for a call for art and enables artists to upload a picture of their artwork. It would also provide the ability to approve, deny or waitlist pieces of art. Aura- Leigh Sanders utilizes Eventeny for Dizzy Gypsy. 6. List of Mural Opportunities Jasmine Billings provided a list that included a couple of locations. McCray's is going to be repainting their building and will be re-doing the logo at the front. They are open to doing a mural on the side of the building. Planning and Zoning will be sending Jasmine a list of other businesses that are interested in having a mural on their buildings. It was mentioned that eventually the murals will need to be redone, that they fade. Artists could do regular maintenance on the art. Safety will also need to be discussed when planning where a mural will be placed. The low wall next to the Post Office could possibly be a community painting opportunity. Other businesses are interested as well, and a list will be created. Information on mural artists will need to start being collected.  7. Lantern Parade Amber Walden presented information on the Lantern Parade. The City of Lawrenceville Events Application requires a 90-180 day lead time. It would be great to pair a Lantern Parade with a City event and once the 2022 City Event Calendar has been finalized it may be easier to match a Lantern Parade to a City sponsored event. Fall would be a better time since other cities have theirs in the spring. Some suggestions included commissioning some larger lanterns, including some of the local bands/drum lines, setting up tables before the parade for people to make a lantern, asking the local stores to have lantern making supplies, connecting with some local artists to create some of the larger lanterns and possibly including the alleyways in some way. 8. Retreat There was no update on where or when this will take place. Other Business There was no other business. Citizen Comments Comments will be limited to two (2) minutes per person. Arts Commission members will not respond to comments. A member of the Lawrenceville Women's Club indicated that their group will be making boo-pops for Boofest. She also indicated she will provide contact information to an individual who is very successful at writing grants that may be a resource for the Arts Commission. Final Adjournment Motion for final adjournment was made by Commission Member Clark, Seconded by Commission Member Walden. Voting Yea: Commission Member Clark, Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone- Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders, Commission Member Abuaisheh The meeting adjourned at 7:42 PM. Minutes Signature ___________________ Aura-Leigh Sanders, Chairman ___________________ Jasmine Billings, Secretary