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Minutes 02-07-05 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ARTS COMMISSION BOARD HELD AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM, 129 EAST OCEAN AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2005 AT 6:30 P.M. Present Debby Coles-Dobay, Chairperson Cheryl Arflin Richard W. Beaulieu, Vice Chair Angela Sudano Kimberlee M. McGow Anita Remer Suzette Urs Michael J. McGoey, Alternate Arleen Dennison, Soard Liaison Absent Linda Sage, Alternate I. Call to Order Chairperson Coles-Do bay, called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. II. Attendance Chair Coles-Dobay introduced new member, Cheryl Arflin. Members introduced themselves and Chair Coles-Dobay declared a quorum was present. III. Approval of Minutes - January 3, 2005 Ms. Dennison requested changes to the minutes as follows: Page 4, under the Funds Request section, "Sister Cities organization" should be changed to "Recreation Department". Page 4, Section VI, "Sales Presentation" should be changed to "Workshop" in the title and in the 1st sentence of the 5th paragraph. Motion Ms. McGow moved to accept the minutes as amended for the January 3, 2005 meeting. Ms. Sudano seconded the motion that passed unanimously. IV. Communication and Announcements Chair Coles-Dobay introduced Jean Heavilin, President, Sister Cities organization. Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7,2005 Ms. Dennison informed everyone that Ms. Budano, Chair Coles-Do bay, Mr. McGoey, and Ms. Sage were sent letters from the City Clerk's office regarding the expiration of their terms on the Board. All were encouraged to submit their application for re- appointment to the Board to the City Clerk's office as soon as possible, provided the member wished to continue to participate on the Board. Chair Coles-Do bay informed the Board about a luncheon she had attended earlier in the day that was sponsored by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. The luncheon was titled National Perspective on the State of the Arts and was held at the Flagler Museum and hosted by John Blade, Executive Director, Americans For The Arts, as guest speaker. Americans for the Arts is the main national organization that federally funds the arts and all other art associations fall under their wing. The organization has been in existence for quite some time and is continuing to grow, gain more power, and more funds. The meeting's focus was how to communicate to local, state, and federal entities the necessity for the arts. Chair Coles-Do bay encouraged everyone to visit Americans For The Arts' website: www.americansforthearts.orq. It contains demographic data, even for Palm Beach County, that speaks to the power of what arts can do to build community, redevelopment, strengthen the economy, reduce crime, assist education, focus on economics, and all the things on which governments are constantly focusing. This information might be a good to include in the Workshop to be held with the City Commission. Chair Coles-Dobay mentioned that several people within the Cultural Council came to her and offered their assistance in helping the Board put together an informative and dynamic workshop. Ms. McGow invited everyone to attend a luncheon on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 and workshop, Thursday, February 24, 2005 titled Cultural Democracy - The Arts Community and the Public Purpose. The Luncheon is free and the workshop has a $25.00 fee. The workshop is practicing cultural democracy and is in conjunction with the Cultural Foundation of Broward County, Americans for the Arts, and other organizations. V. Workshop Format Chair Coles-Do bay presented a document that contained the potential. format and verbiage for the upcoming workshop, which is the presentation to the City Commission. Chair Coles-Dobay had an opportunity at the Cultural Council's luncheon to meet one of the confirmed presenters, Elayna Toby-Singer, who confirmed her participation in the workshop. Ms. Toby-Singer is the Administrator for the Palm Beach County Art in 2 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach. Florida February 7, 2005 Public Places Program. She informed Chair Coles-Dobay she is the first full-time person working with the County's Public Arts Program. There had not been a meeting place or time scheduled to date with the City Manager's office. Ms. Dennison suggested that the Library Meeting Room would be the best place to hold this session considering the room can be set up any way that works best for the dynamics of what will be presented. The draft document is with the City Manager but since he remains out ill, he has had no opportunity to review it. A date would not be scheduled until his return. It was hoped that the draft would be reviewed by Mr. Bressner and would then be distributed among the City's Departments so that the CRA would also be able to have a copy prior to their retreat on February 19th. Most likely, the workshop would not be scheduled until March or April. Ms. Heavilin, requested a copy of the draft document to bring to the CRA retreat. Ms. Dennison clarified that the Commission had not seen or approved the document and she did not think that it would be appropriate to distribute prior to their review. Ms. Dennison would notify Doug Hutchinson, CRA, regarding this as well. Chair Coles-Do bay encouraged everyone to capture displays of public art in the neighboring communities with a digital camera. These images would be included as part of the workshop visuals. Also, pictures of areas within the City that are in need of art would be shown. The next picture would show the same image but with a piece of art superimposed upon it. Ms. Dennison informed the Board that Mr. Hutchinson suggested that a 2-page Executive Summary be included as part of the presentation. This would enable someone to get a handle on what the Board is recommending in a short amount of space instead of reading through the entire 57-page comprehensive master plan document. The summary needed to clearly outline the goals and objectives of the program. The delay in scheduling the workshop allowed time for this summary to be pulled together. A discussion ensued about which pieces of the workshop draft would be the best information to include in the Executive Summary. Ms. Urs criticized that the statement on page 4, which reads: "The Arts Commission will endeavor to provide opportunities for artists of all ages and racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds." was not what the Board was appointed to do. She shared that she thought the sole purpose of the Board was to put Boynton Beach on the map by providing the City with some really fine art. It was determined that a good starting point in creating the Executive Summary would be the bullet points listed on page 5 of the workshop draft. The summary should wrap up with the recommendations listed on page 4. A subcommittee would meet to put together a draft of the 2-page document and would be sent to all members for feedback. 3 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7,2005 The credentials for each person who would be presenting at the workshop was reviewed for the benefit of new member, Ms. Arflin. Those speakers include: · Beth Ravtiz, Public Artist, Administrator of the Coral Springs Art in Public Places Program, who had initiated many programs in the Broward County area. She was involved with the community, schools, and children and enhancing problem areas using her art. · Norm Kodo, Commercial Real Estate Developer, had experience on a national level in working with public arts programs. He was also the President of the Boca Raton Museum of Art and instrumental in its expansion to the current facility located in Mizner Park. Mr. Kodo had been on the Board of Directors for the Museum for approximately 10 years. · Elayna Toby-Singer, Administrator, Palm Beach County Art in Public Places Program, was the first full-time administrator for the County. She worked with an appointed Board and had approximately $1.5M in bond funding. Her Board was looking at creating a percent-for-art program and was currently limited to mainly providing art for County facilities such as the Courthouses. Ms. Toby-Singer had an impressive background in the arts, non-profit management, and cultural anthropology. · Jeffrey Siegel, Landscape Architect for the City of Plantation. Mr. Siegel had been the City's Landscape Architect for over 21 years. He worked with Ms. Ravtiz in implementing the public arts program around the Broward area. He would be instrumental in helping to educate the Board on how to fund individual projects and overcoming objections at the municipal level. VI. Project Involvement Murals A discussion took place as to whether the Arts Commission would work with the Planning Department in an advisory capacity regarding the approval of murals to be placed throughout the community either on existing structures or new development If someone comes to the Planning Department and requests to paint a mural on the side of a new building, the Arts Commission would censor for what is tasteful for both murals and art in general (Ms. Dennison explained that the Planning Department is looking for a place to work with to get the project up to speed.) If they want to put a competition together to have artists compete for the placement of the mural, the Arts Commission would coordinate those efforts and judge the art as well. 4 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7,2005 It was determined that it would be unreasonable to expect an artist to refurbish a mural, after being affected by the elements over several years, for no fee. It is considered repeat business for the artist. Motion Ms. Budano moved to recommend that the Arts Commission work with the Planning Department in an advisory capacity when asked for approvals to place a mural on an existing or new structure. The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimously. Motion Ms. Budano moved to recommend that the Arts Commission work with the CRA in an advisory capacity when asked for approvals to place a mural on an existing or new structure. The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimously. Sister Cities Ms. Heavilin provided a brief background on the Sister Cities organization, which began in 1956 under President Eisenhower during the Cold War. The President's program was originally called People to People. His intent was to organize individuals and groups, then train them on citizen diplomacy. His hope was that personal relationships fostered through Sister City affiliations would lesson the chance of future world conflicts. In other words, when you know somebody, it breaks down the barriers. Eleven years after the President established People to People it became its own organization titled Sister Cities. The Boynton Beach Chapter began in 2001 and in 2003 became a totally independent non-profit corporation. This Chapter executes its own programs, fund raising, and is part of the national Sister Cities organization. Seventeen years ago, Sister Cities started a Young Artist Competition, which solicits participation from middle and high school students. The goal is to allow students to learn about the mission of Sister Cities and portray their vision of its mission through art. A theme is selected each year and Ms. Heavilin distributed flyers detailing the 2005 Competition. 2004 was the first year the Boynton Beach Chapter hosted a competition and it boasted entries from 71 entries from students both in Boynton Beach and the Sister City in Qufu, China. This year's participation is expected to be even higher. The art was displayed last year for a 4-week period at the Children's Museum in order to allow everyone in the community to view the artwork. A People's Choice award was instituted during the first 2-weeks of the competition. Each person coming into the Museum was asked to cast a vote for his/her favorite entry. The award was renamed this year to the Anne Senty award in honor of Anne Senty, a member of the Boynton Beach Sister Cities Charter who died in June 2004. 5 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2005 It was determined that it would be unreasonable to expect an artist to refurbish mural, after being affected by the elements over several years, for no fee. It is con idered repeat business for the artist. Motion Ms. Budano moved to recommend that the Arts Commission work with the Panning Department in an advisory capacity when asked for approvals to place a mura on an existing or new structure. The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimou Iy. Motion Ms. Budano moved to recommend that the Arts Commission work with the CR in an advisory capacity when asked for approvals to place a mural on an existing or new structure. The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimously. Sister Cities Ms. Heavilin provided a brief background on the Sister Cities organization, whic began in 1956 under President Eisenhower during the Cold War. The President's rogram was originally called People to People. His intent was to organize individu Is and groups, then train them on citizen diplomacy. His hope was that personal relati nships fostered through Sister City affiliations would lesson the chance of future world c nflicts. In other words, when you know somebody, it breaks down the barriers. Eleve years after the President established People to People it became its own organizati n titled Sister Cities. The Boynton Beach Chapter began in 2001 and in 2003 became a totally inde endent non-profit corporation. This Chapter executes its own programs, fundraising, an is part of the national Sister Cities organization. Seventeen years ago, Sister Cities started a Young Artist Competition, which solicits participation from middle and high school students. The goal is to allow stu ents to learn about the mission of Sister Cities and portray their vision of its mission thro gh art. A theme is selected each year and Ms. Heavilin distributed flyers detailing t e 2005 Competition. 2004 was the first year the Boynton Beach Chapter hosted a co petition and it boasted entries from 71 entries from students both in Boynton Beach nd the Sister City in Qufu, China. This year's participation is expected to be even highe . The art was displayed last year for a 4-week period at the Children's Museum n order to allow everyone in the community to view the artwork. A People's Choice aw rd was instituted during the first 2-weeks of the competition. Each person coming nto the Museum was asked to cast a vote for his/her favorite entry. The award was r named this year to the Anne Santy Centi award in honor of Anne SeRtyCenti, a memb r of the Boynton Beach Sister Cities Charter who died in June 2004. 5 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7.2005 The organization provides cash prizes to the winners and the top entries from Boynton Beach and Qufu are sent to Washington, DC for international competition. Also, the 10 top winners nationally go on a one-year tour of the 10 winning Sister Cities that are represented in the competition. Ms. McGow's daughter participated in 2004 and was a winner. In addition, the Chapter provides $250.00 to the school of the winning middle and high school students. Ms. Heavilin asked the Board to participate in several areas: · Take over the judging for the competition - either bringing 3 people from other organizations (i.e. Norton Museum, etc.) or having Board members conduct the judging themselves. · Coordinate a traveling exhibit within the community, including signage indicating that the art is from students in the Boynton Beach area that have participated in the Young Artists Competition. · Financially support and/or coordinate an exchange program that would send the winning middle and high school students in Boynton Beach, along with their teachers, to Qufu. Also bring the Qufu winners to Boynton Beach. Sister Cities is currently working on fund-raising activities for the exchange program. When the Board's funding is finalized, the Sister Cities organization would appreciate any assistance the Board would be able to provide. Ms. Dennison stated that she might have money in her budget for a professional display system. She requested assistance in researching and recommending a system to hang the artwork to be displayed. Ms. Urs stated that she would volunteer as a judge. Motion Ms. Arflin moved to partner with the Sister Cities organization in coordinating the judging portion of their Young Artists Competition 2005. Ms. McGow seconded the motion that passed unanimously. A discussion took place regarding the traveling art exhibit and potentially putting together a 4-color wall calendar that would contain the student's art to be used as a fund-raising tool. Ms. McGow informed everyone that the winning art from last year's event was also displayed on t-shirts as a fund-raiser as well. Ms. Heavilin reminded everyone that Sister Cities is not only looking for fund-raising but awareness of both the event and the organization. Potential areas to display the work would be at the local schools, libraries, City Hall, City Hall in the Mall, and various neighborhood associations' clubhouses. Chair Coles- 6 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7,2005 Dobay mentioned that the clubhouses would also be a good way to get the Art Association's name before the community. Ms. Heavilin brain-stormed that her organization may want to turn over the art from last year's event to the Board and allow them to exhibit it as they see fit. At some point, the Sister Cities organization would like to auction off some of the pieces to raise funds to continue the program. It costs Sister Cities approximately $2500 per year for the supplies, awards prizes, and reception. The pieces are all matted but not framed. They need to be put into plastic jackets in order to protect them. They could be auctioned off at various City functions such as the Mayors Dinner, Children's Museum Golf Tournament, and various chamber and civic events throughout the community. Ms. Heavilin commented that this program would be an easy one for the Art Commission to start with because it is already in existence. Ms. Heavilin also mentioned Sister Cities' potential involvement in the Boundless Playground and park. The organization would develop cultural gardens that represent the various cultures that live in the community. The Art in Public Places program could coordinate the design element of the gardens. More would be discussed about the Arts Commission involvement in this program once the City finalizes its plans. Neiqhborhood Services Hindu Temple Playground The Hindu Temple located just south of the Publix on Federal Highway is building a playground between it and the new fire station. Chair Coles-Dobay discussed with Dan DeCarlo, Neighborhood Services, that the Art Commission could incorporate an art element into the playground using some of the play structures themselves or placing pieces onto the grounds and could coordinate artists for project design. Chair Coles-Dobay distributed copies of the Mission Statement for Neighborhood Services. Their mission, she explained, is to work with multi-cultural neighborhoods located throughout the City by contributing a vision to community building, neighborhood revitalization, and positive change. Mr. DeCarlo had spoken to Chair Coles-Do bay's homeowners' association regarding beautification landscaping and entry signage to the community. Signage doesn't necessarily need to be text but could be a piece of art that is placed at the entryway into the community. The Neighborhood Services Department would match funds with neighborhood associations for the amount the association is spending to beautify its neighborhood. Introductory Letter One of the things that Mr. DeCarlo suggested was for the Board to draft a letter that introduces the Board to the neighborhood associations within the City and offer assistance with amenity creation by utilizing art. The letter could also introduce a traveling art exhibit program as mentioned in the Sister Cities' discussion. 7 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7,2005 (Mr. McGoey left the meeting at 8:30 p.m.) Greenspace at the C-16 Canal Another project that was recommended by Mr. DeCarlo was the greenspace located in the Heart of Boynton Beach project along the C-16 Canal. There is a trail that is being developed at this location and Mr. DeCarlo would like to create some sort of historical documentation along the trail. Mr. DeCarlo mentioned monuments and sculptures being placed on the site that would teach the historical meaning of the area. Blank Wall on Golf & Woolbright There is a blank wall on Golf Road, south of Woolbright, by Bethesda Hospital that the Highpoint Association maintains. This wall would be a fitting area on which to place a mural or mosaic. It was suggested that this would also be a good project to begin with that would be partially funded by the Neighborhood Services Department. A concern was suggested that since the Board has so much other work to do in wrapping up the workshop presentation, a subcommittee would be a better venue to determine if the above-suggested projects were something that would be of benefit to the Arts Commission. It was discussed that if the Board takes on this project, the first step would be to approach Ms. Ravtiz to inform her about the project and ask her to submit a proposal including her ideas and the costs involved. Once the costs are known, 30% would be added in order to come up with a total that would need to be raised in order to get the project off the ground and the funding program started. The 30% would go in the administration fund for the Commission. Possible fund raising suggestions were the Parks & Recreation Department, CRA, and the matching funds offered by the Neighborhood Services Department. Boynton Beach High School Another venue to place art would be The Boynton Beach High School. Chair Coles- Dobay read an article in the paper recently that stated this school was looking to be another Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Mr. Beaulieu suggested projects that are closer to home would be a better way to become involved in the community. It was discussed that it may be wiser to take on an art project so the Board can work out the bugs without too much negative exposure would also be helpful if the artist had a lot of experience in public art. Ms. Dennison stated that a press release could be put together but questioned what information would be shared. She questioned whether the Art Commission is ready to talk to the press on what projects it is undertaking. 8 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2005 VI. Artist Database The County's artist registration database is updated annually. An artist does not necessarily have to be a member of the Cultural Council to be placed on their artist registry. Registration forms are sent to artists that come up on their mailing list. Ms. Dennison asked if anyone had reviewed the information she sent regarding Dunn & Bradstreet. Ms. Beaulieu stated that he would be registering with Dunn & Bradstreet that evening. (Ms. Remer left the meeting at 8:51 p.m.) V. Next Meeting The next scheduled meeting will be held on March 7, 2005. VI. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, lkr:L1GUL ~ - Deanna Ewing ~ Recording Secretary (021505) 9