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Minutes 03-24-15 MINUTES OF THE ARTS COMMISSION MEETING HELD AT FIRE STATION NO 2,2615 W. WOOLBRIGHT ROAD BOYNTON BEACH ONTUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2415, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT: Debby Bottorff, Chair Debby Coles-Dobay, Public Art Manager Cynthia Edwards (arrived 6:42 p.m.) Robyn Lorenz (arrived at 6. p. m.) Paul Sirota Anderson Slocombe Aylin Tito ABSENT: Rachel Mondesir I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Bottorff called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. [I. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Self-introductions were made. A quorum was present. Ill. AGENDA APPROVAL Ms. Coles-Dobay announced a correction to the agenda. Item VII. D should read: 2010 2012 Strategic Plan presentation. Motion Mr. Sirota moved to approve the agenda as amended. Ms, Tito seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. APPROVE MEETING MINUTES A. December 23, 2014 minutes The December minutes were not available. B. February 24, 2015 minutes Motion Mr. Anderson moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Tito seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 V. ANNOUNCEMENTS /REPORTS A. March 26, Boynton Beach Art District (BBAD) Art Walk 6 -9pm Ms. Coles -Dobay advised she attended the last Art Walk and it was very good. There were new artists and exhibits. Chair Bottorff commented there is a nice interaction between the music and art and she likes talking to the artists. B. Tuesday, March 17, Public Art Ordinance amendment at City Commission meeting The amendment to the Public Art Ordinance would be heard at the City Commission meeting. This is the second reading of the Ordinance when issues could be raised and the public has input. The City Manager had met with the Commissioners prior to the City Commission meetings and one Commissioner was not particularly interested in art, but thought the Arts Commission was doing a good job. Another Commissioner inquired if there were other Art in Public Places Ordinances in Palm Beach County. Ms. Coles - Dobay requested the members be present at the meeting. She recommended the members read the Ordinance to familiarize themselves with it. It would also be helpful when making Strategic Plan updates. C. East Water Treatment Plant (EWTP) Call to artists published Ms. Coles -Dobay explained the call to artists for this project was published as was discussed at the November meeting. It was a big project with a budget of $265,000. Ms. Tito recalled the Park was a passive Park and an area where the public could obtain fresh water. The project could use aspects of potable, reclaimed water, and /or be a visual project, with sculptural and ecological elements. As an Art in Public Places project, the art had to be visible and accessible to the public. Ms. Coles -Dobay issued a Request for Qualifications due back April 10 There will be a selection panel comprised of a Board member, a public artist, a representative of the CN CDM Construction Company, and a staff person from the Utilities Department. The artists will provide their qualifications, a brief statement, references, past projects that fit with the theme, and answer prequalified questions. The two finalists are then notified and are given $2,500 each to create their proposal. They will interview with the team to learn more about the project and present their concept or prototype. Ms. Coles -Dobay anticipated the pieces would be sophisticated and involve engineering. There will be hard costs, design, construction and installation costs. Interested individuals could follow the project along on the website and the final product would be approved by the Board. D. April 23, 6 -7pm Plein Air Kinetic Exhibit closing reception/ Arts Commission award presentation Chair Bottorff read the announcement. All were encouraged to attend at the Library, on the second floor. Ms. Coles -Dobay agreed to email a reminder to the members. 2 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 V1. PROJECT UPDATES/APPROVALS A. None VII. AIPP STRATEGIC PLAN/MASTER PLAN A. Arts Commission Board Ms. Coles-Dobay distributed the Code regarding the duties and authorities of the Arts Commission which was adopted in 2005. Chair Bottorff did not think there was anything that needed to be changed as the Arts Commission was already performing these functions. Chair Bottorff noted the number of people on the Board and inquired about the procedure to appoint someone. Ms. Coles-Dobay explained when someone applies, staff checks to see if they have any record, and if they live and/or work in the City. The application then is submitted to the City Commission who makes the appointments. Ms. Coles-Dobay tries to contact the person first to invite them to a Board meeting and asks if they have any questions. It is better to have a member educated about the arts on the Board. Ms. Coles-Dobay also thought having a business owner or an attorney on the Board would be helpful. There were specific criteria for members to be on the Board. She explained alternates can participate in discussions, but could not vote unless a regular member was absent. Ms. Coles-Dobay had emailed the members and requested what they thought were positive and negative attributes of the Arts Commission and what could be done to improve the Board's efficiency. She distributed the member responses to the positive aspects of the Board as follows: • Diverse group with their own strengths • All can express their opinions • Work together well • Group of people that love art and being involved in the community • Although not all members always fully engaged or prepared for all discussions, the Arts Commission gets a lot done • Most members contribute to the discussions and are effective in discussions and decision making process. Negative comments were as follows: • Add more members and have a more diverse background; sometimes there is barely a quorum Member thoughts and opinions do not influence much. Projects would occur with or without the formality of discussions and votes. • Conversations are nitpicky. 3 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 0 No acknowledgement from key players at the City level. ® Aside from including members on the agenda emails, the City Commission would not know the Arts Commission exists nor would anyone associated with the City know an Arts Commission member(s) by name. 0 Do not feel remotely appreciated as a volunteer. 0 People do not come to meetings prepared, don't bring their agenda or read backup materials and meeting time is wasted 0 Not all have the needed skill set to be effective during some discussions. Discussion followed about the negative comments. Long-standing members, who had contributed a lot of time on the Board, do not receive anything in terms of recognition; no letters, certificates or anything, Mr. Slocombe commented the City sends thank-you letters once a year. He noted the City had previously held a Board Appreciation Dinner, but with the recession, it had been discontinued. He used to receive thank you letters each year. Ms. Coles-Dobay explained the City Commission does acknowledge the Arts Commission at the City Commission meetings and was very concerned about obtaining volunteers and was contemplating how to attract Board members. Ms. Coles-Dobay noted if the appearance of lack of appreciation was felt, she could provide this feedback to them. One example given was one member met many people on the City level several times and even sat with several of them at the 4 th of July. The member and the member's spouse engaged in conversation with City representatives and Commissioners. The same member had been introduced to Commissioners many times, but at events, the members have to be introduced to the Commissioners or the Commissioners read their name tags. Some thought the Absence Policy was silly. The members acknowledged it was difficult to make every meeting as the members were professionals and sometimes had scheduling conflicts. If a good member misses some meetings, the Chair should have a discussion with them to learn if they were still interested in serving on the Board as opposed to receiving a letter telling them they would be removed, Ms. Coles-Dobay suggested having a balance and a positive aspect to any correspondence, instead of only negative news. Suggestions to send a holiday card or offer a glass of water, or cup of coffee at meetings was made. Ms. Lorenz noted several hospitals have volunteer boards listing the names of volunteers and how many years or how many hours the volunteer gave. Even car dealerships have plaques recognizing employees for their service. Board members work for free. Mr. Slocombe explained there was a cost for that, and there are several Boards. Being unprepared for the meetings was frequently noted, but it was thought most artists were unorganized. Ms. Coles-Dobay disagreed. Having alternate members would be helpful and a suggestion was made if there are vacancies, members that have a background that would balance the Board would be beneficial. 4 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 The members discussed what could improve the Board's efficiencies and noted on the nights when the Arts Commission does not have a packed agenda, new members may not be familiar with some of the items. As a result, it is the longer standing members that make the ongoing decisions. Now that the Arts Commission was making decisions that have a greater impact, it was recommended all the members take the time to physically inspect approved projects or installations. A suggestion was made to appoint a parliamentarian to help ensure the Board does not get in trouble with the Sunshine Law. Most members only viewed the video once or twice. It was important the members follow the Sunshine Law and follow the criteria when they make decisions that are forwarded to the City Commission. The Chair manages the meetings; however, Chair Bottorff noted they do not strictly follow Robert's Rules. Groups can vote under certain circumstances not to use Robert's Rules for certain portions of the meetings and she thought it was fine to relax Robert's Rules, but they do not do so. Ms. Coles -Dobay commented it was important not to violate the Sunshine Law, or have conversations on an item on the agenda outside of the meeting, that will be voted on later. On matters involving a vendor, members can speak with them, but if the item was on the agenda, and the member would sway the vote, they must disclose the conversation. Similarly, an applicant or vendor seeking project approval should not give coupons or anything else to Board members. Board members being prepared enable meetings to progress quicker and have a more strategic approach to obtaining members that would balance the Board. Ms. Coles - Dobay explained the members should be thinking of who would be good for the Board. She commented they have a nice network of volunteers. Suggestions how to make the Board more effective were: 1. Partner with other City organizations such as Recreation and Parks to integrate art in a more proactive way. These meetings were supposed to be scheduled at least quarterly. Ms. Coles -Dobay thought quarterly meetings might be too much. The meetings will need to be noticed. 2. Conduct a regular analysis on how proposed actions relate to the Board's mandate. More members will bring more ideas. 3. Have a strong engaged leadership. This is difficult to achieve with volunteers that work full time. 4. Regularly look at the items and discuss how it encourages art in the City. If a project comes to the City, the Board can review how it contributes to the arts. The Arts Commission should also stay on track with the artists. Mr. Sirota commented there are in -depth conversations when they review a project and often the artist or developer is present to make a presentation. The members should 5 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 think what they want to have in the Strategic Plan and if the Plan has provisions for it. Mr. Slocombe suggested reviewing these once every six months or so to ensure they are on track overall, and a report could be presented to the City Commission. Ms. Coles- Dobay advised they had made a presentation last April and they would do so again. B. Mission and Vision The mission of the Arts Commission was: To integrate the arts into the greater community. The purpose is to stimulate cultural interaction, education and economic development by selecting, siting, installing and maintaining public art. The Vision statement was also reviewed. Ms. Coles-Dobay suggested as they work on the Strategic Plan, the members consider if the mission or vision needs further updating. C. Top 10 Program successes The members listed their top 10 successes as: 0 Kinetic Art event • Avenue of the Art changes and updates every six months 0 Eco Walk (Eco art projects) 0 City rebranding. The Arts Commission was the catalyst to the rebranding ® Promotion of the Boynton Beach Art District 0 Rotating exhibits for indoor art exhibits 0 Supporting Plein Air Artists 0 Community buy-in/support of the program. ® Development project cooperation 0 Improve the overall quality of art installed in the City Ms. Coles-Dobay thought these accomplishments were a good start and she suggested discussing these items further at the next meeting. D, 2012 Strategic Plan presentation Ms. Coles-Dobay distributed a handout of public art projects including those in parks, the Library, the CRA District, the Fire Department and those from the Arts Commission's Avenue of the Arts. She explained those entities were responsible for maintaining the pieces and the art was insured. Development projects insure the art on their sites and handle the maintenance as well. There were some projects that needed maintenance, which was a budgetary concern. It was important to reserve funds for the maintenance of public art. The handout helped 6 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 identify different areas within the City and there are reasons for the placement of the art projects. The members viewed a presentation to be made to the City Commission detailing the accomplishments of the Arts Commission to 2014. When the City adopted the Public Art Ordinance in 2005, it was one of few beginning programs to adopt a public and private art program. Thirty percent of the one percent public art fee is for the program's operations. It was noted there are several public art programs in the State and over 500 nationwide. E. Strategic Plan outline Ms. Coles-Dobay distributed the outline to the members and discussion would continue at the next meeting. The presentation was the beginning of the update. She requested the members email her with their comments. There were numerous development plans in the City and CRA District, and the members could contemplate how to dovetail their mission and goals with those plans. VIII. EXHIBITS A. NONE IX. NEW BUSINESS A. Conrad Picket Event The members spoke about the exhibit at the last meeting. The handout gave the date and information about the event scheduled for May 23, 2015. Ms. Coles-Dobay attended a meeting for the event and the Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts and the McMow Glass Studios will join in to celebrate the event. B. New Arts Commission meeting day from fourth Tuesday to second Thursday The members were sent an email about changing the meeting date. Ms. Lorenz advised she had a scheduling conflict. After further brief discussion, there was agreement to move the meeting to the second Thursday of the month staring in May. Motion Mr. Sirota moved to change meeting to the second Thursday of the month starting May 14 Ms. Tito seconded the motion that passed 5-1, (Ms. Lorenz dissenting.) Ms. Coles-Dobay also announced she will be out of town on June 11 th . 7 Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, Florida March 24, 2015 C. Stanley Slutsky Op Art Painting donation Motion Mr. Sirota moved to accept the Stanley Slutsky $4,000 Op Art painting donation. Mr. Slocombe seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The City will provide a letter to Mr. Slutsky acknowledging his donation. X. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. None XI. FUTURE BUSINESS A. None X111. ADJOURNMENT Motion There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Lorenz moved to adjourn. Mr. Sirota seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m. Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 03130115 8