Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

November 10, 2015 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: November 10, 2015 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Barbara Hedlund, John Morrison, Jason Patterson, Pat Sammann, Ginny Waaler MEMBERS ABSENT: Eric Jakobsson, Ilona Matkovszki STAFF PRESENT: Brandon Boys, Economic Development Manager; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary; Miranda McCarthy, Public Arts Intern OTHERS PRESENT: Claire Happel, Mai-Lin Poon, Emily Rohman 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM The Urbana Public Arts Commission was called to order at 4:34 p.m. by Ms. Sammann. Ms. Reid took roll and a quorum was declared present. 2. CHANGES TO AGENDA None. . 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of the October 13, 2015 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. With no changes proposed, Mr. Morrison made a motion to approve the minutes. Ms. Hedlund 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  November 10, 2015 5. COMMUNICATIONS • Presentation by 2015 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Claire Happel Ms. Sammann introduced musician, Claire Happel. Ms. Happel gave a presentation on her project, Performances of Works for Harp and Oboe Inspired by Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus. The project consisted of three concerts which were held at the Urbana Free Library, Clark- Lindsey Retirement Village, and the University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library. She stated that the turnout at the concerts was great, and that audience members came up afterwards to ask questions and give responses to the music, text, and illustrations presented. She thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Presentation by 2015 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Emily Rohman from Asian American Cultural Center Ms. Sammann introduced Emily Rohman, 2nd year Intern at the Asian American Cultural Center. Ms. Rohman gave a presentation on their 8th annual Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month AsiaFest Celebration. The Celebration which had about 1000 attendees, included 13 different cultural performances, incorporating approx. 60 performers; 2 types of appetizers from 2 different Asian cultures; 27 interactive cultural-educational booths outside in the tent areas; and approximately 70 volunteers staffing different booths from campus and community organizations. Ms. Rohman stated that this event allowed the public to be educated and engage in many different arts and performances of the Asian culture. She thanked the Commission for the grant received. At the conclusion of the report, questions and comments from the Commission were heard. • Discussion: Grant Program 2016 Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Ms. McCarthy went over the current categories for the 2015 Grant Program year, and then presented the suggested changes that Staff had for the 2016 Grant Program. These changes included: a. New grant categories such as nonprofit organizations, individual or artist groups b. Being location specific, TIF 1, TIF 2, or Non-TIF c. Exception to the rule free and open to the public if applicant includes a letter A brief discussion of the matter by members of the Staff and Commission ensued. • Presentation by Staff: Monthly Progress Report Ms. McCarthy 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. 2  November 10, 2015 For an update on current projects, she reported the following: • With regard to Arts in the Schools, Ms. McCarthy reported that the arts education grant, Arts in Schools received seven proposals for the October 2, 2015 deadline. Up to $3,000 will be awarded to projects involving schools in the Urbana School District #116. A jury consisting of Latrelle Bright, Barbara Hedlund, and Traci Pines was held on October 9th to select finalists to move on to the second round of the application process. The next jury members currently consist of Virginia Waaler and Roberta Bennett, a third volunteer still needs to be selected. The meeting will be held November 19th to select the winner for the grant. Notification letters will be sent out within the week following the selection. • With regard to Artist of the Corridor, Ms. McCarthy reported that Ellie Pinzarrone, local artist, art educator, and founder of Ellie Pinz Studio at [co][lab] is the current Artist of the Corridor. Peggy Flavin was supposed to be next but had to cancel. The next Artist of the Corridor is still being decided. • With regard to Art Now!, Ms. McCarthy reported that the last October episode of Art Now! features Maria Lux, who makes installation-based projects that use a variety of material approaches centering around animals. Episodes can be seen at: http://www.urbanaillinois.us/artnow • With regard to Marketing, Ms. McCarthy reported that City staff had been regularly updating the Public Arts Program’s Facebook page, which as of this meeting had 1,019 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 1,557 followers. She stated that the Program’s Instagram account, which was created last month with the username @urbanapublicarts, has 66 followers. Staff also manages a monthly e-newsletter, which currently has about 650 subscribers, and posts about upcoming events on community webpages and online calendars, such as chambanamoms.com and news-gazette.com. • For upcoming events, Ms. McCarthy stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. 6. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Sammann introduced Miranda McCarthy as the new Public Arts/Marketing Intern. Ms. Waaler announced that the Arts & Crafts show would be held at the Urbana Civic Center during the upcoming weekend. She also stated that the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Guild would be having a few fundraising parties coming up on December 3rd and February 6th. Mr. Boys stated that the Folk & Roots Festival took place the previous week and had a great turnout. 3  November 10, 2015 9. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Waaler made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Ms. Hedlund seconded the motion. With no further business, Mr. Morrison declared the meeting adjourned at 5:27 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 4