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Minutes 08-13-20Minutes of the Arts Commission Meeting Held on Thursday, August 13, 2020, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at GoToWebinar Online Meeting In Boynton Beach, Florida Present: Courtland McQuire, Chair Kathryn Matos, Assistant City Manager Marcia Levine, Vice Chair Nicole Blanks, Public Art Assistant Susan Oyer Robyn Lorenz Jehana Zell (arrived 7 p.m.) Sadam Silverio Clovis Moodie Martin Klauber, Alternate At 6:32 p.m. John McNally, ITS Director, read a statement explaining how the meeting would proceed and how the public could participate. Chair McQuire called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. and noted the agenda was revised. I. Self-introductions The members introduced themselves. II. Agenda Approval Ms. Oyer asked if Kinetic Art and the High Ridge sculpture was supposed to be on the agenda. Chair McQuire understood they could address the Kinetic Art event later in the agenda and as to the High Ridge sculpture, it was still in limbo and no action had been taken. They could put it on the agenda. Motion Ms. Oyer moved to approve the agenda. Vice Chair Levine seconded the motion. The motion unanimously passed. III. Approve Meeting Minutes A. July 9, 2020 minutes Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, FL August 13, 2020 2 Ms. Oyer clarified on page 2, section 4, under Informational Items she was talking about the Sister Cities International Convention and Sister Cities sponsors a young artist program. She was referring to the Boynton Sister Cities group picked an artist and submitted her work which was being shown at the international convention. Some of the members of the Arts Commission picked the art chosen to go to the international exhibit. Motion Ms. Lorenz moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Oyer seconded the motion. The motion unanimously passed. IV. Informational Items from the Board Chair McQuire understood that John Baptiste Wreinstein was in attendance as a potential new member. Vice Chair Levine had met him recently. He is a fellow DJ and he is a long-time resident. She mentioned there was an alternate position and suggested he should attend the meeting and if he was interested, he could apply. Mr. Wreinstein was introduced as he attended the meeting. He has been a Boynton Beach resident for the last 15 years and is a realtor at Hudson Realty. He loves being in Boynton Beach and loves the lifestyle. Vice Chair Levine noted there was another month of indoor appreciation of art and there are lots of online auctions and galleries springing up. There are interesting ways artists are bringing their art to the public. Artists have to make a living and people cannot visit galleries. When she can, she buys art that speaks to her which helps artists. Ms. Moodie advised she was not sent a link. Mr. McNally assisted her. V. Announcements/Reports A. Some members of Arts Commission toured the new City Hall Lobby Ms. Blanks took Ms. Moodie, Chair McQuire and Ms. Zell on a tour of the new City Hall Lobby. She noted there were still a lot of installations occurring. Chair McQuire explained the Library mural art piece at the entrance on the second story was installed. He noted the mural was not under the Arts Commission’s purview to review and it was spectacular. It was installed by Library staff about two or three weeks ago and it was very well done. Artist Bill Combes’ artwork is still under production and it will still be delayed. All the members were invited to the tour. Chair McQuire invited the members who did not take the tour to contact Ms. Blanks to arrange for one. B. Public Arts Manager Recruitment Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, FL August 13, 2020 3 Chair McQuire reported great progress has been made. There were about 100 submissions. Staff shortlisted the applicants to about six semi-finalists, which will be further reduced to two applicants for interviews. Kathryn Matos, Assistant City Manager, explained there was a unanimous decision to interview the top two applicants and interviews will be conducted next week. The goal is to onboard the person in the next month, contingent on how long it takes to get the paperwork processed. Ms. Oyer commented years ago, when Ms. Coles-Dobay was hired, the Arts Commission participated in the hiring process. Ms. Oyer asked if that would occur. Chair McQuire explained the hiring process has to be handled by City employees. C. Kinetic Event Consultant Chair McQuire reviewed there are obvious obstacles with the event, such as COVID-19. He noted festivals are cancelled, delayed or permanently taken away. The possibility of the date moving is very good. The Arts Commission would like to hold the event in the beginning of the year, but the kinetic event consultant, and it is a huge undertaking attracting over 10K attendees, has a lot of moving parts. The firm, Zucker and Lewis, has submitted a proposal. Ms. Matos explained the City has a resolution on the August 19th City Commission agenda due to the cost, and they will discuss the event and consider whether to adopt the Resolution. Ms. Oyer commented, assuming they are moving forward with some type of event, she thought there were ways around COVID-19, as it is the City’s signature event. The Arts Commission met for two months without the event being on the agenda for meaningful discussion. She recalled in the past, the meetings were nearly completely filled with preparation for the event. She was aware hiring a company is expensive, but thought they should approach the matter anticipating the event will occur and discuss it. It seemed like they were waiting for a late date and then will be running around. It is a signature event and thought it could be held. She was concerned they would run out of time. Ms. Matos responded they are moving forward, she was in close contact with several contacts and trying to do the groundwork with the list of artists they had previously spoken with. The event is happening and the final piece was to hire someone and the City Commission approved the event. Ms. Oyer noted usually it’s the Arts Commission members doing most of the work and she got worried because she did not hear much. The members were not informed it was going forward or given updates. Ms. Matos will include the event on the agenda moving forward to keep the Board apprised. Ms. Oyer thought the City would need their help. Chair McQuire agreed the event is a Signature event. He thought it was the perfect storm, but the City came up with the idea of an event consultant. Whether the event occurs or not does not mean it is the end of the Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, FL August 13, 2020 4 event. The person could take the ball and run with it. He thought an event firm would help bolster the event. VI. Project Updates/Approvals A. City Hall Lobby Nautical Watercolor by Carly Mejeur Chair McQuire reviewed the nautical piece. An image of the framed piece was viewed. The suggestion was to hang the piece on a totally blank wall, near where it was originally slated to be shown and he thought it was good idea. There is a lot of detail that would be missed if the art was hung too high. (Ms. Zell joined the meeting at 7 p.m.) When the members come to City Hall, he encouraged the members to have Ms. Blanks show them where it would be placed. Ms. Oyer thought they should just vote on it. Motion Ms. Oyer moved to approve moving the art to a better viewing location. Ms. Lorenz seconded the motion. The motion unanimously passed. B. Taco Bell Final Mural Review for Approval Chair McQuire explained construction on Taco Bell was delayed. The new art was viewed. It was the Commission’s idea to make the art more Boynton centric and the water tower and other water elements were added to the mural. Taco Bell loves the piece and it is urban and cool is gorgeous. Taco Bell was seeking final approval. Vice Chair Levine noted the original specifications within the RFQ had about 25 elements the artist had to meet. Many of the artists made their pieces Taco Bell centric and some were Boynton Beach centric. The artist put in several Boynton elements and color was added in. Ms. Blanks agreed. She spoke to the artist after the last meeting to ensure there was Boynton imagery included and the artist was open to it. Taco Bell also thought it was a better fit for the location and they were very excited about it. Chair McQuire asked if they could show it on their social media platforms and learned they could. Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, FL August 13, 2020 5 Motion Ms. Oyer moved to approve. Ms. Lorenz seconded the motion. The motion unanimously passed. VII. New Business A. No new business VIII. Unfinished Business A. Discussion of Fire Station install status Chair McQuire explained since the last meeting, the City only received a handful of consents for personal images to be included in the pieces. They re-sent the releases and got a greater response. The past Fire Chief did not want to be reflected in the mural. Knowing that, he thought the mural will be altered significantly and creating the piece will be a long process. Chair McQuire thought the Arts Commission should consider whether they want to wait longer to see if more releases are received. Ms. Matos advised they received 12 affirmative confirmations and one decline. Chair McQuire noted the mural will be significantly altered from the original artists’ vision and offered the members could continue this item on future agendas and wait for something to happened or they could make a decision today how to proceed. Ms. Oyer commented the City Commission said they had to send the letters and be returned by a certain date. She favored scrapping the project and starting fresh. She had questions about how the artist and thought there were issues all around. She did not want it reflect badly on the artist and the Arts Commission and thought there was too much controversy. She commented18 to 20 people were refusing to submit their paperwork. Chair McQuire clarified they were not refusing, and some consents were sent relatively recently. He agreed they will not receive everyone’s consent. Ms. Matos explained last week the City Commission said to re-send to people they have not heard back from. The letter was sent this week and it said if they did not respond, they were consenting. The letters were received by the recipients because the contact information is good, and only one letter was returned do to a bad address, so hopefully it will be go forward. Currently, 12 individuals responded yes and there was one no and the City has not yet received responses form the letters sent last week. If they do not respond, they are consenting. Chair McQuire found it troubling the past Fire Chief did not want to be included and could potentially be reflected negatively. He questioned the message it sends to the community and how the mural could be considered. Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, FL August 13, 2020 6 Ms. Lorenz inquired if the art had to be faces of people, or just abstract. Chair McQuire thought the art was approved by the Commission a year ago, so they can’t really go back. The Arts Commission can scrap it, go with nothing and or issue another RFQ. Chair McQuire thought it may be best to wait one more meeting and address it at the next meeting. The mural that was approved will have to be changed to omit at least one person and then be put in production and installed which is, at best, at least 1.5 months away. Ms. Lorenz, noted that would coincide with the kinetic event. Ms. Zell queried if anyone had spoken with the artist. Chair McQuire spoke with her a month or two ago and she expressed interest in continuing. She has been paid as she did the work. Ms. Lorenz favored moving forward without the one photo. Ms. Oyer disagreed and recommended starting over. Chair McQuire suggested waiting one more meeting to get the real facts. IX. Future Business A. Art exhibits for Cultural Center Chair McQuire noted the Cultural Center has lots of beautiful walls and some of the track lighting to illuminate the artwork was installed. He thought it was a perfect venue for artists to display their wares. Artist Nicole Galluccio is still interested in providing artwork and will likely be some of the first artwork displayed there. The members viewed her work at the last meeting. Chair McQuire will take a brief look around, take measurements and will check with Diane Valentini, Cultural Center Manager, to get her perspective. Ms. Oyer asked when they would open the center. Ms. Blanks understood it was in October and there would be a quiet opening. Ms. Oyer thought they would want to have a world-famous artist for their first art display. She asked if the Arts Commission was pursuing famous artists and having the opening with the artist in attendance as a Cultural Center extraordinaire. She thought a famous artist could kick off the building. She supported aiming big and opening in the wintertime. Ms. Zell noted the artist is a Boynton Beach artist and they thought they should highlight someone in the community. Vice Chair Levine commented Ms. Coles-Dobay had been in talks with Jesse Krug and the girls from Art Hives and the project was in the works and then stalled. She noted this did not have to be the display that goes in. She has access to Ringo Starr’s art and many other rock stars’ art. But Ms. Coles-Dobay was speaking to Art Hives and Nicole Galluccio and then it got put on hold and Ms. Galluccio was measuring and already creating art for it which was why they continued discussion. She asked if Ms. Galluccio would be the opening artist. Ms. Blanks they can have discussions about how they will move forward. They can have rotation and variety. Ms. Oyer asked how was Ms. Galluccio selected. The Arts Commission did not approve Meeting Minutes Arts Commission Boynton Beach, FL August 13, 2020 7 that they wanted this to be a grand opening art exhibit. Ms. Blanks explained that was not the case. The artist was excited to be featured in Boynton. She was not set as a grand opening artist; rather she was just one of many artists that will exhibit. The cultural center is new and is opening and it is up to the Arts Commission to decide how they want to move forward. She thought it was exciting to have artists on rotation. Ms. Oyer asked how Ms. Galluccio was selected as the Arts Commission was not part of the process. She noted Ms. Coles-Dobay was friends with Art Hives, but the Arts Commission did not approve Ms. Galluccio as the grant opening art exhibit. Ms. Blanks repeated Ms. Galluccio was not set as the grand opening art exhibit. She was one artist out of many. Chair McQuire explained nothing is in stone. When he does his discovery the next day, he will give a report of how many walls and what are the sizes to provide perspective and when the new art manager comes in, they can express the direction they want to move in. He pointed out the Arts Commission showed pieces by Ms. Galluccio at the last meeting and it was well received. Ms. Oyer suggested aiming bigger. Chair McQuire agreed and thought work by Ringo Starr might work and he encouraged Vice Chair Levine to contact her friends in rock and roll. Ms. Oyer had contacts with Julian Lennon and would reach out to them as well. B. Riverwalk presentation by Mark Fuller Ms. Blanks explained that at the Arts Commission’s next meeting, concepts for art on the parking garage will be presented and there will be an element of design that goes along with what he has done before. He wants to be present so the Arts Commission can ask questions and look at his concepts. Ms. Moodie announced she heard a portion of the meeting and was present. X. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Lorenz moved to adjourn. Ms. Zell seconded the motion. The motion unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 p.m. Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist