HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_ARTAB_11.19.2008Minutes of the Meeting of the
Arts and Culture Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Members Present: Charles Aguillon, Addie Busfield, Jane Paden, Penny Plueckhahn,
Georgene Richaud, Ruth Roberts, Mandy Solin
Staff Present: Eric P. Lashley, Library Director; Judy Fabry, Library Administrative Assistant
Regular Session
A. Chair Ruth Roberts called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
B. Announcements from the Chair and Board members. Ruth announced that Snell will be
displaying his work in the library during the month of December. She also commended
Judy's work in compiling the minutes of the three special session meetings.
C. Citizens wishing to address the Board. None were present.
D. Consideration and approval of minutes of last meetings. Ruth made a motion to accept the
minutes of the October 7 2008 Summit of the Arts meeting, seconded by Georgene, passed
unanimously. Ruth made a motion to accept the minutes of the October 9, 2008 Summit of the
Arts meetmg, seconded by Mandy, passed unanimously. Ruth made a motion to accept the
minutes of the October 15, 2008 meeting, seconded by Georgene, passed unanimously. Ruth
made a motion to accept the minutes of the November 3, 2008 special session with Jim Wear,
seconded by Georgene, passed unanimously.
E. Consideration of and possible action on
1. Report on workshop with Council on 11-10-08 — Ruth. Roberts, Eric Lashley. Ruth said
she thought the workshop went well. Georgene added that Council had commended
Ruth's enthusiasm and past work. Eric said he was pleased that Council was paying
close attention to their presentationeven though they were last on a long agenda and
that they seemed supportive of the idea of creating a master plan for arts and culture
that would help with their decision -making .
2. Status of Coffee sculpture — Ruth Roberts, Eric Lashley. Ruth and Eric and Tom Yantis
will go to Austin tomorrow to meet with Sharon Fleming of the Texas Historical
Commission (TCH) about the location of the Coffee sculpture. Eric noted that Council
voted 3-2 at the October 28 meeting to install the sculpture in the originally planned
location, but they wanted staff to first inquire whether doing so would affect THC's
future decisions about grant applications from either the County of City. Eric asked
Trish Carls to write a letter to the THC regarding this issue, but she decided that a
personal meeting with Ms. Fleming would be better. This situation has raised questions
about future improvements the City may wish to make to the sidewalk and curb areas
around the Courthouse and Ms. Carls would like to see the property line issues
completely resolved.
Eric and Ruth will notify the Board of the outcome of the meeting with Ms. Fleming and,
if necessary, a special meeting will be called to identify an alternative location on the
Square for the Coffee sculpture.
3. Budget for 2008-09 — Ruth Roberts. Ruth asked to defer this item to the next meeting.
The Board agreed.
4. Master planning process — Eric Lashley. Eric referred to the excerpts from the 2030
Plan and the Downtown Master Plan that he had emailed to the Board on November 5
(document attached and made a part of these minutes). He reiterated what he had said
m his email about the numerous references to art in the Downtown plan and the broader
references in the 2030 Plan, and that these existing plans will make it much easier for the
Board to create a master plan for arts and culture He knows that the new Parks Master
Plan also has an arts aspect; unfortunately, that plan is not yet available, but he expects it
will be completed within the next few weeks.
An extended discussion related to the topic of the master plan followed, with some
Board members believing the Board could effectively write a plan themselves, within a
few months, by using the Plano public arts master plan as a guide and plugging in
information from the 2030 Plan, the Downtown Master Plan andthe yet unfinished parks
plan. Others asked who would do the work, how much time it would take, and where
survey data might be found. Eric emphasized the importance of involving City staff in
creation of the plan —not just getting them to sign off on. it. He believes no plan will be
adopted that doesn't involve input from the City Manager, and the directors of
Community Services, and Economic Development.
Georgene volunteered to create a "form" for a master plan before the next meeting,
basedon what she pulls out of existing arts master plans from various cities. From this
form the Board should be able to see what work must be done, whether it will be
necessary to hire a consultant, and, if it is, what the scope of the consultant's work
would be. Penny emphasized that she believes the Board's job is to do the basic thinking
and the consultant should only have to make it look good.
5. Summit of the Arts — Ruth Roberts. Ruth referred to the draft of a letter Larry
McCormick had sent her, copies of which were handed out at the beginning of this
meeting. Larry had volunteered to write this letter at the October 7 Summit meeting. It
was intended to solicit ideas for the master plan from local arts organizations. The Board
discussed the draft and decided that it would be redundant to send it after the input
they received from the representatives at the Summit meetings. However, to keep
communication going with those organizations, the Board agreed to send an email to all
of themthat will include the minutes from the meetings, a suggestion that the
organizations post their upcoming events on the City's calendar, and another suggestion
that individuals or organizations attend the regular meetings of the Arts and Culture
Board if they want to present new ideas for the master plan Georgene volunteered to
draft this letter and to send it to Judy for emailing to the organizations that sent
representatives to the Summit
6. Update on pedestal construction - Jane Paden. Jane said that her son, Philip, who is
building the pedestal, hopes to get access to it at 'Thanksgiving. He has some work left to
do on it, but she thinks it will be finished within a couple of weeks.
7. Membership m Americans for the Arts - Judy Fabry. Judy reminded the Board that
they had asked to put this item on the November agenda. She has investigated the levels
of membership m the organizationand isn't certain that any of them offer any particular
benefit to the Board. The Board already is a member as a result of purchasing a book and
Judy receives many emails already. She agreed to forward to the Board members all of
the emails she receives in the next month so that each may consider whether extending
or increasing the level of membership is desirable.
8. Trip to UT Regional Foundation Library - Ruth Roberts, Mandy Sohn. After a brief
discussion, the Board agreed that no one was interested in pursuing grants at this point
in time and that online resources are probably as good as those in print at the hbrary.
Charles suggested that to be responsive to the interest expressed at the Summit meetings
about grants, in the email to the organizations (that was agreed to above), the
organizations be asked whether they are interested in attending a grant information
meeting with the Texas Commission on the Arts, which the Board would arrange.
Everyone agreed that was a good idea.
9. Notification of members whose terms are expiring - Judy Fabry. the terms of Charles
Aguillon, Addie Busfield, Jane Paden, Penny Plueckhahn, and Ruth Roberts all will
expire in January and all are eligible to reapply. All indicated they intend to reapply.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Paden, Secretary - Ruth Roberts, Chair