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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-01-04; Arts Commission; MinutesMINUTES Meeting of: ARTS COMMISSION Time of Meeting: 4:00 p.m. Date of Meeting: January 4, 1990 Place of Meeting: City Council Conference Room COMMISSIONERS CALL TO ORDER; Chairman Bear called the Meeting to order at 4:07 p.m. ROLL CALL; Present: Commissioners Bear, Bischoff, Jersey, Ladouceur, Meilach and Straub. Absent: Commissioner Mikhael. Staff Members Present: Connie Beardsley, Arts Manager Cliff Lange, Library Director APPROVAL OF MINUTES; The Minutes of the Meeting held October 5, 1989, were approved as presented. The Minutes of the Meeting held December 7, 1989, were approved as presented. OLD BUSINESS; Manager's Report - Connie Beardsley Connie Beardsley reported that there are several changes in staff; Ardis Doemner will be leaving and going to the Attorney's office, necessitating the hiring of a new secretary. There is now a Community Arts Coordinator, Colleen Finnegan. There were over 70 applications for the position. Ms. Finnegan has been the Director of the Arts Program in La Mesa, and will start work here on the 15th. Ms. Beardsley will be interviewing next week for a half- time Public Art position. Ms. Beardsley reported that the Council voted to formalize the Sister City Committee, and the Community Arts Coordinator will be the staff person to that Committee, under the direction of the Arts Office. She said the Committee is interested in exchanges on culture, tourism anc economics. Mayor Lewis will be appointing this Committee within the next three weeks, and it will be a brand new Committee, with the representatives from the community. Ms. Beardsley reminded the Commission of the breakfast next Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. She said there are 50 people signed uj for the breakfast, and Bob McNulty will speak about the CLty in general. The workshop on redevelopment will be held fron 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The breakfast will be held at the Olympic Resort. Ms. Beardsley announced that at the next Arts Commission Meeting, the Wolf Organization will be here. That meeting will be February 1, and the time will be devoted to the Cultural Plan. Bear Bischoff Jersey Ladouceur Meilach Straub Bear Bischoff Jersey Ladouceur Meilach Straub MINUTES January 4, 1990 ARTS COMMISSION Page 2 COMMISSIONERS OLD BUSINESS; (Continued) Ms. Beardsley reported on the highway bridges project, stating that CalTrans had indicated they would be happy to have the Commission participate in the overpass project. Ms. Beardsley reiterated that the Bilingual Foundation for the Arts will perform March 19 - 21, 1990, with the performance on the 20th at the Cultural Arts Center. It will be a family performance geared for young children. The program will be bilingually performed simultaneously. She said the workshops will be at Pine School and Buena Vista. Following a discussion where it was determined that Jefferson is also an elementary school where the students are bilingual, Ms. Beardsley indicated she would try to schedule another workshop there. Committee Reports - Kiosk Committee Festival Committee Acquisitions Committee Kiosk Committee - Commissioner Ladouceur reported that Nan Robertson is almost finished with the drawings. Ms. Beardsley added that concrete was to be poured for the library picnic pad, and at the same time, the additional part to the sidewalk will be poured for the kiosk. Chairman Bear inquired whether there had been any discussion about putting any kiosks in other places, and Ms. Beardsley replied that the Arts Associates had talked about that. If there are any funds left over from this project, they will be used to install another kiosk. They had stated that they wanted to get this one completed before starting on another one. Commissioner Ladouceur commented that there needs to be some type of announcement spot for cultural events, as the general public is not aware of events that are taking place. Chairman Bear inquired about the billboard at May Stores, and Ms. Beardsley said they were denied permission to use it; however, she will ask them again. Festival Committee - Commissioner Jersey reported he had the number of people that would be involved in this project, and it would be 25 to 30, in order to handle all aspects of the project. He will have that list for the next Commission meeting. He asked whether it was possible to go to the nearby community for these people, and the consensus of the Commission was that it was. Acquisitions Committee - Ms. Beardsley reported that she had the list for the Acquisitions Committee, and the Commission needed to vote its approval. The Arts Commission approved the Acquisitions Committee of Kim Mikhael, Ellen Rice, Barbara Rieger and Jim Hall. Bear Bischoff Jersey Ladouceur Meilach Straub MINUTES January 4, 1990 ARTS COMMISSION Page 3 COMMISSIONERS Acquisitions Committee (Continued) Following a discussion, Ms. Beardsley said that Commissioner Straub should present the donation offer by Margaret Barlow to the Acquisitions Committee. Commissioner Straub commented that some people are not in favor of people offering the City something and the City turning it down. She said that everybody has a different idea of what art is and she knew that the Arts Committee would like to have a collection which would be by the arts community. Commissioner Straub asked what about all the other things offered to the City, and added that she personally thought there was a use for some of these things. They could be enjoyed by the citizens and also generate good will. She said she knew there had to be guidelines and something in writing, but that did not mean that those guidelines were perfect. She said she hoped each situation would be discussed and dealt with in its own context, and added there needed to be flexibility there. Chairman Bear said he felt there was flexibility on the Acquisitions Committee, with four people who will hear the appeal of the donor and make a decision. If the process doesn't work over time, then this Commission has the opportunity to change it. He felt there needed to be a policy written down, or the Commission will not be able to respond as when the America Sculpture was proposed last year. Commissioner Bischoff stated that was the primary reason for guidelines—since the Commission has to make a decision. If objects are accepted, they must be maintained, and if they can't be maintained, there is no reason to accept them. Commissioner Meilach added that this is a tool to keep these objects from being offered solely as a tax deduction. Commissioner Straub said that all those things needed to be considered and she felt one way to solve the problem would be to have two different programs—pristine art collection and the other one something other than that. Commissioner Ladouceur suggested there could be a temporary exhibit program in the Library or Cultural Arts Center, and not keep the pieces permanently. Commissioner Bischoff said that any kind of art is such a subjective thing in many ways, that there needs to be some means of looking at each piece of art on an individual basis. Commissioner Straub said that the Commission has already turned down two offers of art pieces, and now they have the Choir Girl offered. Chairman Bear suggested that now that the Commission does have guidelines, that whatever decision is made by the Committee be reviewed by this Commission. He said that there may need to be two categories of acceptance, as the City could become a dumping ground. MINUTES January 4, 1990 ARTS COMMISSION Page 4 COMMISSIONERS Temporary Sculpture Exhibition Connie Beardsley said there was no report at this time. NEW BUSINESS; Grants Allocations Commissioner Meilach gave the report, stating that bringing in people with more direct knowledge of the organization requesting funds and how they perform was very worthwhile, and she commended Connie Beardsley for this. Commissioner Meilach referred to the copy of the report supplied to all the Commissioners, and gave the reasons for the grants. She explained that the High School musical production was not funded, as the committee felt the school should be funding it. Also, most of the charges were from royalties due to the number of performances, and the committee felt the number of performances could be cut down to fill the house and also reduce the cost. It was felt the production could be self-supporting, whereas most of the other items on the list could not be. Commissioner Meilach said that there were places in the form that should be clarified and changed for next year. Whether the project is for community enhancement or reviewed for quality priority; and whether it is for one year or an ongoing project, were some of the issues that came up. It was felt there was not enough direction from the Arts Commission. She suggested a workshop be held to discuss the process and have experts there for their input. The Commissioners discussed the number of requests for grants, and it was explained that some items are now being sponsored by the School District. Commissioner Meilach said that the people who have submitted requests before knew that the amounts would be cut, and therefore they requested more than they had before. The Arts Commission accepted the grant applications amount and the people being awarded grants, and directed staff to proceed. The suggestion was made to write a letter to the City Council explaining that the grant funds are limited and that one way to have more funds for the Band would be to have a line item in the Arts budget to give the Band funds for City Services. The suggestion was also made that the Arts Associates could make it one of their projects to help the Band. ADJOURNMENT; By proper motion, the Meeting of January 4, 1990, adjourned at 5:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, was CONNIE BEARDSLEY Manager, Arts Office Harriett Babbitt Minutes Clerk Bear Bischoff Jersey Ladouceur Meilach Straub