Arts Commission

Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 7:00 PM Room 208, Municipal Bldg. 245 deKoven Drive, Middletown, CT Hybrid – To Be Held Both In-Person and By WebEx In attendance Also in attendance Absent Lee Godburn, Chair Kisha Michael Kate Ten Eyck, David Wolfram (Arts Coordinator) Common Council Barbara Arafeh Ed McKeon, Mike Marino Domenique Thornton, Secy Charlotte McCoid Pam Steele, Vice Chair Anthony Pandolfe 1. Call to Order: Chair called the Meeting to order by the Chair at 6:59 PM. 2. Public Session: Kendall Sillwater stated he restored the PRIDE Crosswalk and working with Kisha on several grants’ Projects. He is looking to do mural work with the PAL program. He wants to know more about the process. Mark Lawrence says he is new to CT but now living in the Bridgeport CT and has done mural all over the World. He has been around Middletown for four years and wants to do murals in Middletown. The Chair welcomed both and let them know we had two meetings this evening: one dealt with the grants process specifically and this one was the regular meeting. 3. Approval of Minutes: Nov. 16, 2022 Meeting  Motion made by Steele and seconded by Wolfram to approve minutes. Without discussion minutes pass unanimously. 4. Approval of Agenda:  Motion made by Steele and seconded by Wolfram to approve minutes. Without discussion minutes pass unanimously. 5. Remarks from the Chair The Chair thanked all for attending this meeting a week before Christmas and hinted that we have some really cool things coming up for the new year. 6. Old Business – A. Staff Report Housekeeping: Michael read an email from David Bauer notifying us that: he “conveys any photographs, framed or unframed, currently in Middletown buildings (including but not limited to City Hall and the Senior Center) and also all rights to any of my digital images in the possession of any City  Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 7:00 PM Room 208, Municipal Bldg. 245 deKoven Drive, Middletown, CT Hybrid – To Be Held Both In-Person and By WebEx Department, Official, or Committee Member. This includes the right to display, publish or dispose of these items as the City of Middletown sees fit. I have some personal prints in Room B-15, but I will be removing these so there will be no exemptions to this conveyance. Best regards, David Bauer.” See Email attached. Michael sent him a thank you and will talk to David Bauer about it to express our gratitude for the permission to use all of his media including fireworks displays etc. All the commissions expressed their thanks for his conveyance. The Chair stated he will reach out with a personal phone call. Discussion included ensuring model releases for any photos. Next Grants Deadline January 9, 2023 for GOS and Project Support Michael announced that we just completed our Grants workshop and it went well. It was kept simple. As there was a lot of information regarding grants last month, this month is lighter. Nanette Fresher a new MCA grantee should have her check by February. Michael noted that she is currently having an art show at the Buttonwood Tree and her art work is amazing. Michael encouraged all to attend and enjoy it. Michael noted that the 2023 Meeting Schedule is all set from last month. B. Committee Assignments Chair announced that most of the committee assignments were done at the last meeting except for Steele. All of the assignments were designated in the minutes of the last meeting. See Below. MCA Committees and Assignments Public Art: CHAIR TBD; Kate Ten Eyck, David Wolfram, Charlotte McCoid, Pam Steele Nominating: CHAIR TBD, Kate Ten Eyck, Domenique Thornton, Charlotte McCoid Planning & Projects: CHAIR TBD, Domenique Thornton, Anthony Pandolfe, David Wolfram Grants Process Review: Executive Committee 7. New Business Committee Reports Chair Godburn described with enthusiasm and approval that the final pieces have been put together for the Arts Window on Main Street and it looks phenomenal.  Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 7:00 PM Room 208, Municipal Bldg. 245 deKoven Drive, Middletown, CT Hybrid – To Be Held Both In-Person and By WebEx Godburn also asked for suggestions for Arts Advocate Award in March 2023. Michael announced that she had one suggestion from Ten Eyck who sent a list of names but specified that she did not know whether they had already been awarded or resided in Middletown. The names were: Dick Wheeler; Marcella Trowbridge; Jen Alexander; Matt Lefebvre; Karen Hogg; Rani Arbo; Kerry Kincy and Kat Owens and Wadsworth Mansion. The chair noted that some of the suggestions had been previously awarded. Although the full list was on the MCA website, the tab was hidden. Michael promised to repopulate the list. The Chair requested that Michael put it in a complete format and send out to all commissioners. Chair announced that he spoke to Justin regarding Youth and Government who promised to get that activity started once again and that it had been delayed by COVID. The Chair advised that he would like it in place again at least by September. 9. Announcements Arafeh announced that the son of Corrine Gill former Arts coordinator’s son passed away at an early age. Arafeh also added that we should have more 50th anniversary events to which all other commissioner agreed and thanked her for her encouragement to do so. Arafeh also announced that Tosca was successful and that this particular opera had just previously played the Bushnell. So we were getting quite a highly acclaimed show. Thornton announced that the Eric Mintel Jazz Quartet is playing tonight at the Buttonwood. 10. Adjournment  Motion to adjourn by Thornton seconded by Steele. Meeting adjourned at 7:18 PM. ATT: Bauer Donation 12-6-22 (PDF) Respectfully submitted, Domeni que Thornton, Secretary