Arts Board Meeting

CITY OF MADISON HEIGHTS CITY HALL – MADISON ROOM, 300 W. 13 MILE RD. ARTS BOARD MEETING AGENDA AUGUST 27, 2024 AT 7:00 PM CALL TO ORDER at 7:05 ROLL CALL Michael Covert Jennifer Nagle Sue Popp Laurie (arrived 7:35) Ali Dorsey Mark Bliss Bill Mier Vita Palazzolo (arrived 7:07) Harley Mordarski, Staff Liaison ADDITIONS/DELETIONS 1. Covert asked if the board needed to vote to remove McBride after her resignation. Mordarski responded that McBride sent a letter of resignation that was forwarded to the Clerk, so they did not have to do anything for the time being. However, Ahna Basler has not submitted anything to the Clerk and has only mentioned it to Mordarski verbally. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Bliss, seconded by Nagle to approve minutes from June 11th Yea: All Nay: None Motion Carries MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC REPORTS 1. Treasurer Report Mordarski read the following: $4,557.92 Arts Board Escrow o $146.45 reserved for Skelebration Trail o $200 reserved for Eve to paint the mural o $100 reserved for supplies for the mural o $1,000 reserved for the Park Mural Maintenance plan  o $500 set aside for the Broadway Karaoke Dance Party o $250 set aside for Gala supplies o $246.75 set aside for Arts and Pride The Board has $2,114.72 to spend freely. $2,397.52 in Trail Tunes Changes in the account: • $101.65 Revenue from Arts and Pride • $723.85 Cost of Arts and Pride • Pending: cost of license for arts and pride ($73, will reflect on next statement) Bliss noted that Trail Tunes also received the Community Foundation grant of $5,000. 2. Social Media Report Nagle reported that Social Media engagement is down. She plans to do some group cross-posting for Trail Tunes and Disco Prom to increase it. Bliss said he has videos and graphics to send to Nagle to post. The Board has gotten 6 new followers in the last 28 days. The Board has reached 317 people in that time. Nagle plans to make scheduled posts. She also noted that engagement is overwhelmingly women (80%) between the ages of 35-44. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 4. Arts Prom 2024 (Geralds, Bliss, Nagle, Covert and Popp) Gerald’s sincere assessment is that the board as a whole is dwindling, and the event is not being publicized enough. As a result, ticket sales are extremely slow. She does not foresee it improving and suggests that the event be canceled because it is 10 weeks away. Geralds recognizes that this will be a loss. Nagle and Bliss believe that the event could still be successful with an additional push. Nagle proposed increasing promotions. Geralds expressed frustration at the lack of correspondence from the subcommittee regarding logos, posts, and overall support. Bliss would rather sell tickets with a ticketing platform instead of making a check or Venmo, since it could draw in a younger group. Geralds said she does not agree with that approach at this time due to timing. Palazzolo and Nagle noted that the ticket cost is a barrier, but Geralds maintained that ticketing discussions should have happened earlier. Nagle notes that she has sent 325 people an invite, and Bliss has invited 100, but no one has bought tickets. Bliss noted that the payment method decision was not communicated with the rest of the subcommittee before it was made, and therefore he wants to give 30 days to see how ticket sales perform with a different platform and more promotion. Geralds noted that if someone else wants to take over as subcommittee chair, they may. Otherwise, she is stepping down and recommends the Board cancel for this year. Palazzolo and Popp discussed ideas to make the tickets more accessible or having a ticket giveaway contest. Geralds proposed moving the event, so the Board does not lose its deposit at Club Venetian. Mordarski proposed moving the event to springtime. Geralds will ask Club Venetian to move the Arts Prom to the March-April timeframe (avoiding March Madness and Spring Break). Potential dates are March 7th, May 2nd, May 9th May 16th, or May 23rd.  5. Halloween Event (Geralds, Dorsey) Geralds has received good feedback from residents, but the Board needs to start advertising. The date is October 19th with October 20th as the rain date. Nagle said she would post materials once she had them from the subcommittee. 6. Trail Tunes & Bandshell Ribbon Cutting (Bliss, Palazzolo, Covert) Bliss noted that there will be a half-hour of content before Trail Tunes officially kicks off including comments from Consumers, the Mayor, Mark, and the Chair and Co-chair Covert and Palazzolo. Covert and Palazzolo will introduce the festival and thank everyone. The Aspersions will play while the band is playing. Mordarski noted that Melissa Marsh will not be present. Bliss asked if another City staff member would be available – he wants City staff representation since they helped significantly with the project. The Aspersions will Kick off the festival and play as the ribbon is cut. Someone will livestream the ceremony as well for Social Media. Bliss reported that the bands will play in alternating sets for 3.5 hours while The Aspersions play at Bandshell until Battle of the Bands. Bliss said that more time is allocated to the Battle of the Bands to accommodate for longer set-up times. The committee is still finalizing everything, especially since one Band would like to be reimbursed for out-of-state travel. When the Aspersions are not playing at the bandshell, there will be family fun zone entertainment. Palazzolo listed the following sponsors: • Golling Kia - $500 • Madison Beverage – $100 • Joes Car Care - $100 • The Coach Grille - $100 • Interstate Auto - $100 • Century 21 Campbell - $150 Waiting to hear back from: • Northern Audio and Sound • Third Man Records • Stonehouse Grille • Huber Breese Scott Boatright will be doing the sound setup for the event. Palazzolo mentioned that Texas Roadhouse does fundraisers and donates 20% of sales. Regarding food trucks, Covert said he has 3 confirmed food trucks. They will give information to Mordarski by the 9th. Vendor-wise, Covert reported 5 vendors. Mordarski requested the name of the food trucks for the health department paperwork, which needs to be submitted at least 2 weeks before the event. Motion by Bliss, seconded by Nagle to allow the Trail Tunes subcommittee to spend up to the maximum amount of dollars in the Trail Tunes ESCROW account ($2,397.52) to pay for bands, prizes, and sponsorship ads. Yea: All Nay: None Motion Carries Mordarski said she needed to know who to send the checks to so they could be printed. Bliss said he could get it to her by September 3rd. Blis noted that they have sufficient funds to pay for sound, payments, and other things needed for the event and the financials are “in good shape”. 7. Broadway Karaoke Dance Party (Bliss, Nagle) On hold until the start of the school year. Nagle wants to reach out to teachers. Mordarski asked if the committee would be open to hosting the event in the bandshell and reshaping the event. 8. Arts and Pride (Nagle, Dorsey, Popp) Nagle noted that teenagers at the event expressed interest in helping next year. On a similar note, Bliss stated that he reached out to every band who has performed over the years letting them know that there a vacancies on the Board that they could fill. Mordarski also said she would send an email to those who have submitted art for the City Hall Civic Center Plaza. Applicants must apply by September 5th, for the Council meeting on September 9th. Nagle will make a post as well calling for people to join the board. 9. Disability Pride Month (Covert, Geralds, Palazzolo) Covert was disappointed in the turnout even though the event was set up nicely. He didn’t think the event was broadcast well. He would like to continue this event. Mordarski recommended doing something unconventional to honor Disability Pride, but perhaps not making it a big event since it is a heavy lift. Mordarski also recommends hosting the event at the same time as another event to increase foot traffic. Covert said the information at the event was fantastic and the event was very fun, there just weren’t many people. Palazzolo said next year they should get the news involved to showcase the event more. Bliss brought up that The Historical Commission uses Council Meetings to boost the event. He recommended doing something in the Library on the night of a Council Meeting to get more people together, perhaps starting with a Proclamation for Disability Pride Month. 10. Civic Center Hopscotch (Popp, Geralds) Popp said that Geralds was going to reach out to Eve Sandoval. 11. Park Mural Maintenance Plan Covert talked to Jennifer Ramirez, and she said she would be willing to go through and check murals to see if anything needed touch-ups. She would make a breakdown of expenses if anything needed touchup.  12. DIA Inside Out Program (Mordarski) Mordarski submitted by the deadline and emailed the program twice to confirm the application was received, but did not get a response. The requested locations are Civic Center Park, the Library, Rosie’s Park, Nature Center, and DDA Businesses. 13. Civic Center Art Exhibit (Palazzolo, Bliss, Nagle, Popp) Mordarski suggested the committee meet up to determine which paintings to showcase. Mordarski said there weren’t as many submissions as last time, so they might have to shrink the footprint to one hallway or one general area. Covert asked if someone on the committee could submit art. The general consensus was that if someone on the subcommittee applied, they would abstain from voting for themselves and ideally leave the room if/when their art was discussed. NEW BUSINESS 14. HREC Cookbook Collaboration (Nagle, Popp) HREC Staff Liaison contacted Mordarski regarding a Cookbook Collaboration with the Arts Board. They want to add art to this community cookbook they are creating. Mordarski asked if anyone on the Board is interested in being connected with subcommittee members on the HREC to move this project further. Nagle and Popp volunteered, and Palazzolo mentioned she would consider it. Mordarski will send an email introducing the Boards. 15. Board Composition Motion by Palazzolo to remove Ahna Basler from the Board, seconded by Geralds. Yea: All Nay: None Motion Carries Palazzolo recommends that the City Council give a Thank You to Ahna for her service on the Board. 16. Board Rolodex Nagle would like to create a contact/mailing list. Mordarski said she could contribute by starting the list with the names she has on City Forms and suggested that Nagle contact them to see if they want to be added to a mailing list to hear about art-related events. 17. Open Mic/Cabaret Nagle also wants to do a cabaret at the Bandshell. Bliss noted that the Board is required to come up with summer programming as part of the bandshell grant agreement and that the cabaret could be a component of that programming. Mordarski tasked each member of the Board to come up with at least two summer concert/performance ideas to share with the group next meeting. Popp asked how the Board would budget for the concert series. It would need to be worked into the Arts Board budget, but there are grant opportunities and business sponsorship that the Board can take advantage of. 18. Hazel Park Arts Council Hazel Park Arts Council would like to share calendars to ensure events are not competing and to potentially collaborate. ADJOURNMENT AT 8:27 PM Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 8th at 7:00 pm NOTICE: Persons with disabilities needing accommodations for effective participation through electronic means in this meeting should contact the City Clerk at (248) 583-0826 or by email: clerks@madison-heights.org at least two working days in advance of the meeting. An attempt will be made to make reasonable accommodations.