Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

October 8, 2013 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: October 8, 2013 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Greg Chew, Barbara Hedlund, Eric Jakobsson, Ilona Matkovski, John Morrison, Pat Sammann MEMBERS EXCUSED: Robin Douglas, Kevin Hamilton, Ginny Waaler STAFF PRESENT: Tom Carrino, Economic Development Division Manager; Julianne Heuel, Public Arts Intern; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Chris Carl, Cara Maurizi, Sarah Tavis, Brian Vesely 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM The Urbana Public Arts Commission was called to order at 4:32 p.m. by Ms. Sammann. Ms. Reid took roll and a quorum was declared present. 2. CHANGES TO AGENDA Ms. Sammann announced that Meredith Foster would be presenting at a later date and that Elizabeth Simpson’s presentation would be moved to the last spot. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the September 10, 2013 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. With no changes proposed, Ms. Hedlund made a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Jakobsson seconded the motion. All Commission members present were in favor of approval and the minutes were unanimously approved as presented. 4. PUBLIC INPUT There was none. 1  October 8, 2013 5. COMMUNICATIONS • Presentation by 2012 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Urbana Land Arts Ms. Sammann introduced local artist, Chris Carl. Mr. Carl gave a report on his project, Inter- Urban, in which he and three other artists collaborated to encompass the idea of bringing art from the rural area to the city, as a light rail does. The artists transported and combined an old railroad crane, a Frito Lay delivery truck, and old alligator wood to build the sculpture. The sculpture piece was brought into town and displayed during the Boneyard Arts Festival. Mr. Carl thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by 2012 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Hugh Swiatek/The Office for Paper Architecture Ms. Sammann introduced architect, Brian Vesely who presented for Hugh Swiatek in his absence. Mr. Vesely gave a slideshow presentation of their project in which Hugh Swiatek, Brian Vesely, and a sculptor from Virginia collaborated to make the final installation piece. The idea of the project was to look at a cross-section of the mid-western landscape and speculate what was going on below the earth. The project was installed for two months at the [co][lab] in Urbana. Mr. Vesely thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by 2012 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: elizaBeth Simpson Ms. Sammann introduced local artist, Elizabeth Simpson. Ms. Simpson thanked the Commission and gave a brief presentation on her project titled, “Celebrate Urbana-Champaign People’s History Poster Project”. This project addressed the lack of access to art, awareness of local history, and ways people could impact their community. All 6 posters were displayed on MTD buses from June 1st- July 31st. They were also displayed at the Farmer’s Market, a screen printing workshop, Urbana Acupuncture, Artists against AIDS and online. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by Staff: Monthly Progress Report Mr. Carrino 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, he reported the following: • With regard to Staff Transition Assistance, Mr. Carrino reported that the process of hiring a new Public Arts Coordinator was still in progress. He stated that in the interim period, Public Arts Intern Juli Heuel, would be assisting to keep essential programs running. • With regard to the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Project Subcommittee, Mr. Carrino reported that Mr. Jackson had sent images to staff of the progress of his sculptures so 2  October 8, 2013 far. • With regard to the Boneyard Creek Public Art, Mr. Carrino reported that work has continued on the public art elements in the Boneyard project. • With regard to the Fundraising subcommittee, Mr. Carrino reported that the Keep It or Change It campaign would be evaluated in conjunction with the staff transition. • With regard to the Urbana Arts Grants subcommittee, Mr. Carrino reported that the Urbana Arts Grant applications for 2014 were in preparation to be released this month. He stated that the online application would be accessible through the online form building website, Wufoo. • With regard to Art Now!, Mr. Carrino reported that the September episode featured the Urbana Pops Orchestra and the October episode featured mixed-media artist, Steve Kostell. He stated that episodes could be seen at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artnow. • With regard to the Artist of the Corridor, Mr. Carrino 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, Mr. Carrino reported that the final Art at the Market event was Saturday, September 28th. Participants learned to Re-use, Re-cycle and Re- create with the I.D.E.A. Store and listened to Jazz performed by the Michael Fenoglio Trio. • With regard to Marketing, Mr. Carrino reported that City staff had been regularly updating the Public Arts Program’s Facebook page, which as of this meeting had 667 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 825 followers. Mr. Carrino reported that a monthly e-mail newsletter had been sent to 548 subscribers on September 12th. • For upcoming events, Mr. Carrino stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. 6. OLD BUSINESS • Art in the Schools proposal with presentation by Cara Maurizi Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Mr. Carrino gave a brief background on the art in the schools proposal. He referenced a previous discussion about a celebration for the Preston Jackson King Park Sculpture sometime in January or February, with a final dedication with the artist in March. Ms. Maurizi, music teacher at King Elementary School, addressed the Commission. She provided more information on the King School Arts Programming Pilot Program proposal. Ms. Maurizi stated that the purpose of this proposal was to create a meaningful experience for the students by providing them with engaging lessons about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his work, and the Civil Rights Movement. Staff recommended that the Commission authorize staff to work with representatives of Urbana School District 116 and Preston Jackson to finalize the proposal for a King Park Sculpture educational event. Comments and questions from the Commission were addressed. Following discussion, Ms. Hedlund made a motion to approve the recommended proposal. 3  October 8, 2013 Mr. Jakobsson 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 There was none. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Hedlund announced that the Wesley Foundation would be celebrating its 100th anniversary on October 10, 2013 with a free public concert. Mr. Carrino announced that the Urbana Public Arts Program had been nominated for a 40 North | 88 West ACE Award. He asked that anyone interested in attending the ACE awards to contact him. 9. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Jakobsson made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Chew seconded the motion. With no further business, Ms. Sammann declared the meeting adjourned at 5:13 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 4