Keep League City Beautiful Citizen Committee

Keep League City Beautiful Citizen Committee Meeting Minutes for April 5, 2022 At 6:05 p.m. League City Chair Jackie Liddell brought the meeting to order. Committee members Dave Bowman, Nina Makepeace, Jason Makepeace, Jill Reason, Frank Zgonc, Beth Sears and Richard Williams were present. Also in attendance were League City employees, Sarah G. Osborne and Rosa Salcido. Councilman Larry Millican was also present. One citizen, Jimmy Phillips, addressed the board. Mr. Phillips is a wood sculptor and mentioned that Bowman had invited him to the KLCB meeting. Osborne explained the purpose of the committee and asked its members to introduce themselves to the artist. Lisette McClung is a citizen and an artist; she has met Jimmy and is familiar with his work. Larry is a councilman interested in art and beautification. Nina is an artist and art teacher who helps bring student art to the public sector. Jason is a sculptor and teacher. He met Jimmy at League Park and shares a passion for carving art from wood. Bowman is a retired engineer who is heavily involved in litter cleanup. Reason is an executive artist affiliated with the Bay Area Ballet. She promotes dance as an art. Sears is an environmental scientist. Liddell is a retired art teacher and has lived in League City for 40 years. Osborne is an executive director over community engagement and oversees parks and the library. Zgonc is a photographer and worked in a museum for many years. Williams has been affiliated with the Art Alliance and has worked with Jimmy in the past. He also has worked in the museum sector in the past. Jimmy shared his passion for sculpting wood and engaging with the public in the process. Osborne mentioned he was initially going to carve 2 statues and now he is doing 4. Williams suggested Jimmy could do one at the art crawl. Jimmy asked if he could have a tent. Osborne said “yes”. Osborne mentioned that she would like Jimmy to attend a 5K event. Jimmie asked her to send him the link. A motion was made by Nina Makepeace to accept the minutes Reason seconded the motion. All in favor said “yes”. There was a discussion about the Great American Cleanup. Bowman discussed having an HOA litter pickup event on the same day as the Great League City Cleanup. Millican suggested Bowman reach out to Chad Messler (a councilman) who may be able to assist in connecting with HOAs. Osborne mentioned Adopt-a-Street and revising the paperwork. Bowman suggested assigning a street to an organization and creating a web site. Osborne suggested a meeting with neighborhood services. Liddell said it could be put in “Next Door”. Osborne replied, “It’s a good idea but HOA needs to approve League City’s (involvement).” The discussion moved to the arts. Osborne gave an update on the progress of the community center. The mauve stripe was painted a dark grey tone. She passed around a photo of the new look. The next steps would be to have an electrician put the lights up and a contractor would install the framed art. Zgonc mentioned replacing the moldy back panels on the bird’s eye before hanging it. Salcido replied that she would contact a specialist recommended by the MFAH conservator. More art will eventually be hung in the future. Liddell asked who would be running it. Osborne replied that parks staff would be at the center. New programs for adults and camps are being planned as the spaces are finished. Phase II of the signal box project was the next item discussed. A photo of a finished box by Doug Hiser was shown and Osborne requested a vote on the revised design. The committee agreed that the design would work for his second box. Osborne asked about the CCISD school designs for signal boxes. She asked Salcido to send Mary Goldner a new request asking for a simple photograph instead of following the template in the original packet. Nina said she submitted a photo. Bowman mentioned that signal box designs are popping up in small towns and getting popular. Osborne also mentioned the 6 boxes on main street may be available to paint in a warehouse. McClung mentioned Ms. Hammond would paint one inside. Osborne said J’Nean Henderson is interested in doing one inside too. Any committee members interested in designing a box are invited to do so. Osborne thanked Frank and Richard for helping with the art crawl event. The deadline for artists to submit art is May 6, 2022. Jason asked if an artist would have a designated spot. Osborne said it would be marked with spray chalk. It will be a festival of sorts with collector cars, music, dance, and live art. Jason said he and Nina would participate. Keep League City Beautiful will have a table too. Bowman suggested Jimmy Phillips carve a wood statue on site. Osborne mentioned details related to the event. The public is invited to wear white and follow a map corresponding to artist tents and activities that will be part of the programming. It is scheduled to run from 4-9 p.m. Sears asked about parking and shuttles. Osborne commented that there won’t be a need for shuttles since there will be parking in the surrounding areas. Reason would like to involve some type of performances at Butler’s courtyard. Liddell asked for a space for the National Society of Artists. McClung mentions there will be a Plein Air event from May 8-14, 2022. Osborne gave an update on the yarn cuffs. She mentioned a knitting club called “Every Stitch Way” creating granny squares that will be joined to make a larger piece to go around tree trunks. Salcido mentioned buying yarn at Walmart for the group. Millican asked how much the yarn cost and he was shown a receipt for $102.00. Willliams asked when the first tree cuff will be competed. Salcido replied that she will be checking in with the group on June 1, 2022. McClung asked if the yarn cuffs will last. Zgonc replied “yes”. Bowman asked if the cuffs would damage the trees. Osborne replied “No.” She added that an interactive GIS map is being created where the user can click on the map and see an image pop up. Millican asked “where is the map?” Osborne mentioned that a link will be embedded in the League city web site. Bpwman suggested using an app called “Relive”. The conversation moved to creating videos of art in progress. Osborne mentioned staging a camera showing a live feed of artists in action like it was done with the caboose. The plan was to follow Jimmy’s progress while he works on the wooden statues. Sears asked what Jimmy’s schedule was to do the work. Osborne replied that the one at Hometown Heroes was almost complete and Bowman mentioned the one at Helen Hall library was projected to be started on April 7th. Another exhibit that was recently installed at Helen Hall Library is called “Oh the Places You Will Go”. Art by youths with disabilities provided by Mounting Horizons. The exhibit dates are April 4-May 9, 2022. Other art projects include a mural by Adam Socie. He will paint two sides of each building next to the municipal pool located at 450 W. Walker St. The walls will be interactive murals featuring birds and Sealife. The committee was asked to give feedback on the handouts that were provided showing renderings of the artist’s work. Reason suggested replacing the orca whale with a dolphin. Millican suggested a whale shark. Sears agreed. Jason suggested adding local fish. Nina thought a Mahimahi would be a great addition. Liddell chimed in “everyone loves Nemo”. Bowman asked if the walls inside the pool could be painted. Osborne mentioned the pool walls needed to be addressed in a separate meeting. Future mural locations were discussed. A possible location is a building next to the dollar store by the freeway. Millican suggested investigating grant money to be used to paint the murals. He mentioned “Enios” and developing an initiative to get big players involved in art projects by creating a dynamic presentation. He also mentioned “Patrons of the Parks” can be renamed “Patrons of the Park and Cultural Affairs” it can be an initiative that can be written off. The funds are already there. Changing the name can reallocate the funds for the art initiative. There were questions asked about the new community center. McClung wanted to know if it was open. Osborne replied “no, but the parks and recreation department tested out the space with summer camps.” The plan is to start evening and weekend classes in the fall. Reason asked about the blue building and using it for this type of programming. Millican said that council wants a buyer to help develop downtown and remove it from the tax rolls. Osborne and Millican mentioned River bend and its development. Millican said council wants the Blue building sold and it may ultimately be demolished. Liddell adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.