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Minutes 04-27-10 MINUTES OF THE BOYNTON BEACH ARTS COMMISSION MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010, AT 6:30 P.M., AT FIRE STATION #2 2516 WEST WOOLBRIGHT ROAD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Barbara Ready, Chair Debby Coles - Dobay, Public Art Administrator Anderson Slocombe, Vice Chair Dana Cook Nubia Richman Halena Wolf Donn Davenport, Alternate ABSENT: Barbara Lentz Sherie Tengbergen Christine Moeller, Alternate I. Call to Order Chair Ready called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. II. Roll Call of Members Self- introductions were made. A quorum was present. III. Agenda Approval Chair Ready requested moving New Business, Review of 2009/2010 Budget, and Projection for 2010/2011 Revenues and Expenditures to follow Item VIII, Exhibits. Motion Vice Chair Slocombe moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Cook seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 1 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 IV. Approve Meeting Minutes A. Approval of March 23, 2010 Minutes Mr. Cook commented he was listed as absent at the workshop meeting in April. He pointed out he was at the Library Awards for the Sister Cities event. It was explained attendance taken at the workshop meetings does not count towards absences. Two changes were made to the meeting minutes: Page 1, list Debby Coles-Dobay as “Public Art At Administrator” “ Page 8, Item VIII A, fourth line should read Navid David Nau, of the Art Explosion,. .” Motion Vice Chair Slocombe moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Wolf seconded the motion that unanimously passed. V. Announcements/Reports A. Brandeis Women's Tour Wednesday, April 21 Ms. Coles-Dobay explained for several years, they have accommodated the Brandeis Women’s Group who support and fund raise for the University. The activity started as only a tour, but it evolved into a larger program. This year, a presentation was given in the morning and the women viewed the Avenue of the Arts in the City Campus area. From there, they toured the Library second floor environmental exhibit and then went to the Schoolhouse Children's Museum for a tour. She reported the women were impressed with the presentation, by how much art the City had and what they had to offer regarding the Art in Public Places program. Several of the women planned to return with visitors. The activity helped garner awareness of the City’s program. B. Sister Cities Exhibit reception and artwork judging Ms. Richman, one of the judges at the event, expressed there was much talent exhibited and she wished she attended the reception. She commented the work was professional quality and the depth of thinking that went into the exhibits was impressive. How the youth from the different cultures viewed themselves in the world was very interesting. It was noted most of the work from the children in China was connected with the family. Mr. Cook reported the event was well attended. The children were given a topic of My World. Mr. Cook noted most of the displays were untitled and how it correlated to the Sister Cities or foreign relationships theme was not clear. An honorable mention was 2 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 given to a child with talent and good technique who submitted a disturbing self-portrait. He noted much of the work had nothing to do with world or foreign relations. Ms. Richman disagreed and pointed out one work bridged two continents, which were Africa and the United States. Mr. Cook questioned what it had to do with Qufu, China. While Ms. Richman thought the artwork reflected two races interfacing with one another, Mr. Cook thought the directive given to the participants may have been misleading. It was suggested next year the Sister Cities Organization may be receptive to ideas for themes. VI. Vision Planning A. Discuss final workshop date for public input The Seacrest Streetscape workshop, held on April 15, 2010, would be discussed as a Future Business Item. B. Discuss when to present to City Commission Ms. Coles-Dobay indicated much vision planning had taken place and the Arts Commission members worked very hard to develop a plan. While the members had not dedicated any funding to the plan projects, she thought it would be prudent to have the City Commission accept the plan before they formalized the events and dedicated and expended any funds for them. One item that remained outstanding was to have a two-hour evening meeting on a Thursday evening or a Saturday to receive feedback from the public. The general public, City staff, Community Redevelopment Agency staff and major stakeholders in the community would be invited to participate and the Arts Commission would review their plans. There were many ways the workshop could be promoted. One way to publicize the event was through the use of flyers, utility bill inserts, or a newsletter. It was part of the public art process and the Seacrest Streetscape workshop was part of it. The members discussed July 21, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. as a date for a final workshop. There was discussion the document was a work in progress and an inquiry was made if the workshop was held, whether it would take away any flexibility in the plan. Ms. Coles-Dobay responded it would not be good to have an inflexible plan since environments and other factors change. Those factors were the reason to prioritize projects and remove the dates. The meeting would be informational to exchange ideas. The final step was to bring the document to the City Commission for approval. There was lengthy discussion about the Seacrest Streetscape workshop. It was noted there were individuals from the public at the workshop who preferred to have a local 3 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 artist do the work as opposed to the artist selected by the Arts Commission. It was explained the two individuals making the suggestion did not comprise the majority and the artist recommended by the two individuals at the meeting was not a public artist. There was agreement the process would be discussed in greater detail at the next meeting. There was also discussion the process used by the Green Market was outstanding and it was suggested a similar process be followed. There was an upcoming Florida Association for Public Art Administrators Conference in Ft. Pierce and information regarding the annual conference was distributed to the members. The members were invited to attend for one day at a cost of $50 or for the entire session at $100. Ms. Coles-Dobay noted the City has a membership with the Florida Association of Public Art Administrators organization. VII. Public Art Projects A. Boat Club Park Mural 1. Review of call to artists for Boat Club Park Mural Project Ms. Coles-Dobay explained the Art in Public Places Ordinance included a 1% commitment for public art. The budget for this project was $3,000. Originally the City considered using an existing wall for the mural. The City installed landscaping and a new wall to protect an existing specimen tree. The tree died, and the semi-circle wall remained. Ms. Coles-Dobay would meet with the contractor and they might be able to adjust the height of the wall to make it more suitable for a mural. The document distributed was a Request for Qualifications (RFQ). A one-page document about why the artist would want to be involved with the project and a general idea of what the artist would do for the wall was requested. The selection panel would narrow the responses to one artist, who would develop a conceptual proposal and sketch. The job would then be awarded. The wall would be prepared for the mural and finished. A base coat would be applied and then the mural would be painted. There was no money for preparation work and this was the minimum that could be accomplished. The budget was reasonable. The artist did not have to cover the entire wall. Ms. Coles-Dobay reviewed the RFQ Artist Selection Requirements and several language changes were suggested. There was an inquiry why an artist would not be asked to submit what they would do for the project. It was explained if that was done, the artist would be asked to do more work on a lower budget. Usually when requesting a proposal or conceptual sketch, the first qualified the artists, narrowed down to selection to three and then gave a stipend of $500 each to put together a proposal. It was noted there was no money in the budget to go through that process. It would be improper to proceed in that manner and 4 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 reputable artists would not be interested in submitting their ideas under those circumstances. There was discussion about piggybacking with an artist the Arts Commission hired in the past since they would already have a relationship established with the City. Under those circumstances, the artists would have to be encouraged to participate in the process. This was similar to the process followed for the Sailfish Café. The point was the same type of artists who worked in the medium could apply since it may appeal to them and they might want to contribute to the project. The RFQ provided information on what the expectation was, and the project overview gave the location of the project. There was discussion the Arts Commission should be able to hire an artist based on their past projects. Ms. Coles-Dobay explained when the responses were received it was her job to verify their references and provide a report to the selection panel of her findings. The Arts Commission would have input as to the materials to be used and two or three reviews could take place before the final product was ready. As to the materials that would be used, it was likely the suggestion would be, at a minimum, to use outdoor latex paint. B. Library Children’s Reading Room Mural 1. Approval of the Art Explosion of South Florida mural concept and proposal that the Friends of the Library want to fund for the Children’s Reading area in the City Library This item arose when the Friends of the Library were presented with the idea of having a mural. The organization wanted to fund the mural and the proposal was submitted to the Arts Commission to approve the public artist as well as the budget for the mural. The Friends of the Library also wanted to ensure some of the mural characters did not resemble any licensed characters and requested a review. The mermaid chair would be the focal point because that was where the reader would sit and the creatures should interact with the chair. The lighting should highlight the chair with seagrass behind it. The proposal provided was a rough conceptual sketch. Before the project moved on, a stricter review would likely take place. Comments received on the sketch were: Nothing points to the mermaid chair and it should; ? The work was limited by the budget; ? The work could have more dimension and depth to the water; ? The sketch was flat, i.e. the bottom should be darker, the top lighter, and the ? grayish fish in the background could be improved on to create the depth; 5 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 Would like to see more books in the sketch; ? The seaweed should be larger and more exaggerated to add to dimension; ? Having less fish or more bottom features would add dimension; ? The shipwreck could be a fish library; ? The starfish by the chair could be played up although it should not resemble ? “Patrick”, a cartoon character; The mermaid chair was purchased. The mural should be painted darker in the ? middle and lighter on the sides, although there may be reefs on the sides. Motion Vice Chair Slocombe moved to approve with comments. Mr. Cook seconded the motion that unanimously passed. C. Lyman family flip book donation approval 1. A donation from the Lyman Family funds in the amount of $2,400 to include an additional flip book dedicated to the family memory for the Jaycee Park Interpretative Public Art Markers project contract This item pertained to Jaycee Park and the interpretative markers. There was a setting under a tree along the trail off the path that would feature a flip book that referred to captains and mates and this history of Boynton. Cindy Lyman, whose parents were fishermen in the area, gathered funds to memorialize her father and have an exhibit in the Library to honor him; however, she needed more funds for the Library display. Ms. Lyman and Janet DeVries, the Library Historical Archivist, gathered images and information regarding the history of fishing and other aspects of the Boynton Beach community. Funds were donated to create an additional flip book to focus on the dedication of the Lyman family and their legacy in the community that would be an additional element to fit into the entire scope of the project. The flip book would be made of a coated laminate, installed in coral stone with metal inserts and located in the seating areas with public art benches, columns and the interpretative signage. Approval of the book by the Arts Commission was needed. The family would work with Linda Emerson, who was working on the project with Lucy Keshavarz, the artist of record. Motion Vice Chair Slocombe moved to approve. Ms. Richman seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 6 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 Ms. Keshavarz was the artist approved when the call to artist was issued in 2008. At one point, the entire project was funded but some of the funding fell through. A Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) grant was obtained and would pay for the remaining half of the project. VIII. Exhibits A. Library Exhibit 1. Outsider Art by collectors Ms. Coles-Dobay compiled a list of existing and planned exhibits for the various City facilities. The current Library exhibit would end in May. The next exhibit would be a four-month exhibit and would be from collectors of Outsider Art. This collection was a very different form of art that was becoming popular, but the collectors only wanted to display it for a few months. It was thought the months of October and November would be a better time to advertise and assemble a collection. 2. Theme for four month exhibit Artist David Edgar’s work was taken back to the Armory. Ms. Coles-Dobay spoke with the Armory Art Center Director, Ann Fay Rushforth, who had numerous exhibit contacts. She suggested exhibiting pieces from the Artists of Hispanic Heritage of Palm Beach County. Ms. Rushforth would curate and coordinate the exhibit with the Library and Ms. Coles-Dobay would facilitate the actual exhibit. This exhibit could be coordinated with Hispanic Heritage Month in September. By using the Artists of Hispanic Heritage of Palm Beach County work, there would be a collection readily available. Ms. Coles-Dobay was comfortable with Ms. Rushforth’s selection of the work, its content and her willingness to serve as curator for the exhibit. The displays at the Armory were always well done. If used, the display would close the year for exhibits at the Library. The Palm Beach County Watercolor Society would display its work from December 2010 to May of 2011. Other possible exhibits for the Sims Center were the local emerging African-American Artists’ exhibits which could be extended a few more months. In the meantime, the Arts Commission could determine themes for the facility for the months of July through December. Ms. Coles-Dobay opined the artists would be happy to extend the exhibits though December. The Civic Center had art that had not been rotated. Ms. Coles-Dobay requested consensus for the suggested Library exhibits and requested themes be brought forward for the Civic and Sims Centers. There had been prior discussion about the poetry society. Certain poets, in addition to their words, embellished the work with artwork such as scrolls. Ms. Coles-Dobay attempted to contact them, but was unsuccessful. 7 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 There was also discussion about a group of people who made homemade books. That type of work would be limited to a locked display case as opposed to a wall exhibit. A suggestion was made to contact the Boynton Beach Community High School; however, it was noted the School no longer had an Art Department, only an Art Club. Beth Slatery, formerly of the High School was now at Forest Hill High School and the current teachers there were a football coach with a background in art, and a part-time art teacher. Displaying work from middle-school students was also suggested which could provide the students with exposure. Ms. Wolf agreed to investigate exhibiting middle school art for the Civic Center or the Sims Center. Chair Ready liked the Hispanic Heritage exhibit and Outsider Art. There was consensus to accept what was planned for the Library. Exhibits were needed immediately for the Sims and Civic Centers. Future themes were also needed. Current prevailing themes for art were: Globalization Diversity Ethnicity Portraits Spirituality Feminism The common place Nature The body Media Mother Earth Social commentary A Call to Artist could be issued for any medium, including needlepoint and fabric art. Texture could be a theme. After much discussion, there was agreement the theme for the Sims Center would be Texture and the Civic Center would have Portraits. IX. Avenue of the Arts A. 2010/2011 Theme for Avenue of the Arts B. Purchasing Avenue of the Arts The members discussed Texture as the theme for the Avenue of the Arts, which were contained in a memorandum dated April 12, 2010. If Texture was used for the Avenue of the Arts, they could also use Texture as an exhibit for the Civic Center. It was noted this theme was for the months of July through December of 2010. Avenue of the Arts installation would commence in September/October. When a Call to Artists is issued for Textures, some of the responses would be for items that were not suitable for outdoor weather, but could be used at the Civic Center. After lengthy dialogue, there was consensus to use Texture as the theme for Avenue of the Arts and the Civic Center. There was also consensus to use the Texture exhibits for a year to coordinate with the Avenue of the Arts. 8 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 Mr. Davenport left the meeting at 8:13 p.m. If Texture was used, a by-line could be added. A theme such as “The Texture of our Life,” or using music as a theme was considered. Mr. Davenport returned to the meeting at 8:17 p.m. The Call to Artists would include the pieces should be able to be touched, felt, seen, and could celebrate the sensory sensations, have undulations, be open to multi-medias, and be suitable for use indoors or outdoors. The pieces could utilize sound, color, move, create overlapping sounds, and have different surfaces. The Avenue of the Arts exhibit would utilize large-sized pieces. Ms. Coles-Dobay would put together a synopsis and email it to the members. It was clarified that portraits could be in any medium that could be displayed on a wall. Accordingly, to accommodate the coordination of Textures as the themes for the Avenue of the Arts and the Civic Center, there was agreement to switch the themes for the Civic and Sims Centers. The Civic Center would now have the theme Texture and the Sims Center would have the theme Portraits. X. New Business A. Review of 1009/2010 budget and projection for 2010/2011 Revenues and Expenditures The members were issued a forecast of public art projects, the fee structure and the actual budget for 2009 and 2010. The Art in Public Places program budget was also distributed detailing the completed projects and their costs. The Art in Public Places expenses and revenues since inception to the end of the fiscal year were also reviewed. The 2009/2010 public art projects included, development and City projects that were in process or were forthcoming. The fee was broken down to allocate 70% of the 1% fee to go to the public art project budget and the remaining 30% of the 1% fee to the program. Ms. Coles-Dobay contacted the developers to ascertain, based on their best projection, whether they would be coming in for permits before or after October 1, 2010. She did not know what renovation projects were forthcoming, but it was noted the City had several renovation projects throughout the past year. The operations/personnel and the budget for public art was reviewed. With the budget shortfall, the Arts Commission was asked to make reductions. It was noted, since their program was not part of the general fund, the members had to exercise caution regarding how the funds were spent because there was not a great deal of funds anticipated to be received. Some of the funds were reserved to cover shortfalls. The Art in Public Places program budget reflected the project and programs ongoing for the year and where the funds were spent. The Art Connections program and on-loan 9 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 artwork exhibit budget reflected the on-loan art had an extremely low cost associated with it. Artwork collection insurance was a cost that would be incurred year-to-year, and there would be some maintenance costs that would be recurring. There were other items the Arts Commission assisted with, which did not come out of their budget, such as Hunters Run and a review of other department projects. The program had no funds when it started. The City understood there was a lending crisis for developers and when the Art in Public Places Ordinance was created, funds were not immediately received. If a site-plan time extension was requested, it would move receipt of the funds back, sometimes by three or four years. Ms. Coles-Dobay tracked the funds and projects in the queue and pointed out the fees were only received when the project was permitted. If an applicant applied for a major site-plan modification, there was money due. Many large projects that were exempt from the Public Art Ordinance would now become subject to the Public Art Ordinance fee. It was noted the balance was negative but the funds were loaned by the City. Ms. Coles-Dobay reduced her budget lower than the 1.5% requested by the City and emphasized she was trying to avoid the accumulation of debt for the program. She commented, the program did not obligate the City to purchase an Avenue of the Arts piece. Last year, the Community Redevelopment Agency purchased one of the pieces. There was dialogue about the impact of the budget and having the Kinetic Art symposium. Ms. Coles-Dobay explained the Arts Commission prioritized projects. They could establish a budget when the funds started to accumulate and when they set the date for the project events. It was anticipated the Arts Commission would defer some projects unless federal grants or corporate grants were received. The members were asked if there were funds to purchase a piece from the Avenue of the Arts, which piece would they would select. After polling the members, there was agreement the Manatee was liked the most. There was agreement to put the Manatee on a list of public art to purchase. The Arts Commission, however, wished to go on record it would not be fiscally prudent to purchase art in light of the current economic climate and budget. Additionally, before any art would be purchased, a location must be selected. Motion Ms. Wolf moved to not purchase any artwork from the Avenue of the Arts this year and also, they put the Manatee on as a public art opportunity in the future. Vice Chair Slocombe seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 10 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida April 27, 2010 XI. Unfinished Business None. XII. Future Business A. Seacrest Streetscape workshops and the Community Public Art Process This item would be placed on the next agenda. XIII. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:46 p.m. ,r . 111uMf ~1lL~ 1 Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 051010 11