Cultural Arts Commission

City of Morgantown Cultural Arts Commission Meeting Minutes for February 16, 2022 Present: Mark McCoy - Chair Nikki Bowman Mills – Vice Chair Ron Dulaney Debbie West Mark Downs Josh Williamson Brian Butcher – City Councilor Ward 7 Absent: Rick McEwuen – Secretary Treasurer Jeff Arnett – Mon County Commissioner Public: Paul Peers – Ascend West Virginia Meeting called to order by at 5:32 P.M. The meeting took place via Zoom. Minutes: The December 2021 minutes were reviewed. Motion to approve minutes – Commissioner Dulaney 2nd – Commissioner Downs Motion passed 6-0 Public Comment: None Director Kitch introduced Paul Peers who is new to Morgantown as part of the Ascend West Virginia program. He is an opera producer and arts enthusiast. Mr. Peers introduced himself to the commissioners. New Business: Westover Bridge Mural Artist Design Review & Approval Director Kitch provided a summary of the process of the Public Art Advisory Committee and the recommended artist designs by Rafael Blanco that were selected via vote tabulation from the committee. Commissioner Bowman Mills, who served on the PAAC, gave her insights into the process and support for the design concepts that were being presented. The Arts Commissioned reviewed 2 pairs of designs for the project and approved 2 designs. Motion to approve Commissioner McCoy 2nd – Commissioner Dulaney Motion passed 6-0 Director’s Report: Vincent E. Kitch Director Kitch provided an overview of events and activities of the Arts & Cultural Development Department. MHM – The Morgantown History Museum will be offering Kids and Family Days coming this spring. On select Saturdays, the museum will offer free interactive programs for children ages 8-12 to learn history of West Virginia and the historical significance of Morgantown. Programs will be 90 minutes in length and will be offered on Saturdays in March and April. https://www.morgantownhistorymuseum.org Saturday, March 5 Saturday, April 2 12:00 – 1:30 pm –Textile Industry 12:00 – 1:30 pm –Textile Industry 2:00 – 3:30 pm –Mining Industry 2:00 – 3:30 pm –Mining Industry Saturday, March 19 Saturday, April 23 12:00 – 1:30 pm – Native Peoples 12:00 – 1:30 pm – Native Peoples 2:00 – 3:30 pm – Animals of West Virginia 2:00 – 3:30 pm – Animals of West Virginia They are also planning a new exhibition on Printmaking in Morgantown that will feature guest speakers and printing and book binding demonstrations. It’s scheduled for April 1. Met – The Met will be opening for its first event on February 21-27 with MTC and their rescheduled performance of the Music Man. The Met has completely new seats but no carpeting due to the supply chain, it will be mid-April before it arrives. Hopefully the digital marquees will be installed, and they are working on an electronic poster case to replace the current paper one. The exact delivery and installation dates at the mercy of the supply chain. HRMP – The department received nearly $2M in funding from the HRM Charitable Trust for programming and several capital projects over the next couple years. The Park is still effectively closed for the season in terms of events and programs. The city received a lot of press for the announcement of the grants and the summer series is drawing attention. The city launched the ruby website this week. Staff are still booking artists for the summer concerts and there is a lot more planning to do. Vincent has been busy initiating purchases related to the capital funding. Again, supply chain will slow some of that progress. Staff have installed new signage on park hours, restrooms, and special event signage for next year. Seats for the middle rear section of the park will be installed the week of March 21st. Staff have also ordered 1100 new seats to replace the current aluminum benches in the park which should be completed before Memorial Day. Public Art – Vincent will be contracting with Rafael Blanco and scheduling the completion of the Westover Bridge Pier mural, tentatively scheduled to be done in April. The city launched another regional call for artists for the Woodburn Community Center mural project. Vincent asked for volunteers from the commission would like to be involved with the public art advisory committee for that project. Commissioner Dulaney and Council Member Butcher volunteered to participate. Other –Chair McCoy authored a general letter of support that was sent to the City Manager and City Council asking their support for our FY 23 budget requests after the December meeting. Vincent has had positive meetings with Finance and City Managers. Vincent gave a presentation to the Mon County Commission on the department in general and a discussion regarding the summer planning for concerts and the 4th of July. After that meeting and correspondence with the commissioners, County Commissioners are changing the parameters of their tourism grant program that is managed by Visit mountaineer country CVB to allow the city to be eligible for funding. The city will be seeking county support for both the 4th of July and the summer concerts. 2 Vincent has already secured a couple local corporate sponsorships for the summer and is seeking a few more. Vincent is also working on grants to the WV Commission on the Arts for facilities support of the Met HVAC project and for programming support of the summer concerts. Thanks to commissioners Bowman Mills – for all her work with the Public Art Advisory Committee and the Westover mural McCoy – letter to City Council and he facilitated a nice support letter from President Gee for our grant application. McEwuen – has been helping plan the kid’s events at the museum, buying new chairs and other supplies through the Friends, and moving displays around for the next exhibition. At the depot he is serving as our inhouse interior designer. He is helping order blinds and sound mitigation panels that will have some historic images screened on to them. Williamson – has signed on to help consider and design some pedestrian lighting enhancements for the park. The city wants to tap him for some advice to lighting on High Street as well. Future Business: Revisit discussion on ticket fees at HRMP Update from Commissioners: The next meeting will take place on March 9, 2022, Location TBD Motion to adjourn Commissioner McCoy 2nd Commissioner Bowman Mills The meeting was adjourned at 6:17 pm. Submitted by Vincent Kitch - Director 3