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Minutes 03-07-05MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE ARTS COMMISSION BOARD HELD AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM, 129 EAST OCEAN AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2005 AT 6:30 P.M. Present Debby Coles-Dobay, Chairperson Richard W. Beaulieu, Vice Chair Cheryl K. Arflin Kimberlee M. McGow Anita Remer Linda Sage, Voting Alternate (arrived at 6:47 p.m.) Absent Angela Budano Suzette Urs Michael J. McGoey, Alternate I. Call to Order Arleen Dennison, Board Liaison The meeting was called to order at 6:38 p.m. The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared a quorum was present. II. Approval of Minutes of February 7, 2005 Ms. Dennison requested that the spelling of Ms. Anne Centi be corrected accordingly wherever her name appears in the minutes. The minutes were accepted, as amended, and placed on file. III. Announcements Chair Coles-Dobay commented that as the Arts Commission's program gets closer to being rolled out, there were several areas that would require participation and oversight. Some of those areas would be: Artist Database Ms. Dennison had started this project some time ago and has an existing database Association Organizations Contacts/Database Another one would be Association Organization Contacts/Database. As organizations contact the Board for various reasons, their names need to be added to this list. If anyone within the Arts Commission needed to initiate a call Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2005 to artists, that contact list would be utilized as well. The person responsible for maintaining this list would not necessarily be responsible for sending it out the mailings. Grant Writing/Contact Database Grant writing is another area that would require maintenance of the potential and existing grants in which the Board could participate. Ms McGow suggested a database of each grant as well. Chair Coles-Dobay affirmed that would be part of the oversight for this subject. Artist Selection/Judging Another area to be covered would be occasions for the board to offer services to judge art competitions. Chair Coles-Dobay called for volunteers for each of these areas. Ms. Dennison distributed current copies of the artist database she developed. The database consisted of anyone identified as someone the Board began to make contact with as an artist. She was able to pull a query that identified everyone with an art relationship. The copy distributed did not constitute the entire database. It was a more powerful database that allowed the potential to track whether they are a funder, grant foundation, national artist or international artist, etc. The database would allow for this information to be extracted at a later date. Ms. Dennison said that whoever volunteered to maintain each database does not necessarily have to physically come to the Children's Museum to input the information. Ms. McGow expressed an interest maintaining a database. They could work from home by forwarding a spreadsheet to Ms. Dennison for input into the database. The database currently holds approximately 10,000 names including the City Commission and City Staff. Chair Coles-Dobay commented that she liked the idea of utilizing a centralized database for accessing grant writer and artist information. Ms. Dennison stated the database was also set up in her office at the City Library. If someone wanted to take over the database management, he/she could be trained on how to utilize it and could use Ms. Dennison's office at the City Library at his/her convenience. The person doing grant writing/database management could access the database at the library office and hold the grant team meeting there as well. The information would be available for the team at the time of the meetings, during library hours. Ms. McGow volunteered to be the grant writer/database coordinator Ms. Remer volunteered to sit on the judging panel. (Ms. Sage arrived at 6:47 p.m.) 2 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 Ms. Arflin volunteered to work on the grant writing committee. Ms. Dennison would submit a recommendation to the City Commission to hire a full time Public Art Coordinator. This was a result of the City's budgeting process that began in March. She came across several job descriptions for a Public Art Coordinator and planned to initiate the paperwork and work through the process. Chair Coles-Dobay commented that the request was also in conjunction with the Board's need to have a position of this nature once the Art in Public Places Program is active. IV. Review of Arts Commission Document Presentation to City Commission Executive Summary An executive summary would be forwarded to Mr. Bressner for review. A date/time had not been set so far to present the program to the City Commission due to Mr. Bressner's recent illness. He returned to work part-time as of the date of the Board's meeting, which was good news. It was hoped that a date would soon be set. The Executive Summary was distributed for review. It is a summary of the plan document that states succinctly. The details of the program were contained within the plan document. Chair Coles-Dobay suggested changing the second sentence in the first paragraph to read: "The following document is the end product of nine months of research to prepare the City of Boynton Beach's future as a cultural community with the sustainability of economic success." Ms. McGow commented that the sentence did not speak about anything specific. Ms. Sage suggested that economic impact and rewards are referenced in the second paragraph. A short discussion ensued and it was determined that the sentence should end at the word "research." The fourth bullet under the Recommendation section should read: • "Fees will be calculated on amounts exceeding the $250,000 threshold." A discussion ensued regarding whether the $250,000 threshold included residential property as well as commercial. It would include both. If a person was buying a home that was being built, the builder would be assessed the fee, not the individual buying the home. The fee would be assessed as 1% of the construction value to real property, subject to certain criteria. For residential property, it would be assessed only on new residential construction and/or redevelopment for which a building permit would be required, over the $250,000 real property value. Ms. Arflin commented the bullet points discussed during the last meeting were not included in the summary. Some of the bullets were: 3 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 • Gaining amenities and appreciative assets, • Creating investments that would increase in value, • Educating the community, • Creating a sense of civic pride, • Preserving communal history. She further explained that even though it was important to focus on the financial rewards of this program, it was just as important to keep the Art in Public Places purpose as a focus in the summary too. Chair Coles-Dobay pointed out that some of those points were mentioned in the 2"d paragraph. The sentence reads: "Clearly it is known that art offers community pride, civic awareness and a sense of place." The sentence did not address preserving communal history, which could easily be added to the sentence. Chair Coles-Dobay commented that the presentation included the bullet points but the executive summary was to be a brief overview of the program. Ms. Arflin suggested changing the format of the second paragraph to be bullet points. Ms. McGow suggested separating the financial aspects and making those bullet points as well. A discussion ensued regarding the phrasing of the first sentence of the first paragraph after the bullet points under the Exception to Public Art Fees section. The sentence would be changed to read: The funds would be dedicated at 70% to the development of public art and 30% to administering the Arts in Public Places program for the following:" The second sentence of the second to the last paragraph would be changed to read: "This comprehensive document integrates many of their recommendations, as well as the best of successful Public Arts Programs and has been refined to meet the City's special needs." The last sentence of the last paragraph would be changed to read: "We look forward to implementing this plan and are available to expedite this endeavor." Chair Coles-Dobay suggested the Board utilize the executive summary to work from when the Board began to "sell" the Art in Public Places program to other departments within the City; other groups, associations, or organizations; and Boards. While the Board was waiting for a date to be set for the Workshop/ Presentation to the City Commission, it would benefit the Board to work with other Boards to gain their support. 0 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 Discussions took place with the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), who are interested in having the Arts Commission members attend the CRA meeting to be held on March 17th. The purpose would be to set a date for the Arts Commission to schedule a date for a workshop/presentation to be made to them. The Recreation and Parks Board also expressed an interest in meeting with the Arts Commission. Their next meeting would be held on Monday, March 28t . They would like for the Arts Commission to present its program at that meeting. Their meetings were much less formal than the CRA Board meetings. The Recreation and Parks Board meets at the Senior Center. Chair Coles-Dobay said she informed the Recreation and Parks Board the Arts Commission would definitely be interested in meeting with them on that date. Chair Coles-Dobay requested volunteers to attend one or both of these meetings. Ms. Sage offered to attend the CRA meeting. Ms. McGow, Ms. Sage, and Ms. Remer offered to attend the Parks and Recreation Board meeting. An email would be sent to all Board members requesting their participation at each meeting in order to bring a strong sense of purpose from the Arts Commission to the meetings. Chair Coles-Dobay informed the Board she had spoken with Chair Pierce of the Recreation and Parks Board to provide a summary of what the Arts Commission is doing. Chair Pierce was very excited and suggested she speak with Mr. Majors, Director of Recreation and Parks; and Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent. Ms. Dennison commented that Mr. Majors had been with the City for many years and the Director of Recreation and Parks for approximately three years. Ms. Rivers had experience with art in pubic places in a job she worked in previously. Chair Coles-Dobay would confirm the length of time for the presentation to be made at both Board meetings. Revised Presentation Workshop to the Citv Commission Chair Coles-Dobay said the Board should have received the revised document to be used as the basis for the presentation to the City Commission. Changes were made in accordance with the suggestions made at the last Board meeting and were reviewed. She reminded everyone to visit the Americans for the Arts website (www.americansforthearts.org/public awareness/index.asp) to view their commercials that provide good information on supporting public art programs. Some of the information contained within the commercials could be used in the presentation. Also, she encouraged the members to continue to take photos of where they would like to see public art displayed within the City. More photos of functional pieces of art need to be included, such as murals and sculptures. Chair Coles-Dobay also sent information to the members from the Palm Beach Cultural Council that contained economic impact information. All members were encouraged to 5 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 review the information to determine what information would be appropriate to include in the presentation. Ms. Arflin would work on prioritizing the bullets contained within the presentation. Ms. McGow would email typographical errors to Ms. Dennison. All members were encouraged to re -read the document and submit any suggestions or changes to Ms. Dennison. V. Other Projects Workshop at the April 4th meetin Chair Coles-Dobay stated that she would like for the Board to host an open creative workshop with key City departments such as Neighborhood Services, Recreation and Parks, etc. as well as other Boards. The workshop would be held in the Library Program Room because it provided more space. The Arts Commission would present the Executive Summary to provide attendees with an idea of what the Board was trying to accomplish. Ms. Dennison clarified that the workshop would not focus on any funding issues but would educate attendees on public art. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the format of the workshop. Some ideas discussed were to display glossy photos of current public art located within a 25 -mile radius of Boynton Beach on foam board to set the stage for what would be discussed during the workshop. Also, having the photos running on a slide show that continually looped and displaying pieces of kinetic sculpture were some other ideas. Each photo could represent a key bullet contained within the City Commission presentation. The format for the presentation would be to have four or five tables with several people sitting at each table. A representative from the Arts Commission would facilitate a brainstorming session of approximately fifteen minutes to gain responses to various pointed questions. Each facilitator would focus only on one or two questions then the group would move to another table and be asked another question. Representatives attending from the same department would be encouraged to sit at different tables in order to have a true mixture of ideas. A subcommittee would be formed to finalize the workshop. Chair Coles-Dobay would notify the City Clerk's office once a date was established to meet with the subcommittee. Ms. Dennison would create the flyers and invitations, as well as reserve the room at the library. Mr. Beaulieu would provide four new presentation boards that are tall and stand up by themselves, as well as any table top presentation boards required. Ms. Dennison and Ms. Sage would provide easels. Chair Coles-Dobay reviewed the meeting schedules requiring participation from Board members. Those dates were: 2 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 March 17th for the CRA meeting - establish a date for the Arts Commission to make a more formal presentation. March 28th - Recreation and Parks Board meeting to make an informal presentation. Chair Coles-Dobay suggested only showing some of the pictures taken that reflected public art as well as some that would depict spaces in the community that would be good areas to place art. Some of the master plan documents would be educational material to hand out. April 4th — Arts Commission Workshop held in the Library Program Room. This presentation would require more organizational effort. A subcommittee would be established to formalize the content. Ms. Dennison commented that once the workshop was put together, it could be facilitated for other groups such as high school students, teachers, business owners, or other cities trying to start an arts commission. Recognition Dinner The Board was reminded that the City's Board Recognition dinner would be held on April 11th. Invitations were in the mail and everyone should receive theirs within the week. Neighborhood Services Chair Coles-Dobay distributed pictures of the park that Dan DeCarlo, Neighborhood Project Specialist, requested the Board partner in for providing art depicting the City's history along its greenspace. The park is located on the south side of the C-16 Canal north of Martin Luther King Boulevard. The park is also located within the Heart of Boynton area. A discussion ensued regarding possible suggestions on what venues to use in order to incorporate and depict the City's history. One possible suggestion was to make it a community event and encourage students in the area to come up with ideas and have the student be part of the production process. A map was provided by the Neighborhood Services Department. The Board members reviewed the map for its greenspace and blue space areas within the City. It provided a good overview of potential areas for public art. Sister Cities — Judging Responsibilities Mr. Beaulieu reviewed the requirements he used during last year's Young Artist Competition that was sponsored by the Sister Cities Organization. As agreed to at the last meeting, the Arts Commission would take responsibility for judging this year's competition. 7 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 A judging sheet was distributed for review and Mr. Beaulieu clarified that a numbering system would be utilized of 1 through 5 with 5 being the best. Judges would be encouraged to stay from using number 3 to avoid ties. He stated three judges would be necessary, which was the amount used last year. Every judge would rate each piece. The ratings would then be added together from each judge for a total score. The highest scores would then be awarded accordingly. The judging would take place on Saturday, March 11th, in the Program Room at the Library at 2:00 p.m. There would be a total of seven prizes awarded, 1St place, 2nd place, Td place, three honorable mentions and one People's Choice Award. Chair Coles-Dobay commented that Ms. Urs had volunteered to judge during the last meeting. Ms. Remer said she would try to volunteer as a judge, provided she felt better. Ms. Sage also volunteered to judge. Mr. Beaulieu said he would serve as a backup judge, if someone would not able to attend. The pieces would be brought to the Children's Museum for display for a one-month time period after the event. The People's Choice Award would be solicited during the month they were on display at the museum. It would also be available for display to other organizations. Ms. Dennison solicited assistance to locate a hanging system to display the art. It would also need to be installed. Ms. Sage would do some research on invisible display systems. Cultural Council Chair Coles-Dobay commented that the Cultural Council sent an email to its members soliciting ideas for creating a cookbook. The email asked for submission in a variety of topics, one of which was "organizations and events that bring culture, arts, education, and fun to our area." Chair Coles-Dobay thought that in an effort to get the Arts Commission name before the public, they could submit the Boynton Beach's Art District that was established in 1999. Photographs could be attached and submitted. She solicited other thoughts and comments for submission. Submission deadline was March 25 the to the Cultural Council. Linda Stabile Location — Art Deco Chair Coles-Dobay distributed pictures of Linda Stabile's property and commented that she visited the art deco site. The site was scheduled to be annexed into the City. Ms. Stabile was trying to establish the property as an historical site through the Palm Beach Historical Society. Chair Coles-Dobay thought that it was a great example of a piece of architecture that also served as a piece of art. Ms. Stabile renovated the site to 0 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 7, 2003 historical standards, both inside and out. It included a sculpture garden and a wonderful collection of Haitian art, including museum pieces. She was open to allowing the Arts Commission to display some of the pieces. Ms. Stabile was also open to having the Arts Commission utilize the site for gatherings and may be a good site to include on the Parks Tour. VI. Next Meeting The next scheduled meeting will be held on April 4, 2005. VII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:39 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 6� Transcribed by Deanna Ewi Recording Secretary (031405) C;