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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Arts Commission - Meeting Date: 9/21/2011 CITY OF GLENDALE,ARIZONA MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ARTS COMMISSION HELD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 LIBRARY BOARD CONFERENCE ROOM SECOND FLOOR 5959 W.BROWN STREET GLENDALE,ARIZONA 4:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m.by Chairperson Diane Lesser. Commission members,M.B. Finnerty, Janine Barbour,Paul Dagostino, Carol Ladd and Joann Lee were in attendance. Representing city staff were, Cheryl Kennedy,Interim Library Director,Mojgan Vahabzadeh,Public Arts Coordinator and Judy Fleming,Public Arts Coordinator. Guest in attendance was Justine Cornelius,Building Safety Manager. APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES A MOTION was MADE by Commission member Finnerty to APPROVE the minutes of the August 17,2011 meeting. The MOTION was SECONDED by Commission member Dagostino and carried unanimously. NEW APPOINTMENTS Everyone welcomed Joann Lee as the newest addition to the Arts Commission. PUBLIC COMMENTS At this time the Commission will hear comments from the public;however, the Commission may not discuss or consider items not appearing on the agenda unless an actual emergency exists. No public comments were made. CENTERLINE ARTS INITATIVE Justine Cornelius,Building Safety Manager facilitated a discussion on the Centerline Arts Initiative. The Centerline Arts District is designed to be a public/private project that makes the direct link between art and economic development enhancing,not replacing, and complementing existing businesses and contributing to their success. It is intended to serve some of the needs of our arts community and revitalize this area of the City by promoting the reuse of underused and vacant properties for artist live/work space,affordable housing,performance venues, galleries, and other creative commercial and retail enterprises. Ms. Cornelius also provided a brief summary on how this project began as well as information on the 2011 field trips with Public Art staff and Economic Development staff to Scottsdale and Gilbert to research successful arts programs for future arts initiatives within the City of Glendale's Centerline district. She also discussed ASU's involvement and great contributions to this project. 1 Commissioner Finnerty asked if ASU's presentation on Centerline was on Glendale's website. Ms. Cornelius replied yes. Commissioner Finnerty also remarked on the Southwest Ambulance Company coming into the area as a positive thing. Commissioner Barbour inquired if Economic Development was pushing for businesses to stay open later. She believes this is essential to the success of Centerline. She explained that as it stands now, most businesses close early and have no nighttime traffic. She stated the reality was that Glendale had spent millions in the downtown area with no real return. She noted most business owners stay open only between 11:00am to 3:00pm. Commissioner Lee remarked that since she was new, she wanted to know what Centerline art projects were already moving forward in the downtown area. Ms. Cornelius provided a list of scheduled events that included Artwerks and First Saturdays, as well as an in-process art mural project which is partially funded by the City of Glendale Arts Commission. Ms. Cornelius continued to discuss the many accomplishments in the downtown area. She noted that an artist had recently donated her time to paint a mural in the Centerline area. She added the artist will receive full acknowledgement on the website pictures as well as any press releases with her biography. Commissioner Barbour remarked the artist should have been compensated for her time and work. Mojgan Vahabzadeh, Public Arts Coordinator, noted that the Public Art Department provided for space and installation of this on a wall inside Velma Teague Library to have this mural on temporary display. Ms. Cornelius commented on the City Council's ecstatic responses to the progress of the art projects in the downtown area. She stated the Mayor especially like the children being involved with the hydrant painting project. Ms. Cornelius also noted that the West Valley Arts Council indicated that it is exploring the possibility of locating a temporary exhibit into the Centerline area. In fact, staff discussions with the West Valley Arts Council are to have a one-time exhibit, for three days per weekend, for the entire month of February. The cost for this project is $7,500. She recommends the Arts Commission approves funding for this project for the downtown area. Commissioners Finnerty & Barbour stressed the importance of having the Arts Depar tment and Commission involved in planning stages. She suggested having a commissioner join in as a representative along with a member of the Public Art Department. She commented on the artist that had given her time on the mural. She stated the Arts Commission was never involved in that decision, which she believes could have gone badly since accepting gifts may bring problems down the road for the city. Ms. Cornelius stated she understood her concern; however, she had first verified everything was acceptable with the legal department. Commissioner Finnerty stated that to avoid any further miscommunication, the Arts Commission should be involved from the very beginning instead of after the fact. Commissioner Barbour agreed and added it created an environment where things are not very cohesive with mix-match things everywhere and believes that's the result of the current process. Chairperson Lesser explained that the Public Art staff and the Art Commission members had experience and their help with ideas and initiatives could be very useful. 2 Ms. Cornelius stated their goal was to have the Economic Development Department, The Public Art staff and the Arts Commission be involved together and go hand-in-hand. Therefore, she was confident that the arts are going to be very successful in the downtown area. Ms. Vahabzadeh stated the Arts and Economic Development Department were working collectively and will continue to work together to further the arts in Glendale. Ms. Cornelius asked for the Arts Commission's consensus on approving funding in the amount of$7,500 for the West Valley Arts Council Pop-up Gallery in the Bead Museum building for a total of 12 days. She noted City Cgincil'had favorably responded to the Centerline initiative and theartsisapartofit. / Chairperson Lesser stated the Arts Commission requested more information and would like to discuss this item further before making a final decision. The Commission agreed to table this item until the next regular Arts Commission meeting. SUMMER ART CAMP EXPANSION Public Art staff provided an overview of this successful annual summer program. As identified in the Commission's adopted FY 2011-2012 Arts Plan,the Public Art Program proposed expanding the program to add 6-8 more workshops to be offered in partnership with Parks& Recreation for summer 2012. A MOTION was MADE by Commission member Finnerty to APPROVE an additional $10,000 in funding for the Summer Arts Camp Expansion Program. The MOTION was SECONDED by Commission member Dagostino and carried unanimously. STAFF REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE PUBLIC ART PROJECT UPDATES Judy Fleming,Public Arts Coordinator,presented this item. She stated the Sahuaro Ranch Park entry monuments have been delayed past October. She noted there were no major problems, only a slight delay. She will provide more information on this item next month. OTHER STAFF UPDATES COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Everyone bid farewell to Arts Commissioner, Vice Chair M.B. Finnerty. She will be greatly missed. Commissioner Finnerty thanked everyone for their work on the Commission. ADJOURNMENT 3 The next meeting of the Glendale Arts Commission will be held Wednesday, October 19, 2011, at 4 p.m. at the 2nd Floor, Board Conference Room, Glendale Public Library, 5959 West Brown Street, Glendale,Arizona. ADJOURNMENT A MOTION was MADE by Commission member Barbour to ADJOURN the meeting. The MOTION was SECONDED by Commission member Ladd and carried unanimously. As there were no further comments,the meeting was adjourned at 5:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted,./(-7:0-1----, C -fr.. '/ / Mojgan Vahabzadeh, Public Arts Coordinator 4