Culture, Arts & Pride Commission

CULTURE, ARTS & PRIDE COMMISSION Thursday, February 14, 2019 11:00 a.m. 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 11:34 p.m. 1. Approval of Minutes from the January 17, 2019 meeting Mr. Williams made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 17, 2019 meeting. Ms. McGahey seconded the motion. All were in favor. 2. Public Comments None 3. Report from Subcommittees a. Green Mount P Ms. Sweet said they decided not to put the topiaries in the roundabouts. She said she needs to get with Mr. Sonntag to review the details of this subcommittee further and turn over her information to him. Ms. Monteiro said Mr. Sonntag is going to be chairing the Green Mount P subcommittee. b. Town Hall Art Ms. Harvey asked everyone to encourage people to submit and said next month they will be selecting the next round.  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 2 of 11 c. Sculpture Ms. McGahey said she was not able to attend the selection meeting. She said they will go through what was decided. Ms. Harvey said since they started the meeting a little late, she had gone through and shown the pictures to the commissioners who were waiting that had not previously seen the selections. She said for the record they selected the abstract kaleidoscope sculpture and (Un)Raveled, which is rebar and rope, and they also selected the shoe to be placed at an MPRD facility. She said she was thinking the Shoe might be fun next to the track at Park West but Mr. Steve Gergick pointed out that it was not a running shoe but more of a basketball shoe. Ms. Monteiro said it overall says Recreation and was sporty. Ms. Harvey said that the basketball gym and the track at Park West are right next to each other. She said there was a large sidewalk space between them. Ms. McGahey asked if the Jones Center was being considered. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative and said they originally talked about the Jones Center for the pool noodle sculpture, but they decided it probably would not hold up as well. She said it could be wherever they wanted. Ms. Monteiro said she had envisioned it at the Jones Center, not at Park West, but that was because she was not as familiar with Park West. She said she thought Park West was such a large campus. Ms. Harvey said that is where they have big track meets, which draw a couple thousand people, as well as football and soccer games among other things. She said they also have Children’s Day there. Ms. Monteiro asked if it would be near the building where the pool was. Ms. Harvey said there is the track field and on the other side of that is the gym with basketball courts. She said there was a large area in Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 3 of 11 between there that would be good, and there are other options as well. Ms. McGahey asked if they have a conclusion of where the two currently in the pocket park would reside. Ms. Harvey said she asked the sculpture instructors to go look at them to make sure they are sound for transport and longevity. She said sometimes they do not survive the elements well enough to be moved. She said when Mr. Jarod Charzewski gets back with them they will decide on that. She said they do not take them out usually until June. Ms. Harvey said the kaleidoscope sculpture artist said she would modify it to make it fit on the base. Ms. Monteiro said it looked smaller than she remembered. Ms. Harvey said the artist’s original proposal was that it would be four feet tall, five feet wide, and eight feet long but obviously those dimensions are not good for our bases. She said the proposed design will be altered to make it taller and not as wide. Mr. Sonntag asked if the person in the picture was for scale. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. Ms. Sweet said she would like to make a note for the Commission to review the contract currently in place. Ms. Harvey said she did review it and it was fine. She said when she sent it to Mr. Charzewski she asked him to make sure the students carefully read it. She said what Ms. Sweet was referring to was that Mr. Charzewski said the parents of the sailfish sculpture student are planning on getting his sculpture. She said the Commission did not agree on that ahead of time as the agreement asks, but she told Ms. Charzewski they would not argue with parents over this. She said they are taking it back unless the commissioners want her to take up the issue with the parents. Ms. Sweet asked if the Commission had actually spoken to the student or was this Mr. Charzewski’s supposition. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 4 of 11 Ms. Harvey said she will ask Mr. Charzewski to have the student contact her and talk about it. She said she was told the parents had gone to get it but were told it was still on display. She said it was entirely misunderstood. Ms. Monteiro asked when they would see the new ones. Ms. Harvey said that they usually finish them at the end of the semester. She said they usually get switched out around June or July. d. Art on the Half Shell Ms. Harvey said they received a few more submissions. Ms. Monteiro said the two that they displayed at the Oyster Festival got a lot of great attention. She said there were a lot of people taking pictures with them and it was well received. Ms. McGahey said that she was there and received the same reactions. She said there were a lot of people from out of town with most from out of state and from all over the east coast. Ms. Harvey said Council Member G. M. Whitley was very happy and said a friend was talking about the really cool oysters she saw at the festival. She said Ms. Whitley told her that was the Commission’s project that she had spearheaded. She said there has been a lot of good feedback in the community. She said that probably 85 percent of the people they talked to were from out of town, but they did talk to some local artists of which one is the first submission she wanted to share. She said the description read that the design will be abstract representational and themed Unity. She said the conceptual design would be either reflective or multi-cultural faces. Ms. Harvey shared what the artist submitted and said she emailed her and asked her to send something that would show what the color palate would be. She shared what the artist sent. Ms. McGahey asked what the artist normal medium was. She said they had talked with a woman that did a lot of wood. Ms. Harvey said the artist had said she was a contemporary wood burning artist. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 5 of 11 Ms. McGahey said she did speak with her and she was a very nice lady. Ms. Harvey said the artist said she had branched out into other mediums now and would like to do this. She shared the idea of what it would be, and it also gives an idea of the color palate. She said she would carry it around to all sides of the oyster. Ms. McGahey thought the artist was originally from New York, but she lives here now. Ms. Harvey shared another submission from Ms. McKenzie Howard. She said she emailed Ms. Howard and asked her what her plan would be for the backside and if it was going to carry around throughout the whole oyster. She said Ms. Howard said she would probably paint a larger crab on the back side. She said she then decided she did not really like this one and wanted to do something else to submit. Ms. Harvey told her she was still going to share it with the Commission. She shared two other design options submitted by Ms. Howard including a sea turtle swimming in water and a hexagon design with magnolia flowers. She said she would carry the water theme or the hexagon design around the whole thing and the base. Ms. Monteiro said the magnolia was totally different than the other ones they have. Ms. Harvey said those were the only ones they had received at this point. Mr. Sonntag asked if she was looking for Ms. Kris Manning. Ms. Harvey answered in the negative and said Ms. Manning’s oyster is complete. She said hers and the other complete one will be installed at Memorial Waterfront Park. Ms. Harvey said she met with Public Services and they are going to build the bases for them. She said she met with the man who manages the landscape in the park. She said she wanted to make sure it went in a place where it would not get in the way when they set up big events and also where it would not impede their ability to do maintenance. She shared a layout of the park and the area that was chosen. She said it was a Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 6 of 11 large space with pine straw and she thought they could make an oyster bed. She shared where three would go. Ms. Sweet asked if that was where they looked when they went with Ms. Gosnell. Ms. Harvey said it was one of the places that they looked at. She said with Public Services feedback, they thought this would be a good spot for it. Ms. Tracy Richter said they discussed it would be more impactful with them all together rather than having them scattered. The Commission members agreed. Ms. Harvey said she had been working with Mr. John Powell from Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) and in the near future they are going to be installing six beautiful bronze sculptures at Memorial Waterfront Park. Ms. Sweet asked how long they would reside there. Ms. Harvey said it would be an annual rotating display. She said they will try to have a kickoff event in March. Mr. Sonntag asked if SEWE was paying for it. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. She said they applied for an Accommodations Tax grant and received it. She said that going back to the applications she asked if they wanted to select any of them. Ms. McGahey asked how many spots they had. Ms. Harvey said they have three to paint. She shared the color palate for one with arms and a grouping of people. She said the artist said her theme was Unity. She said it had a dove and was a very abstract representation. Ms. Sweet and Ms. Monteiro said they liked it. Mr. Sonntag asked if they only get to select two. Ms. Harvey said that they have three oysters left. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 7 of 11 Mr. Sonntag asked if the turtle and the hexagon pattern were by the same person. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. Ms. Monteiro liked the hexagon one more but thought the turtle one fits more. Ms. Tadlock asked if it had magnolias on it. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative Ms. Sweet said that was one of our main trees. Ms. McGahey asked if the turtle and hexagon are one artist and the multi-cultural one was a different artist. Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. Ms. McGahey said that she liked the multi-cultural one. Ms. Monteiro said she liked it also. Mr. Sonntag said he was having a hard time conceptualizing it. Ms. Monteiro said they were just trying to pick between magnolias and the turtle. Mr. Sonntag asked if it was a water lily. Ms. Harvey said the artist said it was a magnolia. Ms. Monteiro said she was torn as she liked both of them. She asked if anyone had strong feelings one way or the other. Ms. Tadlock said she thought the magnolia adds variety and thought it was great. Ms. Sweet said that she loved the turtle but said she would like to see something a little different. Ms. Monteiro said she agreed. Ms. Sweet said it also had what looks like honeycomb for pollinating bees. Ms. Monteiro and Ms. McGahey said they like it. Ms. Monteiro asked the members if they like it. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 8 of 11 Mr. Sonntag and Mr. Williams answered in the affirmative. Ms. Harvey said they were instructing her to move forward with the hexagon Magnolia and the Multi-Cultural. The Commissioners answered in the affirmative. e. Traffic Box Art Ms. Harvey said they are still waiting on SCDOT approval for this year’s installation. f. Paint the Town Ms. Harvey said they are getting close on this project. She said she received the finalized donation form from Legal. She said that the artist agreement was at a finished point. She said they had a good meeting with Legal and Risk Management making sure that the Commission covered everything that they needed to cover because it was a complicated concept. Mr. Sonntag asked who was on the committee with him. Ms. Harvey said Ms. Gosnell and Ms. Tadlock. She said she thought the Commission was close to being able to start this project. g. It’s Raining Art! Ms. Monteiro said they have been accepting silhouette submissions. Ms. Harvey said they received a few. She shared one by a girl who did a poem for them at Towne Centre. She said the artist said her silhouette shows a heron flying at sunset with its catch. The description said “my silhouette is in Mount Pleasant at Shem Creek and Shem Creek is where most people see herons.” Ms. Harvey said she sent them to Carey at the College of Charleston who makes the stencils to make sure they would work for a stencil. She shared one by this artist’s brother. The description read “when I go to Shem Creek, I feel bad for the shrimpers whose boats have sunken at the docks, so I drew a shrimp boat sunken at the dock.” She also had a Town Hall artist whose art is currently down the hall submit a silhouette with turtles. She shared another submission by another Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 9 of 11 Town Hall artist, but Ms. Harvey said she did not know how they could make a stencil out of it. Mr. Sonntag said it may lose something in translation. Ms. Harvey said it needed to be a graphic image. Ms. Sweet said it can only be in black and white. Ms. Harvey said she was glad this artist wants to keep participating in various projects and was very excited about it. She said they have Turtles, Shrimp Boat, and the Heron. Ms. Monteiro said they all work nicely together. Ms. Harvey said they could put them at multiple places. She said they had talked about doing the recreation facilities this time so there was no reason that they could not do multiple ones. She said she thought that the Senior Center would love to have some also. Mr. Sonntag said they would draw more attention. Ms. Monteiro said that it just works out that they all look nicely together. Ms. Harvey said it was fortunate that they have three submissions and they needed to select three and they liked them all. h. Marketing Ms. McGahey said she had cancelled the meeting that was previously scheduled and will reschedule a meeting between herself, Ms. Monteiro and Mr. Williams. She said they will discuss timeline posting, material, and things of that nature. Ms. Harvey said she still owed Ms. McGahey some pictures. Ms. Monteiro said they have had a steady but small group of people joining the Culture, Arts & Pride (CAP) page and thought they could build on that, but they do need content. She said she noticed that there was local artist that pops up on things on the Mom groups and wants to be able to message them to share information. Ms. Harvey said that everyone needs to be on the lookout for art galleries and artist displays. She said if they see any of the artists Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 10 of 11 sharing that they have something going on at a local gallery to please share on the Commission’s page. She said they do not have to be an administrator of the page to do that. Ms. Monteiro said that last week there was an artist guild scholarship or grant. Mr. Williams said he got a packet with everything one needs to know about bees including graphics and what they like to eat. He said it also had nurseries and what homeowners’ plant and what works for them. He said it would be a great piece of work to write a release on and with art too. He said it could be a potential logo similar to the one he had turned in. Ms. McGahey said that was great and thanked Mr. Williams. 4. New Business Ms. Monteiro said she reached out to the Mount Pleasant Artist Guild about the fine arts festival that they came to talk to the Commission about. She was waiting for them to get back with the Commission with a proposal on what their role would be in moving this forward before they can say one way or the other. Ms. Monteiro said that they had talked about trying to do a happy hour that would become an artist happy hour. She said they would also invite the artist who did the Art on the Half Shell and anyone who had submitted anything in the past year. She said it would help solidify the arts community. She said it was something that the Mayor feels strongly that he wants to be part of with a little bit of a meet and greet but was happy with it being more focused on the artists. She said Ms. Harvey said they could have it maybe at the beginning of April when they take down the current art work and put up the new ones. Mr. Sonntag asked if she was talking about a happy hour mingle thing in Town Hall. Ms. Monteiro answered in the affirmative and were thinking on a Friday in the late afternoon. She said they have to work out all the details. Mr. Sonntag said that once they do it, they could replicate it. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission February 14, 2019 Page 11 of 11 Ms. Monteiro said they had talked about doing it one time and see what it looks like, how it works, and how it was attended. She said then they could see how often they could do it. Ms. Harvey said she would try to get a summary going and email everyone and it would be early April. She also said March 16 was ArtFest and she would like CAP to have a table there and have an activity craft of some sort if they would like to. Ms. Monteiro asked if Ms. Harvey would send out a specific email so they could sign up for that. Mr. Sonntag asked if it was all day at Towne Centre. Ms. Harvey said it was from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. She said it was in front of Barnes and Noble and they shut down part of the parking lot. 5. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Bedenbaugh, 2/14/19 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 March 13, 2019 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