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HomeMy WebLinkAbout 07-06-2006 Public Art Advisory Committee Agenda Public Art Advisory Committee Thursday, July 6, 2006 3:30PM Lobby Conference Room A. Call to order B. Public discussion of any item not on the agenda C. Consideration of the minutes of the June 1, 2006 meeting D. Consideration of a call for artists for the Grand Avenue Roundabout project. E. Committee time/Other business/Updates . Birds in Flight . Distribution of Glimpse . Other publicity F. Adjournment MINUTES IOWA CITY PUBLIC ART ADVISORY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2006 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL PRELIMINARY Members Present: Emily Carter-Walsh, Charles Felling, Rick Fosse, Mark Seabold, Terry Trueblood, DaLayne Williamson Members Absent: Emily Martin Staff Present: Karin Franklin Others Present: NONE CALL TO ORDER Seabold called the meeting to order at 3:37 PM. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Acceptance of the sculpture proposed by Mark NeuCollins for placement on the Peninsula Sculptor's Showcase for 2006-2007 by a vote of 6-0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA Feeling said that someone addressed him about the Art in the Park program and was especially interested in the Angel sculpture from City Park. Franklin said that the piece is not considered public art, but a memorial donated by an organization that approached the Parks and Recreations Commission. She added that there was a lot of discussion about it concentrated around the issue of religious connotations. Seabold asked if there were any submissions for the recognition for art not on public spaces. Franklin said there were none. Seabold passed out copies of Glimpse, the map of public art he had developed for Arts Fest. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL 6.2006 MEETING Seabold said that the name of the public sculpture mentioned in the minutes should be A Muse instead of The Muse, noting the name was changed by the artist after the meeting. Franklin indicated she would make an editorial note. MOTION: Martin moved to accept the minutes as amended. Fosse seconded the motion. The motion passed on a vote of 6:0. CONSIDERATION OF SCULPTURE PROPOSAL FOR THE PENINSULA SCULPTORS' SHOWCASE. Mark NeuCollins, a graduate student MFA candidate in Info-Media Art at the University of Iowa, said that he came up with a sculpture representative of the nature around the proposed location of the sculpture which is prairie grass and wind. He said he made a model and 8 concept drawings of his idea, and presented it to the commission. He said the sculpture will be three dimensional bent wood, 10 feet high, with the larger bend towards the walkway. He expected to finish the piece by September. Carter-Walsh commented she felt the piece was graceful with good flow and gesture. Fosse indicated he like the piece also and asked if the components will be strong enough for people to sit on. NeuCollins said that there should be no problem in this regard. Seabold asked how the sculpture would connect to the base. NeuCollins said his basic idea is to use a bolt with a socket, but he still needs to determine how to incorporate that in the final product. Seabold asked if the wood used as raw material would be stained and visible. NeuCollins said he was thinking of a painted gloss finish impervious to weather, and therefore the wood would not be recognizable. Carter-Walsh said she liked the abstract quality in the natural landscape. Felling pointed out the oriental styling, similar to calligraphy. Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes June 1, 2006 Page 2 Williamson said that it is a good design because it does not have a lot of surface area easily prone to vandalism. MOTION: Williamson moved to recommend to the Council that the proposed sculpture be installed in the Peninsula Sculptor's Showcase. Carter-Walsh seconded the motion. The motion passed on a vote of 6:0. REVIEW OBJECTIVES FOR FY07 Franklin said that she included the goals for the current fiscal year to look at what was accomplished and what the focus for the next 6 months should be. She noted that the goal of surveying the community about the public art has not been pursued. Williamson asked what they are trying to find out through the survey. Carter-Walsh said they have jumped from the centralized downtown art to more dispersed neighborhood art pieces and it would be good to know if it affects people at a day by day level. Franklin said the program started with downtown public art, and moved to neighborhoods and then parks. Carter-Walsh said that the outdoor sculptures might be attractive to populations that might not be interested in going to museums. She said that it would be good to know who is seeing the art and what they think. Fosse said that the public's view of the importance of public art could be observed through the survey. He said the commission is trying to expose the art to everybody, and some might not consider it as an important part of their life. He noted that the opinions now could than be compared with the future progress to determine progress in perceptions. Felling added a comment from Nancy Purington who said the public art is like a gallery. Franklin said Purington has been interested in the City supporting an art gallery, and the issue has been one of cost and space. Seabold asked if the commission is still interested in doing the survey. The commission agreed to pursue further the survey. Franklin said they could do a survey online, but it would not be interactive. Williamson said that it would have been good to have the survey ready to go at the end of the week. Franklin said that the speed of the survey is not going to affect the work of the commission. She added that the survey could be administered online and a flyer advertising the survey could be included in the utility bill, and therefore reach more of the city population. She added that if the survey will be administered using multiple answering opportunities the information could not be interpreted statistically, but would just inform the commission about the perceptions of the public. Carter-Walsh said that comments will be as valuable as statistics. Franklin said that an outline of questions and how it will be distributed will be presented at future meetings. Franklin said that another item would be printing and publishing the inventory of public art. In addition, she said, another FY06 goal was to evaluate and solicit various alternative funding sources to increase program revenue. Fosse asked if the public can make donations for the public art program. Franklin said the City of Iowa City welcomes any financial donations for the Public Art fund, which are tax deductible. Fosse said they could create public-private partnerships for public art. He added they could recognize those donating to the projects. Carter-Walsh asked if there are any issues of the commission being the solicitor of funds from private entities. Franklin said there should not be any issues in this regard. She added that before pursuing financial support there should be a project proposed that the public could support. Carter-Walsh said that most discussions about sources of funding were about private sources, and she asked if other government sources could also be considered. Franklin said that the State Department of Cultural Affairs would not fund acquisitions but could offer funds for planning for a project and events. 2 Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes June 1, 2006 Page 3 Franklin said that the update of existing artist database and installation of the Houses of the Northside on area street markers are projects in progress. She noted that the installations of the arch in Benton Hill Park and of the fence and tiles in the Transportation Center have been completed. She noted that most of the goals for FY06 have been achieved. Franklin suggested, as a public awareness strategy, development of an arts "scavenger hunt". The concept would involve the map of public art completed by Seabold with a clue at each piece leading to the next piece. Williamson suggested some sort of prize at the finish with the sequence of the hunt spelling out Iowa City Public Art, or a similar phrase. The committee decided to pursue this idea further to have in place for Arts Fest 2007. Felling said they should also think about the South Grand Avenue roundabout project and submissions. Franklin said the item will be included on the next agenda to discuss specifics of the project and a Call. COMMITTEE TIME/OTHER BUSINESS/UPDATES Seabold said the dedication of the Anderson sculpture will be at 10 am on Saturday during Arts Fest. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:40 PM. s:/pcd/minutes/PublicArU2006l06-Q1-06. doc 3 CI) ~ E't:J E ~ o 0 0(,) CI) ~o::: OCl)CD U)(,)O .- CO >nsN 't:J't:J <C ~! << .~ :c ::s a.. T"" >< >< >< w >< >< >< - - <0 0 <0 >< >< >< >< >< >< >< - ...,. 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