Arts Commission

STERLING HEIGHTS ARTS COMMISSION Minutes of Tuesday, February 1, 2022 Meeting Locatio n: City Hall, Conference Room 028 Members Present: Ron Bindle, Gary Lusk, Shari Marwede, Pat Michalski, Wendy Popko, and Jeanne Schabath-Lewis and Debie Tao Members Absent: Jan Burns, Barbara Chudzik and Lawrence Farhat Representing the City: Sue Giallombardo and Melanie Davis Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. Debie Tao introduced herself, she was recently appointed to the Arts Commission; she is excited to join the commission, has four small children, is actively involved in the Hmong community, and owns a Thai restaurant in Farmington Hills. APPROVAL OF MINUTES : Motion to approve the minutes of the January 4, 2022 Arts Commission meeting, as amended to include the mandala art project mentioned by Popko; motion made by Lusk; Seconded by: Popko Ayes: all Nays: none AGENDA ITEMS: A. Memorial Day Parade  Schabath-Lewis asked for suggestions for Grand Marshal. Lusk stated that he could reach out to his contacts at the Knights of Columbus that he is a member of. Giallombardo suggested Ray Nadolski, he is a Sterling Heights resident, a veteran and plays a key role in the organization of the city’s annual Veterans Day ceremony.  Members agreed that Nadolski would be a great candidate; Giallombardo stated that she will reach out to him and extend an invitation; and in the event that he should decline, Lusk will reach out to his contacts.  Schabath-Lewis asked for suggestions for a parade theme; she suggested incorporating the red poppy into the theme. The red poppy symbolizes remembrance and hope for a peaceful time and are worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community. Bindle suggested “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave” as a theme. Members voted on the following theme, “Red Poppy, Remembering Our Heroes”.  Giallombardo re-capped the commission’s role in the ceremony and the parade, stating that Schabath-Lewis will speak at the ceremony, all members are invited to attend the ceremony and lead the parade, walking and carrying the Arts Commission banner, and vote on the floats and bands. Giallombardo added that she will look into the parade account and check the balance, and will send out “Friends of the Parade” letters if additional donations are necessary. She added that organizations will be paid $200 and $75 for first and second place floats that are related to the parade theme. Bands will be given trophies for first and second place. B. Sterlingfest 2022  Giallombardo shared the artist applications for Sterlingfest. She stated that members will jury the artists at the April 5 meeting, and she will have salad,  pizza, pop and water. She encouraged members to share the applications and forward along any contacts to include in the mailing of the applications. OLD BUSINESS:  Giallombardo said that the Sustainability Committee voted on the entries for the storm drain project and selected their top three favorites. Giallombardo will submit the top vote getters to Diane Rogowski, the city’s graphic arts designer, from both the Sustainability Committee and the Arts Commission. She will make the necessary adjustments to the designs so that they’re suitable for stencils. Giallombardo will reach out to vendors to create the stencils. The stencils will be approximately 18” x 30”, with 3” size lettering. Once the weather gets warmer, she will compile and list of locations based on recommendations from DPW. Members from each committee are welcome to assist with the project. More details to follow.  Lusk stated that he would like to move forward with his “traffic calming” project, which would involve painting reminders on the roads in front of schools and roads that typically have a high amount of speeders, such as Ryan Road.  Schabath-Lewis asked Davis if she reviewed the public art suggestions that were discussed at the January meeting; Davis stated that it would be better to discuss the ideas at the March meeting, with Kyle Langlois in attendance, since several of the ideas would take place at the Community Center or the Dodge Park pavilion. David added that the three police/fire memorial sculptures will be installed this summer at three separate parks. Davis stated that the public art budget will eventually come to an end, so members should keep that in mind. She added that the process for large projects takes time and suggested moving forward with smaller projects to keep the momentum going.  Marwede suggested partnering with the library on art projects. Giallombardo stated that the classes at the library are always popular, and most of them are short, make and take projects. Commission members are welcome to reach out to the library staff to suggest projects, offer to run a class, etc. NEW BUSINESS :  Giallombardo stated that the Community Center will host the Utica Community Schools art exhibit March 22-24, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and a UCS staff member will be available for tours of the exhibit. NEXT ARTS COMMISSION MEETING: Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 6 p.m.