Culture, Arts & Pride Commission

CULTURE, ARTS & PRIDE COMMISSION Wednesday, January 10, 2018 12:00 noon Municipal Complex, Committee Meeting Room (3300) 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES Members Present: Kenda Sweet, Chair; Rebecca Gosnell, Ann McGahey, Stephanie Meadows, Bren Romano Monteiro Members Absent: Ian Duncan, Charles Williams Staff Present: Nicole Harvey Ms. Sweet called the meeting to order at 12:04 p.m. She welcomed Ms. Bren Romano Monteiro to the Culture, Arts and Pride Commission. 1. Approval of Minutes from the December 13, 2017 meeting Ms. Gosnell made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 13, 2017 meeting. Ms. Meadows seconded the motion. All were in favor. 2. Public Comments Ms. Sherrie Pompeii from the MPRD Senior Center said they have a number of classes where they encourage members to be creative. She wanted to become familiar with what the Commission is doing in the community and has seen some of the traffic box wraps. She wanted to request a wrap on their grounds but pointed out they have an electrical box, not traffic signal box.  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 2 of 13 Ms. Gosnell asked if there were any spaces in the Senior Center where they would like to have art displayed. Ms. Pompeii said they have a gallery and allow their members to display their artwork. She said one of the art classes goes to East Cooper Hospital and does a show there. She said there is always room to entertwine with other groups. Ms. Sweet said when the Commission sends submission requests for its art programs, we will send them to the Senior Center to let their members know to submit art. Ms. Pompeii said a few of their member artists have hung their work in the Mayor’s Office. Ms. McGahey asked where the Senior Center was located. Ms. Pompeii said they are housed on a piece of land on Von Kolnitz Road that East Cooper Hospital donated to the Town of Mount Pleasant. She said they work closely together with the hospital and that they provide doctors who speak on health issues and other topics as well as a wellness program. Ms. Gosnell said she recalls discussion about having outgrown the current facility and the possibility of building another facility in the northern part of town. Ms. Pompeii said they have 2,200 members and that there has been some discussion of adding another facility in the north side of town. 3. Report from Subcommittees a. Mayor’s Office Art Ms. Sweet said she would like to rename this subcommittee to the Town Hall Art Program. Ms. Harvey said there are tracks with hangers in the hallways and she will check on the possibility of using the system for hanging art. Ms. Harvey shared the art submissions received. The first artist is Mr. Brian Clayton and his pieces are all 28” x 28” photographs, for which he custom-makes frames. She shared his pieces: Flow, Shem Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 3 of 13 Creek and Snow Monkeys. The next submissions by Ms. Fay Seagal are all 18” x 24”. They are Pink Lady Azalea, Golden Bearded Iris, Monarch Butterfly on Corn Flower, and Preening for the Onlookers. Ms. Meadows asked if they were selecting just one. Ms. Harvey said they will select four for the year. She said the next submissions are Laurel Hill Avenue of Oaks at 36” x 24” as well as Ravenel Bridge at Sunset and Shem Creek, which are each 24” x 18” by Fer Caggiano. She said next are Jane Zalkin’s sculpture called Seagret as well as Medium Flower that is 8” x 10” and Palm Sisters that is 11” x 14”, both of which are acrylic on canvas. Mrs. Harvey said these are all the submissions received by the deadline despite an extra push and extended deadline. She said last year they had at least three times the number of submissions and does not know if the weather or the holidays impacted response. She said press releases were sent out twice and it had been posted on various Town social media channels multiple times. She asked if they would want to look at last year’s again and they could contact the artists to see if they still have interest in displaying. She said they do have lovely pieces to select from currently. Ms. Sweet suggested they pick only the first quarterly piece today. She is meeting with the Charleston Artist Collective on Friday and hopefully the Mount Pleasant Artist Guild next week. She said they will also get information out to the Senior Center as well. Ms. Harvey said she had emailed the Artist Guild President. She said there is an age 18 requirement and said the Wando art teacher emailed to ask if the age requirement was strict. She said it was too late to change for this year but perhaps they want to consider it. Ms. Gosnell said when this program was created, the thought process was that there are a lot of opportunities for student art in Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 4 of 13 the community and the Commission wanted to create an opportunity for adults. Ms. McGahey said she reached out the Charleston Art Collective. Ms. Gosnell said they should just pick for the first quarter out of what was submitted and consider accepting ongoing submissions throughout the year. She said her favorite piece is the photograph of Shem Creek. Ms. Meadows asked if there is a desk in the foyer for the sculpture. Ms. Harvey said she would ask the Mayor about displaying the sculpture. Ms. McGahey asked about the size. Ms. Meadows said that maybe it could be shown somewhere else in the building. Ms. McGahey suggested the Laurel Hill oaks painting. Ms. Gosnell said if they select that image for the Mayor’s Office, they could retain the option to extend an invite for the full photo collection from the artist for the wall at a later time. Ms. Sweet said they could pick the first-quarter Mayor’s Art today and keep the others on standby to be considered when they get approval for the Town Hall Art Program. Ms. Harvey asked if they were picking first quarter or doing first and second. Ms. Gosnell said first quarter. Ms. Harvey said the discussion at this point seemed centered on the Shem Creek photograph or something out of the Caggiano collection. Ms. Gosnell said she thought they had moved on to something out of the Caggiano collection as they are all larger pictures. Ms. Meadows said she liked all three. Ms. Sweet said she liked the Laurel Hill oaks best. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 5 of 13 Ms. Harvey said she would extend the invitation to the Laurel Hill Ave of Oaks artist for the first quarter for the Mayor’s Office. Ms. Meadows asked if she would inquire about the sculpture. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. b. Artist Submissions Ms. Sweet said she had made connection with the Charleston Artist Collective. She said she is meeting with her at 11:30 a.m. on Friday to open lines of communication to work with them on artist submissions. She has exchanged emails with the Mount Pleasant Artist Guild and is taking a class at Creative Arts of Mount Pleasant next week where she hopes to talk with Kathleen. She said she is hoping to work with all three of those organizations as well as the Senior Center to get information out to artist for more submissions for the Commission’s programs. Ms. Gosnell said on the subcommittee assignments she is down as chairing this committee, but she wants to be focused on the mural project. Ms. Sweet said they are going to redo their subcommittee assignments today. She said everyone needs to see where they want their focus to be in the coming year. She asked if they really need a subcommittee called Artist Submissions once she makes the initial contacts. Ms. Gosnell said to maybe change the title to Artist Cultivation and the group focus on reaching out to the different art groups. Ms. Sweet said she liked Artist Cultivation. She said if anyone is interested in going to the Charleston Artist Collective she is meeting at the gallery at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. She will email about the other meetings. c. Beautification Ms. Sweet said she has changed this to Green Mount P. She said she and Mr. Duncan have discussed incorporating more than trees. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 6 of 13 She said Hendersonville and Asheville are bee cities. She said cities are doing a lot to cultivate pollinators which is very necessary. She has reached out the Charleston Parks Conservatory to see if there is any way they can work together. She said there is a couple of other things they want to do to expand it to more than just beautification since the Pride Commission had primarily focused on the Pride Award. She said if anyone had a different title let her know. She said it will be focused not only the Tree Bank but the possibility of the bee city. She said she was happy to report they gave the Pride Award the previous evening to Vintage Coffee/ Coastal Crust which is off Coleman by Bottles. She said he was delighted to receive it. Ms. Gosnell asked about the Tree Bank. Ms. Harvey said she received some information from Finance on the Tree Bank. She said it does have its own account and is awaiting an answer on the amount in it. She said the money comes from companies that tear down trees and do not wish to replant them elsewhere. She is waiting on a more detailed description and whether they have the ability to change it and what the process is to do that. Ms. Gosnell said $1,500 was what they thought was in the account. Commission members voiced $8,000. Ms. Gosnell asked if they were the only entity to draw out of that fund. Ms. Harvey said she believed so. Ms. Sweet said they were supposed to be but not sure if that is the case. She has been reading notes from prior meetings from Planning and such. She wants to wait for clarification. Ms. Gosnell said if Mr. Duncan’s comments were accurate there has been a ton of money put into that fund. Ms. Sweet said Mr. Duncan is under the assumption that there is a lot more money there. She said that is one of their focus’s before Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 7 of 13 the next CAP meeting to find out where the money is and where it is being spent. Ms. Harvey said she will keep them posted on any information she gets. Ms. Gosnell asked if she had identified the person for the answers. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. d. Sculpture Ms. McGahey said she reached out to the College of Charleston and emailed back that they will discuss dates for judging. She said they were thinking either February 9 or 16. She will follow-up. Ms. Sweet said she would like the Sculpture Committee to consider reviewing the North Charleston Art Fest as they have a sculpture competition that is nationally known. She said sculptors from all over the country apply to be a part of this. Ms. Harvey said February 9 would be preferable for the field trip. Ms. Sweet asked if they should reach out to Jared for updates on the interactive sculpture idea he had presented. Ms. McGahey said she would contact him. e. Traffic Box Art Ms. Harvey said some of the new ones have been installed along Hwy. 17 and the others will be finished in the near future, weather permitting. f. Mural Ms. Sweet said the program will be called Paint the Town. Ms. Harvey said she, Ms. Gosnell, Ms. Sweet, and Mr. Gergick have been talking with Human Resources regarding the process to have an intern. She said they would not know if ATAC would fund a paid position until March, so they are looking into an unpaid intern. She said it is much easier and does not require identifying funding. She said the process is complete an application, interview, conditional Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 8 of 13 hire, and sign paperwork allowing a criminal check and a drug screen. She said it can be a relatively fast process. Ms. Gosnell said she would like to attempt to launch the mural project in conjunction with Piccolo which is a tight timeline. She said if they get an intern on it, they could begin. She said if they get the intern on board identifying sites, getting permissions, having the artists lined up, they could apply for ATAC during that time for possible funding. She said then they could get the artists to create and produce the art in time for the end of May. She said they will not be able to do that unless they get an intern starting right away. Ms. Sweet said she and Ms. Harvey talked about getting an intern ASAP and having them work on all the Commission’s art projects with focus for the first few months on the murals. She said in case something does not happen with that, the backup is that person will also help with Emerging Arts and Its Raining Art, and other programs as well. She said she would like to move forward with getting the information to the Arts Management classes now. She said we need to put it on the College of Charleston’s List Serve now as students are currently selecting their internships. Ms. Gosnell said she would like to set up an interview day at the College in the next ten days to get this locked down. Ms. Sweet said they need a job description. Ms. Harvey said she was not sure if it had to be approved by Human Resources but she will check on it. Mr. Gergick said he would not expect that it had to be approved by Human Resources. Ms. Gosnell said she will have a job description to Ms. Harvey by Friday. She asked if Mr. Jeremy Clements was the person to send it to at the college. Ms. Sweet said that he does Hospitality and Tourism. She said she would reach out to Mr. Michael Haggar. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 9 of 13 Ms. McGahey asked if the idea of being in conjunction with Piccolo was mainly for visibility or if it is directly related. Ms. Gosnell would like the Mount Pleasant Mural Festival to be a part of Piccolo and included in the Piccolo description book. She said that would help with the tourist draw as they would market to people who are coming for the arts festival to get them to come over the bridge to see the mural project. Ms. Sweet said she will reach out on the internship at the College of Charleston. g. It’s Raining Art! Ms. Sweet said she had not done anything on this and asked about ordering the product. She said she will reach out to the schools. Ms. Harvey said it will be ordered this month. Ms. Gosnell asked about different forms such as song lyrics, poetry, and silhouettes and a schedule. Ms. Sweet said they decided the first round would be poetry. Ms. McGahey said they had discussed locations. Ms. Sweet said they have to get approval. She said they were looking at libraries, Towne Centre, and the Farmers Market. Ms. Harvey said they had talked about Memorial Waterfront Park and maybe the sidewalk going toward the bridge pedestrian lane. Ms. Harvey said it will tie in well for the intern. She said it will involve permissions from property owners, reaching out to schools to collaborate with, and gathering submissions. Ms. Sweet said she will reach out to Wando. h. Marketing/Take Pride Ms. Harvey asked if they got their Take Pride this morning. Ms. Meadows thanked everyone. She said this issue was insightful. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 10 of 13 Ms. Harvey said many people know the primary function of our police but are not aware of all the unique community outreach they do. She said she truly believes their efforts and the connections go a long way in helping keep our crime rate low. Ms. Sweet said as a reminder for Take Pride, information needs to be to Ms. Harvey’s desk the Friday before they meet. Ms. Harvey said she thought the next topic was beautification. Ms. Sweet said they discussed including Tree Bank if they have enough information. Ms. Harvey said they were going to spotlight the Civic Pride Award since it was just given to the recipient. Ms. Sweet said she would like to suggest that the Marketing subcommittee have a meeting immediately following the CAP meeting every month to discuss the next month’s issue. Ms. McGahey is going to start a social media program where they will be sending images and information out two or three times a month on the Town’s social media platforms about the various CAP projects. Ms. Harvey said for everyone to take pics of traffic boxes etc. and send to her and Ms. McGahey and they will get them posted. 4. New Business Ms. Sweet said for everyone to look at subcommittees. She said they want to update and have people serve on the subcommittees that most interest them and she wants each person on CAP to chair at least one subcommittee. Ms. Gosnell wants to come off Artist Cultivation and stay focused on Murals. Ms. Meadows said the Flag Across America that is done through the Boys Scouts in Charlotte has over 400 flags out, but an issue comes up that once the current troop ages out, there has to be a backup plan. She Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 11 of 13 asked if they want to go through neighborhoods or businesses first. She personally would like to see businesses do it. Ms. Gosnell said they should recruit a troop or two to take ownership of this and CAP’s role would be to promote it through social media. Ms. Sweet said they talked about not taking on more projects right now but to serve as the liaison to help promote programs and collaboration. Ms. Meadows said she wants to take it on. Ms. Gosnell said the Commission’s plate is full and she loves the flag project. She said CAP’s role in it should be as a promoter. Ms. Meadows said the flags are American made and they buy them in Milwaukee. The troops get half of the proceeds. The flag and flag pole cost is a total of $10.50 per household and each household pays $35. She said it is a fundraiser to raise money for trips, etc. She asked if they wanted it started in neighborhoods. She said in Charlotte, six times a year during holidays they install a ten-foot pole with a flag on it. She would like to also see businesses involved. Ms. Gosnell said to start in the neighborhoods as business owners live in the neighborhoods and that is an easy way to go after it. She said it may be possible to pitch the idea to Windwood Farms. She said they have boys, staff, and transportation and could be a great fundraising opportunity for a non-profit. Ms. Meadows said the troop profits $10,000 a year. Ms. Sweet said for her to check with the local Boys Scout troops. Ms. Harvey said that CAP will help market and get the word out to the community when a group launches it. Ms. Sweet said her own name appears on every committee to make sure things are progressing each month. Ms. Monteiro said that since she is new, she did not know where there is a need and she would pick to help fill in where needed. She asked what Emerging Arts was. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 12 of 13 Ms. Sweet said Emerging Arts are new ideas. She said Ms. McGahey is taking on Marketing and asked if she wanted to continue with sculpture. She said they need someone for Traffic Box and Its Raining Art, but her focus is going to be new ideas and making sure all the ones they have are flowing and active. Ms. Monteiro said Its Raining Art is something she would be interested in. Ms. Meadows asked about being a chair on Traffic Boxes. Ms. Harvey said it is finished for the year as they have spent the money allocated on it, so not much would happen on that subcommittee until time for the next selections. Ms. Meadows said she will chair it. Ms. Sweet said to email their choices. She said she was keeping Mr. Duncan on Green Mount P as they are working on the tree program. Ms. Meadows said she would like to be on Beautification. Ms. Gosnell asked if anyone had an update on Mr. Williams. Ms. Harvey said she believed Mr. Williams and Mr. Duncan were planning to be here at the meeting. Ms. Sweet said there is an attendance requirement of CAP meetings. She said one has to attend at least 75 percent of the meetings or one can be asked to no longer be on CAP. She said she had not enforced that in the past. Ms. Harvey said one does not have to be kicked off if there is justifiable reason for the absences, but bylaws do give the ability to act. Ms. Sweet said they will keep an eye on it in the future. She asked each subcommittee to meet or email every month to move projects forward. Ms. Gosnell said she was shown an initial budget request and asked if had been presented to Council. Ms. Sweet said it had not. Ms. Gosnell said she will help. Ms. Harvey said she will email Ms. Sweet the budget information. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission January 10, 2018 Page 13 of 13 5. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:06 p.m. Title VI Notice: The Town of Mount Pleasant fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. Town meetings are conducted in accessible locations, materials can be provided in accessible formats, and provided in languages other than English. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Culture, Arts & Pride Commission is scheduled for February 14, 2018 at Town Hall, 100 Ann Edwards Lane. If you would like accessibility or language accommodation, please contact the Title VI Coordinator, one week in advance, at the Town of Mount Pleasant at 843-884-8517. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com