Roswell Museum Board of Trustees

BOARD OF TRUSTEES AGENDA Monday, September 19, at 4:00 PM Bassett Auditorium at RMAC 100 W. 11th Street Chair: Peggy Krantz Members: Jamie Barnes, Tabitha Denny, Donovan Fulkerson, Cymantha Liakos, Lorie Mitteer, Priscilla Ornelas, Jessica Parham, Nanette Schumacher, Bill Siders, De Angela Velasquez and Jessica Ellis Staff Coordinator: Laurie Rufe, Interim Museum Director RMAC Foundation: Cindy Torrez, Executive Director A. Call to Order B. Roll Call C. Approval of Agenda (action item) D. Approval of Minutes (action item) 1. Consider approval of the August 15, 2016 meeting minutes E. New Business F. Chair’s remarks G. Membership/Event Report H. Director’s Report I. RMAC Foundation Report J. Old Business K. Adjourn Next Meeting: October 17, 2016 Notice of this meeting has been given to the public in compliance with Sections 10-15-1 through 10-15-4 NMSA 1978 and Resolution 15-56. If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the hearing or meeting, please contact Human Resources at 575-624-6700 at least one week prior to the meeting or as soon as possible. Public documents including the agenda and minutes can be provided in various accessible formats. Please contact the City Clerk at 575-624-6700 if a summary or other type of accessible format is needed. Printed and posted: 9/14/2016  DRAFT DOCUMENT MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Monday, August 15, 2016 REGULAR MEETING AT 4:00p.m. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order by Chairwoman Krantz at 4:00p.m. ROLL CALL The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees convened with members Peggy Krantz, Cymantha Liakos, Jessica Parham, DeAngela Velasquez, Lorie Mitteer, Bill Siders, Priscilla Ornelas, and Jamie Barnes being present. A quorum was established. Members absent: Donovan Fulkerson, Nanette Schumacher Staff present: Laurie Rufe, Interim Director, Sara Woodbury, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions; Colette Speer, Membership and Events Coordinator, Cindy Torrez, Executive Director, RMAC Foundation. Guests present: Lisa Dunlap, Roswell Daily Record APPROVAL OF AGENDA Member Siders motioned to approve the agenda as presented. Member Liakos seconded. A voice vote was unanimous and the motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Parham motioned to approve the minutes of the June 2016 Board of Trustees meeting. Member Liakos seconded. A voice vote was unanimous and the motion passed. NEW BUSINESS Curator Woodbury presented the possibility of an acquisition of 24 Ground Zero/Sacred Ground pastels by Karen Aqua for the permanent collection. She explained that, as the work of a former Roswell Artist- in-Residence, the pastels attest to the ongoing significance of the RAiR program but are also important in terms of New Mexico history and possess a direct link to Roswell. The 24 pastel drawings were created for the short animated film Ground Zero/Sacred Ground, which was completed in 1997. The subject matter for these drawings comes in large parts from extant carvings found at the 3 Rivers Petroglyph site. According to Aqua, an important artist and filmmaker “The film was inspired by the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site between Tularosa and Carrizozo, New Mexico (two hours from Roswell) and its proximity to the Trinity Site, where the first atom bomb was detonated.” Curator Woodbury emphasized that there were many reasons for this acquisition, but added that yet another was that they were themselves a sequence from the film. CHAIR’S REMARKS Chairwoman Krantz focused her remarks on the upcoming event to launch the fundraising campaign for the digitization of the Robert H. Goddard Planetarium. She inquired about which members were attending and encouraged everyone to attend on Friday, August 19. MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE REPORTS: Attendance and membership data from July was presented, and it was noted that traditionally July has been a slow membership-month, but that there had been a spike in attendance because of both the Alien Costume Contests, planetarium programming during the UFO Festival and other events. DIRECTORS REPORT Interim Director Rufe updated the Board Members on the Director Search which continues. She let everyone know that there were two finalists: one from Brigham City, Utah, and one from Salem, Oregon. She expressed hope about the candidates and a pending selection. She said that Jonathan Phillips would make the final decision. Member Parham asked about whether there were plans for the Chalk Art Festival and Art Block Party; Director Rufe said that planning was ongoing and that Amanda and Colette were co-chairing progress on the event. It was also mentioned that the bridge demolition and reconstruction were ongoing. More importantly, it was noted that Victoria Montana Ryan had visited to do some conservation work. Finally, it was announced that Nanette Schumacher had recommended Jessica Ellis to serve on the Board of Trustees and that the decision and approval would be made at the September city council meeting; Jessica Ellis is being considered to replace Rey Berrones. Foundation Report Ms. Torrez provided an informal summary to the members and focused her comments on the upcoming Planetarium Digital Conversion Project. She reviewed the details; it is a $375,000 project that will upgrade the planetarium to a program called Digistar 6 projection, a fully digitized system that is cloud based and available through Evans and Sutherland, its parent company. Digistar 6 comes with state of the art programming. The upgrade will also involve new seating, new carpet, and cove lighting. The RMAC Foundation has pledged fifty percent of the cost. The city of Roswell has pledged $37,000 for this year and the same amount for the next fiscal year. Ms. Torrez also let members know that the foundation would be talking with individuals and foundations, local banks and the county. She was particularly interested in the government sector and state legislation perhaps backing this project; the planetarium in Alamogordo received state funding for a similar project. She emphasized that the foundation was seeking not only donors but also advocates. At the kickoff event, Jim Waldrip would be recognized for his service. Member DeAngela Velasquez asked about a timeline for the project, and Ms. Torrez said ideally funding by March and then begin. She encouraged members to talk it up, mention grants that members might know of. All help will be appreciated. ADJOURN Member Parham motioned to adjourn. Member Siders seconded. A voice vote was unanimous and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 4:51pm Respectfully Submitted DRAFT DOCUMENT Colette Speer, Membership and Events Coordinator RMAC ROSWELL MUSEUM AND ART CENTER Director’s Report to the RMAC Board of Trustees September 19, 2016 Board Meeting Submitted by: Laurie Rufe, Interim Executive Director 1. Staff Executive Director Search: Two individuals were brought in as finalists for the Executive Director position. Caroline Brooks, Gallery Director for the Salem Art Association, Salem, Oregon, and Kaia Landon, Director of the Box Elder Museum, Brigham City, Utah. Ultimately, the position of Executive Director was offered to Caroline Brooks by Acting City Manager Jonathan Phillips. Caroline assumes her position on Friday, November 4. Caroline was Assistant Director at RMAC from July 2004 – November 2012, prior to moving to Oregon. Welcome to New Trustee Jessica Ellis who was confirmed on September 8 at the City Council Meeting. 2. Planetarium Digital Conversion Project The RMAC Foundation launched its campaign to raise funding for the Planetarium’s digital conversion on Friday, August 19. Dave Sasich from Digistar was here to provide information on the Full Dome System that we are looking at. Cindy Torrez, Kendra Price, and Jeremy Howe provided detailed information on the fund raising effort and helped to present an award to former Planetarium Director Jim Waldrip for his many years of service to our community and science education. We are also very appreciative of Nancy Fleming who helped Cindy with the design of the donor packets. We are currently working with Digistar to determine the logistics and time line for the conversion. 3. Infrastructure The bridge renovation and roof replacement projects continue. They have been pushed back by the rain. The City of Roswell Parks Department trimmed all of the trees in the courtyard. I have talked with Parks and with a City Council member about the poor landscaping that is currently being provided by the Civic Center crew who took over our lawn and landscape maintenance several years ago. We are working to resolve the poor maintenance.