Culture, Arts & Pride Commission

CULTURE, ARTS & PRIDE COMMISSION Thursday, January 17, 2019 12:00 noon Municipal Complex, Committee Meeting Room (3300) 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES Members Present: Bren Romano Monteiro, Chair; Rebecca Gosnell, Ann McGahey, Frank Sonntag, Kenda Sweet, Amanda Tadlock, Charles Williams Staff Present: Nicole Harvey Ms. Monteiro called the meeting to order at 12:01 p.m. 1. Approval of Minutes from the December 12, 2018 meeting Ms. McGahey made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 12, 2018 meeting. Ms. Sweet seconded the motion. All were in favor. 2. Public Comments Ms. Becky Taylor, 1032 Jervey Point Road, Charleston said that along with her was Mr. Michael Kennedy, Ms. Rose Smith, and Ms. DeeDee Conant. She said that Ms. Conant is the President of the Mount Pleasant Artist Guild. She said the Guild has opened Perspective Gallery in Crickentree Village and she is the Gallery Director. She said that all of them had been involved in the Guild for many years. She said they would like to ask the Commission to consider co-sponsoring a Fine Art Fair for the Town of Mount Pleasant as they really see a need. She said that the Guild had worked with the Town doing ArtFest and Blessing of the Fleet for many years. She said that Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Smith had participated in the Piccolo Spoleto Art Exhibit downtown for many years. She said that event was 17 days and the Guild does not want to do anything like that. She said Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Smith are both known and regarded with high  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 2 of 23 esteem in the art world in South Carolina and beyond. She said they did not wish to copy the Piccolo Spoleto but to possibly form a high-end fine art fair that would last possibly two to three days. She said this would be a juried art fair. She said they all have many contacts and believe that they can fill the bill with high end artists participating in this event. She said it would be nice to have it at Waterfront Park and said Ms. Harvey had mentioned that they would need security, toilets, parking, and trash service. She said that all artists would have their own tents and would be responsible for them and the equipment such as panels and weights to keep the tents down if there was wind. Ms. Taylor said they would welcome entertainment and food vendors. She said they were thinking 25-30 artists would be a worthwhile grouping for the citizens of Mount Pleasant to come out and enjoy a fine art fair. She said she knows the Town hosts arts and crafts show at several events but this would be completely different in that they would be original fine art and not crafts. Ms. Taylor said they could form a group to enlist many of the artist to jury them in. She said all of them had been involved in the art world for a very long time. She said they could use their contacts to advertise the event in conjunction with the Town also advertising the event. She said they would appreciate the Commission to consider this new event. Ms. DeeDee Conant, 3579 Stockton Drive, Mount Pleasant said she came from New Hampshire and they also had a specific fine arts fest every year along the river in the fall in a park. She said it was a beautiful event that drew people from all over New England. She said it had small food vendors as well. She said she believes, not that ArtFest is not great, but they need more fine artists to be able to exhibit and show their art to the world and the communities involved. Mr. Michael Kennedy, 1207 Ambling Way, Mount Pleasant said that he and Ms. Smith had been involved in Piccolo Spoleto for a long time. He said over the years he, Ms. Smith, and some other artists that are Mount Pleasant residents have talked about the fact that this was such a growing, thriving, wealthy community and they don’t know why we do not have a better arts event. He said as Ms. Conant said that the ArtFest is fine, but he looks at it more as a family event than an art event. He said they have thought about things larger than a visual arts show. He said they were Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 3 of 23 thinking a comprehensive fine art festival that would include musicians, concert performances, and theatre. He said there are hundreds of artists in Mount Pleasant with actors, musicians, and visual artists so they could really showcase this with the talent that they have. He said this was huge and was not going to happen in June of this year as it was a big deal that would take a lot of planning. He said that North Charleston has a fine arts festival and said he had been an exhibitor in Greenville for many years. He said he wanted to elaborate on what Ms. Taylor said and say they are not thinking only about visual arts. He said they were thinking about everything. He said they would like to have the visual arts be well represented because that was how they made their living. He said that Ms. Smith, himself, and many of the artists that they know in Mount Pleasant are full time artists and it was not a hobby or their weekend thing as this was what they do for a living. He said they would be surprised how many people do that in Mount Pleasant and live, work, and create their art here and have their studios here. He said it was unique as he moved here from Pittsburgh 30 years ago and did not believe they could do that in a city like Pittsburgh as well as they can do it here. He said they have so many great artists and so many places to put something like this together. Ms. Rose Smith, 325 Hobcaw Drive, Mount Pleasant said she was a Charleston native and grew up in West Ashley. She said she loved Mount Pleasant as it is a gorgeous place. She said she agrees with everything that everyone said previously. She said people are more comfortable in a festival setting and if they had the combination of high-end art and musicians along with whatever they decide on it would be a perfect vehicle for getting people out of their houses and out in Mount Pleasant. She said that she knows Blessing of the Fleet was huge and all the participation in other events the Town does really well. She said she would like to consider opening it up to being county wide. She said she hopes they could do something like this. 3. Report from Subcommittees Ms. Monteiro said they wanted to look at the committees and fill some spots. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 4 of 23 Ms. Harvey updated Ms. Gosnell who was a few minutes late to the meeting that the Artists Guild would like for the Commission to co-sponsor a fine arts festival. Ms. Monteiro said that was to be discussed. She said that she wanted to look at all the committees and try to fill some spots and move people around to make sure that instead of trying to have three or four people on each committee that they have two people that are very dedicated to that committee. She said that they have enough people that they should be able to spread out a little bit more. She said that she would like to change Emerging Arts or add a committee for the Art on the Half Shell. She asked if they should rename it. Ms. Sweet said that was what Emerging Arts was originally. She said it was to be new initiatives. Ms. Monteiro asked if they should keep Emerging Arts and add a new one. Ms. Gosnell said she thought they recognize that each year they will probably have a new project. She said to remove the terminology of Emerging Arts and make it the name of whatever. Ms. Monteiro said she agreed. She said that the way they did it in the past was everyone looks at where they are to determine if they are comfortable on the subcommittees that they are currently on or where else they might have a better fit. She said they have some projects such as Traffic Box Art that now has no one. Ms. McGahey said she did not know if it needed a person. Ms. Monteiro asked if it needed anyone on it. Ms. Harvey answered in the negative. Ms. Monteiro said starting at the beginning with Green Mount P. Ms. Sweet said that since her term is expiring, and Green Mount P is one of the things that she was very interested in, she wondered if there is enough interest on the rest of committee to keep this as a subcommittee since she had been pretty much doing it by herself. Ms. Monteiro said she thought they had barely scratched the surface on it and did not want to scrap it simply because she was leaving. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 5 of 23 Ms. Gosnell said she thought that the bee project has a lot of potential. She said that Ms. Tadlock may want to jump in on that one. Ms. Monteiro said she wanted to formally welcome Mr. Frank Sonntag and thanked him for joining them. She said he did a walk earlier to look at all the new artwork. She said they have Ms. Tadlock and Mr. Sonntag who need a place on different subcommittees. She said they are going to go ahead and phase Ms. Sweet’s name out so they would know where there was going to vacant spots. She said it looked like she was on all the committees. Ms. Harvey said her absence will be felt. Ms. Monteiro said Ms. Sweet was also on the Paint the Town subcommittee. She asked if Ms. Gosnell was currently on that one. Ms. Gosnell answered in the affirmative and said she felt like that was a big lift and did not want to spread herself too thin. She said that if they needed her to take a second one, she thought she could be effective on Art on the Half Shell since they are both recruiting artists for active projects. She said she could direct people to one of those two things. Ms. Monteiro asked Ms. Harvey to add Ms. Gosnell’s name on that subcommittee. Ms. Harvey asked who that chairperson would be. The Commission decided to wait until the assignments were complete. Ms. Monteiro said that Ms. McGahey was currently on Town Hall Art, It’s Raining Art, and Marketing. Ms. McGahey said she was also on Sculpture. She said she had been leading Sculpture and Marketing. Ms. Harvey said that Sculpture has grown larger and has been more time consuming the past six months. Ms. Monteiro said they would remove Ms. McGahey from It’s Raining Art so she could focus on the other two. Ms. McGahey said she did not know if she was necessary on Town Hall Art. Ms. Monteiro said they would remove her from that as well. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 6 of 23 Ms. Monteiro said Mr. Williams was on Green Mount P and Marketing and asked if he was comfortable remaining in those two roles. Mr. Williams answered in the affirmative. Ms. Monteiro said that leaves them with Ms. Tadlock. She said that Ms. Tadlock was currently on Marketing. She asked if they needed three people on Marketing. Mr. Williams said he thought they did. Ms. Monteiro said that she was currently on the Facebook page herself. Ms. McGahey said that was a lot of it. She said that the social media aspect was overtaking Marketing as they were going away from the newsletter. Ms. Harvey said that as Ms. Monteiro is an administrator on the Facebook page her name should probably be on this list because that was going to be a big part of it. Ms. Monteiro said that those on the Marketing team know they should probably have another meeting soon where they talk about what they expect from the Facebook page coming up. She told Mr. Williams they had some ideas on some specific things they would like with a lot of research and gathering things. Mr. Williams said that was perfect. Ms. Monteiro said they have Green Mount P that is going to sit there but they will figure that out. She said they have Town Hall Art, Sculpture, and Art on the Half Shell. She said they decided that Traffic Box does not need anyone on that. Ms. Gosnell asked if they could just put staff, so they know that staff is driving anything related to that. Ms. Monteiro said to Mr. Sonntag that she knew it was a little soon to ask him but asked if there was anything they had talked about today that seemed like something that would be of extra interest to him. Mr. Sonntag said that if the project they were talking about earlier got off the ground that would be of interest to him. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 7 of 23 Ms. Monteiro said they are going need to have some discussions. She said she was not sure what the co-sponsoring would look like in terms of what amount of work the Commission would be doing. She said that was a more complicated question. She asked if in the interim they could put him on the Paint the Town project. Mr. Sonntag answered in the affirmative. Ms. Tadlock said she felt like they had glossed over her contribution and thought it was assumed what she would like to do. She said that she was also interested in Paint the Town and did not know if that would be too many people on one project. Ms. Harvey answered in the negative that it was not too many and they could use all the help they could get on that. Ms. Monteiro said that was one that needs a lot of help and that was great. Ms. Harvey said that they have Ms. Tadlock and Mr. Sonntag. Mr. Williams told Ms. Harvey that he had sent her an email about this. He said he did a lot of checking around with a lot of people and could not find very many people who are in favor of the Paint the Town project. He said they like Mount Pleasant as it is, and they do not want to see it become a Myrtle Beach or a North Charleston. He said that one mural was probably more than they want now. He said that was just a reaction that he got from talking to people. He said it was a potpourri of people because he had talked to them everywhere. Ms. Gosnell thanked Mr. Williams for that feedback but she said she did not think that they are envisioning full murals all over town. Mr. Williams said it did not matter as he was talking about art on the side of buildings however, she wanted to phrase it. He said there was a lot of opposition. Ms. Monteiro said the Commission was going to have the responsibility when they pick the artist and pick the type of artwork and working with whether it was the Town on public property or with a private owner. She said they are going to have to take on the responsibility of making sure it was something that stays classy like Mount Pleasant. She said there are a Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 8 of 23 lot of examples out there in other towns and cities and even in the rest of Charleston. She said she sent Ms. Harvey something that she saw in the West Ashley area that was really beautiful. She said it was a painting that was done on the side of a building that took an area that otherwise would have been shabby overlooking a parking lot. She said she had been looking for those murals. She said she knew all of them had been to small North Carolina towns that have quirky things. She said she thought they need to give it a chance and see if they got this project going and people push back then they would have to talk but right now she thought they need to proceed as planned. She said that she was on It’s Raining Art by herself and Town Hall Art by herself which is fine. She asked Ms. McGahey if she was fine with being on the Sculpture subcommittee by herself. Ms. McGahey answered in the affirmative. Ms. Monteiro asked if anyone wanted to step in on Green Mount P. Ms. Harvey asked Ms. Tadlock if she was finished with what she was saying. Ms. Tadlock answered in the affirmative. Ms. Monteiro asked if Mr. Sonntag would consider Green Mount P. Mr. Sonntag asked for a description of it. Ms. Sweet said Green Mount P was a subcommittee that administers the Tree Bank Grant, which they had for years and was a very under-utilized program that they had trouble making people aware of and interested in. She said the committee also tries to come up with other ways for Mount Pleasant to be environmentally sound and that was what they meant by the green part. She said they were coming up with a program called Bee Friendly, which was about helping to promote pollinators by doing such things as working with landscapers and gardening places in town to be a resource to connect them with other garden clubs and boy scout troops and things like that to try to get some things going that would help make Mount Pleasant more environmentally friendly. Ms. Sonntag said he would be happy to work on that subcommittee. Ms. Harvey said it also had the Pride Award which they have moved to April. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 9 of 23 Ms. Sweet said there was a Pride Award that they give annually that is under Green Mount P. Ms. Monteiro said it falls under what she and Mr. Sonntag had talked about and that was not have everything be the A in Culture, Arts & Pride (CAP) but have some pride in the Town. Ms. Monteiro asked if everyone was happy with their committee assignments. The Committee as a whole answered in the affirmative. Ms. Gosnell said that Ms. Tadlock said she will do Art on the Half Shell also. Ms. Monteiro said that was great. Ms. Sweet asked if Ms. Tadlock wanted to head up any of the ones she was on. Ms. Gosnell asked if she wanted to head the Art on the Half Shell. Ms. Tadlock answered in the affirmative. Ms. Harvey told Mr. Sonntag that they could talk a little more outside of the meeting about some of the things and issues Ms. Sweet brought up about the Tree Bank. She said she would give him a little more history on some of the programs under Green Mount P. Ms. Monteiro said they would get started with their subcommittee reports. a. Green Mount P Ms. Sweet has talked with Mr. James Aton and with Mr. Eddie Bernard. She asked what Mr. Bernard’s official title was. Ms. Harvey said he was the Town’s arborist but that was not his official title. Ms. Sweet said that Mr. Bernard had a lot of concerns about topiaries in the roundabouts. She said she was not sure what they want to do with that or if they want to go ahead or not. She said that was something they would have to decide for the future. She said that they could not grow them there because it takes years for one like that to grow. She said that transplanting them could work but if Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 10 of 23 one transplants a full-size tree it takes a lot to keep it going and a lot of maintenance. She said she thought they needed to think this program through to determine if it is viable. She said they could keep it in a container but if that was the case it needed to be watered more often. She said she did have some sample photos and said many topiary designs do not allow good visibility to see through well. She said that was going to be a big issue with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) or even the Town’s own Transportation Department here in Mount Pleasant for the ones that the Town has. She said they have to make sure they can see through them for line of sight on roadways. She said she sent a bunch of examples, but they really need to make sure there is a sight line through them. Ms. Monteiro said it seemed like it was a lot of work on the Commission’s end to try to do that. She said at one point they had mentioned garden clubs or local landscaping companies or someone who could sponsor certain traffic circles and beautify them. She said they could possibly keep it going but not do topiaries. Ms. Sweet said there could maybe be a landscape competition where they sponsor certain roundabouts. Ms. Harvey said that one concern that was broached with her was that because they are not under a Town contract there was liability concerns. She said they would be doing work for the Town but not have a contract so she was not sure how they would handle that, but they could look into it. Ms. Monteiro said she was thinking that if it was a traffic circle next to a neighborhood that is large enough then it benefits them to have it look pretty and they want to take that on. Ms. Tadlock asked if there had been discussion about fountains such as water fountains. Ms. Monteiro said that gets into the expense of water and the plumbing of it. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 11 of 23 Ms. Harvey said they had not ever discussed it, but it would be a huge expense. Ms. McGahey said they had also talked about sculptures. Ms. Harvey said they have the breakaway base issue. Ms. McGahey asked about if were not on a pedestal. Ms. Monteiro said they still have to get an idea of the sight line and being able to see through it. She said now they are going to end up designing a sculpture to fit an area instead of art for the sake of art. She said that was her first thought as it started getting complicated. Ms. McGahey said she reached out to the one wire artist that had one in North Charleston but that fell through. She said surely there were other artists that work with materials that are not completely solid. Ms. Harvey said that the list of things that he needed was not possible for the Town to provide such as space to work in among others. b. Town Hall Art Ms. Monteiro said they have art on all three floors of Town Hall. She said they look better in person and their wow factor did not come across in the photo submissions. Ms. Harvey said that she and Ms. Monteiro spent the morning at Town Hall a few days ago and she took pictures of the hanging process. She said they will get some of them posted on the social media page. She said it was a fun day and the Mayor really enjoyed it and she got a lot of pictures of him interacting with the artists. Ms. Monteiro said he did not stop talking about how much of an impact it made in the hallways and how excited they were. She said he wanted to know where else they could put art. Ms. McGahey said that the mounting method was beautiful. Ms. Monteiro said it was such a smart design. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 12 of 23 Ms. Harvey said it was a long but fun process for everyone involved. She said so many people have said how happy they are to see this art in the hallways. She shared pictures of the two the Mayor selected for his office and said there was a plaque being made. Mr. Sonntag asked if they could send a photograph and a release to the Moultrie News. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. She shared a picture by Ms. Kris Manning who is one of the oyster artists also. Ms. Gosnell said that they spent some time limiting the number of selections from each artist as they went through. She said that space was certainly part of that. She said that she went to the North Charleston Convention Center recently and they have quite a bit of artwork in those hallways. She said it was very nice to see several works by each artist because one really got a sense of that artist by looking at multiple pieces. She said that should space allow she wanted to say that was a nice experience. Ms. Monteiro said that she and Ms. Harvey had a similar thought after they were finished hanging that they could have chosen more pieces. She said that now that they see them up there and how they space themselves out they agree when moving forward we can select more. She said that the variety in what they chose, and the different types of framing was really nice. Ms. Harvey shared more pictures of the hanging pieces. She said that the Mayor did love this and everyone in Town Hall is thrilled to have art to look at now. Ms. Monteiro asked when the next round of submissions start. Ms. Harvey said that it was open submissions and she encouraged all those artists to submit more. She said for the Commission to encourage anyone they talk with to let them know art is up in Town Hall and it was an open submission process. She said they will be selecting the next round of art at their March meeting. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 13 of 23 Ms. Monteiro said that would be a great Facebook post. Ms. McGahey how long the art would be hung. Ms. Harvey said it would be quarterly so the ones now are January, February, March and they will switch them out in April. Ms. Monteiro if they would be choosing in February or at the March meeting. Ms. Harvey said at the March meeting. She said she already had a couple of submissions. She said she thought it was good that they have the open submission. She said anybody can go on to fill it out and she has a file and saving to review them to schedule hanging. She said everyone did love meeting the Mayor and he enjoyed it also. c. Sculpture Ms. McGahey said she had reached out and heard back from the College of Charleston Sculpture professors. She said that they suggested Friday, February 1, at 10 a.m. to meet. She wanted to know if anyone was interested in going before she replied. She said she would make it happen on her end. Ms. Monteiro said she would try. Ms. Harvey said that it worked for her. Ms. McGahey said they usually meet at Town Hall at twenty or quarter till 10 and go in a Town van and ride together. She said the college said they were excited to have the Commission again. d. Emerging Arts Ms. Monteiro that for the Art on the Half Shell they have a submission. Ms. Harvey said they have two completed oysters coming, but they do not have any more submissions. She said she put it on the Facebook page and asked everyone to go on and share. She said if they have any artist friends to please encourage them. She said that she updated submission form to make it an open submission and added pictures of the man and the woman carrying so people can Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 14 of 23 see that. She said she added that it was 45 pounds. She said one person could pick it up if it was not an awkward size. She said that the submission form does a better job of explaining it now as she thought before people were afraid of how they were going to transport the four-foot sculpture. She said that next week she would be taking delivery. She said she emailed the other artist because Ms. Manning’s was finished. She said she checked in with the other artist to make sure everything was moving along. She shared a photo of the finished one. Mr. Sonntag asked if that was Ms. Kris Manning’s art. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative and said that Ms. Manning had to move it inside her house to finish it because her studio was freezing. Ms. Tadlock said it was beautiful. Ms. Gosnell asked if the package included the treatment for sealing the artwork after it was completed. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. She said Ms. Manning said that she used acrylic paint and would be applying a spray sealant. She said Icon Poly was the company that made the sculptures and they have a tip sheet for the artists and that was included with the submission form. Ms. Gosnell said that she was in Ms. Manning’s studio and she asked Ms. Gosnell if she knew how she was supposed to seal this. She said she told her she hoped that information was in her packet. Ms. Harvey said that it was. Ms. Monteiro said that she asked that question earlier as she was envisioning them all dripping away. Ms. Harvey shared the picture and said she would send it to Council Member G. M. Whitley as she would be excited to see it. Ms. Monteiro asked if they could use that picture on Facebook. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 15 of 23 Ms. Gosnell said she was wondering how Ms. Whitley was engaged around recruiting artist for this. Ms. Harvey said that she sent Ms. Whitley the submission form when it was posted and said she could reach out to her. She said she will email her the pictures and let her know that they opened it back up. She said she had not talked to her about the fact that they opened it up for open submissions. Ms. Gosnell said that Ms. Tadlock, Ms. McKenzie Provost, and herself will have a meeting to figure out how to put this into second gear with the artist list that they have. Ms. Gosnell said that one other thing that needs to go into the record was they need to decide if they are applying in the next Accommodations Tax funding cycle for the second phase of this project. Ms. Harvey asked if she was talking about Art on the Half Shell. Ms. Gosnell said that she knew that was Ms. Whitley’s intention and that deadline was coming up. She said they need to make sure they do not miss the deadline and have Ms. Whitley upset that the Commission was not managing that. Ms. Harvey asked if she knew what that deadline was. Ms. Gosnell said she thought it was in March. Mr. Sonntag asked if the second phase was the installation in the park. Ms. Gosnell said that the way this project was approved through Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee (ATAC), which she Chairs, was they wanted to do a pilot project initially. She said through the pilot project they were able to approve five of these because they ended up not doing a custom design but instead using an existing mold. She said it changed the protocol. She said that the intention was to do more of these in the second phase. Ms. Gosnell said that the two that they have in production now will go to the Oyster Festival and they will have someone there to talk about it and try to Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 16 of 23 get more people involved and get businesses interested in hosting them. She said that then the funding would get approved in June and be available in July to purchase more units for the project. Ms. Monteiro asked how many they had now. Ms. Harvey said they have five with two in the hands of artists and three are awaiting artist selection. She said she, Ms. Sweet and Ms. Gosnell met at the park and walked around to look at some potential places where they might be able to put these. She shared pictures of some of the locations. She said one location was by the war memorial where there is a dead spot in the grass. She also shared a spot near the playground and said they were high traffic areas. She also shared a photo of the lawn area between the war memorial and the pier shop. She said that was where they set up the Artist Guild during the Blessing of the Fleet on the lawn right behind there. She also shared a walkway going to the new development and the start of the pier area and a picture next to the Cooper River Room. Ms. McGahey asked if the idea was that they would keep getting more and more of those done and they would all go in that park. Ms. Harvey said the idea was that the first five would go to Memorial Waterfront Park and those will be used to show people what they can be and get businesses involved with sponsoring them and having them at their businesses. She said then they would be around town where ever people wanted to put them. Ms. Monteiro asked when the Oyster Festival was. Ms. Harvey said next Saturday. Ms. Gosnell said she would be there. Mr. Williams said it was January 26. Ms. Monteiro asked if it was on Saturday or Sunday. Ms. Harvey said they could figure out later who is going to cover it. Ms. Gosnell said it was Sunday, January 27. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 17 of 23 Ms. Sonntag said he had a general question. He said he heard her mention sponsorship a couple of times with the traffic circles and now the oysters. He asked if Ms. Harvey had an idea of the cost associated with that. Ms. Harvey said she could put together a break down for him as she has a whole budget spreadsheet. Ms. Sonntag said the second part of that question was that he heard her mention there was concern about marketing on things. He asked if they would be able to offer in exchange for sponsorship of a traffic circle or a clam, a little notice at the bottom of who was sponsoring it. He said he suspects the answer to that question is no. Ms. Monteiro said she was going to say no just because they have already had issues with signatures and signatures are much less like advertising than a company name. Ms. Harvey said the benefit for business sponsors would be having a pretty piece of art outside of their business, which will be included in our marketing materials and social media posts about the program. She said there cannot be any commercial content. Ms. Sonntag asked if that was coming from the Town’s lawyers. Ms. Harvey said that was part of it because of the Town’s sign code. She said that public art was excluded specifically from the sign code to allow for public art to exist. She said she could give him some history on that with various things that have encountered problems throughout town. Mr. Sonntag said he was thinking it would be easier to sell sponsorships if they could get some recognition for the sponsors. Ms. Harvey said she thought if they were going to sponsor a shell at Memorial Waterfront Park, that would definitely be a hard sell if they did not have their name on it. Having the art at their business location would imply their “ownership” of the piece. Ms. Monteiro asked if there was anything more on the oysters. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 18 of 23 Ms. Harvey said she went through some of the submissions and if anyone had any strong feelings on them to let her know. Mr. Williams said they could do some artwork and promote it in the Moultrie News if they wanted to and the Facebook page. He said it would not be necessarily soliciting but just saying what was available to businesses if they wanted to enhance their visibility in the community. Ms. Harvey said she had a call scheduled later in the day with Ms. Cecilia Brown about another subject. She said she was also going to talk to her about Culture, Arts & Pride (CAP) and some of the initiatives and see if they can get a Moultrie News story with some of the things going on. She said she was sure Ms. Brown would be helpful with getting that done as they have always been very supportive of all the Commission’s initiatives. Ms. Monteiro said she liked the idea of putting them in dead spots at the park, and it would help the Town’s landscaping staff. e. Traffic Box Art Ms. Monteiro said they have an issue in Legal happening with that but that is something happening behind the scenes. Ms. Harvey said Legal is keeping her updated but there has been nothing new to report from DOT at this time. f. Paint the Town Ms. Gosnell said she had a meeting with Mr. Steve Gergick, Ms. Harvey, and Ms. Provost, and Ms. Harvey had put together an updated timeline for execution of this project. She said staff is creating a document to be submitted to Mr. Ed Riggs with the state ATAC board for review. Ms. Harvey said they were doing a business owner agreement and artist agreement. She said those are in process and as soon as those are done, they can send them to Mr. Riggs. She said that Town’s Legal team had looked at State ATAC laws and feel that there should Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 19 of 23 not be any ATAC issues with paying the artist to paint on private “donated” property. Ms. Gosnell said that as soon as they get cleared on that she would like to have an article in the Moultrie News. She said then in the days following that, they would all have pitch pages and they can go out to talk to property owners. She said she had been looking at Coleman and thinking it would be nice to be a botanical theme, animal theme, and a geometric theme and try to tie the pieces together in some way. She said Ms. Provost was working on the artist list. Ms. Harvey said she and Ms. Provost are going to meet as she is going help work on making sure the submission requests are ready to go. Ms. Monteiro asked if they were still going to use the Recreation Center. Ms. Harvey said the two public buildings to paint are the Jones Center and the fire station on Bowman. Ms. Monteiro said they are going to go ahead and pick artists for those quickly and get that done. Ms. Gosnell said her goal was that it all needs to roll out at the same time. She said they have the funding and they have said they had honorariums for artists available in varying amounts depending on the size of the piece. She said that then the businesses will indicate what size piece they are looking for and they will match that up with the artist. Ms. Sonntag asked about the painting at the Jones Center. Ms. Harvey said it was on Egypt Road and the mural would be on the pool barrier wall that faces Paul Foster. g. It’s Raining Art! Ms. Monteiro said they need to finalize the silhouette submission request. Ms. Harvey said she intended to have it posted already, but she lost the updated file due a computer problem. She said she was redoing Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 20 of 23 it and will get it posted as soon as possible. She said she was setting a February deadline. She said they need to talk about where they are going to install them and how to roll them out. Ms. Monteiro said it was silhouetted art. She said maybe they could do something at the library or the Senior Center. Ms. Harvey said they could do them at some of the recreation facilities. Ms. Gosnell asked about the base of the bridge. Ms. Harvey said that was SCDOT. She said it does not hurt to send an email. Ms. Sweet said she liked the idea of using the different recreation centers for silhouettes as that is a place where a lot of children would be. She liked the idea of something more literary to target the new library that opens in May. Ms. McGahey asked where the library would be. Ms. Monteiro said Carolina Park. Ms. Harvey said they would do Town facilities. She said she did not know if there were any smooth sidewalk surfaces at Town Hall. Ms. McGahey asked if there was a surface by the new gym. Ms. Harvey said they would look. h. Marketing Ms. McGahey said she had e-mailed everyone notes from last subcommittee meeting. She said that the subcommittee decided that the Facebook page name will remain Mount Pleasant Culture, Arts & Pride Commission. She said they will not be able to have an additional social media outlet so they felt that being all inclusive to all the parts of the Commission should represented in the name of this page. She said they would look into adding CAP at the end of the name to help start bringing more awareness to what the abbreviation stands for or the acronym. She said they want to still bring awareness to the Culture and the Pride portions of the mission Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 21 of 23 for the Commission itself and the page. She said they are going to be working on a new description for the Facebook page. She said there are a couple of areas where one can input information about what they do. She said they are going to add more detail for what the C, A, and P means within that. She said she would be sending out and a new posting schedule. Ms. Harvey said if they have not done this already, they need to go on Facebook and like the page. Ms. Monteiro said if they felt comfortable sending it to any of their friends who might want to follow it that would be a great help also. Ms. Harvey said they are going to try to get posts on there more often. Ms. McGahey said she will schedule another meeting where they can divide roles within Marketing and for the page to get content on there. She asked if they were still waiting on Instagram approval. Ms. Harvey said she would check on that. 4. Budget Review Ms. Harvey shared what was spent and encumbered to date. She said that Town Hall Art was a little more expensive as they had to buy hooks. She said she bought 30 hooks and some pieces of art required two hooks. She said if they are going to hang more art, they should probably order another 15 or so. She said 30 hooks was $255. She said plaques were purchased for the Pocket Park Sculptures, and for the Permanent Sculptures a purchase order was entered for the base construction. She said the Traffic Box Art was for five boxes plus the cost of the installations and wraps. She said it was showing the math a little off because the $1500 donation from Johnson Development for the Indigo Market box included extra money that they said could be spent on whatever the Commission wanted so that offset some of the cost. She said that with It’s Raining Art the only cost so far had been the $300 to the winning students at Wando High School for the installation at Towne Centre. Ms. Monteiro asked if they still had spray in house. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 22 of 23 Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative and said the cost of the stencils was underwritten by a $1000 donation by Towne Centre. She said the bottom line at present was $8300. She said the fiberglass sculptures were $6448 which was the cost of the sculptures and two $500 stipends to the artist. She said would have three more $500 stipends to go with that. She asked if there were any thoughts or adjustments. Ms. Monteiro said it looked good. Ms. Harvey asked if they wanted her to go ahead and order more hooks. Ms. Monteiro answered in the affirmative. Ms. Harvey asked if she should order 30 more at $255.45. Ms. Monteiro said she thought that would be plenty since they still had some. Ms. Harvey said they have close to $5000 extra that they are retaining for other ideas. She said to remember in June they will be taking two sculptures out of pocket park on Coleman. She said if they want to find new homes for them some of that money could go to constructing bases for one or both of those. 5. New Business Ms. Gosnell said she wanted to get an update on the Sweetgrass Festival. She told Mr. Sonntag that the Sweetgrass Festival has been a project run by the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association, but the person leading that process was a volunteer and had stepped aside. She said the Town wanted to see that event continue so they asked that Ms. Harvey and her Department run this event moving forward. Ms. Harvey said she was excited to have assembled a good team of people. She said she and Ms. Richter met with Ms. Bria Graham from the Gullah Geechee Corridor and Ms. Barbara Wokike who runs high-end Gullah Geechee events for her business, Gullah Parties by Barbara. She said they have talked with John Wright and Ms. Thomasena Stokes-Marshall has offered to continue to help but would no longer be the lead on the event. She said they will be meeting in February and the event date had been set for July 13. She said they were going to do it in February, but it would be Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 23 of 23 an extremely tight timeline and would risk not honoring the festival properly. She said they also said they would prefer hot weather to cold weather. Ms. Gosnell asked the location. Ms. Harvey said Memorial Waterfront Park. She said there was talk initially about scaling down some but with the team they have assembled and a new part-time person she thought it would be more along the lines of what Ms. Stokes-Marshall always had done. Ms. Gosnell said she thought there was rationale for trying to find a Highway 17 venue for this event because that was the home of the corridor. She thought people were more likely attend if they see it as opposed to it being a destination. She wondered if there was an opportunity to host it in the front of Boone Hall in the parking area to the right of the produce area then everyone would see it on 17. She said the Blue Crab Festival that Awendaw does draws a huge crowd, but it does not draw a Mount Pleasant crowd and wondered if in the evolution of this if it could be Sweetgrass Baskets and Blue Crab combination to give it another food focus. Ms. Harvey asked if she was suggesting to have it in Awendaw. Ms. Gosnell answered in the negative. She said she would be happy to serve on the committee. Mr. Williams asked if anyone saw the story on Mr. Hassie Holmes in the Moultrie News. He said he was the man who sold newspapers and magazines at Johnnie Dodds and Houston Northcutt for years and a former professor at the College of Charleston. He said he ran into Mr. Mark Smith and mentioned the article and it would be nice for the Town to place a plaque at that corner in Mr. Holmes name. He asked Ms. Richter if anything had been done about Mr. John G. Thornhill at the Farmers Market. He said the man was so popular. Ms. Richter said the discussion for memorializing anyone with the Farmers Market was on hold until after the construction was completed. She said they discussed possibly doing something as part of the Traffic Box design that was going to be at the corner of Simmons Street and Coleman. She Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Art & Pride Commission January 17, 2019 Page 24 of 23 said it would have a lot of things with a lot of people in the Farmers Market. She said that Mr. Thornhill was not the only vendor that had passed that was an intricate part of the Farmers Market. She said they had Fritz and others as well. She said the pavilion is celebrating its tenth year being open. She said that the archway had been moved back and there is going to be a bus stop constructed there. She said after all that is completed they will move forward with something. 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Bedenbaugh, 01/17/19 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