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Minutes 04-15-10 MINUTES OF THE ARTS COMMISSION SEACREST STREETSCAPE PUBLIC ART WORKSHOP/COMMUNITY MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010, AT 6:30 P.M., AT THE CAROLYN SIMS CENTER, 225 NW 12TH AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Barbara Ready, Chair Donn Davenport Sherie Tengbergen Debby Coles-Dobay, Public Art Administrator ABSENT: Anderson Slocombe, Vice Chair Dana Cook Barbara Lentz Christine Moeller Nubia Richman Halena Wolf MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC Everlene Baker Bettye Edgerton Jermaine Johnson Myra Jones Debbie Marucci Len Marucci Lois Smith Gertrude Sullivan Laura Williams 1. Review of artists concepts for panels 2. Discussions and feedback of panel concepts Debby Coles-Dobay, Public Art Administrator, facilitated the meeting which opened at 6:36 p.m. Artists Debbie and Len Marucci and Jermaine Johnson were introduced. Ms. COles-Dobay provided an overview of the project which would celebrate more of the visual aspects of the community. The images to be discussed would be used to represent the past, present and future panels. 1 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 The monument, which honored Americans who worked diligently for the betterment of the community, would remain at Heritage Park. The Butterfly Mandela was purchased by the CRA and would be placed in Heritage Park once the pad was installed. Ms. Coles-Dobay reviewed the results of the last workshop. Comments by the attendees were as follows: . Gateway. They liked the gates, but felt they were busy. They were not certain they would like the image in an aluminum medium. . Wildlife flora and fauna. They suggested other wildlife be added that represented the native Seminole Indians. . Music. All agreed music and dancing were important to the community. . Uplifted hands with heart and dove. More women should be represented. . Hands. Butterflies could be used in lieu of the hands. . Church on wheels. This was symbolic of churches moving to other areas because of the Jim Crow laws. . Bell and church. The bell, which is currently located at St. Paul AME Church, was important and represented the community. Crosses, stained glass windows and bibles could be used as religious symbols. . Abundance. The community was self-sustaining and grew their own vegetables, brought them to market, and shared their bounty with the community. . Row houses. The houses were close together, representing unity and dependence. Porches on the houses fostered communication and allowed neighbors to be friendly. . Row of Palm trees. The Palm trees demonstrated the manner in which the visuals translated into a particular medium. . Education. The attendees liked the books but were not certain how they should be linked to graduation. While various professions emerged from the books, the attendees felt school subjects should emerge from the books. It was discussed some of the visuals on the panels representing the past, present and future. Heritage Park was located on the southwest corner of MLK Boulevard. The northwest corner would encompass the past. The northeast corner would encompass 2 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 the present and the past. The past history of the area at the time reflected it was inhabited by "beings," whether animals, wildlife or Indians. The northeast corner also depicted the time period of the 1800s beginning with the railroads which were important as they employed African Americans and attracted more people to the area. Moving forward to the present, the images included education and music. It had been suggested that Mr. Johnson's mural provide a timeline. The southeast corner portrayed the future represented by the hope and spirit of the community marching into the future. Ms. Coles-Dobay the first image represented the past. A black-and-white metal cutout of the birds with flora would eventually be translated into color. The middle section illustrated the sun and flora of the area. The left area depicted varieties of birds with a swamp rabbit, alligators, an Indian and pineapples in a canoe, and crabs and plants indigenous to the area. The center panel represented the present and reflected a symbol of the City seal with a heart in the center. The center piece would be slightly raised. It was noted an area of space was provided for Mr. Johnson's timeline. Row houses would be black and white on one side and color on the other to create an interesting pattern. The images would be painted on the piece in solid form. On the far side, Mr. Johnson had depicted the railroad station, and the broken heart represented the difficult times faced by the community in dealing with the Jim Crow laws and City ordinances. On the right side, Mr. Johnson used three black feathers to represent the City ordinances. One image reflected a church on wheels being pulled by horses while men assisted in moving the church. The image reflected the church being moved from one area of the City to another and correlated to the broken heart visual. A bell was shown together with religious representations such as a stained glass window, a man preaching from a pedestal, a preacher holding a bible and rows of people in pews listening to the sermon. Hats worn by the people transitioned into an abundance of vegetables and fruit which were then brought to the market. A graduation celebration was symbolized by books with images of various professions. Education was important for the well-being of the community. Music played an important role in the community and pictures of people dancing to the music were shown. The future component of the project was located in the southeast corner. Cutouts were displayed featuring various elements. The middle piece contained another heart with a dove and portrayed men, women and children of all ages. Images again depicted butterflies, music and dancing. Abundance was symbolized and was still important as it signified self-sustainability. Many of these elements, which were also shown in the timeline, were important to the future. The right side continued with a depiction of 3 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 people and music. Religious representations depicted were very important and included a Kwanzaa celebration. The hands transitioned into butterflies, which represented freedom. The attendees commented as follows on the overview: . It would be difficult to complete and understand the subject matter, which was a tremendous undertaking as currently displayed. . Not enough history was reflected in the images for the past. . Not enough figures portrayed the past as compared to the amount of foliage included. More row houses should be included as well. . The timeline was a major project and it was difficult to imagine translated in the format proposed. . Not enough substance was included in the images for the future and more unity in the family, education and development should have been incorporated. . The strongest part of the three panels was the center piece which included the rising sun and unifying heart. As the panels were so connected and so solid, the sailfish image should be attached to the bottom part of the panel. Ms. Marucci responded by discussing the structure of the panels. . The top panel was likely the closest to the reality of the three. . All three panels were extremely busy with a good deal of images in both the bottom and top. The center panel was totally different from the other panels. . It appeared as though the center themes were the largest, probably because they were depicting the Heart of Boynton. The sunburst should be included in the heart as well. It was explained the images would be proportioned equally, and three hearts, rather than two, would be included. . The open heart image had been previously discussed. The community opted for a closed heart. . The marlin should be removed from the center of the heart, creating three different images. 4 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 . Rather than having the sailfish in the heart, the heart should be removed, with the sailfish remaining. . Three different images should be included on the last panel: a heart, a circular shape similar to the City seal and another shape. . The heart detracted from the sailfish. . The heart should in the center which signified the present and also incorporated the Heart of Boynton Beach and City logo. The bottom area should be changed. . The bird on the bottom should be changed. . The bird could serve as the cut-out. . The fish in the middle was not centered. It would be determined later in the meeting how many attendees. . Liked the elements the way they were with three different shapes. . Preferred two hearts and the sun shape. . Felt all three should be contained in heart shapes with the sun included. Each panel was reviewed for content and placement. The first panel, the "past," contained the sun, water, foliage, animals, crabs, alligators, the Seminole Indian on a boat, a swamp rabbit, and a variety of birds and critters. Comments offered by the attendees included the following: . The Butterfly Mandela's appeal could be attributed to its subtleness of color. . As to the medium, the metal could be seen through the transparency. . It was not the group's decision to use aluminum. Ms. Coles-Dobay pOinted out it would be necessary for the material to be durable in order to last for 15-20 years. The majority of the attendees were in favor of the panel conceptually. 5 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 Comments on the images offered by the attendees were as follows: Seminole Indian panels with the land crabs, alligators, etc. . The alligators appeared to be having "too good a time" and the boat in which the Seminole Indian was sitting appeared to be eaten by alligators. . The alligator should be corrected. . The majority of the attendees like the image. . One of the two crabs should be removed. Trains and row houses. . Ms. Marucci noted the houses would be 12 inches high and would create more depth to Mr. Johnson's metal piece. Silver would be visible through the cutouts. . In addition to having a historic element, the row houses also represented unity of the community. . The bottom of the center panel should include row houses as opposed to more flora. This image would be further addressed during the meeting. Images created by Mr. Johnson were discussed. Railroad and trains. This would be on a plain, flat piece of metal, and the work would be simplified. House in the broken heart. Mr. Johnson noted as the train traveled further into the horizon, the row houses would merge with the image of the train. Comments offered by the attendees included the following: . The image of the train and people at the front portrayed a powerful image. . The images of the heart and row houses in the front created too much of a repetition of the same image. . The houses required perspective work. 6 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 . The symbols required fine-tuning. . The businesses, churches and buildings on MLK Boulevard should be captured and identified. However, it was previously agreed that the use of specific names of people and buildings were to be avoided. . The dilapidated houses could be replaced with an image of a strip mall in which various businesses would be located. . The train should "curve around and go back," removing the heart and the row houses. It was clarified the heart represented Mr. Johnson's interpretation of the Jim Crow era and difficult times. . The train could transition from large to small. The engine should be visible. . Rather than utilizing the broken heart, other forms of symbols for transition could be considered. . The broken heart would indicate that the Black community was forced to move from the Intracoastal inland and would not necessarily portray Jim Crow. After discussion, it was agreed the heart should be eliminated. The group also agreed they did not want the feathers or symbols of the Jim Crow laws included and the row houses on the top visual should be replaced by storefronts of varying heights. As to whether the group wanted the visual of the church on wheels pulled by horses, it was felt the horses related to Jim Crow and should not be included. However, it was believed the small church in the baCkdrop and larger image of the church could be included. The next panel reflected religious aspects of the area and included a bell, a stained glass window, a preacher and pulpit which symbolized the spine of the Bible, and people sitting in pews wearing hats that transitioned into fruits and vegetables to be taken to market. The group felt the pews should be omitted, as it appeared the people were sitting on the back of the truck. One comment offered was that the panel placed too much emphasis on religion. When asked for a show of hands pertaining to the religious symbols, it was agreed the image of the table should be removed, and the Bible should be brought out in greater detail. It was suggested a word bubble be included to reflect the minister's sermon. The group felt the bell should be minimized. Another suggestion was to place a bell, in lieu of the marlin and heart, in the center of the panel. This would create additional space needed for the various concepts. 7 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 As discussed at the previous workshop, the next visual reflected books and education. Various professions were represented by a stethoscope, a judge, police badge, briefcase and diploma. It was noted that while the panel was currently "crowded," this would be modified by rearranging symbols. It was suggested the graduation cap be made larger and be worn by a female. Another image reflected music and people enjoying ethnic dancing. Comments from the attendees included the following: . Images of people playing basketball were preferable to images of people dancing in the streets. . The visual did not portray sufficient career elements emerging from the books. . Continuity was essential to the timeline, and the image of the music and dancing tied into the previous panel. The next image reflected a celebration and rejoicing figures. It depicted "today" going forward into the future. The middle reflected a dove in a heart. Pursuant to comments previously made, the artist modified the image to depict women and men of all ages. Abundance was represented by fruits, vegetables and fish. The religious and educational elements were included as they were still very important to the community. Ms. Marucci explained the panel represented Martin Luther King's "dream" and included symbols of emancipation, freedom, unity and integration. Included on the right side of the panel were musical representations, a Kwanzaa symbol with seven candles and uplifted hands transitioning into butterflies. It was commented Kwanzaa should not be connected to "church" and as such, the cross on the Kwanzaa symbol was not appropriate. It was agreed by a majority of the attendees that the Kwanzaa representation should be omitted. An attendee did not feel the progression of the community had been sufficiently portrayed and suggested development be reflected. The group concurred. Images that could project development into the future would include blueprints or a man carrying a shovel and wearing a hard hat. A majority of the attendees agreed future development should be portrayed in the panel. As set forth earlier in the meeting, the group was asked to take action to determine if they: 1. Liked the elements they way they are with three different shapes; 2. Preferred two hearts and the sun shape; and 8 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Workshop/Community Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida April 15, 2010 3. Felt all three should be contained in heart shapes with the sun included. The group agreed to item 1. Rather than adding row houses to panel one, the group agreed to retain the foliage in the center. Ms. Coles-Dobay advised a panel in greater detail would be displayed in the lobby of the Sims Center, and she looked forward to receiving comments. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. St;P&~~h~ Recording Secretary 052010 9