HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_ARTAB_01.21.2009Minutes of the Meeting of the
Arts and Culture Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
Wednesday, January 21, 200*
Members Present: Charles Aguillon (arrived at 3:20 p m) Addie Busfield, Jane Paden,
Georgene Richaud, Ruth Roberts, Mandy Solin
Members Absent: Penny Plueckhahn
Staff Present: Eric P. Lashley, Library Director; Judy Fabry, Library Administrative Assistant
Others Present: Beth Wade, Impact magazine
A. Chair Ruth Roberts called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.
B. Announcements from chair regarding upcoming events - no announcements
C. Citizens wishing to address the Board - none present
D. Consideration and approval of minutes of last meeting - Georgene made a motion to accept
the minutes as distributed, Addie seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
E. Consideration of and possible action on
1. Rescheduling February meeting to February 11- Eric Lashley - Georgene moved to
change the February meeting from the 18th to the 11th , to facilitate communication with
the Parks Board, which meets on February 12. Jane seconded the motion, which passed
unanimously.
2. Approval. of $141.75 expense for additional molding, hbrary art display system -Judy
Fabry. Judy explained that she had purchased additional molding for the hanging
system so that there would be permanent places to hang art donated to the library.
Previously, donated art had to be taken down to make room for temporary displays. The
additional molding has been installed on the second floor, in the reference, stacks, and
study room areas. Georgene moved to approve the expense, Mandy seconded, and the
motion passed unanimously.
3. Report on January meeting of the Parks Board - Eric Lashley. Eric attended the
regular meetmg of the Parks Board on January 8, to alert the board members that the
Arts and Culture Board was interested in purchasing artwork for the new City
Recreation Center. The board was very enthusiastic about this proposal and three board
members volunteered to be on the selection panel. Eric reported that the new recreation
facility offers many opportunities for art.
4. Public art purchase and creation of a selection panel - Ruth Roberts. At the December
board meeting, Mandy had suggested that some kind of interactive art would be
appropriate for the recreation center. Not all board members understood what
"interactive" art is, so Mandy prepared a slide presentation for this meeting that showed
examples of several different types of interactive art. The examples she showed brought
everyone on board to the idea of interactive art and the consensus of the board members
was that they should propose some sort of outdoor interactive sculpture for the new Rec
Center. Mandy agreed to give her presentation —which she is willing to modify with
examples other board members would like to submit —to the Parks Board at their
meeting on February 12. Some of the examples of interactive art that the board liked best
were found on these websites: hup://www.solarcollector.ca/,
http://gorbetdesign.com/proj solar.html,
http://people.artcenter.eduFj song5/thesis/index02.html.
Discussion continued about the composition of a selection panel. Ruth made a motion,
which Georgene seconded, to have three members from the Arts and Culture Board
(Mandy, Georgene, and Jane), one member from the Recreation Center staff, three
members from the Parks Board, and one member representing the community (possibly
a City Council member). The motion passed unanimously. Ruth will appoint a member
from the community before the February Arts and Culture board meeting.
5. Report on meeting with Tuli Fellows on January 8 - Ruth Roberts, Eric Lashley. Ruth
briefly summarized the meeting with Juli and told the board that she was very
positively impressed by Juli's quick understanding of the board's issues and needs and
by her ability to communicate her own ideas and skills. Before the meeting convened,
Judy had distributed the proposal (attached and made a part of these minutes) which
Juli had submitted to Ruth. The board members had an opportunity to look at the
proposal. After some discussion about whether it was necessary to invite Juli to the
February meeting so that everyone could meet her, Georgene made a motion to use Juli
as a facilitator (without her attending the 2/11 meeting). Mandy seconded the motion,
which passed unanimously. The group agreed to have a single meeting with Juli on
Saturday, February 28, if that date is acceptable to absent members Penny and Charles,
and to Juli.
6. Report on meeting with Shelly Hargrove on January 9 (see enclosed email) - Eric
Lashley. Shelly Hargrove, Main Street Manager, invited Eric to attend a meeting on
January 9 to discuss putting murals on two downtown buildings. Also present were Jane
Estes of Georgetown Artworks, Robbie Wyler, Historic District Planner for the City, and
Nick Ramos who has done graphic arts work for the City. After the murals were
discussed, Jane Estes announced that her organization wants City Council to declare
October the Month of the Arts. Artworks will be doing its second Art Hop that month.
After Eric suggested that the Festival of the Arts probably would want June to be the
"month," another person present said that Art in the Park is being moved to October.
The people present at the meeting expressed opinions that the Arts and Culture Board
should be coordinating things like this. Also at this meeting, Jane Estes presented the
idea of the proposed art space behind the businesses on 8th Street. The promoters of this
idea are looking for support from City Council but haven't identified a business owner
to spearhead the project.
Charles, who is on the boards of both Artworks and the Festival of the Arts, arrived at
this point and confirmed that Art in the Park has been moved to October 18 and 19, and
that the Festival of the Arts committee is working with Artworks and is not opposed to
October being the "Month of the Arts." Art Hop will begin the first weekend in October
and will run through the month.
Ruth expressed her opinion that the Arts and Culture Board doesn't need to be involved
with every arts -related event that takes place in Georgetown and should not be expected
to coordinate efforts between Artworks and the Festival of the Arts. Other board
members expressed their agreement, but Georgene pointed out that the proposed
Master Plan for the Arts should create some kind of arbiter or process to eliminate
potential conflicts such as Eric had described.
7. Creating a calendar of work for FY 08-09 - Eric Lashley. Eric expressed his desire that
the Board establish a schedule for accomplishing the selection of artwork for the Rec
Center. The board members agreed to the following schedule:
• February 12 - Parks Board will appoint three of their members to the selection
panel
• By the end of April the artist and proposed artwork will have been identified so
that it may be presented to the Parks and Arts and Culture Boards during May for
their approvals.
® No later than June 23, the artwork will be submitted to the City Council for
approval.
8. Members' input for the vision statement - Ruth Roberts. Ruth admitted that she had
had a hard time coming up with ideas for the vision statement. She is unclear about
what ideas are considered "vision' and what are goals and objectives for a master plan.
Eric recommended books by Richard Florida, who writes about cities and the "creative
class," which seems to be driving change in urban areas. Florida emphasizes technology,
talent, and tolerance.
Mandy said that her main idea was that downtown Georgetown will become a place
where artists can live and work.
Georgene read the vision statement for public art of the City of Stockton (CA). She said
she thought it was too succinct for Georgetown, though, and that the Board would have
to "paint pictures" of what Georgetown would look like in 2020 for the City Council to
really understand what the Board's vision is. Charles agreed that the vision statement
must be attractive to Council. He recommended board members attend a State Senate
hearing that will take place January 26, when Daniel Pink will speak about the
importance of creativity in the workforce.
Although she will not be present at the February 11 meeting, Georgene said she hopes
that the board will be able to create at least a "laundry list" of ideas for how Georgetown
will look in 2020, from which a more refined vision statement may be written.
Agenda item for February: selection of outside people to invite to the (proposed) February 28
meeting with Juli Fellows.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Paden, Secre Ruth Roberts, Chair