Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

August 13, 2013 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: August 13, 2013 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Greg Chew, Kevin Hamilton, Barbara Hedlund, Eric Jakobsson, John Morrison, Pat Sammann, Ginny Waaler MEMBERS EXCUSED: Robin Douglas STAFF PRESENT: Tom Carrino, Economic Development Division Manager; Christina McClelland, Public Arts Coordinator; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Kevin Bowersox-Johnson, Debra Levey Larson, Carol McKusick 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM The Urbana Public Arts Commission was called to order at 4:31 p.m. by Ms. Sammann. Christina McClelland took roll and a quorum was declared present. 2. CHANGES TO AGENDA There were none. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the June 11, 2013 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. With no changes proposed, Mr. Chew made a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Hamilton seconded the motion. All Commission members present were in favor of approval and the minutes were unanimously approved as presented. 4. PUBLIC INPUT Carol McKusick, 1907 N. Cunningham Ave, Urbana, spoke about her idea regarding a Board of Government Information to govern the City boards and commissions. 5. COMMUNICATIONS 1  August 13, 2013 • Presentation by 2013 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Turn it UP! Ms. Sammann introduced Kevin Bowersox-Johnson, President and Founder of the UP Center of Champaign County. Mr. Bowersox-Johnson gave a brief background on the UP Center, a community center founded 4 years ago that serves the LGBTQ Community. He gave a presentation on their 4th annual Turn it Up! event that consisted of a variety show with many different performances such as singing, dancing, spoken word, drag performances and more. Mr. Bowersox-Johnson stated that Turn it UP! is held in conjunction with the Boneyard Arts Festival and is one of the UP Center’s five annual events. He thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by 2013 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Urbana Pops Orchestra Ms. Sammann introduced Debra Levey Larson, Board President of Urbana Pops Orchestra. Ms. Larson gave a slide-show presentation on their 4th annual season. Both concerts were held in the new Urbana High School auditorium. The first concert called That’s No Moon, took place in June and the second concert called Made in the USA took place around the 4th of July. Ms. Larson stated that at the end of the July they provided the pit orchestra for The Music Man and also recorded an episode of Art Now! with Greg Chew. She thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by Staff: Monthly Progress Report Ms. McClelland presented the City staff’s monthly progress report to the Commission, outlining projects in process, recent requests and recommendations from the public, staff activities, and upcoming events. For an update on current projects, she reported the following: • With regard to the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Project Subcommittee, Ms. McClelland reported that an addendum to the design development agreement with Preston Jackson commissioning his design was approved by City Council on June 17th. She stated that Mr. Jackson had been hard at work on fabricating the sculpture and that photos of his work were attached to the packet. • With regard to the Boneyard Creek Public Art, Ms. McClelland reported that Jack Mackie visited Urbana in early July to visit the project site and met with the construction and engineering team. • With regard to the Fundraising subcommittee, Ms. McClelland reported that the subcommittee met on May 28th to plan for the Keep It or Change It campaign, to be launched in early September. • With regard to the Urbana Arts Grants subcommittee, Ms. McClelland reported that the Urbana Arts Grant applications for 2014 were planned to be released in late September, with a due date in early December, but due to staff changes the schedule could be changed. 2  August 13, 2013 • With regard to subcommittees, Ms. McClelland reported that Kevin Hamilton had expressed an interest in joining the grants subcommittee, and Robin Douglas would be joining the Downtown Arts subcommittee. • With regard to Murals on Glass, Ms. McClelland reported that 29 possible images were submitted in response to the latest call for artists for Murals on Glass. She stated that the jury met on August 6, 2013 to review them and their recommendations would be discussed during the Old Business portion of the meeting. • With regard to Art Now!, Ms. McClelland reported that the July episode featured Station Theatre’s production of Evil Dead, the Musical. Host Greg Chew interviewed director Mikel Matthews, and music director Aaron Kaplan. She stated that the August episode featured interviews with director Stephen Fiol, music director Aaron Kaplan, choreographer Whitney Havice, and actor Kyle Pollio of the August 2013 Champaign- Urbana Theater Company’s production of Les Miserables. She stated that episodes could be seen at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artnow. • With regard to the Artist of the Corridor, Ms. McClelland reported that the current Artist of the Corridor show, From the Surface by Steve Kostell featured dimensional handmade paper forms cast from the surfaces of public spaces and would be on display through October 31, 2013. • With regard to Art at the Market, Ms. McClelland reported that the June Art at the Market event featured the T-Shirt to Tote Bag workshop with Makerspace Urbana, music by Los Guapos and was attended by 105 people. She stated that the July Art at the Market event featured CD Weaving with Kathryn Fitzgerald, music by the Turinos, and was attended by 168 people. Ms. McClelland reported that the August 17th Art at the Market event would feature a Letterpress printmaking workshop with Soybean Press and music by Ryan Groff of Elsinore. The full schedule of this summer’s Art at the Market workshops and performance events is available at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artworkshops • With regard to Marketing, Ms. McClelland reported that City staff had been regularly updating the Public Arts Program’s Facebook page, which as of this meeting had 627 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 746 followers. Ms. McClelland reported that a monthly e-mail newsletter had been sent to 529 subscribers on June 7th and 20th, July 12th, and August 2nd. • With regard to Grants, Ms. McClelland reported that staff had not yet been notified of the status of the application for FY13-14 general operating support in the local arts agency category from the Illinois Arts Council. She stated that she had been asked to serve as a reviewer for the FY14 Illinois Arts Council program grants in the Visual Arts Category. • With regard to the Local Arts Agency, Ms. McClelland reported that Staff attended a Local Arts Agency (LAA) retreat and workshop day on Monday, July 29th in Chicago, held by the Illinois Arts Council and Arts Alliance Illinois. She stated that two speakers presented on diversity and strategic planning for Local Arts Agencies and representatives from throughout the state discussed programming for the next several years. • With regard to Public Arts Intern, Ms. McClelland reported that YooJin Hong had been assisting the Urbana Public Arts Program as the summer Public Arts Intern. 3  August 13, 2013 • With regard to the Public Arts Coordinator, Ms. McClelland reported that she had accepted a position as Public Arts Program Coordinator for the City and County of Denver, CO. She stated that her last day would be August 29, 2013. • For upcoming events, Ms. McClelland stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. 6. OLD BUSINESS • Murals on Glass Recommendations Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Ms. McClelland reported that after looking at some of the Murals on Glass images from the past year, it was decided that Abe in the Grass by Larry Steinbauer would be recommended to remain on the parking garage across from the courthouse. She gave a brief report on the call for entries process and additional sites chosen to display new murals. The Murals on Glass selection panel met on August 6th and recommended the following pieces to be featured for Murals on Glass: “Potrait of Chip McNeil” by Chris Evans for the south parking tower; “Summer” by Jill Miller and “Fall Elegy” by Rosalind Faiman Weinberg for the two double windows on the south side of the Urbana Civic Center. Ms. McClelland stated that Staff recommended that the Commission approve these pieces recommended by the panel and to change the extension of the display period from one, to two years. Comments and questions from the Commission were addressed. Following discussion, Mr. Jakobsson made a motion to approve the recommended pieces for Murals on Glass. Ms. Waaler seconded the motion. With no further comments or questions from the Commission, Ms. Sammann called for a voice vote. All Commission members were in favor of approval and the motion carried unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS • Art in the Schools-King School Arts Pilot Program Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Ms. McClelland gave a brief background on the Commission’s research and efforts to implement an art in the schools program. She stated that Staff and the Art in the Schools subcommittee recommended that the Commission approve the following method of disbursing the Art in the Schools funds: King School staff develop an agreeable proposal for Art in the Schools funds, present it to the Commission during the October 8, 2013 meeting for approval, submit a written project report, and present a brief oral presentation to the Commission upon completion of the project. Comments and questions from the Commission were addressed. Following discussion, Ms. Waaler made a motion to approve the King School Arts Pilot Program. Mr. Chew seconded the motion. With no further comments or questions from the Commission, Ms. Sammann called for a voice vote. All Commission members were in favor of approval and the motion carried unanimously. 4  August 13, 2013 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS The Commission thanked Ms. McClelland for all her hard work and contributions to the Public Arts Commission. Ms. McClelland said a few words. 9. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Chew made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Ms. Hedlund seconded the motion. With no further business, Ms. Sammann declared the meeting adjourned at 5:24 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 5