Arts Commission

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Arts Commission Contact: Stephanie Johnson 360.709.2678 Thursday, May 9, 2019 4:00 PM The Olympia Center - 222 Columbia St NW - Room 100 Special Meeting - Spring Retreat 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Grisham called the meeting to order at 4:21 p.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Timothy Grisham, Vice Chair Frederick Dobler, Commissioner Jim Burlingame, Commissioner Diana Fairbanks, Commissioner Stacy Hicks and Commissioner Kevin McManus Absent: 3 - Commissioner Kathryn Dorgan, Commissioner Kathy Murray and Commissioner Katherine Williams OTHERS PRESENT City Manager Steve Hall Parks, Arts and Recreation Director Paul Sommons Poet Laureate Sady Sparks West Bay Art Crossing project artists Lin McJunkin and Milo White 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 19-0409 Approval of April 11, 2019 Arts Commission Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioners shared information about past and upcoming arts events. City of Olympia Page 1 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes May 9, 2019 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 19-0414 Meet and Greet with City Manager Steve Hall and PARD Director Paul Simmons The Commission welcomed Mr. Hall and Mr. Simmons to the informal discussion. Mr. Simmons spoke to the physical move of the Arts Program to City Hall, noting potential for growth and greater capacity for synergy as ArCH begins to come together. He invited Commissioners to reach out if they have ideas on ways to better support the Commission or staff. Mr. Hall shared he has been with the City 29 years, starting just before the Commission's first staff liaison. He noted it's been remarkable to see that perspective from then to now. He noted the continuing conversation could be free-ranging - that Commissioners could ask anything of interest, not just arts oriented. The topics ranged from budget to ArCH to plans for the isthmus. The report was received. 19-0408 2019 Arts Commission Work Plan Review and Discussion Chair Grisham invited this time to be used for brainstorming around work plan items 1.4 (Integrate Arts into City Recreation Programs) and 1.5 (City Artist-In-Residence Program). Ms. Johnson also asked for the ArCH items to be addressed. Integrate Arts into City Recreation Programs: Points of discussion included audience, numbers, cost, outcomes, interns and connections to ArCH. A decision was made to invite Recreation Program Staff to a Committee meeting to explain their site needs. The work group includes Commissioners Burlingame, Hicks and Fairbanks. City Artist-In-Residence Program: Points of discussion included public benefit, ties to ArCH, and how much of the program would model that of the Poet Laureate. Commissioners agreed the opportunity would be for artists with strong ties to Olympia. Different models were discussed: retreat style where artists are given space to create new works; education style such as a residency in waste re-sources; and inspiration style such as the Poet Laureate program. A decision was made not to form a work group to allow absent Commissioners to participate. ArCH: Work group includes Commissioners Hicks and McManus, Chair Grisham and Vice-Chair Dobler. The discussion was completed. 19-0413 Poem and Program update with Olympia’s Poet Laureate Ms. Sparks shared a presentation of projects to date. Of specific note was the February workshop, Asking Love Questions and the recent Instant Poetry Event at Arts Walk, City of Olympia Page 2 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes May 9, 2019 which included 15+ poets, among them the incoming Poet Laureate of Tacoma, creating poetry for the community for 8 hours over the two day event. Ms. Sparks shared a few poems that came out of the Arts Walk project with the Commission. Upcoming project ideas are to work with more tactile/found poetry projects and to conduct a poetry event in association with PRIDE, either this year or next. The report was received. PUBLIC HEARING - 7:00 p.m 19-0406 PUBLIC HEARING - West Bay Art Crossing Public Art Concept Plan West Bay Art Crossing project artists Lin McJunkin and Milo White recapped their feedback from the neighborhood meeting on March 21. Their concept for the West Bay site consists of two figural forms of a heron and salmon constructed of stainless steel and tempered glass that flank the road. Chair Grisham opened the Public Hearing at 7:00 p.m. The following people spoke: Lisa Reiner, Ron Hinton, Lynn Helbrecht, and J.M. Corzine. Commissioners and staff asked clarifying questions and discussed the project. Chair Grisham ended the public hearing at 7:58 p.m. Staff was directed to bring the concept presentation to the Planning Commission and Heritage Commission for additional feedback before going to City Council. 7. REPORTS - None 8. OTHER TOPICS - None 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3