Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

March 10, 2015 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: March 10, 2015 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Robin Douglas, Kevin Hamilton, Barbara Hedlund, Eric Jakobsson, Ilona Matkovszki, John Morrison, Jason Patterson, Pat Sammann, Ginny Waaler STAFF PRESENT: Brandon Boys, Economic Development Manager; Pauline Tannos, Public Arts Coordinator; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: None 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 There were none. . 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the February 10, 2015 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. Ms. Tannos noted that her title, listed as Public Arts Intern, was incorrect in the minutes. At the time of that meeting, she had already been appointed to Public Arts Coordinator, so she asked to have the minutes reflect that change. Mr. Jakobsson moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Mr. Morrison seconded the motion. All Commission members present were in favor of approval and the minutes were unanimously approved as corrected. 4. PUBLIC INPUT There was none. 1  March 10, 2015 5. COMMUNICATIONS • Presentation by 2014 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Claire Happel Ms. Sammann introduced musician, Claire Happel. Ms. Happel gave a presentation on her project titled, Exquisite Corpses and a Musical Installation, in which she gave workshops on the musical game, Exquisite Corpses, at Leal Elementary and Urbana Free Library; and completed an musical installation and performance at the [co][lab]. Ms. Happel collaborated with two other artists, and all of the events where free to the public. There were a total of 20 second- graders, 10-15 teenagers, 11 artists that participated in the project. Ms. Happel 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: Kathleen Winters Ms. Sammann introduced musician, Kathleen Winters. Ms. Winters gave a presentation on her project titled, Intercultural Connections, in which she collaborated with harpist, Claire Happel; violist, Kimberlee Uwate; and composers Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang, Ryan Jesperson, and Joseph Rubinstein who wrote three pieces for the project. Ms. Winters stated that the point of this project was to add to the body of repertoire for the flute, harp and viola trio, and to add music by a new generation of composers. There were two performances given. One on September 27, 2014 at the Market at the Square, and one on September 28, 2014 at Meadowbrook Park’s Garden Pavilion. 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. 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 forty-four applications total were received by the January 16th deadline. Two groups of jurors met on February 14th, and February 21st to review applications and make recommendations. She stated that applicants had been notified of the jury’s decisions, and in the next two weeks selected recipients would sign their grant agreements and receive first payments. On March 27th there will be a grant celebration event at Pizza M, where staff will announce the 2015 recipients and highlight completed projects from the 2014 cycle. Staff has asked all applicants to fill out an online survey, the results of which will be used to review and make changes to the grant program as necessary. So far, fourteen of the forty-four applicants have completed the survey and provided positive feedback. • 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 779 2  March 10, 2015 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 1,338 followers. She stated that the Program’s Instagram account, which was created last month with the username @urbanapublicarts, has 29 followers. A new template for the program’s e-newsletter, which currently has 650 subscribers, is being created by design firm VE Websites, and will be ready before the April newsletter. Staff has also hired David Michael Moore, a local illustrator, to design a new sculpture map. In February, for Valentine’s Day, the program placed ads in the News-Gazette, Accent, and www.news-gazette.com. • With regard to Artist of the Corridor, Ms. Tannos reported that the Artist of the Corridor has officially expanded to the Urbana Free Library. The current exhibition, which started on February 2nd and will end on May 1st, features work by students from Wiley Elementary School. Instead of the usual opening reception, on February 27th, the City hosted a fashion show in the Council Chambers for the students to showcase their creations. Staff has registered the City building lobby as a Boneyard Arts Festival venue, and will invited visitors of the festival to visit this exhibition on April 11th. • With regard to Art Now!, Ms. Tannos reported that the February episode of Art Now! featured Sandra Batzli, an Illinois Artisan and past president of Krannert Art Museum Council. In March, Art Now! will feature photographer Jorge Amaya. Episodes can be seen at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artnow • With regard to Boneyard Commemoration Event, Ms. Tannos reported that the naming contest for the Boneyard Creek Improvements project had closed. On February 12th, five members of the community met to review all suggestions, and selected three finalists for a final public vote. Boneyard River Walk won with 46% of the votes. Boneyard Creek Walk and Boneyard Creek Park received 29% and 25% of the votes, respectively. Staff has presented the results to Council for further review and consideration. Urbana Raises Your Art’s deadline is March 6. A jury will select banner designs for the street poles around Boneyard Creek Improvements Project. Some street poles will have banners designed by local elementary school students. All works will be acknowledged at the commemoration event, which is titled Urbana Celebrates the Boneyard. Staff has confirmed that a West African dance and drumming group, led by Djibril Camara, will perform at this event. The second performance will be by a group from Community Center for the Arts (C4A). Judy Lee, a local artist, will lead a family-friendly arts workshop. The event will also have a face painting station, food trucks, and more. • With regard to artwork donation, Ms. Tannos reported that 8 to Create, a local arts group, offered to donate a large drawing by artist Matthew Woodward to the City of Urbana. This offer had been approved by Mayor Laurel Prussing, and will be displayed at the Civic Center. The drawing has not yet been created, but it will draw inspiration from the Champaign County Courthouse. • For upcoming events, Ms. Tannos stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. 3  March 10, 2015 6. NEW BUSINESS • FY15-16 Annual Strategic Plan Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Ms. Tannos reported of the progress of the Annual Strategic Plan since the last meeting. She stated that she had compiled elements of the plan that were somewhat unfamiliar to the Commission members and created a slideshow. She presented the slides to the Commission. Ms. Tannos stated that she tried to work from all the wonderful constructive feedback and comments received from the Commission to formulate the strategic plan. She briefly summarized the Strategic Plan items, their estimated expenditures, and suggestions for improvement based on Commission member input. A discussion of the matter by members of the Commission and staff ensued. Following discussion, Ms. Waaler moved to approve the FY15-16 Annual Strategic Plan. Mr. Hamilton 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. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were none. 9. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Sammann made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Ms. Waaler seconded the motion. With no further business, Ms. Sammann declared the meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 4