Arts Commission

Amended Minutes of the Meeting Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 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 Ed McKeon, Common Council Pam Steele, Vice Chair (Arts Coordinator) Mike Marino, Common Council David Wolfram Julia Faraci Barbara Arafeh (Admin. Secy) Charlotte McCoid Jean Ann Wertz Kate Ten Eyck Anthony Pandolfe (Webex; arr 8:34 PM) Domenique Thornton, Secy. 1. Call to Order: Meeting called to order by the Chair at 6:59 PM. 2. Public Session: Jean Ann Wertz attended and introduced herself as a member of the public who is interested in becoming a member of the MCA. 3. Approval of Minutes: January 25, 2023 Meeting  Motion to approve Minutes by Wolfram and seconded by Steele. With no discussion or corrections the minutes pass unanimously. 4. Approval of Agenda:  Motion made by Steele and seconded by Wolfram to approve agenda. No discussion; passes unanimously. 5. Remarks from the Chair The Chair noted that the subcommittees are working hard and thanks members for this work to make the full meeting more productive. 6. Old Business – A. Staff Report Michael noted the arts office has located John Risley’s family’s address and will send his proclamation. Also Sandra Russo-Driska’s name has been submitted to the council agenda for March 6 to replace Barbara Arafeh after her 50 years of service. The first of the ARPA grants funding a trip to the Hartford Atheneum and the Old State House was successfully completed the day of this meeting. All participants were happy and more trips will follow during vacation and other times school is not in session.  Amended Minutes of the Meeting Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 7:00 PM Room 208, Municipal Bldg. 245 deKoven Drive, Middletown, CT Hybrid – To Be Held Both In-Person and By WebEx The artist Kendall S. (Soliwoda) is up for the next store front renovation on Main Street to replace the last one shown at the old Woolworth’s Building. He was also the named artist for the PAL project mural. B. Committee reports a. Public Arts Ten Eyck reported on the Riverfront Reconnect project proposal for a large scale community mosaic at the downtown tunnel to the Connecticut River. Ten Eyck presented a 16 page pamphlet describing the project to the committee. Some discussion followed as to next steps and the evolving plans for the route 9 upgrade coming soon. Ten Eyck also reported the Public Arts committee had a productive meeting relative to how they will pay artists going forward a uniform stipend for an electronic image of their work rather than commissioning an art work per se. They propose that the MCA pay for an image of the artist’s work to be used in various manners and locations. She also added that the subcommittee was working on a process for decommissioning art that the city already owns. Wolfram added that among many reasons there was a consensus to decommission many older works going forward: many are damaged; some are outdated and or not in keeping with the times, while others may be displayed at another location where they can also be enjoyed. Wolfram and Ten Eyck agreed that the MCA must be upfront with all the artists to let them know that when we accept an art work it does not necessarily mean it will be displayed forever. The MCA has no curator, no storage, no professional lighting and even the method for display on city hall walls is problematic as it leaves marks and holes in the wall. The committee is working on improving the display of art works in the future with a better hanging system and they will report back to the MCA on their decommissioning efforts and the purchase of images rather than art works for MCA approval after they meet again to discuss these issues. A draft letter was read into the record to support the Riverfront Reconnect community mosaic.  Motion made by Arafeh and seconded by McCoid to accept the letter as written. Some discussion followed regarding the improvement of route 9 and elimination of the lights project being moved forward in time with greater urgency by the CT DOT. Motion passed unanimously. b. Nominating subcommittee – no report. c. Planning & Projects Subcommittee chairman Pandolfe submitted a report which was accepted into the record. They will meet again on Thursday March 16 and prepare to submit names for the Poet Laureate. Some discussion followed regarding an artist laureate if no poet could be found. d. Grant Process Review – no report  Amended Minutes of the Meeting Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 7:00 PM Room 208, Municipal Bldg. 245 deKoven Drive, Middletown, CT Hybrid – To Be Held Both In-Person and By WebEx 7.) New Business a.) MCA new commission recommendations Arafeh and Ten Eyck leave the meeting as they have project grant proposals under consideration. The MCA recommended the following amounts for those who submitted grants: Art Farm $6,000 Joe Fonda $2,000 Wesleyan Potters $7,000 Artists for World Peace $7,900 Ekklesia Ballet $8,000 PAL $1,082 Oddfellows $12,000 Resonant Motion $2,825 GMCA $6,000 Stacey Noujaim $920 GM Chorale $7,000 Katherine Owens $2,500 Buttonwood Tree $2,500 Futures $1,500 Total awarded: $67, 227  Motion made by Thornton to accept the above recommendation Seconded by Wolfram passes unanimously. 8. Announcements Steele announced her daughter, Jennifer Steele, was featured on the GMA television show for her creative writing program at 826CHI, Chicago, which teaches creative writing, tutors and publishes children’s stories. Steele also noted that Alison Johnson has written a poem about the late Representative Quentin “Q” Williams changing his last name to respect and honor his mother. 10. Adjournment  Motion to adjourn by Steele and seconded by McCoid passes unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 9 PM. Respectfully submitted, Domeni que Thornton, Secretary *Att: Riverfront-Mosaic-Proposal, PandP-Year at a Glance (1) (PDF), MCA2023Riverfront Reconnect Project Support (PDF), PandP Committee Report-APandolfe2-22 (PDF)