Arts Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Arts Commission Wednesday, September 18, 2019 7:00 PM Neighborhood Room - Recreation Center, Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 E. Remington Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94087 CALL TO ORDER Chair Vaughan called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Neighborhood Room at the Recreation Center. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Vaughan led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Susannah Vaughan Vice Chair Dawna Eskridge Commissioner Sue Serrone Absent: 1 - Commissioner Jeremie Gluckman Commissioner Gluckman’s absence is excused. Council Liaison Goldman (present) STUDY SESSION 19-0951 Review and Provide Comments on 1390 Borregas Ave Art Concept (Study Session) Principal Planner Noren Caliva-Lepe, gave an introduction on the project and noted that while this project was not part of the City's art requirements, any comments from the commissioners will be forwarded to Zoning Administrator for public hearing on September 25, 2019. Ms. Caliva-Noren then introduced the District Design Lead from Google, Sarah Gill. Ms. Gill gave a presentation on the art concept for 1390 Borregas Ave. Highlights included: location, visibility of artwork, scope, site specifics, mural considerations and the desire to collaborate with local artists. City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 18, 2019 The Commissioners inquired: - Will the artists design digitally or work directly on tanks? - How did you come up with this idea? - Is this part of the City Art Plan? - Do tanks have an outside temperature? - Is noise a factor? - Would people want to go if it was noisy? - Could a plaque or something be noted on how the tanks are helping the environment? - How much of what you presented will be shared with potential artists? - Are mosaics or glasswork options considered or just hand-painting? - Is there a plan to keep it up to date? - Could recognition of the artist be near the piece? Ms. Gill or program staff or Ms. Caliva-Lepe responded: - We feel an artist hand is important. However, we are open to vinyl and other media. - Other concepts were considered however, we did not want the art to be boxy or boring. Which helped this develop organically. - No, this is not part of the City's Art Requirements. - Wonderful point, Yes, we thought about having a display showing the importance. - Ms. Caliva-Lepe noted that the site produces thermal energy which will be transferred to surrounding buildings. - 50-60 db is general noise level for outdoor recreational areas. - A noise study was conducted. City threshold is 75 db. The max noise was between 50-60 db. - Yes, there is some ambient heat but would not impact art installation. - All will be shared with the artists. We want this to be a collaborative process. - We are open to other options. There are some requirements on the tanks. We cannot attach anything on. Other options may require a separate structure. - Yes, we plan on addressing a maintenance plan. - Ms. Caliva-Lepe mentioned that the City would require the murals to be maintained in good condition and that future changes would require a separate Planning approval. - Yes, we would want to advertise the artist. After all questions of commissioners were addressed, David Simons, a member of the public commented that since the area of the art is one of the most windy areas City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 18, 2019 in the City, he would like to see something more kinetic. He also noted that there were other potential options for this area and that he'd like Google to consider having something on site that is maintained long term. PRESENTATION 19-0892 PRESENTATION - Creation of Webpage Highlighting City Artwork Community Services Manager, Trenton Hill gave a presentation on Creation of Webpage Highlighting City Art. Highlights included: Goals of the website, website features, current website, examples of other public art websites. Commissioners were asked in looking at other sites as well to share the functions they liked. Commissioners or Council Liaison inquired: - Is the app Leadership Sunnyvale completed intended to be put on the website? - Can we engage other groups to work with us? - Is the current site available online? - Why does the page not show up when I google a piece? Is it a search engine issue? - How outdated is our current information? - Are we looking at updating keywords and tags? - Could we work with Leadership Sunnyvale on this? - Council Liaison Goldman asked if the website could be moved up so that is easier to find? Mr. Hill or staff responded: - Yes and no. We do not have the current capability to make it work, however are looking in to options. Livermore's site is a good reference. - Yes, we love partnership opportunities. - Yes, you can find the current page on the City website. - We are working with Communications about this and with the updated page, hope that items will be found easier. - Community Services Coordinator, Kristin Dance, informed the Commission that the information could also be found on the Library page. - The current page is approximately eight to ten years out of date. - Yes, we will be looking at updating keywords and tags. - Yes, we could work with Leadership Sunnyvale on this as a project. - Communications has approved to move the site up. City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 18, 2019 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Member of the public and Vice Chair of the Planning Commission, David Simons shared with the commission information on the upcoming work group that he and other commissioners will be working on related to art at the new Civic Center. He also shared information on an additional subcommittee that he hoped would form related to a Bicycle Tour. Commissioners inquired: - Can you share more information on the Civic Center group? Community Services Coordinator, Kristin Dance mentioned that it would be a selection panel and that members of the Arts Commission would be invited, however they will be non-voting members as they will be voting when the art plans are brought back to the Arts Commission. CONSENT CALENDAR 1 19-0824 Approve the Arts Commission Meeting Minutes of July 17, 2019 Vice Chair Eskridge moved and Commissioner Serrone seconded the motion to approve the Arts Commission Meeting Minutes of July 17, 2019 as submitted. The motion carried by the following vote Yes: 3 - Chair Vaughan Vice Chair Eskridge Commissioner Serrone No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 19-0904 Approve Art in Private Development Project - Steelwave (Central Station)/265 Sobrante Way Community Services Coordinator, Kristin Dance, introduced Edward Nazaradeh. Mr.Nazaradeh, advisor of the project, provided information on the location, visibility of artwork, scope, site specifics, and why they pick the artist, John Krawczyk. Mr. Krawczyk shared information and an example of the artwork to be located at 265 Sobrante Way. The Commissioners inquired: City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 18, 2019 - Will this be viewable from Central Expressway? - Is the artwork on two sides? - Were you excited when you saw the design? - Is there space on the Pastoria side? Parking lot in-between homes and development? Did you hesitate at all about doing this? Could have taken in-lieu option. Mr. Nazaradeh or Mr. Krawczyk commented: - Yes, it will be visible from Central Expressway. - Yes, it will be two sides. - Yes, we liked that it was three dimensional and eye catching. - Yes, there will be space. - We considered all options and decided that we wanted something unique and something that people would remember. After all questions were addressed, Chair Vaughan asked if there was a motion to approve. Commissioner Serrone moved and Vice Chair Eskridge seconded the motion to approve the artwork as it is proposed. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Vaughan Vice Chair Eskridge Commissioner Serrone No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 19-0913 Discussion and Consideration of Art Creation Process Study Issue Vice Chair Eskridge gave a presentation on her proposed study issue that encourages developers to seek out diverse groups of people in the art creation process. Commissioners or staff inquired: - Do we have statistics on how many men, women, etc, of our current art? - Are we encouraging them to seek out other options or change policy? City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final September 18, 2019 - Are we looking at re-examining the the requirements? - Will we be able to see the draft of what staff says? Vice-Chair Eskridge or City Staff responded: - I eyed what was on our current list and out of 80, there are four or five women. We did some some diversity, but the majority are those that can get a higher education art degree. - Encourage the requirements related to diversity. - Yes, we would want to see what the pros/cons of going this route as well as flush out how we would do it. - Yes, we will have time to see it. Vice Chair Eskridge moved and Commissioner Serrone seconded the motion to move forth with the proposed study issue. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 3 - Chair Vaughan Vice Chair Eskridge Commissioner Serrone No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Serrone shared that our Sister City may be interested in an art exchange. Chair Vaughan mentioned that we could do this as an exhibit in the gallery. -Staff Comments Superintendent of Community Services, Damon Sparacino, passed out the September 18 Superintendent Report and provided an overview of the items. ADJOURNMENT Chair Vaughan adjourned the meeting at 8:59 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6