Lawrenceville Arts Commission

LAWRENCEVILLE ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, March 12, 2024 Third Floor GwMA Conference Room 6:00 PM 70 S. Clayton St, GA 30046 Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM. Approval of Agenda Motion to approve the agenda was made by Commission Member Walden, Seconded by Commission Member Stone-Collins. Voting Yea: Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders, Commission Member Spinks Voting Abstaining: Commission Member Hammond (arrived at 6:10 PM) Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes 1. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes Motion to approve the prior meeting minutes 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, Commission Member Spinks Voting Abstaining: Commission Member Hammond (arrived at 6:10 PM) General Discussion 2. Budget Update Jasmine Billings presented the budget, with no changes since the last meeting. The mural contract is being input, for a total amount of $25,000. Payment will be broken down into two  payments, with the first payment being issued and the remainder when the project is complete. No supplies have been purchased recently. 3. Subcommittee Updates Community Outreach and Branding Committee met a couple of weeks ago. They reviewed the events calendar and expressed interest in 4 possible events, and asked for clarification on Evening of the Arts. This event will be at the Lawn and the Aurora Theatre will be performing, as well as bringing in an artisan market and other various acts on stage. The event will run from 5PM to 9PM on July 27th. The Arts Commission hopes to participate, possibly with just passive marketing. Free Comic Book Day was also discussed, and ideas of handouts were shared. There are some paint brush pens left over and they may use those for this event as well. Jennifer Hammonds arrived at 6:10 PM The possibility of using more stickers for all events was discussed, possibly with the new mural that is about to be completed. Potential swag ideas will be discussed, then forwarded to Jasmine to order. For the new mural, they will request a cleaned up digital version so a sticker can be made. BooFest and Harvest Festival were also discussed as events to participate in and have swag to give away. There are still plenty of stickers from the lantern parade, and they will discuss other crafty ideas to have at their table, as well as the potentially providing a limited number of bags to collect candy. For Harvest Festival, they would like to do the small pumpkins again. Passive marketing will include crafts/handouts that can easily be distributed without a Commission member being present, and also do not require any clean up. Pumpkins will be the only activity that will involve paint. It was mentioned that volunteers work better if an Arts Commission member is present so they can provide direction and is key to a successful event. Lawrenceville Boogie on April 27th will have a car show, 3 separate stages, and an artisan market and will take up the entire square. The Arts Commission can possibly use the wooden cars to paint. The future of the Lantern Parade was discussed and will probably be a multi-year planning process. Aura-Leigh Sanders indicated she knows someone that is part of the Beltline, and Amber indicated she would like to have them attend a meeting so the members can discuss how their process works. They may also try to talk to someone involved with Glow in the Park from Suwanee to find out how they got started, did they commission a lantern, how they plan their event, and possibly see if they can attend a meeting in July to share information. The picnic tables are at Public Works and are waiting to be sealed so they will be weather resistant. Jasmine will check with Facilities on when this process is expected to be completed and provide an update at the next meeting. With the Lawrenceville Arts Center (LAC) temporary green space targeted completion by mid-April, the Arts Commission would like to place several of these tables in that location. The Arts Commission will work on how best to have the additional tables painted.  Casey Spinks will transition into the Grants and Funding Chair position, and is working to gain information on what needs to be done. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Façade Grant will be the model used for the Arts Commission Façade Grant and they hope to bring more information to the next meeting. Sponsorship will be tabled for the time being to be able to concentrate on the façade grant, and hope that the DDA will be able to provide some details and hopefully guide the Commission on what would be considered as a façade grant. 4. Lawrenceville Blooms Mural Extensions Jasmine Billings met with Teresa yesterday and will share the details of this mural with Council on Thursday. The wall is owned by Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). Jasmine advised that they liked the project and will follow the same process with GDOT to obtain permission/permit to complete this project. The wall behind the Post Office is owned by the City and has advised Teresa she can start any time on that portion of the project, however, Teresa would like to do both walls in tandem. The approvals through GDOT will determine when the project can begin, but the process should move quickly since Jasmine is aware of the process. It was determined that this would not be a community project due to the smaller size. 5. Crogan Street Mural Jasmine Billings has discussed a start date with the artist, and it was determined she will begin on Monday, March 18, 2024, from 10 to 6 PM. Jasmine is waiting on final thoughts from Scott McCray to make sure he is fine with the details. A location has been secured for the scissor lift, and Scott will allow her to charge it from Perry Street Chop House at night. Jasmine also shared the Police Department's plan for site security and showed a sample of the signs that will be used to close the sidewalk. She reminded the group again not to post the entire body of work on social media since the artist wanted to post herself. This project is expected to be completed in about a week. A celebratory reception - "Meet the Artist" discussion may be a possible way to celebrate the completion of this mural. 6. Georgia Gwinnett College Highway Ramp Mural This project could potentially be a community mural, possibly Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), and they did have a muralist share some ideas, however, this may be too distracting for drivers. The Arts Commission will need to craft a Call for Art and will e-mail a draft prior to April's meeting. The Call for Art's direction will need to include: works well with texture, easy for the community to paint, only textured piece of the wall, and themes would need to be calming, abstract, and organic feeling. A Grading Rubric or each commission to review and come up with their top five. The objective would initially be a grading scale, then review the top 5. 7. Georgia Gwinnett College Roundabouts Aura-Leigh Sanders lead the discussion on the Roundabouts. The Creativity Grant is due by March 15, 2025. The Hudgens Center is doing something similar with Sugarloaf CID, and Aura-Leigh will send out an e-mail with the dates.  CFA Art in Place is a living topiary, not to go shorter than 5 months. LB will write the call for art, and Aura-Leigh will share discussion. The direction will be Native landscaping that doe snot require landscaping. Partner with Master Gardners, Bee Keeper of Gwinnett, Tree City Board, Native Plan Society. Will need to set up a meeting. Casey Spinks will lead e-mail with pictures and Aura-Leigh will send roundabout write up. Will need to have a plan in place and a back up plan. Aura-Leigh and LB to meet next week to discuss. 8. 2024 Arts Commission Retreat The Retreat was delayed so members could attend the Summit, and will need to delay until the end of April. Aura-Leigh will send out a Doodle Poll in Mid-April. 9. SouthArts Creative Placemaking Summit The Arts Commission had 4 members attend this year's summit. They will compile all their feedback and distribute the the members via e-mail. Other Business Katrina Fellows has stepped down, and is currently in DC at a conference. The Commission will work with the City Clerk to determine next steps to fill this position. Citizen Comments Citizen comments will be limited to two (2) minutes per person. The Arts Commission Board Members will not respond to comments. There were no citizen comments. Final Adjournment Motion to adjourn was made by Commission Member Sanders, Seconded by Commission Member Hammond. Voting Yea: Commission Member Hammond, Commission Member Chitwood, Commission Member Stone-Collins, Commission Member Walden, Commission Member Sanders, Commission Member Spinks The meeting adjourned at 7:49 PM. Minutes Signature ___________________ Aura-Leigh Sanders, Chairman ___________________ Jasmine Billings, Secretary