Public Art Commission

Salem Public Art Commission 98 Washington Street Salem, Massachusetts 01970 (978) 619-5685 KIMBERLEY DRISCOLL MAYOR Public Art Commission March 15, 2022, 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 6:39 pm. • Roll Call PAC: Norene Gachignard, John Andrews, Janine Liberty, & Catherine Bertrand in attendance. Absent: Kurt Ankeny Beauchamp, Carly Dwyer-Naik with one vacant seat. • Meeting Minute Approvals - January 18th meeting minutes- Janine entertained a motion to approve the minutes. Motion was seconded by Norene. Voting was unanimous. Motion approved. • Remote Meeting Continuation- Remote meetings will continue through June 2022 (In person must resume in July, the City is working on a policy to allow some board & community members to continue remote participation). Quorum will be required in person. No hardships have been noted by any of these commission members. • Conflict of Interest Paperwork and Training- If you have not taken the state level training in 2021, you must do it now. You are required to take it every two years, and fill out the form to submit to Julie. The certificate is needed. Please make a note to complete the annual training within the next 10 days. • Jose Cirillo’s Seahorse Acquisition- This piece would be added to our permanent art collection, and maintained by our PAC funds. Norene entertained a motion to approve acquisition, John motioned and Catherine seconded. Voting was unanimous. Motion carries. •Naumkeag Portrait Project Update & Review of Preliminary Sketch- A proposal of the replacement of the portrait of Andrew Jackson in the council chambers was voted on over a year ago. A formal sketch was given to the commission of the portrait. A brief description shows a circular portrait with a large landscape, a group of figures and generations of native people with native vegetation in the background. The middle most figure will be holding a “fine english coat” as featured in the acquisition of Salem. This piece was commissioned by the Massachusetts tribal council and is representative of the community as no one member of the community makes all the decisions. • Carlton School Mural- has hired artist Bruce Ore from Beverly, MA to paint a mural at the underpass by the park. The school plans to bring a draft to the commission for approval. This work will be conducted in the spring, after school break. Janine brought up the idea of deliberating separately away from the artist, to which Julie reminded us that behavior is illegal. All discussions must be conducted in a public forum. Discussions and voting are always able to be tabled for another date. Julie reminds the commission that when she sends materials (normally the Thursday before the meeting), she hopes that this commission reviews them before the meeting. •Artists’ Row Finalist Review & Selection- Looking to vote on public artists in residence for 2022 & 2023. Residency starts in May of 2022, and Julie is planning to give this year's artist a one month notice by April 1st, 2022. Maia Mattson is among the top scoring applications for residency by the sub committee. The commission is worried that the makeup of artists' row seems to be repetitive, and stagnant. PAC wishes to talk on the 2022 submissions today, and will choose to review submissions for 2023 on their own time, to reconvene next meeting to discuss together. Catherine asked if there is a reason the same type of people seem to be acquiring the contracts, instead of fostering innovation and change. Only 4 applications have been received for 2023, and the possibility to re-open applications for 2023 is always possible. John hopes that the commission will be able to send out a wider call to artists for some variety for 2023. Group collectively decided to table the 2023 applications until the April meeting, and until each individual had a chance to review the proposed. The score sheets and rubrics will be shared with each member to be reviewed individually. Janine entertained a motion to approve Maia Mattson as the 2022 artist in Residence, Catherine motioned. Seconded by John. Motion approved. • 2022 Public Art Plan Discussion - Support of Mural Slam (Vote)- No need to vote, this was previously voted on and the commission still backs the program. - “Making It Public” grant- We have $10,000 coming from participating in a workshop to put towards a public art installation. The commission can add in additional funds from our budget to make a bigger more impactful project if they so choose. This money could possibly go towards the bus shelter project, and or additional art boxes for next year. The only parameters to using the funds are putting it towards a temporary art installation. This would need to be put together as a formal vote in April. Catherine voiced her interest in putting this on the meeting agenda for next month. - Reprinting BLM Mural by Keshia Deleon (Vote)- The Mural was partially shredded in the most  recent wind storms, and the artist would like to get the piece reprinted and possibly presented somewhere else. Cost to reprint would be around $2,500. Janine asked if it's possible that the funds could come out of the “maintenance budget” as it's maintaining the art instead. Because it would need to be reconstructed/reprinted it wouldn't fit under the label of maintenance. Norene suggested that we wait until this fiscal year is over to add it to next year's budget, and possibly find it a new home where the message could be shown to a broader audience. - Accessible Signage Discussion- John would like to know how this might work, and how to move forward. Not only would this be helpful to those with disabilities, but would have a great reason to up our budget. • Other Business - Bus Shelter Project- The mayor asked us to find an artist that can beautify the bus shelter on Washington Street. This won’t be a RFP, but it's something we will be looking into, and sending out a call for. - Old Town Hall Update- On March 29th via zoom there will be a formal community meeting to discuss the past present and future of Old Town Hall. - ARPA Letter Review and Feedback- Julie wants to touch base on the ARPA letter as John from the Salem Cultural Council was helping to look into getting more support to bring to a final presentation to the city. Nothing has been worked on since that discussion, and this will need to be brought to another joint meeting with the SCC. Julie will check in with John to see if there is any more movement within the Council's plans. ● Adjourn- Norene motioned to adjourn. Moved by Catherine, seconded by Janine. Meeting Adjourned at 8:39 pm. 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.