Public Arts and Culture Advisory Council

PUBLIC ARTS & CULTURE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Monday, October 15, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Members Present: Chair Lindsay Brubaker – Niles Park District Carol Luc - Artist Debi Gajewski – Artist Steven Vinezeano – VFW Post 3579 Alicia Bermes – Niles Chamber of Commerce Marina Samovsky - Photographer Janet Spector Bishop – School District 63 Susan Lempke – Niles Public Library Members Absent: Kim Wasilewski - Artist Edward Eubank – School District 207 John Kosirog – School District 71 Kathleen Gallegos – Artist / The Artist Studio Barb Karawacki – Niles Historical Society 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, October 15, 2018 in the Niles Administration Building, Room 218, 1000 Civic Center Drive. II. Approval of Meeting Summary Minutes were reviewed. Debi Gajewski made a motion to accept the September 15, 2018 minutes as presented. Carol Luc second the motion, all were in favor; none opposed. Minutes approved. III. Organization Representative Reports Susan Lempke announced that the Niles Maine District Library is hosting author Scott Turow on Wednesday night and Maker Fest is coming up November 10th. She also introduced Victoria Luz who is the head of Technical Services and is head of the art display committee at library. She will be working with Debi Gajewski and the Niles Art Guild. Alicia Bermes reported that Niles Chamber of Commerce now hosts a Niles Morning Network at the library the 2nd Tuesday of the months for businesses and organizations. It begins with informal networking, a short informational presentation, welcoming of new members and then  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, October 15, 2018 everyone gives a 30 second commercial. There is also a Lunch and Learn on November 15 and will be How to Craft Your 30 Second Commercial. All were welcome to attend. Debi Gajewski is booked through the holidays with storytelling and art craft sales. She invited everyone to come out to the Grove for the last season. She was excited to announce that through a family member she found a family that was survivors of the Our Lady of Angels fire and the aunt made a hand embroidered quilt to memorialize all of the victims with their names and birthday dates. She gave it to Debi to tell the stories of the fire, the survivors and the quilt. She is hoping to loan the quilt and stories to area libraries as well. Katie Schneider reported that the Village of Niles in conjunction with the sister Cities organization participated in the Columbus Day parade downtown. The Village has commissioned a 7 foot leaning tower replica made out of styrofoam material. It should be completed and displayed before the Holly Jolly event. The Village is also a partner in Coming Together which focusses this year on the Polish Heritage. The Village is coordinating a concert to showcase Chopin, and is working to secure a theatre and musician. Steve Vinezeano announced the VFW Blood Drive at their post at the White Eagle on October 20th. Sunday, November 11 is Veterans Day and there is a ceremony at 11:00 a Marina is in her busy season with and Corelle line of dishware. She helped Katie Schneider connected with potential mural artists. Carol Luc had a piece accepted into No Big Heads, a self-portrait show and it is in Anchorage Alaska, she sent her work off. Lindsey Brubaker reported that the Niles Park District has their basketball and softball leagues in full swing. Halloween parade and party is Saturday Oct 27 at Grennan Heights and the Niles Hustle 5K at Notre Dame on October. There are a variety of Halloween activities as well - spooky golf, etc. IV. Old Business a. Niles Art Guild Debi Gajewski reported that it is the Niles Artisan Guild. Artisan (instead of Artist) will encompass a lot of mediums and be more welcoming to all artistic individuals. Debi Gajewski is the President, Kathleen Gallegos is Vice President, Marina Samovsky is Treasurer. The Artisan Guild will display from May until July (or in that time frame) will display at the library and it will be to promote the butterfly event. Debi had asked Steve for permission to post small bottle tops along Milwaukee Avenue. Katie reported that we are waiting to hear from Public Works on logistics before the Village can confirm. The guild is working on a 501c3 status. Once they can get that established they have a grant opportunity. Later in the meeting, Debi states that they will begin membership dues in 2019 and a membership book. Page 2  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, October 15, 2018 b. Butterfly Art Fair Event We are waiting for confirmation from the Niles Park District to use Golf Mill Park on Saturday, June 8, 2019 for the butterfly fest. It is on the Park District agenda for Board approval for the October meeting. Kim volunteered to handle the food trucks. The Niles Artisan Guild has been promoted on the Village e-newsletter and Debi will post on the Arts Buzz Feed. Steve asked that everyone then share the post. c. Twinkle and Lights Katie Schneider distributed the 2018 Twinkle and Lights application draft. She reiterated that it is the same as last year with minor tweaks. She asked the council to review and asked if we should change the categories. After discussion, the Council agreed that we will change the rules so that a house/applicant can only win in one category. There was some concern that the same house may win every year and discourage people from participating. But the Council decided that with multiple categories and being able to win only once, it would keep a friendly competition. The Council considered changing the categories - ideas included an award for a theme, or being classic, but agreed to use the same categories as last year. Having six winners gives more opportunity for people to win. Susan Lempke made a motion to keep the same categories as last year and stipulate that an entry can only win one time. Carol Luc second the motion. All were in favor, none opposed. Alicia asked if the Council has ever considered a Business Category. Carol Luc stated that. Katie asked if the Chamber would be interested in administrating. Katie Schneider asked for volunteers to judge each house. The Council reviewed the deadlines and agreed that we still want to announce the winners at the Village Board meeting on December 11th. Since there were so many applicants last year, Katie suggested that this year we would divide into several groups of judges and each group reviews and narrows down to a final group. All judges will then decide from the final selection. Council members will let Katie know if they are able to volunteer and what days they would be available. She will email the information out. We may need a few more volunteers and Katie asked who we could recruit. The Council was open to asking other Village staff. Lindsey asked how it will be promoted; Katie stated it will be in the Focus, social media, and applications available at Holly Jolly. Janet asked V. New Business a. Financial Report Katie said that the Niles Historical Society is inviting local artists to exhibit in their Auditorium at the Niles Historical Society and Culture Center building. So we could display the gallery prints at the library, at the historical society and then village hall. The library is aiming for the first week in November. Marina thought we could make that deadline. The Council agreed to spend the $1,000 on the Art Stop bench display for the library that Marina Page 3  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, October 15, 2018 would put together. Steve Vinezeano made a motion, Debi Gajewski second the motion. All were in favor. None opposed. b. Arts Buzz Feed Steve reported on Arts Feed as it was displayed on the screen. He just wanted to reiterate to the Council how to post events, programs or anything related to arts and culture on to the Arts Feed. If using Twitter, simply put #NilesArtsCulture. The library, chamber, and park district can link directly from their Facebook feeds. It does get approved first by Katie Schneider, so if you are not sure if it’s relevant, post anyway. At this point, we need to better populate the Arts Feed. It does not have to be an event. VI. Open Discussion Debi Gajewski stated that at Oakton College. It might be a nice idea to bring in an artist to talk about their causes or work. Marina suggested the Niles Historical Society. VII. Public Comment There was no public comment. VIII. Next Meeting Next Meeting is on Veterans Day, the park district and village are closed that day so Lindsey wants to reschedule. Katie will email out to determine the next meeting. IX. Adjournment Debi made a motion to adjourn, Janet second. All were in favor, none opposed. Meeting adjourned. Page 4