Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

June 9, 2015 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: June 9, 2015 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Eric Jakobsson, Ilona Matkovszki, John Morrison, Jason Patterson, Pat Sammann, Ginny Waaler MEMBERS EXCUSED: Barbara Hedlund STAFF PRESENT: Brandon Boys, Economic Development Manager; Pauline Tannos, Public Arts Coordinator; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Kate Kuper 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 There were none. . 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the May 12, 2015 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. Ms. Sammann noted that under the Art Now! section of the Staff Report, there was some text left from the previous month’s report that needed to be removed. Ms. Waaler moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Ms. Sammann 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  June 9, 2015 5. COMMUNICATIONS • Presentation by 2015 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Kate Kuper Ms. Sammann introduced Kate Kuper, a local movement artist. She gave a report on her project, The Write to Dance, that she collaborated on with dance/drama teacher Betty Allen, music teacher Meagan Tipton, a class of Yankee Ridge Elementary School fourth grade students, and their teacher Julie Kaiser on a one-week intensive dance and poetry experience. For seven days, they worked for two hours learning techniques and choreographing solo, duet and small group dances to different poems. At the end of the project, a performance was given to audience comprised of 2 classes of second grade students as well as teachers, administrators, parents, friends, and community members. Ms. Kuper 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 Artist of the Corridor, Ms. Tannos reported that Beth Darling’s exhibition at the City Building lobby and the Urbana Free Library opened on May 4th. Her landscape and garden paintings are on view until August 4th. The opening reception was held at the City Building lobby on Thursday, May 21st from 5-6pm. • With regard to Art at the Market, Ms. Tannos reported that this series offers free and family-friendly workshops and performances by local artists at Urbana’s Market at the Square every second Saturday, from May to September. Ten artists or artist groups have been scheduled to perform or lead workshops. On May 9th, Art and Performance at the Market featured Neutral Cycle and the C4A String Band. On June 13th, Karissa McDermott will lead a workshop titled “Garden Critters” from 8:00 a.m. to noon, and Djibriln 67 Camara & Ballet Allah Tantou will perform from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. • With regard to Art Now!, Ms. Tannos reported that the May episode reran episode #49 from October 2014 which featured Beth Darling, the current Artist of the Corridor. The June episode will explore the works of ceramic artist and faculty member Catherine Wiesener. Episodes can be seen at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artnow • 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 812 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 1,430 followers. She stated that the Program’s Instagram account, which was created last month with the username @urbanapublicarts, has 45 followers. 2  June 9, 2015 • With regard to Fundraising, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff is applying to Art Works, a grant program by the National Endowment for the Arts. A funding of $10,000 is requested to support the 2016 cycle of the Urbana Sculpture Project. • With regard to Murals on Glass, Ms. Tannos reported that the deadline for Murals on Glass would be on June 19th. She stated that three works would be selected on June 24th by a selection committee, which consists of members of the community with great experience in art or planning. The winning works are then printed on adhesive vinyl sheets, and displayed at two downtown Urbana locations, the Urbana Business Association office and the Civic Center. • For upcoming events, Ms. Tannos stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. • Discussion: Urbana Art Expo Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Ms. Tannos gave updates on the Urbana Art Expo would take place on September 13th at the Urbana Civic Center. She stated that a poster for the event had been created and emailed to the Commission. She asked that Commission members pass the information along to whomever may be interested. Also, a press release was sent out and the event was posted on social media. Ms. Tannos stated that the application was officially open as of June 8th and that the deadline would be August 7th. Mr. Patterson and Ms. Samman shared a few of their thoughts on the event. Ms. Sammann asked the Commission members to share the word with anyone they knew that may be interested. • Discussion: Arts in the Schools Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Ms. Tannos reported on the plan for the Commission to redefine the goals for the Arts in the Schools grant program. Some ideas given to improve the program were: a clearer selection process; jury consisting of members of the community to ensure fair process; also open to individuals and local organizations that want to work with the schools; and a chance for the schools to buy instruments, etc. She stated that the application would open on August 3rd, with the first deadline of October 16th for proposals, and if selected to continue the full deadline will be November 13th. A brief discussion of the matter by members of the Staff and Commission ensued. 6. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS 3  June 9, 2015 Ms. Tannos announced Kevin Hamilton had to resign from the Commission due to demanding work commitments. She stated that Staff would be looking for 2 new Commission members. She also stated that the July meeting would be cancelled, with the next meeting scheduled for August 11th. Finally, she announced that there were 3 Commission members whose terms were coming to end. She asked that the members respond back to the Mayor’s office as soon as possible if they were interested in continuing with the Commission. Mr. Jakobsson gave an update on some thoughts that the City Council had regarding the budget. 9. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Sammann made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Jakobsson seconded the motion. With no further business, Ms. Sammann declared the meeting adjourned at 5:09 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 4