Arts Commission

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Arts Commission Contact: Stephanie Johnson 360.709.2678 Thursday, December 10, 2015 6:00 PM Room 112 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 8 - Chair Marygrace Jennings, Vice Chair Stacy Hicks, Commissioner Britta Echtle, Commissioner Diana Fairbanks, Commissioner Ron Hinton, Commissioner Kathy Murray, Commissioner Katie Nelson, and Commissioner Rick Perry Absent: 1 - Commissioner Susan Aurand OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE City Staff: Parks, Arts & Recreation Associate Director Scott River and Associate Planner Jonathon Turlove 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved as presented. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 15-1197 Approval of November 12, 2015 Arts Commission Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT Ms. Dena Lee introduced herself as an artist recently relocated from Seattle and interested in the current recruitment for Boards & Commissions. Ms. Gillian Smee was interested to learn more about the Arts Commission. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioners shared information about past and upcoming events. Ms. Johnson shared that the "The Kiss" by Richard Boyer had received the 2015 "Cream of the (Thurston) County" Award for Best Permanent Art from a TCTV show entitled Your Daily Hour with Me. She also announced the annual Board and Commission recruitment has begun. Commissioners Hicks, Hinton, Jennings and Nelson have City of Olympia Page 1 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2015 appointments ending in March 2016. In order to be considered for reappointment, they will need to submit a new application by January 29. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 15-1209 Draft Parks Plan Review Mr. Turlove made a short presentation on public process and major elements of the 2016 Parks, Arts & Recreaiton Plan. Commissioners provided feedback: · When implementing park development, incorporate artistic elements early on in the design process. For example, when installing benches, instead of buying benches from a catalog, have an artist design them. Incorporate artists on the design team. · Seems like with the current focus on improving our downtown with the Downtown Strategy, Community Renewal Area, etc, having the Arts Center project in the latter years is too late. Should move the Arts Center into the first six years of the plan. · Need another full-time FTE for the arts program. · The Arts section of the plan needs to be a bit more forward-looking. It does a good job of articulating what we do now but not as good at looking forward. Need to link the Municipal Art Plan to the arts section of the Plan. The report was received. Mr. Turlove will include Commissioner comments among those collected from the community, and include them in the revision process. 15-1196 Arts Walk Cover Artists 2016 Ms. Johnson presented the recommendation of the jury. The jury met on Tuesday, December 1 at 2:00 p.m. to review work samples for 21 artists who applied to be considered for the cover commission. Jurors were Nathan Barnes, Gallery Coordinator at the Minneart Center for the Arts, Doyle Fanning, cover artist for the Fall 2015 Arts Walk event, and Ron Hinton, Community Events & Outreach Chair for the Olympia Arts Commission. Deliberation took 2.5 hours. Jen Kliese was recommended as artist for the spring cover, with Michele A. Burton as alternate, and Brian Wayne Jansen for the fall cover, with Nikki McClure as alternate. Commissioners were in favor of the recommendation and look forward to the 2016 Arts Walk cover images. Chair Jennings moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry, to accept the recommendation of the jury for Arts Walk 2016 cover artists and alternates. The motion passed unanimously. 15-1071 2016 Arts Commission Work Plan Commissioners continued discussion and development of their 2016 work plan. They will address the draft plan once more in January, with plans to take action in February. City of Olympia Page 2 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2015 The discussion was continued to the January 14, 2016 Arts Commission meeting. 15-1215 Gift of Art Commissioners discussed the gift proposal of "Dignity in Labor" by John Vanek as presented by the Thurston-Lewis-Mason County Central Labor Council. There was general approval of the proposal: Commissioners appreciated the use of repurposed materials, the reflection of culture in Olympia and the fact that the sculpture was well-received by the community during the 2014 Percival Plinth Exhibition. The only concern expressed was the proposed location at the Labor Temple, just outside a Lounge, that might invite damage to the work. Staff was directed to talk with the Thurston-Lewis-Mason County Central Labor Council about Commissioner's concerns for location and the possibility of a one-year warranty in association with receipt of the gift. 7. REPORTS 15-1193 Commission Items 1.12 City Action Plan - Ms. Johnson reminded Commissioners of the Action Plan Open House, Monday, December 14, 12-1:30 p.m., City Hall. 1.13 Park Plan - See Business Items. 1.14 Downtown Strategy - No Report. The report was received. 15-1194 Community Events & Outreach Committee Report 1.7 Artspace/Arts Center Support - Commissioner Hinton reported the Olympia Artspace Alliance updated City staff on November 18 about the findings of their most recent report. 1.9 Define Creative District - No Report. 1.10 Music in the Neighborhoods - No Report. 2.a Arts Walk 50 & 51 - See Business Items. 2.3 Area Arts Promotion - No Report. The report was received. 15-1195 Art in Public Places Committee Report 1.2 Traffic Box Wrap - Ms. Johnson noted west side wraps were printed and ready to install, provided there is dry weather. 1.3 Music Out Loud - Ms. Johnson reported she received approval from business owners at Chestnut and 4th to include a mosaic on the SE bump-out. She also noted the Request for Proposals for a contractor was moving through legal review. 1.5 Harrison/Black Lake Tree Guards - No Report. 1.6 City Gateways - Commissioner Nelson reported work of the sub-committee to City of Olympia Page 3 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2015 date: Site Report, Scope of Work and RFQ for a Master Plan. Commissioners agreed to move forward with meeting to share the work with staff, followed by General Government Committee. 1.8 Guidelines for Temporary Display of Art at City Hall - Commissioner Fairbanks presented her preliminary proposal for Temporary Art Exhibitions and Presentations at City Hall. She noted the APP Committee had taken a close look at the document and incorporated changes. Staff will set up a meeting with Commissioner Fairbanks and the City's Communications Director as a next step in the process. The report was received. 8. OTHER TOPICS 15-1198 Poet Laureate Commissioners agreed to meet on Thursday, January 21, 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Harbor House with poet Suzanne Simons to discuss development of a Poet Laureate program in Olympia. Vice-Chair Hicks volunteered to work with Ms. Simons to set up the agenda. The discussion was completed. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4