Arts Commission

Minutes Middletown Commission on the Arts PLANNING AND PROJECTS COMMITTEE Tuesday, October 17, 2023 5:00 pm Virtual Meeting by WebEx PLANNING AND PROJECTS COMMITTEE Minutes of Meeting In attendance: Anthony Pandolfe (Chair), David Wolfram, Sari Rosenblatt Also in attendance: Commissioners, Domenique Thornton (by phone, arr 5:28pm) Also in attendance: Staff: Kisha Michael, Arts Coordinator; Julia Faraci, Admin Sec’y 1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 5:05pm. 2. Public Session: no members of the public present 3. Approval of Agenda: Rosenblatt moved to approve, Wolfram seconded. No discussion, approved unanimously. 4. Approval of Minutes 09-19-2023 Wolfram moved to approve, Rosenblatt seconded. No discussion, approved unanimously. 5. Remarks from Chair - none 6. Old Business a. Music Ambassador Review of list of Music Ambassador Nominees compiled by Barbara Arafeh and supplemented by Kate Ten Eyck and Faraci. The Committee removed names of nominees who are inactive or non- residents. Pandolfe will forward the resulting list of 11 musicians to Committee members, asking them to return their top three choices so that he can bring their selections to the full Commission meeting on October 25. The Arts Coordinator will forward selection documents to the Committee Chair. b. Wadsworth Open Air Market – no report c. Arts Advocacy Award, September 28, 2023 Michael commented that the simplicity of organizing the ceremony helped to make the event a success; the only change she would like to see is more attendees. 7. New Business a. 2024 Arts Advocacy Award nominations Committee members nominated individuals and groups in the Middletown arts community. As some nominees have already been honored with the Award, the Arts Coordinator advised Committee members to review the list of past Awardees. b. Potential New Projects Rosenblatt suggested “Artober” to be discussed at a future meeting, for October 2024. 8. Announcements a. Faraci noted that she attended the CT Lit Fest at Real Art Ways, and touched bases with the Connecticut Coalition of Poets Laureate. Through this contact, she met a Middletown poet who is interested in applying to be Middletown Poet Laureate. Faraci introduced the poet to Rosenblatt, also attending the festival, and took the poet’s contact information. b. Pandolfe will continue to load any procedural documents to the resource links at the Committee’s Year at a Glance file. c. Next meeting date is November 14, 2023. 9. Adjournment Rosenblatt made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Wolfram. Meeting adjourned at 5:55pm. Respectfully submitted, Julia O’Halloran Faraci Admin. Secretary III, Arts & Culture Office CC: Mayor’s Office Attachments: Nominations Spreadsheet AAA MA Year at a Glance document Meeting dates for the Planning and Projects Committee