Arts Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Arts Commission Wednesday, October 21, 2020 7:00 PM Telepresence Meeting: City Web Stream TELECONFERENCE NOTICE CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to Section 3 of Executive Order N-29-20, issued by Governor Newsom on March 17, 2020, the meeting was conducted telephonically. Chair Eskridge called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. via teleconference. ROLL CALL Present: 4 - Chair Dawna Eskridge Vice Chair Sue Serrone Commissioner Susannah Vaughan Commissioner Agnes Veith Absent: 1 - Commissioner Jeremie Gluckman Council liaison Melton (absent) ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Chair Eskridge opened oral communications and there being no public testimony, closed oral communications. CONSENT CALENDAR Commissioner Veith moved and Commissioner Vaughan seconded the motion to approve of the consent calendar as presented. The motion carried with the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Eskridge Vice Chair Serrone Commissioner Vaughan Commissioner Veith City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman 1 20-0566 Approve the Arts Commission Meeting Minutes of September 16, 2020 PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 20-0779 Review & Approve 2021 Master Work Plan Superintendent of Recreation Services, Damon Sparacino presented the draft 2021 Master Work Plan. Commissioners inquired and staff responded: Can we include the State of the City to the 2021 Master Work Plan? Absolutely. Commissioner Veith requested a motion to amend the 2021 Master Work Plan to include the State of the City. Commissioner Serrone moved and Commissioner Veith seconded the motion to Approve the 2021 Master Work Plan. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Eskridge Vice Chair Serrone Commissioner Vaughan Commissioner Veith No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman 3 20-0780 Annual Review and Acceptance - Code of Ethics Superintendent of Recreation Services, Damon Sparacino presented the 2021 Code of Ethics. Commissioners inquired and staff responded: Does a commissioner need the City Manager or City Attorneys' approval to contact staff members? Commissioners should contact the Commissioner liaison to direct to City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 the appropriate staff. Commissioner Vaughan motioned and Commissioner Serrone seconded the motion to approve the Annual Review and Acceptance - Code of Ethics. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Eskridge Vice Chair Serrone Commissioner Vaughan Commissioner Veith No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman 4 20-0832 Approve Art in Private Development Project - Fortinet/901 Kifer Road Recreation Services Coordinator II, Kristin Dance presented the Art in Private Development project and introduced Fortinet developer, Brian Hill, and artist, Xaioze Xie, to provide detailed information regarding the project. Highlights included: Fortinet background, location of art piece, scale of sculpture, 3D rendering, glass panel details, construction and maintenance. Commissioners inquired and the developer, artist and staff responded: How far away would a pedestrian need to be to read the words on the sculpture? Pedestrians will be able to read all of the words surrounding the brain panel from the edge of the lawn. The wording on the software data panel may be too small to read. Will the architectural plans include a space so that the public can view the sculpture? The landscape architect will look into the possibility of creating a pathway that will loop around the sculpture and include benches. How does the artist envision the public participating with the sculpture? Would like the audience to be able to walk around the art piece and spend time exploring the content of the sculpture. As the sculpture is made of glass, the art piece is not meant to be physically interactive, just intellectually. Will the words on the sculpture be in English or will other languages be included? City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 Although the sculpture only includes English, it will include subtle universal and astrological influences. Will the sculpture have sharp edges or be tempered? The sculpture will be tempered and edges softened for safety reasons. Commissioner Vaughan moved and Commissioner Serrone seconded the motion to approve the Art in Private Development Project - Fortinet/901 Kifer Road. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Eskridge Vice Chair Serrone Commissioner Vaughan Commissioner Veith No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 5 20-0567 Discussion and Consideration of Potential Study Issue: Artist-in-Residence Program Arts Commissioner, Agnes Veith presented a potential study issue on an Artist-in-Residence Program. The program would identify a bay area professional artist or a local college student to provide workshops to Sunnyvale residents. Commissioners inquired and Commissioner Veith responded: How do you envision the Artist-in-Residence Program? As an opportunity for local college artists to perform virtual or in-person art pieces. We can contact local colleges for students to submit an essay and artwork for the Commission to review - possibly provide students college credit in exchange for services. How long do you envision each residency? Quarterly basis, as it would allow for more artists to participate. How would you narrow the entry of applications? We can ask chairs of art departments to recommend a few students. Would this be limited to college students? Ideally, limited to local colleges. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 Would the artist need to be a college student and Sunnyvale resident? Originally wanted Sunnyvale artist, but believed it was too narrow of a scope. Staff added: Some projects may not interest local artists working with a particular medium or scale, so instead of proposing a program exclusively for Sunnyvale residents, would recommend opening the program countywide. Although living within the county does not need to be required, residency would be taken into account. Commissioners inquired and staff responded: What would amending the municipal code look like for the Artist-in-Residence program? Changing the municipal code/ordinance could allocate public art funds for the project, as opposed to coming from the general fund. Could we use grants, such as the Silicon Valley Foundation? Yes, other possibilities could include the commission creating a "Friends of the Arts" group to generate funds. Also, each year the commission can work with staff to incorporate the Art-in-Residence program with events such as Hands on the Arts or State of the City. The motion to approve the potential study issue carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Eskridge Vice Chair Serrone Commissioner Vaughan Commissioner Veith No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman 6 20-0897 Discussion and Consideration of Potential Study Issue: Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose Chair of the Arts Commission, Dawna Eskridge presented a potential study issue on Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose. The proposal requires developers solicit sculptural artists that are interested in using recycled materials. Commissioners inquired and staff responded: City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 Can we ask artists to use recycled materials before they use new materials? Private art projects give developers the flexibility to use materials as they see fit. As the number of artists that work with recycled materials may be limited, we could recommend private developers use recycled materials, but not require artists to use them. However, for municipal projects, like the Water Pollution Control Plant, we may ask for artists that specifically work with recycled materials. Do we need to have a study issue for private developers, or would we be able to influence developers to use recycled materials? Most private developers that contact the City know exactly what they want to do with their sculpture, but we can always work with developers to come up with creative ideas. Can we have an event the coincides with the Artist-in-Residence program that would solicit artist that solely works with recycled materials, ie. Art at the Dump? Yes, or the event can be an annual fundraiser for "Friends of the Arts." Chair Eskridge clarified her proposal is to encourage artists to use recycled materials, whether it is private or municipal projects. Commissioners added: Projects could be done as an exhibition and perhaps the Sustainability Commission could co-sponsor it. The motion to approve the potential study issue carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Eskridge Vice Chair Serrone Commissioner Vaughan Commissioner Veith No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gluckman 7 20-0911 Arts Commission Proposed Study Issues, Calendar Year: 2021 Standing item. No study issues approved in previous meeting were proposed. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Arts Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 21, 2020 None. -Staff Comments Damon Sparacino informed commissioners the Master Plan for Public Art is going to Council on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. ADJOURNMENT Chair Eskridge adjourned the meeting at 8:51 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7