HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_ARTAB_11.21.2007Minutes of the Meeting of the
Arts and Culture Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Members present: Charles Aguillon, Rich Bartko, Nancy Blansett, Addie Busfield, Jane Paden, Penny
Plueckhahn, Ruth Roberts
Members absent: Paul Gaffney (excused), Georgene Richaud (excused)
Staff present: Eric Lashley, Library Director; Judy Fabry, Library Administrative Assistant
Others present: Dar Richardson representing the Texas Society of Sculptors, Larry McCormick
representing Georgetown Artworks
Regular Session
A. Call to order at 2:02 p.m.
B. Announcements from the Chair and Board members.
® Ruth asked Nancy Blansett and Addie Busfield to work with City staff to identify locations for art
hanging systems.
® Ruth said she had emailed a request to Tom Yantis to take her on a tour of possible sculpture locations
on or near the downtown Square. She will take photographs of the sites.
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C. Citizens wishing to address the Board. Dar Richardson, a member of the Texas Society of Sculptors,
gave a brief presentation about the Society's program for placing temporary displays of sculpture in
public places. The Board promised to get back with him after they have an opportunity to discuss his
proposal.
D. Reminder of February 2008 expiration of terms of four members. Ruth reminded Nancy and Rich that
their terms expire in February 2008, as do the terms of Paul Gaffney and Georgene Richaud. All must
reapply if they wish to remain on the Board, but only two positions will be available, one of which is
designated for someone from Southwestern.
E. Consideration and approval of minutes of last meeting. Jane moved to accept the minutes as
distributed. Nancy seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
F. Consideration of and possible action on
1. Selection of volunteer to serve on Georgetown Artworks Board —Larry McCormick, Ruth Roberts.
Larry briefly summarized the evolution of what is now the nonprofit organization, Georgetown
Artworks. Other members of the Board, besides himself, are Patty Eason, Tom Nichols, Fred Bolgen,
Jane Estes, Judy Omman, Jim Hickman, and Bob Weimar. Larry said the mission of the organization is
to raise funding for the arts in Georgetown. The present plan is to operate a brewpub in the bays of the
old Fire Station #1, the profits from which will be used for grants. He believes it is important for the
Arts and Culture Board to be represented on the Board of Georgetown Artworks and he asked for a
volunteer. Charles expressed interest, as did Ruth. It was agreed that Charles would be the
representative.
2. Ceremonies /receptions
to
honor donors
of art
—
Ruth
Roberts,
Penny
Plueckhahn.
Ruth asked the
Board to postpone
discussion of this topic
until a
later date. No
one objected.
3. Acquisition of bublic art for location on the downtown Sauare — Ruth Roberts. Ruth said that she had
attended the recent lecture and display of work by modernist sculptor, Bruce Beasley, at Southwestern.
She was very impressed with his work, much of which is public art, and was surprised that the cost of
some of his pieces would not be unreasonable for a city the size of Georgetown. When speaking with
him about the work of the Arts and Culture Board, his advice was that any RFQs should not name a
theme, but instead should seek the best work of artists, given the limitation of the maximum cost the
Board could pay.
Ruth went on to say she had toured the Square and found only two locations that are really large
enough for a significant piece of sculpture: on Main Street, in front of old Fire Station #1; and on Main
Street, in front of the parking lot that is located between 91tn and 10t', Streets. Even though these
locations are visible from the east side of the Courthouse Square, she was concerned because neither
location is really "on the Square," the location that the Board had chosen as its top priority. Penny said
that she believed the Board had considered the "downtown Square" to be a broad definition and that
she saw no problem with the proposed locations. Nancy agreed that it would be OK to locate the first
piece of art in either of these locations.
Ruth called for a motion regarding how the Board would select the piece of art they will purchase. Jane
moved to use discussion to reach a consensus. Penny seconded the motion. Rich suggested that even
though a scoring system had been used in the process of selecting the muralist for the children's room
at the library, it really depended on the subjective evaluations of each panel member. Nancy described
a situation in which she had been a judge where she set up her own scoring system, which then
informed the opinions she expressed in the decision - making sessions. She believed the scores helped
her evaluate the many submissions, but that the final decision depended on discussion to reach
consensus. Penny said she had experienced the same process in the workplace. Ruth called for the vote
and the motion passed unanimously.
Rich then moved to eliminate suggesting a theme from the upcoming RFQ. Charles seconded the
motion. Rich suggested that it's crazy to try to tell an artist what to make. Jane, who also attended the
Beasley show and lecture, said that none of his sculptures were "about" Georgetown, but she would be
proud to see any of them installed here. Penny said that she thinks public art will help to express
Georgetown's personality to the outside world. Nancy said she thinks the placement of the art will be
very important and that the location must be carefully described in the RFQ along with general
information about Georgetown's history. Everyone agreed that this information could influence artists'
submissions and needs to be carefully crafted so that it doesn't limit creativity. Eric asked whether the
Board wants to specify using recycled material in the proposed work, but no one thought they should
place that limitation on this first piece. Charles pointed out the importance of talking about the history
of the site where the piece will be installed. Ruth called for a vote and the motion passed
unanimously.
The topic of adding more people to the public art panel was brought up. The Board's guidelines do not
limit the size of the panel, simply say that it should include at least three members of the Board.
Someone suggested that adding more outside members would put the Board members in a minority,
but someone else pointed out that the full Board that must approve the panel's recommendation, so
that ultimately, the decision will be the Board's. Persons suggested as possible additions to the panel
included Linda Scarbrough (Sun newspaper publisher and longtime Georgetown resident), someone
from the Artworks board, and Francisco Choi (developer of the land at the corner of Austin Ave. and
6th Street).
Further discussion about the RFQ followed. Everyone agreed that it should specify the size of the site,
the cost that the Board is willing to pay ($70,000), and that the piece needs to be permanent. Addie said
that the cost should include the base and installation and Eric supported that idea. He said the City will
not be responsible for preparing the base or for installing the piece. Ruth described a proposed
schedule for the RFQ and selection process: the RFQ should be advertised by early January,
submissions should be in by mid - March, the selection made by May with the award of contract by June
1, piece installed by October 1.
The proposed schedule prompted a discussion about how much time should be allowed for creation of
an original piece. Judy then asked whether the Board should limit the RFQ to existing work, which
would eliminate the need to see preliminary sketches side by side with images of past work. All that
the panel would have to consider is completed work that they can actually go to see if they choose to
do so. The Board was very divided on this subject. Penny said she would speak to someone at Plano to
see how much time they allow for completion of a commissioned work and how they structure
contracts to assure timely completion. Ruth volunteered to contact the Austin public art department to
find out how they handle this issue.
Members agreed to send all thoughts and ideas about what should be included in the RFQ to Judy and
she will distribute them to the rest of the Board.
Rich moved to adjourn at 3:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Charles Aguillon, Secretary
' Ruth Roberts, Chair