Public Art Commission

Salem Public Art Commission 98 Washington Street Salem, Massachusetts 01970 (978) 619-5685 KIMBERLEY DRISCOLL MAYOR Public Art Commission May 18, 2021, 6:30pm Meeting held via Remote Participation MEETING MINUTES Note: All proposals, presentations, and/or documentation to be reviewed and discussed at this meeting can be viewed online at the following link: https://bit.ly/SalemPACProposals • Meeting called to order at 6:38pm. • Roll Call: Norene Gachignard, John Andrews, Carly Dwyer-Nik, Kurt Ankeny Beauchamp, Thu Ngan Han, & Emily Larsen in attendance Absent: Janine Liberty • Welcome to Chelsea Borden, new PAC Clerk ● Meeting Minute Approvals - April 20, 2021 Meeting minutes taken by Julie Barry- Norene’s name spelt incorrectly on the last line of Urban Spaces paragraph. No other comments. Norene Motioned, Carly seconded. Let the record show that Norene, John, Carly, Thu Ngan, and Emily approved, Kurt abstained. Motion carries. ● Arts Fest/Mural Slam - John Andrews provided an update on Arts Fest 2021. Trying to utilize multiple locations while still remaining spread out and COVID regulated. Though COVID regulations may not be still enforced by the event date, the event will still stick to COVID standards. As a staple of the community, last year's virtual event was a success and this year’s event will be taking place in person safely, on Hawthorne Blvd Park to utilize that space. John informed the commission that anything that DPW and Parks and Recreation is responsible for maintaining, needs permission by those groups to host a public event. Almost 60 applications for murals, which is more than 2018, 2019, & 2020 applications combined. John then left the meeting and passed the virtual mic over to Kylie Sullivan who shared the applications for Mural Slam. - Kylie Sullivan provided information on the Mural project. All artists proposed are North Shore residents (besides one). Important to note that we had 50 submissions. Mural slam had a group of people who had evaluated a pool of applicants for PAC to review. 15 needs approval. Would like to narrow it down to 12. Slide show of multiple submissions were viewed. All murals would be used with acrylic paints. Norene commented about lots of talent, and a lot of range displayed within the submissions. Approaching this event with COVID restrictions, half of the artists will be completed onsite, and half offsite. Barricades will be provided to keep distance and safety cautiously. Norene entertained motion to move, Kurt motioned. Motion seconded by Carly, vote taken by roll call. Let the record show that the motion passes unanimously. ● Linda Mullan Arts Fest Community Art Project Presentation - This community art project was created with the idea to reflect the year we had. The committee decided to use marine grade shrink wrap to create white flowers to attach onto a wreath type sculpture with zip ties. The frame is made of 2 large circles 10-12ft in diameter, intersected and welded at top. Base would be welded to a circular piece on the bottom and made out of 2in steel which would keep it grounded. Should be easy to transport. Linda says since the flowers need space to display, possible back up could be the trees, to attach to chicken wire. Idea of writing on flowers and “hash tagging” them to create a virtual bulletin board, personal, private or public. Opened for questions and comments. Anticipated a couple of weeks to display. Comments by Julie stated that concerns might be had with the tree aspect ideas and Linda was encouraged to keep with the frame as it was heavily thought out and researched. Norene suggested that the front street area might be a good idea if there are any issues with Hawthorne Blvd. Flowers will be able to be upcycled as the shrink wrap has already been used and disposed of already & project is fully sustainable as projects in the past. Area was picked as it is a visible and underutilized space, and nothing would have to be drilled into the concrete as that can cause issues. Evaluated the space, far enough away from other spaces, to add to the spacing out of others while visiting the city. Residents and tourists will be able to interact with it in this space, and able to pass through it. Structure would be handicap accessible. Lots of possible photo-ops. Kurt brought up trip hazards, and Linda assures that all pieces will be visible, and will adjust the measurements of the base to keep within the legal 6-8in for minimum height for visually impaired. Norene entertained motion to approve: Moved by Kurt, seconded by Emily. Motion carried unanimously. ● Update on Call for Performers & Establish Review Panel - Series of 6 weekends of artists. Shakespeare in the park first two weekends in Aug., then Dramatics: a drama ensemble the next two weekends in Aug., then The Ridiculous Project in an interpretation of Shakespeare the first two weekends in September. Performances will be in Forten Park, and Derby Square. Pac is funding 2 Salem based groups. Opted to use funds associated with activating Derby Sq, and Forten Park. Julie is looking for help drafting 3 press releases to announce these things. Norene offered her assistance. ● Update on Charlotte Forten Spatial Justice Project - Launching this week a digital survey, Julie is looking for volunteers for phone call surveys regarding Forten Park. Applying for public art for racial justice grant. Grant was obtained by Julie for PAC to fund public art in Salem. This grant will help build an infrastructure to implement public art in Salem. MAPC will increase the professionalism of our public art, and will also encourage the other departments to back this department. Will launch in June running for the next fiscal year. Julie also received a grant for the Massachusetts Cultural Fund for the feasibility study on OTH. Applying for another 75,000 grant from the State this week. Excited to have a possible template for future projects moving forward. Looking for help “blasting” the survey to neighbors and friends, going to be launched tomorrow (5/19). ● Open Spaces Conversation - Team is looking for any underutilized or unused space in Salem. Looking for the commission to name. Examples such as Pickman park, Lafayette Park, Bike path along Canal Street, Greenlawn small space (near the kernwood golf course), were named. Installations on light orbs shut down due to wind factor. Lapin Park was of interest for future plans.  ● Other Business - Mayor's office has allowed the use of in-person meetings by August 2021. All board members are allowed to appear in person, however there needs to be a quorum to commit to being physically present. Carly is concerned with flexibility with current meeting standards, and is interested in the flexibility of the calling in aspect. Hybrid meetings are possible, again, as long as there is a quorum of individuals; some members might be able to call in if enough people are in person. - Questions further about Surveys; Julie needs the phone calls to be made before the end of the month. ● Norene has moved to adjourn the meeting, motion moved by Carly, and seconded by Kurt. Meeting was adjourned at 7:32pm. Persons requiring auxiliary aids and services for effective communication such as sign language interpreter, an assistive listening device, or print material in digital format or a reasonable modification in programs, services, policies, or activities, may contact the City of Salem ADA Coordinator, as soon as possible and no less than 2 business days before the meeting, program, or event. Know your rights under the Open Meeting Law M.G.L. c. 30A § 18-25 and City Ordinance § 2-2028 through § 2-2033.