Public Art Commission

Salem Public Art Commission Meeting September 15, 2015 The Public Art Commission (PAC) was held on Tuesday, September 15, 2015, in Room 313, Third Floor, at 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA Norene Gachingard, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 6:15pm. Roll Call: Members Present: Norene Gachingard, Lillian Hsu, Victor Miguel Cruz, J. Michael Sullivan, Ellen Hardy and Deborah Greel, the Public Art Planner was present. Absent: Juliette Fritsch, Claudia Paraschiv Approval of July Minutes: Cruz made a motion to approve the minutes. Hardy seconded the motion. Motion passes: 5-0 Request by Marlene Schaedle, 135 Bridge Street, Salem, MA to alter Artbox “Totemic Animals” by Jill Feron – Discuss and Vote Documents and Exhibitions: Note addressed to the Public Art Commission from Marlene Schaedle, “Totemic Animals”, artist statement by Jill Feron. Curatorial opinion by Karen Kramer, Curator, Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture at the Peabody Essex Museum. Discussion: Cruz said that the request by Ms. Schaedle is trying to edit public art after the public process. Gachingard said that if the box is altered that would open a “Pandora’s box” so that each piece of public art would be open to alteration. Hardy discussed that the Artbox proposals and selections go through an artist selection process that is juried and approved by the Public Art Commission. Greel noted that the selections are approved at the PAC meetings, which are public. Hsu said that the alteration of the box could affect the future of this project. Greel explained that no other neighbors have brought forward an objection. With no further discussion the PAC suggested the following statement in response to Ms. Schaedle’s request to be sent by Greel and to include the statement from Karen Kramer: The Public Art Commission (PAC) has given consideration to the request from Marlene Schaedle to alter the image of the ArtBox “Totemic Animals” by Jill Feron. The PAC, after reviewing both the artist’s statement (previously shared with Ms. Schaedle) and the curatorial statement (see below) from Karen Kramer, Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture at the Peabody Essex Museum, has unanimously voted that the artist’s work will remain as originally designed and painted. Cruz made a motion not to alter the “Totemic Animals” Artbox as requested by Ms. Schaedle. Hardy seconded the motion. Motion passes: 5-0 Discussion and Vote on Artbox Application from the Peabody Essex Museum Greel informed the PAC that the Peabody Essex Museum will not be submitting a proposal at this meeting. Discussion and vote was tabled until at such time the Peabody Essex Museum submits and application. Discussion and Vote on Art Selection Panel to Work with the City of Salem Commissioned Artwork of Painted Crosswalks Documents and Exhibitions: Staff Memo referencing the proposed Art Selection Panel Discussion: Greel noted that the City of Salem was recently awarded a $6,000 Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) Placemaking grant through MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development and finance agency, which works with businesses, nonprofits, and local, state, and federal officials and agencies to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. The City will commit an additional $1,000 (project budget total = $7,000) to paint two (2) crosswalks along the Lafayette Street corridor in Salem’s Point neighborhood, and partner with the North Shore Community Development Coalition (NSCDC), Mass In Motion, the Point Neighborhood Association, and Miami-based artist Ruben Ubiera to do so. Hsu said it was a great idea to have painted crosswalks in Salem. Cruz noted the quality of Ruben Uberia’s work as a mural artist in Miami. Greel said that Uberia grew up in the point neighborhood and is looking forward to working with City of Salem on this project. The proposed Art Selection Panel: Victor Miguel Cruz - Public Art Commission Lillian Hsu - Public Art Commission Deborah Greel - Public Art Planner, City of Salem Andrew Shapiro - Economic Development Planner, City of Salem Mickey Northcutt - Executive Director, North Shore Community Development Corporation Sullivan made a motion to accept the Art Selection Panel. Hsu seconded the motion. Motion passes: 5-0 Discussion on developing a Public Art Work Plan for FY 2016 Documents and Exhibitions: Salem Public Art Commission Work Plan – 2015 and Public Art Masterplan Artbox Program: Hsu noted that there is positive feedback from the community about the program. She also noted that there had been a history of funding the program before the PAC was created and with a $10,000 budget for one year do we want to continue to spend more than a ¼ of the budget on this program with 23 completed boxes. Hsu also referred to the Public Art Masterplan which addresses potential and possible locations and budgets for public art with most of the projects far exceeding the current $10,000 budget. She asked how to get more funding to move projects forward in the masterplan. Hardy mentioned that Councilor O’Keefe, when he addressed the Public Art Commission in October 2014 suggested that we ask the council for more money and earmark specific projects in the request for funding. Sullivan asked how to approach the council and also referenced the projects in the masterplan and the funding required doing some of the projects. He suggested that PAC ask the City Council to set up a Public Art Fund which can receive money for public art through different sources including donations. Sullivan noted that the PAC would outline the process to the Council of how the funds are used guided by the masterplan. Hardy asked if there will be a time to set up a percent for art program. Hsu said that there needs to be a sustainable future of funding for the arts. Greel told the commission that the request would need to come from the Director of Planning and Community Development to the Mayor’s office. The Mayor would then request setting up the Public Art Fund. Artists’ Row: Sullivan asked if we can find out if any of the tenants are coming back. Hsu said that the process will decide and the current tenants will need to reapply. Sullivan referred to the Draft Recommendations for Artists’ Row from the Cecil Group presented at the public meeting and will PAC push the findings from the report. Hsu asked if the city is going to take action on the plan. Hardy mentioned that the plan can’t be implemented without money. She also noted that we should work with Destination Salem to better market public art and suggested asking Destination Salem to earmark advertising money for art related marketing. Greel said that she expects the final report from the Cecil Group by October 5th and that PAC discuss the recommendations in regards to their work plan at the October 20th meeting. Updates:  Artists’ Row Mural – The Artists’ Row mural was completed by Deanna Jacome and installed by the City in August. The mural is a good tie in to the woodworking shop and a local vendor, “Yankee Woodworking” who has been vending wood products on weekends at the Row.  Artbox – Seven Artboxes were completed this summer. Two are boxes with high visibility that were not finished by the previous artists and were selected by PAC to be re-painted. One box on the pedestrian mall was sponsored by Cabot Money Management.   Request for Proposal (RFP) for Conservation and Restoration of Historic Artwork – The RFP was sent out to conservators in the North Shore and Boston. Due date is Friday, September 18, to date no proposals have been submitted. Public Comments: There were no public comments. Adjourn Cruz made a motion to adjourn Hardy seconded the motion Motion passes: 5-0 Adjournment: 8:00 pm