Culture, Arts & Pride Commission

CULTURE, ARTS & PRIDE COMMISSION Wednesday, September 11, 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, Ann McGahey, Kelly Trager, Frank Sonntag, Kathryn Whitaker Members Absent: Rebecca Gosnell, Charles Williams Staff Present: Nicole Harvey Ms. Monteiro called the meeting to order at 12:07 p.m. 1. Approval of Minutes from the August 14, 2019 meeting Mr. Sonntag made a motion to approve the August 14, 2019 minutes. Ms. McGahey seconded the motion. All were in favor. 2. Public Comments None 3. Budget Review Ms. Monteiro said this was a working budget and would not have a final approval at this time. Ms. Harvey introduced Ms. Grace Rogers as the new assistant for the Special Events Office. She said they had put together actual numbers from last year to serve as reference for allocation of funds for this year. She discussed the Traffic Boxes and Art on the Half Shell project. She said they had talked about phasing out It’s Raining Art, but they wanted to use all of the paint that they have. Ms. Monteiro asked if Paint the Town and Art on the Half Shell were fully Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee (ATAC) funds.  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission September 11, 2019 Page 2 of 5 Ms. Harvey answered in the affirmative. She said they did not have a marketing line item in the budget previously, but she thought they should. She said they now have an Arts and Culture page on the Experience Mount Pleasant website. Ms. Monteiro discussed Paint the Town, Art on the Half Shell, Traffic Box Art, and It’s Raining Art. The Commission discussed the Town Hall Art event which will be December 19. Ms. Monteiro said the Civic Pride Award was a plaque and it would stay the same. She said the pocket park sculptures was using the budget they used the past year. She said on Traffic Box they discussed having six and they have It’s Raining Art and Marketing. She asked how much money was left. Ms. Harvey said $6,220. Ms. Whitaker said that in the minutes last month she saw the idea from Ms. Gosnell about a video idea and there were some other things she wanted to talk about during the Culture portion that might have budget implications. 4. Report from Subcommittees a. Green Mount P Ms. Monteiro said she would like to table this as they had one issue and addressed it for the award. b. Town Hall Art Ms. Monteiro said the next round of selecting would be at the December meeting. c. Sculpture Ms. Monteiro said they were the same as they were at the last meeting. d. Art on the Half Shell Ms. Monteiro said they discussed ordering more oysters. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission September 11, 2019 Page 3 of 5 Ms. Harvey said they had places in mind where some could go, and it would also depend on business participation. She said they need to have another meeting with Council Member Whitley and talk about rolling out that program for this year. She said Ms. Linda Page had expressed interest for the Sweetgrass Mercantile by Royal Ace. e. Traffic Box Art Ms. Monteiro said that everyone has a list of possible intersections to be wrapped. Ms. Harvey said they had talked about after they finished on Highway 17 moving to the Coleman corridor area. She said she met with the Transportation Department and asked for information on what intersections are potentially good for this year and which ones will not be under construction, moved, or changed. She shared photos of some of the intersections and also some of the submissions. Ms. Harvey said she would email the photos and the Commission members could reply with their top choices. f. Paint the Town Ms. Harvey said Ms. Kris Manning and Mr. Karl Beckwith Smith are going to paint the restroom building at the Farmers Market. She said they are waiting for her to send them money which would happen soon. Ms. Whitaker said that Celadon were excited about this and may be interested in an oyster or sculpture if the Commission was looking for a location. The Commission discussed having a list of the different artists and businesses that might be more Culture, Arts & Pride friendly and do more email blasts. There was discussion about GDC and the painting of their building. Ms. Harvey said they were talking with Mr. John Boatwright as he did the mural on their building in West Ashley. She said she thought it would happen but was a slow process while they decide what they want. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission September 11, 2019 Page 4 of 5 g. It’s Raining Art Mr. Sonntag said he thought it would be interesting to challenge the artists to use the material in whatever way they see fit and remove the stencil requirement. He said if they could pair a professional artist with some students it could have potential. h. Marketing Ms. Monteiro said she and Ms. Harvey would meet with Ms. McGahey and Ms. Rogers. She said they had discussed Instagram and Facebook. Ms. McGahey said they could talk about the things they want to post such as the different programs, submissions, a local artist feature or art events happening around town. i. Emerging Arts Mr. Sonntag said he thought they should pay more attention to the performing arts as opposed to visual arts which seemed to be covered. He said they had talked about Wando High School and the investment that the Town made in the theater project and there was a problem with usage. He said he would like to see if they would agree to some sort of joint venture that would include their students because it was an untapped tremendous artistic resource. He said he thought there was very little crossover and thought it was something they could address. He said he wanted to get in contact with the person in charge of scheduling. j. Culture Ms. Whitaker said that under the umbrella of a community’s appeal, the emotional bond between people and their community, and how they can continue to foster that and celebrate culture and contribution separately or in collaboration with the art that the Commission does. She said cultural events and parks comes up a lot. She discussed programs in other municipalities. She also discussed a video aspect to promote culture. The Commission discussed the different areas they could focus on filming. Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com  Culture, Arts & Pride Commission September 11, 2019 Page 5 of 5 Ms. Whitaker said there was a branding exercise that Goose Creek recently went through. She said she liked some type of tag line or hashtag associated with Culture and Pride of Mount Pleasant to unify. She also wondered if there was something they could do to bring the community together instead of the divisions that are there. Ms. Monteiro said they had talked about a video and she thought they all liked that idea. She said they need to have more conversation on the financial aspect. Mr. Sonntag said he would follow up with Wando. 5. New Business Ms. Harvey said that Ms. Marie Louise Moreto who is with the Mount Pleasant Community Arts Organization sent an email to Mayor Haynie and Council and she received it yesterday. She said October was National Arts and Humanities Month and the Mayor will make a proclamation at the October Recreation Committee meeting. She said they would like to honor a local artist or art organization for their contributions to the social and economic well being of Mount Pleasant. She shared a list and said they could suggest someone also. Ms. Whitaker made a motion to award the first annual Arts and Humanities Organization Award to the Mount Pleasant Artist Guild and the Arts and Humanities Individual Award to Mr. Bobby Lambert at Wando for contributions to Mount Pleasant. Ms. Monteiro seconded the motion. All were in favor. 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:21 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Bedenbaugh, 9/11/19 Telephone (843) 884-8517 - Fax (843) 856-2180 www.tompsc.com