Public Arts and Culture Advisory Council

PUBLIC ARTS & CULTURE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Monday, September 10, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Members Present: Chair Lindsay Brubaker – Niles Park District Carol Luc - Artist Debi Gajewski – Artist Kathleen Gallegos – Artist / The Artist Studio Kim Wasilewski - Artist Marina Samovsky - Photographer Members Absent: Janet Spector Bishop – School District 63 Michael Crisci – Niles Historical Society John Kosirog – School District 71 Alicia Bermes – Niles Chamber of Commerce Steven Vinezeano – VFW Post 3579 Edward Eubank – School District 207 Susan Lempke – Niles Public Library Village Officials/Staff Present: Katie Schneider – Community Engagement Coordinator Village Officials/Staff Absent: Mayor Andrew Przybylo Trustee George Alpogianis I. Call to Order Chair Lindsay Brubaker began the meeting at 5:12 p.m. on Monday, September 10, 2018 in the Niles Administration Building, Room 218, 1000 Civic Center Drive. There was not a quorum. II. Approval of Meeting Summary Minutes will be presented at the next meeting for approval. III. Organization Representative Reports Carol Luc (Artist) showed her submission for the Oakton Community College Women’s Show in October, the theme is “Nevertheless She Persisted”. Last Wednesday she participated in the Faces Not Forgotten opening reception in Evanston. The group is always looking for artists, if others are interested, Carol can forward the information. The NUI show is opening on September 20, 2018 with one of her pieces. There will be a silent auction for scholarships. The Edgebrook Sounds newspaper featured Carol’s bench portrait photo taken by Marina Samovsky. She will also be teaching a water class at the Niles Senior Center in November as a regular program. Kim Wasilewski (Artist) did not have any art related news at this time.  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, September 10, 2018 Marina Samovsky (Photographer) hopes to finish documenting each bench portrait, there are only a few more left. She spoke with the Library about putting an exhibit together possibly in October. She connected Katie Schneider with the Arts Alive program run by Cyd Smillie, she is a mural artist and facilitates grants for community murals. She also spoke with Donna Lurie, the art teacher at Culver School, she is interested in participating in a mural program and engaging students or groups like the girl scouts. Lindsey Brubaker (Niles Park District) summer is coming to close, the pool was closed last weekend, they are setting up for fall sports and Halloween activities. Debi Gajewski (Artist) is booked all through December for storytelling and art fairs. She finished her Man In Winter, Frozen on a Mountain piece for the Dome Mansion and is working on a Frozen Rose for there as well. She is preparing for The Grove Arts & Crafts Fair. Katie Schneider (Village of Niles) The Maria SS Lauretana Festival was held over the Labor Day weekend but unfortunately the storms cancelled much of festival. Sunday (the religious ceremony day) the weather was good so they at least were able to hold that. The Village will be reviewing its festival application process and making changes for next year. The Holly Jolly event is coming up; Debi Gajewski is helping to coordinate craft vendors this year so we will have higher end, hand crafted goods for sale. Kathleen Gallegos (Art Station Studio) completed a string art program at the senior center and also a chalk drawing program. She will be going to the Shriners hospital to do an art class there. She has two BYOB art parties and two Glow in the Dark parties this month. She is doing Groupon again since business has been slow. IV. Old Business a. Art Stop Bench Program Katie Schneider reported that the story maps page is now live; it can be accessed from our website. It includes websites and social media links of artists with their bios. We have half of the artist portraits up. Marina is waiting on artists to set up times for a photo shoot. Once we have more portraits we will start to promote on social media, on the Niles cable channel and on the PACE Buses (the handout maps for people to pick up with possibly a QR code). b. Art Guild Debi Gajewski reported that they held their first meeting on Wednesday, 14 people attended, 3 were unable to make it. It was a strong turn out; it will always be the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. Everyone was interested in having a brick and mortar art space and pop ups. The group agreed to be a guild and will now start the process of being a non-profit. They will need to establish a Board of Directors. Kathleen Gallegos hosted the meeting at her art studio. There was a wide variety of mediums including wood carvers, quilters, fiber, graphic designers, oil painters and sculptors. They will be an Artisan Guild as opposed to artist so it sounds more encompassing and welcoming of all art forms. Moving forward the Niles-Maine District Library will host the meetings at the library. The library also offered to give the Artisan Guild an exhibitor space, most likely April and May of 2019. Debi said that overall the Page 2  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, September 10, 2018 meeting went well and she was excited to move forward. The Artisan Guild will run the Butterfly Event with financial support from our Arts and Culture Council. V. New Business a. Twinkle and Lights Katie Schneider said that we are ahead of schedule for the Twinkle and Lights program, she had distributed the 2017 materials at the last meeting and we agreed to host the program the same as last year with small changes. We will discuss at the next meeting. b. Butterfly Art Fair Event – June 2019 Debi had looked into ordering monarch butterflies, and stated that we would buy 100 and sell them for $10 each, which gives us a $3 profit per butterfly. People will have to preorder and prepay. They are individually packaged and can have a note written on them. We will do a mass release with a poem read and music. She estimates 50 artists to have tents and booths in the park. Debi had a lavender vendor who was very interested in being part of the event; they sell soaps and lotions and could sell lavender plants which butterflies are very attracted to. The Grove charges food trucks $75 a space; she figured that we would set up our food truck the same. Other prices can run up to $275 but they supplied electric. The Council agreed that food trucks are a very big draw right now and should aim for 4-6 trucks, with a variety of foods. She will get quotes for porta-potties, sign/banners and postcards. Katie noted that a 60714 mailing (design, print and postage) is about $3,000. Potential entertainment could be face painters, balloon artist and stilt walkers. For music the Council agreed on a folk type band that appeals to all ages and creates background music to add to the atmosphere. Kim stated that he thought fees for artist were too low, Debi clarified that artist would bring their own canopy, tables, chairs and set-ups. We could however offer a price package that would include us providing tents and set-up and we could rent them. The Artisan Guild will be making a proposal to the Arts and Culture Council asking for specific dollar amounts to cover costs. Kim had questions about who collects money and what entity is liability. Katie clarified that the event will be hosted by the Village of Niles Arts and Culture Council in partnership with the Artisan Guild. The event is hosted by the Village just like the Village hosts the Holly Jolly and in partnership with the park district. The Artisan Guild is being created as a vehicle for artists and creative types. Kim asked what would happen if we do not have enough vendor interest and then did not raise projected revenue. Lindsey stated that you run that risk with any event and that we would know in early winter (February) how much interest we have before we start spending money on the event. We will continue to put a budget together. The event would be late morning through the day, probably 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The next step is working with the Park District for permission to use Golf Mill Park and confirm a date. We will continue to put an outline together. VI. Open Discussion Debi Gajewski let the group know that the Grove Art Fair is closing this year, they are selling their displays. She asked if anyone was interested, artists, the Village (for events) or Artisan Guild they should let her know. Page 3  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, September 10, 2018 VII. Public Comment Louella Preston, a Niles resident, was present. She asked if the Sister Cities Limanowa, Poland committee was participating in the Skokie and Niles Township Coming Together program since Poland will be the heritage celebrated for 2019. Katie responded that the library and village participate on the Coming Together committee and did not know what the status of the Sister Cities committee was. For the butterfly fest, Louella asked that if she purchased a butterfly could she take it home and why are we not launching them all over the village. Debi responded that you can let the butterfly out where you choose. Kim replied that the purpose is to launch 100 at time for effect. Transferring the butterfly runs a high risk of the butterfly not making it. Louella suggested that we promote the butterfly fest in our winter and spring Village Focus so that we can encourage residents to plant flowers or seeds that attract butterflies. She also suggested working with the Botanic Gardens. Debi also noted that the Niles Chamber of Commerce would be open to an art program with butterfly statues. Louella asked Katie for an update on the Historical Society, Katie responded that the application process closed today for a new Museum Coordinator, programs are on hold until the new person is hired. Louella asked if the Council has considered painting the electrical boxes like in downtown Skokie, council members agreed that they look awesome and will consider the same. Louella asked why the Italian Fest signs are still up; Katie responded that it is not the Village that takes them down, but a company hired by the Italian Fest organizers. Since Golf Mill Park is flooded from rain storms, the Park District asked that those signs wait to be removed. So the hired company is waiting to take all signs down at one time. They should be down by end of the week. VIII. Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Monday, October 8, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. at the Village Hall Conference Room 218. Since October 8th is Columbus Day and schools are closed, it was suggested that we reschedule the meeting. Katie will email the Council for other available times and confirm later. IX. Adjournment The meeting ended at 6:25 p.m. Page 4