Lawrenceville Arts Commission

LAWRENCEVILLE ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, January 11, 2022 GwMA Large Conference Room - 3rd Floor 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 Walden, Seconded by Commission Member Stone-Collins. Voting Yea: Commission Member Hammond, Commission Member Fellows, Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders, Commission Member Alhabashi Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes 1. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes Motion to approve the prior meeting minutes was made by Commission Member Alhabashi, Seconded by Commission Member Walden. Voting Yea: Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders, Commission Member Alhabashi Voting Abstaining: Commission Member Hammond, Commission Member Fellows General Discussion 2. Swearing in of Commission Members Mayor David Still was present. He thanked the Arts Commission members for volunteering their time, and witnessed them signing their forms. Each member received a copy of the  Ethics Ordinance to take with them. Each member will receive an electronic copy of the fully executed forms for their file. 3. Board Elections Each member introduced themselves to the group. Voting for the 2022 Officers for the Lawrenceville Arts Commission was taken and the following are the results: Chairman - Aura-Leigh Sanders, Vice-Chairman - Amber Walden, Secretary/Treasurer - Jasmine Billings. 4. Sub-Committee Assignments Aura-Leigh Sanders provided the group with descriptions of the Sub-Committees and asked the members to submit their sub-committee preference to her by the end of the week. The Grants Sub-Committee was advised that they cannot fund raise or accept any money, however, they can accept donations for supplies used like paint brushes, paint, etc. Jasmine Billings has sent Aura-Leigh information on a grant for a mural program, however, there is a short turn around time and the application must be turned in by January 28, 2022. The Branding/PR Sub-Committee has a web page created as well as the logo that was created last year. Branding will need to make sure we are consistent with messaging representing the Commission to the community. Community Outreach seems to be the hardest to accomplish, and will be looking to get volunteers from the schools and women's group. DTL Rocks was a big part of the outreach last year. This sub-committee will be looking for some other projects, like the Artwalk, to work on. Branding and Outreach can work together and the sub-committees will need to pinpoint what each committee will do. Jasmine advised them to look over the list of City events to determine which ones they would like to be involved in, and that have a higher attendance. They will need to come up with a marketing plan to help get their projects out to the public, and will continue to work with Melissa Hardegree and Alaina Tullis on marketing the Arts Commission and their activities. Branding would be more of a support group for the other initiatives. 5. Retreat Update Jasmine Billings shared that she has spoken with Linnea Miller from Suwanee, who is very experienced in public arts and building a plan for public art. She is also a member of Art Work Gwinnett, which is building a master art plan for all of Gwinnett. Lawrenceville can benefit from that since we are also a member of Art Works Gwinnett once the plan is complete. Aura- Leigh is looking to have a retreat in February or March, and is in discussion with Linnea to facilitate. The retreat will allow members to build an interim plan, the workshop will be roughly 4 hours long, members will have homework prior to the meeting, and the members will come up with a strategy, and learn how to choose a project the Commission wants to work on. With members cycling on and off the Commission, the goal would be creating a "road map" to guide future commission members.  6. Art Proposal Update Jasmine Billings provided an update on the Art Proposal, indicating that the Art Walk's contract is in the review phase to ensure that the city and the businesses will not be liable for anything. She hopes to have a better update next month. The mural project along Jackson Street (at the Post Office) update was provided, and a rendering as an example of what the project could look like was presented. It was determined that the wall is owned by GDOT, and Jasmine is working to obtain approval to move forward with this project. There are other walls that could be a possibility for future projects that may be open to younger artists, however, this specific mural will require an individual to be 18 or over, due to the location and upkeep requirement. The Alleyway Project is open to pedestrians but there are still a couple of punch items that need to be completed. Jasmine will talk to the City Manager regarding the installation of a marker, as well as a ribbon cutting. 7. Budget Update Jasmine Billings provided an update to the budget. Once the mural proposal is approved, the Commission will need to determine how much funding will be provided. Jasmine will also provide a one sheeter to show a simplified overview of the budget for each meeting. The City will begin their budget building process soon. Jasmine advised that the sub-committees will need to think about grants, as well as things they want to do, so they can bring that information to the Commission to discuss. $5,000 has been earmarked for operations in the current budget, and items like a more substantial tent and wheeled cart were discussed as items that can be obtained from those funds. Jasmine will also speak with the Events team to try to come up with a plan on storage, logistics, etc. since they utilize the same storage area at the lawn. The idea of requesting developers provide 1% of the cost of their project for art was discussed again, and it was determined that sub-committees should look at this once they begin meeting. Existing businesses can be put in a different category from developers, and with the DDA bringing back the Facade Grant, they may be able to build off of that. Jasmine will work with departments regarding items they may be able to incentivize. Other Business It was noted that the kiosks have been installed around downtown and Jasmine advised that the City is working on the programming. These kiosks had been approved last fall and will allow a lot of different information to be displayed like city events, artwork submitted from students, road closures, etc. Jasmine will find out what format submissions will need to be in so they can potentially be added to programming. Swag items that include the Arts Commission logo were also discussed to be able to hand out to the public to help advertise. Jasmine provided an update on the Depot District signs. The project was awarded to the lowest bidder last November/December and that bidder recently rescinded their bid due to the cost of materials. The City is working on best ways to proceed. Jasmine advised that she will be joining the Art Leaders of Metro Atlanta, and this should help her provide more support to the Arts Commission. Citizen Comments Comments are limited to two (2) minutes per person. Arts Commission members will not respond to comments. There were no Citizen comments. Final Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commission Member Chitwood, Seconded by Commission Member Fellows. Voting Yea: Commission Member Hammond, Commission Member Fellows, Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders, Commission Member Alhabashi The meeting adjourned at 7:00 PM. Minutes Signature ___________________ Aura-Leigh Sanders, Chairman ___________________ Jasmine Billings, Secretary