Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

January 13, 2015 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: January 13, 2015 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Kevin Hamilton, Barbara Hedlund, John Morrison, Pat Sammann, Ginny Waaler MEMBERS EXCUSED: Robin Douglas, Eric Jakobsson MEMBERS ABSENT: Ilona Matkovszki STAFF PRESENT: Brandon Boys, Economic Development Manager, Pauline Tannos, Public Arts Intern; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Samuel Araya, DoMonique Arnold, Djibril Camara, Emily Knox, Jamie McGowan, Amanda Ramey, Rachel Lauren Storm, Mara Thacker 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM The Urbana Public Arts Commission was called to order at 4:33 p.m. by Ms. Sammann. Ms. Reid took roll and a quorum was declared present. 2. CHANGES TO AGENDA Ms. Sammann stated that Kathleen Winters would not be able to present that evening due to an illness, and that Rachel Storm’s presentation would be moved up to the second spot under Communications. She also stated that a new item, proposed changes in the structure of the Commission/program planning procedures, would be added under New Business. . 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the December 9, 2014 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. With no changes proposed, Mr. Morrison made a motion to approve the minutes. Ms. Waaler seconded the motion. All Commission members present were in favor of approval and the minutes were unanimously approved as presented. 1  January 13, 2015 4. PUBLIC INPUT There was none. 5. COMMUNICATIONS • Presentation by 2014 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Amanda Ramey from C4A Chamber Music Workshop Ms. Sammann introduced Amanda Ramey and Samuel Araya of C4A. They gave a presentation on their C4A Chamber Music Workshop that took place in June at the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana. The workshop was held from June 9th- June 14th and brought together 19 middle and high school string students from the Champaign-Urbana area, as well as from Hong Kong. In addition to the classes, 4 performances were given to over 230 audience members. They announced that the next workshop would take place July 27th-August 1st, 2015. Ms. Ramey and Mr. Amaya thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by 2014 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Rachel Storm from Outta the Mouth of Babes Ms. Sammann introduced Rachel Storm, Director and Domonique Arnold, Program Director of the Outta the Mouths of Babes Radio Project. They gave a slide-show presentation on their project, titled Outta the Mouths of Babes in which around 15 youth were recruited to participate in a youth radio program that yielded 9 episodes and 12 events. Youth ages 5-11 years old, from all different parts of Urbana-Champaign, participated in this 12 week project that sought to bring together youth to train them on journalism, youth media production, and radio. They thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by 2014 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Emily Knox from Makerspace Ms. Sammann introduced Emily Knox, of Makerspace Urbana. Ms. Knox gave a slide-show presentation on their one day family-friendly event called the Heartland Maker Fest, formerly known as the Mini-Maker Faire that took place on October 18th. This event featured over 25 makers from all over Central Illinois, and encouraged a do-it-yourself spirit in the community and included the making of things such as technology, knitting, fabric, paper, instruments, and more. Ms. Knox stated that 1200-1400 people attended the event. She stated that the next maker fest would be scheduled for October 3rd or 10th for 2015. She thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. 2  January 13, 2015 • Presentation by 2014 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Jamie McGowan from West African Dance and Drum Extravaganza Ms. Sammann introduced Jamie McGowan and Mara Thacker, co-directors of the West African Dance and Drum Extravaganza. They introduced local artist, Djibril Camara who they brought along to answer any questions. Ms. McGowan & Ms. Thacker gave a slide-show presentation on their project that took place from September 12-14, 2014, and consisted of three days of outstanding African dancing and drumming by seven leading artists and instructors. There were 9 different drum classes, 6 vendors, 10 dance classes, and a concert at the end. They 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. Tannos 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 Urbana Arts Grants Program, Ms. Tannos reported that three grant workshops were conducted in December with good attendance levels. The grant program is promoted through print and online advertising, social media posts, and e- mail blasts. The application deadline is January 16th, after which staff would invite qualified professionals in the community to serve as members of the jury. She stated that they would meet on February 14th and 21st, 2015 to review applications, and winners would be notified in March. Staff is planning an event in April to celebrate the cycle’s grantees. • With regard to the Urbana Sculpture Project, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff would be working with city planners and a designer to create a marketing brochure highlighting sculptures in Urbana. She stated that the brochure would be distributed in early March. • With regard to Marketing, Ms. Tannos reported that City staff had been regularly updating the Public Arts Program’s Facebook page, which as of this meeting had 766 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 1,261 followers. She stated that the Program’s Instagram account, which was created last month with the username @urbanapublicarts, has 15 followers. Staff is designing a marketing brochure to highlight the public artworks in Urbana. • With regard to the Fundraising subcommittee, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff had invited subscribers of the e-newsletter to donate to the program but had not yet received responses. • With regard to Artist of the Corridor, Ms. Tannos reported that the current exhibition, which ends on February 1, 2015, features the watercolors of Carol Diss Farnum. She stated that the next exhibition would start on February 2nd, featuring works by students from Wiley Elementary School. As of the meeting, Staff was waiting for the Urbana Free Library to approve the loan agreement, and was expecting the February exhibition to include the new space at the library. 3  January 13, 2015 • With regard to Art Now!, Ms. Tannos reported that in the December episode, sculptor Christiane T. Martens was profiled. January’s episode would feature Harry Breen, painter and sculptor. Episodes can be seen at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artnow • With regards to Art in the Schools, Ms. Tannos reported that Rusty Clevenger presented his proposal at the December 9th meeting, and was awarded the $3,000 grant. The project, Generations of Traditions and Stories, starts this spring semester. • With regards to Boneyard Commemoration Event, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff was currently planning an event at Boneyard, which would be on April 11, 2015. She stated that the event would have performances, activities for kids, an arts exhibition by Boneyard Arts Festival, and food trucks. Staff is creating guidelines for two calls for artists. One is to find a street artist who will fill a blank wall under the bridge with a mural, and the other is to select artworks to be displayed on banners surrounding the site. Staff is also organizing a naming contest for the public, which will be juried by a small group of leaders in the community, and then opened to the public for a final vote. • For upcoming events, Ms. Tannos stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, February 10 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. 6. NEW BUSINESS • Proposed Changes to Commission Structure/Program Planning Procedures Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. She stated that she had been talking with Brandon Boys about some suggested changes in the structure of the Commission and in Program Planning Procedures. They wanted to restructure how the the Commission works so that Commission members could become more actively involved. The first suggestion would be that the current tasks performed by the subcommittee members would now become assignments. Any member could volunteer to work on a given assignment. Each member would be expected to work on at least one assignment during the year. Assignments would begin and end according to a yearly calendar. Most assignments would have an ending report to be made to all Commission members. All decisions would be made by the Commission as a whole. She also announced that the February meeting would be dedicated to determining goals for next year, would take place in the 2nd Floor Executive Conference Room, and would be led by a third-party facilitator. A brief discussion of the matter by members of the Staff and Commission ensued. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were none. 4  January 13, 2015 9. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Hedlund made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Morrison seconded the motion. With no further business, Ms. Sammann declared the meeting adjourned at 5:36 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 5