Public Art Commission

Salem Public Art Commission Meeting The Public Art Commission (PAC) was held on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, in Room 314, Third Floor at 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA. Norene Gachignard, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 6:20pm Roll Call: Members Present: Norene Gachignard, Lillian Hsu, Janine Liberty, J. Michael Sullivan and Deborah Greel, Public Art Planner Approval of April Minutes: Hsu made a motion to approve. Liberty seconded the motion. Discussion: Hsu noted to clarify who the person named “Sullivan” is in the paragraph about Artists’ Row. She also asked about the comments concerning the handicap stairway access for the North Shore Community Development and if they will be included in public comments to the Zoning Board. Greel noted that there will another meeting of this project in June. Motion passes: 4-0 Discuss and Vote on Amending the Public Art Budget Documents and Exhibitions: Public Art Budget Sullivan made a motion to approve. Liberty seconded the motion. Discussion: Greel noted the City is coming to the end of the fiscal year and that the Public Art budget does not get carried forward to use funds from FY 2016-2017 in the FY 2017-2018 budget. The PAC budget had money set aside for programming that wasn’t used so Greel suggested the money be designated for the Mural Slam, a public art project for the 2nd year to take place on the back of Artists’ Row. Hsu asked if the amount in the budget for signage is adequate for Celebrating the Urban Environment Projects. Greel noted that the budget should cover the signage. Sullivan asked if the money for the Mural Slam was adequate to cover expenses and Greel said that it would be enough. Motion passes: 4-0 Discuss and Vote on Salem Public Art logo Documents and Exhibitions: Salem Public Art Logo Designs Liberty made a motion to approve. Sullivan seconded the motion. Discussion: The PAC liked the designs by Rick Rawlins of Rick Rawlins/Work, who had been paid a stipend to design a logo for Salem Public Art. Sullivan and Liberty preferred the horizontal treatment with the “S” on the left side of “public art”. The logo for “Celebrating the Urban Environment” choice can be based on the color in the signage itself. Sullivan also suggested asking the designer for white, red and black beside the multitude of colors presented, he noted these are “Salem” colors. Motion Approved: 4-0 Discuss Lesley University Artists’ Row Redesign Documents and Exhibitions: Artists’ Row Redesign Discussion: Greel presented the Artist’s Row Redesign from the design students at Lesley University. Phase 1 redesign calls for new paint colors for the stalls, new doors and windows, barn door on the bathroom, graphics on the buildings and new signage for the stalls. Phase 2 calls for changing the ‘landscape’ by adding more communal spaces, tables, chairs and benches as well as planters that would support the brand by using the same materials and typography. Phase 3 redesign calls for an overhead structure and new lighting. Greel noted that Phase 1 and Phase are attainable but there isn’t funding for Phase 3. As the stalls are trimmed in brick Liberty not sure the brick should be painted. Hsu said she thought that the colors are cohesive for the stalls. Sullivan said that sliding barn doors are not inexpensive. The project will need to go before the Design Review Board (DRB) and Sullivan suggested improvements to the proposal document which includes casement colors on the windows, and adding color to the brick. He noted that this will be challenging to accomplish with a limited budget. Greel said there would be funds in the Derby Square/Artists’ Row account. Signage was discussed and Greel mentioned that the current tenants were not in favor of changing the signage this year. They wanted the signage to reflect their individual businesses instead of one signage design for all of the stalls. Hsu, asked if this dovetails with the Artist in Residence (AiR) program and Greel said that the changes will be happening simultaneously and that the AiR is planning having a community build project for tables and flower boxes. Social Media Strategy – Gachignard suggested that we keep this item on the agenda for next month as Amanda Moore was not able to attend the meeting. Updates: Artist in Residence Program Proposal Documents and Exhibitions: Artists in Residence 2017 – Pallet Infrastructure Discussion: Claudia Paraschiv discussed her proposal with PAC with the understanding that it is a flexible framework starting in late June. She had met with the tenants and they are interested in an art and nature theme for the Row. The proposal also calls for ‘nooks’, areas between the buildings and each has a theme such a conversation nook. She discussed stewardship for the nooks by the tenants so that these areas are engaged. The community project is to build a communal table which can be used in a variety of ways from eating to making things together. The tables would have a space in the middle for plants which would be pollinators and could have mosaics from things found in different areas of Salem. Programmable activities could include yoga. Liberty asked about the nooks and how they are built out. Paraschiv said to build a table first and then use the spaces in between the stalls. The first event could be a bunch of doors and create signage for all the nooks, for example a conversation nook and two chairs. Hsu asked where the table will be. Paraschiv said that the dimensions depend on the pallet and could be a drop leaf or multiply tables that could be in the center or pushed into the nooks. Sullivan asked who is coming? Paraschiv said it would be the Salem community and modeled it on a project she did in Dorchester where it was a weekly drop-in for those that wanted to participate. She will do a marketing campaign to invite people to join in this project. Paraschiv said that events could be held in different nooks. Hsu asked about things to interact with and noted that one of the issues at Artists’ Row is too many dead times. Hsu also asked if the furniture created will also be places to sit. Hsu asked about how to support the gardens and how to take care of them. The site deserves some care and suggested a gardening day. Greel said there will be movable flower boxes to create a feeling of a garden when you are sitting at the Row. And hopefully a palette garden on the wall at the Shanty. Sullivan suggested that we need to engage the area regardless if things are to change, furniture could be used and abused and we will experience all of these things. Paraschiv said that some things that are built could be tucked away at night. Liberty said that she likes the different materials used in the space. She also suggested a gardening day for kids and they can learn to how to pot plants. And she mentioned activities that would build in the artists medias on the Row. Mural Slam - The Mural Slam deadline was May 10th. Thirty applications were submitted and the Artist Selection Panel met on May 11th and chose the 11 finalists. Salem Arts Festival - The Mural Slam will take place over two days during the Salem Arts Festival, June 3 & 4. Adjourn Liberty made a motion to adjourn. Sullivan seconded the motion. Motion passes: 4-0 Adjourned at 7:41