HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_ARTAB_05.16.2007Minutes of Meeting of the
Arts and Culture Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Arts and Culture Board Members present: Charles Aguillon, Nancy Blansett, Addie Busfield, Paul
Gaffney, Jane Paden, Penny Plueckhahn, Ruth Roberts
Members absent: Rich Bartko (unexcused), Georgene Richaud (excused)
Staff attending: Eric Lashley, library director; Judy Fabry, library administrative assistant
A. Chair Ruth Roberts called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m.
B. Announcements from the Chair and Board members.
® Ruth Roberts spoke about broadening one's definition of art and the virtues of recycling.
® Penny Plueckhahn spoke about the previous evening's City Council meeting and the
announcement made there that funding for next years Festival of the Arts should come
from the Arts and Culture Board's appropriation from the City budget. Considerable
discussion ensued about whether additional money would be appropriated beyond the
promised 0.0025% of the general fund; whether the Board could choose the amount to
appropriate for the Festival or whether $15,000 had been predetermined by the Council;
whether this would be an annual grant to the Festival; and whether other organizations
would /could apply to the Board for financial support, following the precedent of the
Festival. Eric Lashley said he would ask Paul Brandenburg for clarification and direction in
relation to this issue.
As a part of the above discussion, Eric clarified that being a City- sponsored event (as the
Festival of the Arts is) means that certain fees, e.g., for police protection, are waived.
o Nancy Blansett described a website she found, artmarket.com, which has lots of helpful
information about how to market events such as the Festival of the Arts.
® Addie Busfield told the group that she is working with others from the San Gabriel Writers
League to launch the Hill Country Book Festival in November 2008.
® Charles Aguillon reminded everyone that the Boston Brass will perform Friday evening at
the PAC to benefit the GISD music programs.
® Eric announced that there will be a reception Thursday evening, May 17, to open the
Williamson County Art Guild's display on the second floor landing at the library.
Refreshments will be served.
C. Citizens wishing to address the Board. None were present.
D. Consideration and approval of minutes of last meeting. Ruth Roberts made corrections to
page 3, item 6, changing "had" in line 1 to "has" and making "moved" in line 5 bold.
Addie moved that the minutes be accepted with those changes, Jane Paden seconded
the motion, and the Board approved it unanimously.
E. Consideration of and possible action on
1. CVB events calendar and the Arts and Culture Board —judo Fabry
Judy said that Shelly Hargrove was unable to attend the meeting and would be
invited to attend the Board's June meeting. Judy also passed out the City's media
policies and asked the members to review them. It appears that flexible policies are
in place already and that it would not be necessary to amend them to get more
cultural events listed on the CVB calendar. Eric said that he had spoken with Shelly
about the discussion at the April meeting and that she seemed to have no objection
to online submissions of event information.
2. Report on proposal scoring - Charles A ug illon
Charles is still waiting for the latest version of the software he needs to demonstrate
the scoring method he is proposing for future public art proposals. He hopes to
have it for the June meeting.
3. Report on Citv Doiz Park - Eric Lashle
Eric spoke with Randy Morrow, director of Community Services, about the dog
park. Randy said he only has enough budget to fence the area this year. He did say,
though, that they will soon begin the process to update the Parks Master Plan and
that the consultant has already told him that they need to have a public art
component in the new plan. He said he would like to have the Arts and Culture
Board meet with the consultant in August. As a related issue, Penny asked where
the City is on the improved "entrance to Georgetown" that supposedly had been
approved more than a year ago. Eric said he would ask Tom Yantis about that.
4. Report on City Attorne s response to request for donation form - Eric Lashley
The form that the City Attorney designed was used for the donation by Larry and
Barbara Welch of the painting by Su Allen. Ruth Roberts proposed several changes
to the wording:
(1) in paragraph 2, line 3, omit "the"
(2) in paragraph 3, line 1, replace "it" with "donor"
(3) in paragraph 3, line 4, omit "gift or"
(4) in paragraph 3, line 4, add "d" to "authorize"
Eric said he would make those changes to the form. Someone also suggested that
the wording would have to be changed only slightly to make the form appropriate
for other City departments.
5. Prioritiziniz Citv facilities or locations for public art - Tudv Fab
Judy opened the discussion by suggesting that since the Board will have money to
spend in the next fiscal year, a place to begin would be to decide which City
facilities might be appropriate for public art. The group decided that Council
Chambers, the Georgetown Municipal Complex (GMC), and possibly the
Community Center should be considered. The Recreation Center will be
undergoing renovation and expansion during the next year and after that it should
also be considered.
b Preliminary discussion regarding expected budget allocation for public art - Eric Lashley
One idea for spending part of the allocation was to provide the lighting and
hanging system for the large open space at the entrance of the GMC. This
permanent improvement would allow rotating displays of art like those that will
hang at the library. Not everyone was convinced that this was a good use of money
intended for public art and some thought that individual departments should pay
for the infrastructure themselves if they want to be able to display art. Eric and Judy
mentioned that a number of departments share the GMC, and questioned how they
would decide who should foot the bill. In addition, they pointed out that no City
department has a budget for this kind of improvement. Paul Gaffney said he would
visit the GMC again and come back with a report next month about what he thinks
the board might do there.
There also was discussion about the board doing fund- raising to increase their
budget. Penny suggested an art auction and proposed putting out a call for
donations. Nancy Blansett believes that Austin's program of hanging the work of
local artists in City Hall for a year, allowing visitors to vote for their favorite, and
then purchasing the piece that gets the most votes, is one that Georgetown could
copy. She said she would sign up everyone on the board for the Austin Art In Public
Places email newsletter so that members may be aware of the way Austin's public
art program operates.
The board agreed to revisit the budget and possible locations for public art next
month. Eric said he thought the amount of money the board will have to work with
should be available by then.
7 Nomination for Certificate of Excellence - Judy abry
Nancy Blansett nominated Wolf Ranch for a certificate for its public art and
landscaping. Ruth seconded the nomination. Paul offered an amendment to revisit
the nomination next month after everyone has a chance to identify specific parts of
the project to commend. Motion passed by consensus.
F. Agenda items for next meeting - TudyFFabry
® Paul Gaffney on the GMC possibilities
® Public art budget
® Nomination(s) for certificates
Respectfull y sub tied,