Village Seal Committee

Village Seal Committee August 28, 2023 Meeting Minutes In attendance: Maria Monastero Bueno, Trustee Khem Khoeun, Jasmine Gurneau, Emily England, Dick Witry, Joe Hibdon, Alex Franz, Patrick Deignan Absent: Karen Lise Sherman, Michaela Marchi, Sheila Crumrine, Thom DaMario, Amanda Sabri Review of minutes: Minutes approved. Recap of community engagement efforts: Dick, Jasmine, Sheila, Emily and Patrick shared their experiences conducting outreach at the Skokie Farmers’ Market and Wednesdays on the Green events in August. Residents were generally receptive of the initiative and interested in providing their feedback via the Village’s online survey. Several productive and informative conversations were held with residents who favored the current seal design. Community survey results to date: Patrick and Alex shared an overview of the approximately 50 survey responses received so far. Alex provided a word cloud of survey responses, which consisted of common themes and phrases used, including “diversity,” “community,” “Skokie,” “village” and more. Patrick shared that survey responses were generally very constructive, and included a variety of ideas about attributes and characteristics to consider in a new seal design. The survey deadline is September 15. Update on RFQ responses: Patrick shared that the Village had received one RFQ response to date, and that additional responses might be received prior to the September 8 deadline. The group discussed the need for several quality RFQ responses, and agreed to extend the RFQ deadline potentially to mid- November if at least three quality responses were not received. The committee discussed the possibility of holding an event for university faculty and artists in October to provide information about the seal initiative and help solicit additional RFQ responses, should the deadline be extended. The group also suggested reaching out to local/regional media to help spread awareness. Maria suggested creating an email template that committee members could share with their networks and university contacts to promote the RFQ. Patrick volunteered to draft the email and share it with the group, along with a spreadsheet to track outreach efforts. Next steps: The group shelved further discussion regarding artist selection and concept design processes until a future meeting. Schedule for future meetings: The group set the next meeting date for September 18 at 4 p.m. at Village Hall, Conference Room D&E. #614066