Arts and Culture Commission Meeting

February 9, 2016 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING URBANA PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION APPROVED DATE: February 9, 2016 TIME: 4:30 p.m. PLACE: City Council Chambers, Urbana City Building, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS PRESENT: Barbara Hedlund, Ilona Matkovszki, John Morrison, Jason Patterson, Pat Sammann, Ginny Waaler MEMBERS EXCUSED: Eric Jakobsson STAFF PRESENT: Brandon Boys, Economic Development Manager; Pauline Tannos, Public Arts Coordinator; Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary; Morgan White, Public Arts Intern 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 January 12, 2016 meeting were reviewed by the Commission. Ms. Sammann noted that under the Announcement section where it said thank you cards were passed around, it should also state who the thank you cards were for. Ms. Hedlund 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  February 9, 2016 5. COMMUNICATIONS • Presentation by 2015 Urbana Arts Grant Recipient: Kelly White from 40 North Ms. Sammann introduced Kelly White, Executive Director of 40 North | 88 West. Ms. White gave a brief slideshow presentation on the Boneyard Arts Festival, an annual arts event that links businesses with artists for exhibitions and takes place over 4 days. This was the festival’s 13th year and it took place from April 9-12, 2015. The festival included street performances, and several family-friendly activities as part of the City of Urbana’s celebration of the new Boneyard Basin Improvement Project. Ms. White also gave some information on their new art space, 40 Point One which will be used to showcase local art. 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 a new visually enhanced version of 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 Urbana Arts Grants Programs, Ms. Tannos reported that the Grants Program is now accepting applications until February 12, 2016 at 5:00 pm CST. Staff held grant workshops to introduce the initiative to the community on Monday, December 21and January 22 at the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center and the School of Art and Design at the University. The jury panels will meet on February 27th and March 5th to review applications and select grant recipients. • With regard to Artist of the Corridor, Ms. Tannos reported that Travis Hocutt is the current Artist of the Corridor, and his work is on display at the City Building and the Urbana Free Library until February 29th. A preview of the exhibition was filmed and aired by UPTV. The next exhibition will feature student, Peggy Flavin. • With regard to the Boneyard Spring Celebration, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff is planning another event at the Boneyard Creek Improvements Project area on April 9th, similar to Urbana Celebrates the Boneyard! last year. Staff has invited teachers from the local school district to submit artworks by their students, which will then be printed as banners and installed on the street pole banners around Race and Griggs Streets. The event will also have music and arts activities for all ages. • With regard to Art at the Market, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff began accepting applications for the 2016 market season in mid-January. This season will run from May to October. Application deadline is February 15, 2016. Six performers and six arts instructors will be selected in March. • With regard to the Urbana Sculpture Project, Ms. Tannos reported that Staff had published an online survey to collect the public’s thoughts on Stranger Reduction Zone. 2  February 9, 2016 The survey, which will be open until the end of February, can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/strangerreductionzone • With regard to Art Now!, Ms. Tannos reported that in January, the featured artist was Jon Bryan, whose unique creations using old doorknobs tell stories of American history. For the February episode, Art Now interviews mixed-media artist Ellie Pinzarrone, and this will serve as an experiment for a new format. The episode is shorter than usual, and is documentary-style. Episodes can be found online 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 1,078 fans. She also stated that the Urbana Public Arts Twitter account, which could be followed @urbanapublicart, as of this meeting had 1,622 followers. She stated that the Program’s Instagram account, which was created last month with the username @urbanapublicarts, has 105 followers. Three Public Arts ads are currently up on SmilePolitely.com: one for the Urbana Arts Grants Program, one for Artist of the Corridor, and one for Art Now! • For upcoming events, Ms. Tannos stated that the date for the next Public Arts Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. • Discussion: Annual Planning Session Ms. Sammann introduced this agenda item. Mr. Boys greeted the Commission and stated that he would go over the goals for this session, and how they would go about accomplishing them. He addressed the list of questions that were sent out by Ms. Tannos in the meeting packet, and stated that the intention for that evening would be to do a “deep dive” on the mission of the Public Arts Commission. Mr. Boys stated that the goal would be to generate as many of the Commission member’s ideas as possible. Following that, Ms. Tannos would compile the ideas, synthesize them during the week, and then send the information back to the Commission. Ms. Tannos pointed the Commissioners to the sheet in front of them titled, “At-Large Idea Parking Lot”. She asked that they jot down specifics of things that may not get covered in the meeting on this form. Mr. Boys stated that the meeting would be focused more on the broader scope of the mission rather than the programs. He stated that within the next week, Ms. Tannos would be sending out a survey to all the members that would allow them to comment on every single program. A discussion and brainstorming session between members of the Staff and Commission ensued. Following the planning session, Mr. Boys thanked the Commission for their time and asked that they follow-up with Staff if they had any other comments/thoughts. 6. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 7. OLD BUSINESS There was none. 3  February 9, 2016 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were none. 9. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Hedlund made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Ms. Waaler seconded the motion. With no further business, Ms. Sammann declared the meeting adjourned at 6:13 p.m. Submitted, Sukiya J. Reid, Recording Secretary 4