Museums and Cultural Arts Commission Meeting

MINUTES COLTON HALL MUSEUM AND CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION Monday, October 26, 2015 4:00 PM COUNCIL CHAMBER, FEW MEMORIAL HALL OF RECORDS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Commissioners Present: Greenwald, Marohn, Sovereign, Ruhnke, Evans, Wojtkowski 4:15 pm - Dias Commissioners Absent Ex-Officio and Staff Museums, Cultural Arts and Archives Manager Members Present: Copeland, Recording Secretary Rygg 4:40 pm - Community Services Director Bui-Burton Staff Members Absent: Ex-Officio Commissioners are non-voting members, appointed pursuant to MCC § 2-11. CALL TO ORDER: 4:02 PM CONSENT ITEMS 1. Monday, September 28, 2015 ACTION: Approved. On a motion by Commissioner Sovereign, seconded by Commissioner Greenwald and carried by the following vote, the Colton Hall Museum and Cultural Arts Commission approved the minutes with two corrections. AYES: 4 COMMISSIONERS: Evans, Greenwald, Ruhnke, Sovereign NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: NONE ABSENT: 1 COMMISSIONERS: Dias ABSTAIN: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Marohn, Wojtkowski RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: NONE ***End of Consent Agenda*** PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mr. O’Dowd is excited about what Commission is going to say. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & STAFF COMMENTS 2. Receive Museum and Cultural Arts Division Activity Report - September 2015 ACTION: Report received. Staff Presentation / Commissioner Questions:  Colton Hall Museum and Cultural Arts Commission Minutes Monday, October 26, 2015 Manager Copeland reviewed the staff activity report. Chair Evans asked where the Monterey Conference Center storage unit was located, and Manager Copeland said the unit is in Sand City. Commissioner Sovereign asked if there were photographic records of what went into the unit. Manager Copeland said we do not have photographs of artwork before move but have photographs of art already in our records; the larger artwork is now protected in wooded crates. 3. Receive Update Report from Angels Auction Subcommittee on November 2015 Joint Angels Restoration Fundraiser with Old Monterey Foundation Commissioner Ruhnke reported that Tuesday, October 20, was the subcommittee’s first Monterey Farmers’ Market Day to provide information about the December 5 Angel Auction. An angel, painted by a local artist, was displayed, and the subcommittee provided information on how people can donate to the restoration project. The subcommittee will be at the Farmers’ Market every Tuesday until Thanksgiving. Commissioner Marohn is making information packets so he and Commissioner Dias can visit local businesses to obtain sponsorships for the angels’ project, and have an angel displayed at the businesses. The Old Monterey Foundation (OMF) has worked on getting event rack cards and brochures printed, and the OMF website has an angel page to donate online, including photos of new angels to be auctioned to raise funds for restoration. Commissioner Sovereign thanked the subcommittee for their great work. Public Comment: Mr. O’Dowd said that every time the Old Monterey Foundation had a booth, the angels have attracted a lot of attention. 4. Receive an Update Report from Bouchard - Battle of Monterey Bicentennial Subcommittee Manager Copeland reported that the subcommittee met in September and he distributed to the Commissioners a draft proclamation for the Battle of Monterey Bicentennial. Once the Commission has reviewed the proclamation, the final proclamation and an agenda report will be presented at the November 17th City Council meeting. Manager Copeland noted that the Commission Chair or a Commissioner designated by the Chair can provide comments at the meeting on the importance of the proclamation and the 2018 bicentennial. Chair Evans appointed Commissioner Sovereign to be the lead and provide Commission comments, and Chair Evans will also attend meeting. Commissioner Sovereign thanked Mr. O’Dowd from OMF for his continued work that will enable the City to make the Lower Presidio Historic Park (LPHP) more accessible. He recalled at the last Commission meeting that they heard Neighborhood Improvement Coordinator (NIP)/Sr. Engineer Jeff Krebs discuss the Bouchard Memorial as part of the path, including interpretive panels. Has staff heard anything more? Manager Copeland said staff has not received any more information o the path around the El Castillo site. Commissioner Sovereign asked if the Commission can review the path design plan for access and Manager Copeland said the Commission can probably receive copies from NIP Coordinator Krebs. Manager Copeland said it would be a draft design and initially City staff, OMF members, and Army representatives visited the site and reviewed a conceptual design for the walkway on El Castillo site going around the Serra Monument, provided by NIP Coordinator Krebs. The initial problem with the walkway or a Colton Hall Museum & Cultural Arts Commission Monday, October 26, 2015 2  Colton Hall Museum and Cultural Arts Commission Minutes Monday, October 26, 2015 branch walk going to the Bouchard Monument is hillside gradations. Mr. Krebs stated previously that it may be possible to reroute the pathway to include the Bouchard Monument and he will review the area. Public Comment: Mr. O’Dowd said the pathway is a delicate design issue because of the details of the pathway will include interpretive panels. He is a proponent of the El Castillo site, and perhaps a reconstruction of the fort could be made on top of the site. Commissioner Sovereign added that the El Castillo saw a major piece of the action during the Battle of Monterey and may be possible to have something that looks like a reconstruction or representation of it. Mr. O’Dowd said that Manager Copeland has a [Olaf] Dahlstrom drawing of El Castillo and he sees that it would be easy to use that drawing and reconstruct without disturbing the archaeology. Manager Copeland said where the signs are placed (at Bouchard Memorial, El Castillo site) will depend on the contours and locations along the walkway. Several design issues will need to be addressed for signage. He suggested first meeting with the subcommittee and then checking with NIP Coordinator Krebs on the pathway design and, if it is possible to include the Bouchard monument on the walkway sites. Chair Evans asked if the Commission agreed with the wording of the draft proclamation, and he, Commissioners Greenwald and Dias suggested word changes in paragraphs 3, 6 and 8. 5. Adopt the Colton Hall Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Study with Recommendations Commissioner Wojtkowski asked if all three of the priorities would be done at the same time, and Manager Copeland said probably not at the same time. Manager Copeland reviewed the estimated costs, and if the overall project was implemented it would be $288K with a contingency of other costs totaling about $332K. Following the prioritized recommendations, the first step would be the LULA (limited use limited application) elevator to the second floor. Commissioner Wojtkowski said LULA elevator could “kill two birds with one stone”: It could be used for City Planners to meet with a disabled person upstairs as the front and rear entrances of Colton Hall are not ADA accessible. Manager Copeland noted that this would be similar to how Museum staff works with visitors downstairs; he also noted that staff have planned for a virtual tour to be shown on an IPad. Manager Copeland stated the next step will most likely be to seek funding sources to design and install the LULA elevator. Staff recommends that the Chair may want to appoint a subcommittee to work with staff on funding sources for implementing the Study’s recommendations. The subcommittee can meet with potential funding agencies for advice on how best to fund the project. This will get the ball rolling on implementation. Chair Evans appointed Commissioners Evans and Wojtkowski to the subcommittee. ACTION: Approved. On a motion by Commissioner Wojtkowski, seconded by Commissioner Greenwald and carried by the following vote, the Colton Hall Museum and Cultural Arts Commission unanimously approved to adopt the Colton Hall Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Study with Recommendations. Colton Hall Museum & Cultural Arts Commission Monday, October 26, 2015 3  Colton Hall Museum and Cultural Arts Commission Minutes Monday, October 26, 2015 AYES: 7 COMMISSIONERS: Evans, Dias, Greenwald, Marohn, Ruhnke, Sovereign Wojtkowski NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: NONE ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: NONE ABSTAIN: 0 COMMISSIONERS: NONE RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: NONE Manager Copeland said the study will go to the Historic Preservation Commission in November. 6. Receive Report on History Fest 2015 Activities ACTION: Report received. Staff Presentation / Commissioner Questions: Manager Copeland reviewed parts of the report with the Commissioners. He said this year’s History Fest went very well with the California Constitutional Convention reenactment at the House of the Four Winds, the encampment at the LPHP, and the free public tours at the Pacific Biological Laboratories. There was a challenge with late distribution of History Fest program s. Staff will work with Historic Monterey next year to expedite the program and press releases. The Monterey County Weekly published a nice boxed article on History Fest. Commissioner Dias commented that it hurt that the community groups who staffed the information tables down by Custom House Plaza because they didn’t have the History Fest programs. Visibility and weather were a problem. She said members of the community groups visited her table, but overall the information tables were not successful and only two visitors came to her table. Manager Copeland said this was the second year for information tables and recalled that last year the weather was scorching hot and this year it was colder and windy. The Historic Monterey steering and coordinating committees can review having the community cultural organizations information tables there or at a different location if done again; he suggested that an effective way to attract visitors is to have another event activity going on at the same location to attract visitors. Chair Evans suggested holding the California Constitutional Convention (CCC) reenactment out on the Colton Hall front lawn, and Manager Copeland said it could be possible but with the Museum’s limited budget it would be expensive with renting chairs and a platform and other materials and required much more staff time. He reminded the Commission about the outdoor music concerts were challenging to present. Chair Evans suggested using the back patio [garden] by the City Manager’s Office and Commissioner Dias commented on the lack of visibility on the patio. Chair Evans noted that the City committee for evaluating Special Event grants proposed [to Council] funding of a scavenger hunt for historical items or places in Spring of 2016. Manager Copeland said a replica of Cabrillo’s ship, the “San Salvador,” will sail into and visit Monterey in in September 2016. There has been a proposal to possibly move History Fest to September to coincide with the ship’s arrival. Colton Hall Museum & Cultural Arts Commission Monday, October 26, 2015 4  Colton Hall Museum and Cultural Arts Commission Minutes Monday, October 26, 2015 Manager Copeland said that, with the funding and implementation of the elevator recommended in the ADA study, the reenactment can hopefully return to Colton Hall in 2017. The project schedule would be in 2016 to seek fundraising sources, looking at various grantors and other funding sources with staff working with the Commission on those items, and then to obtain sufficient funding to install the LULA elevator at Colton Hall in 2017. Staff could review the feasibility of an outdoor Constitutional Convention Reenactment and return to the Commission with an assessment and recommendation, if the Commission wishes to pursue the idea. Mr. O’Dowd expressed delight as a visitor and participant at the LPHP Civil War encampment and he attended the constitutional convention which he thought was excellent, and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War encampment was incredible. Activity down at the Custom House Plaza was slow and did not have many people. The best thing he heard was the lecture on the “San Salvador,” presented by the CEO of San Diego Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, the lecture was not well attended. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commission Greenwald said there is an outstanding art exhibition at the Monterey Museum of Art at La Mirada of Armin Hansen’s paintings curated by Scott Shields, [Chief Curator of the Crocker Museum in Sacramento], author of “Artists at Continent’s End”. Hansen, known for sea-related material, also painted rodeo scenes and his work still lives. It’s very interesting the breath of the exhibition. Commissioner Dias added Scott Shields will speak during the Monterey Museum of Arts’ “Speaker Series” on November 13 at the Middlebury International Institute’s Irvine Auditorium at 6:00 pm. NEXT MEETING 7. November 30, 2015 ADJOURNMENT Chair Evans adjourned the meeting at 4:56 PM Respectfully submitted, Approved, _______________________________ ________________________________ Dennis Copeland, Manager Robert Evans, Chair Museums, Cultural Arts and Archives Colton Hall Museum & Cultural Arts Commission Colton Hall Museum & Cultural Arts Commission Monday, October 26, 2015 5