HomeMy WebLinkAboutPAAC Agenda Packet 11-4-21Public Art Advisory Committee
Thursday, November 4, 2021
3:30 PM
Emma Harvat Hall
City Hall, 410 E. Washington
AGENDA
3:30 PM - Call to order
3:30 PM - Introductions of members and public attending the meeting.
3:32 PM - Public discussion of any item not on the agenda
3:34 PM - Consideration of minutes of the October 7, 2021 meeting
3:38 PM - Updates
• Dorothy installation – expected to be installed in next two weeks
• Interactive Mapping project
• Oracles vinyl wrap update
3:50 PM - Discuss potential locations for entry art project – the discussion at the
October 7, 2021 meeting regarding potential entry art projects resulted in Motion that
did not specifically identify a project or location so additional discussion needs to occur.
Attached is a map of possible locations and street view pictures to provide additional
information.
4:05 PM - Discuss options for use of BIPOC funding allocation
• work with the Oracles artist team to develop opportunities
• develop project to highlight history of Black Hawk Mini Park – work with
indigenous artists/Dawson Davenport
• Hispanic/Latino art project
• Others?
4:25 PM - Staff Reports
4:30 PM – Adjournment
To be scheduled:
• Discuss categories mentioned in the minutes (“under/over 18,” “established,”
“emerging,” and “official” artists) in order for the Committee to have a cohesive
understanding of what these terms mean.
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this program/event, please
contact Marcia Bollinger, Neighborhood and Development Services at 319-356-5237 or marcia-
bollinger@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your
access needs.
Minutes Preliminary
Public Art Advisory Committee
October 7, 2021 3:30 PM
Emma Harvat Hall
Public Art Advisory Committee
Members Present: Eddie Boyken, Dominic Dongilli, Ron Knoche, Steve Miller, Nancy
Purington, Juli Seydell-Johnson, Sandy Steil
Members Absent: Jan Finlayson, Andrea Truitt
Staff Present: Marcia Bollinger, Wendy Ford
Public Present: Rachel Arnone (Melody and Raina)
Call to Order
Miller called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
Introduction of Members and Public Attending the Meeting
Members of the public will introduce themselves during their respective agenda item.
Public Discussion of Any Item Not on the Agenda
None.
Consideration of Minutes of the September 2, 2021 Meeting
Motion: Seydell-Johnson moved to accept the minutes from the September 2, 2021
meeting. Knoche seconded. Approved unanimously.
Updates
Oracles of Iowa City – Reception and Community Conversation
Bollinger said she and Miller attended the reception and that it was a well-received event (close
to 100 people in attendance) and the mayor participated and said a few words. She said the
major focus was on the Black Joy mural, and that there were several photos taken but she
wasn’t sure if video documentation of the event will be available. Miller said the Oracles team
also gave an overview of the concept behind the art and their processes. Bollinger said those
who attended were encouraged by the mural and wanted to be more involved in recognizing
their privilege and fostering change within the community.
Opening Doors Exhibit – postpone until next spring
Bollinger said the team behind the Opening Doors Exhibit have decided to defer their project
until next spring.
Resource Management Building mural – Paint Day
Bollinger said Steil was a part of the paint team. She said most of the mural got done the day-of,
and it is coming along and hopefully by the next Friday the artist will have it completely done
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with all of the detail-work included. She encouraged those who haven’t seen it to stop by and
take a look.
Longfellow Pedestrian Tunnel
Rachel Arnone, the art teacher, and her students, Melody and Raina, introduced themselves.
Seydell-Johnson asked the artists what inspired them to make these designs. Melody said hers
were personal characters that she draws in her free time. Raina said she wasn’t sure what
inspired her, but the rest of her drawing was going to incorporate a darker and sadder part to
life, possibly illustrated by skulls. Arnone said the artwork shown comprehensively illustrates the
work of both of her students. Arnone said they are going to re-paint next Friday and she has a
new budget since the prices of paint have gone up.
Oracles of Iowa City
Ford said the Oracles mural project was going over budget for a couple of reasons: the western
most mural required extra paint to accommodate its height, they switched to a different and
more expensive lift for the safety of the artists, and they didn’t realize that traffic control had to
be done by an official traffic control firm. Ford said, overall, they were over budget by $11,000
and had asked if the City could help fill in some of the gap on that. She said she spoke with the
City Manager, Geoff Fruin, and that he was on board with helping but felt that the Public Art
Advisory Committee should only have to pay one third the cost (~ $3,800) since three different
organizations helped put the project together.
Motion: Steil moved to approve the $3,800 funding to cover the overages from the
Oracles of Iowa City project. Dongilli seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Continued Discussion of Allocation of FY22 Funds
Bollinger said their carry-over amount from FY21 was $8,800 (updated to reflect the amount
after the previous motion) and they have $50,000 for FY22. She said the Committee has talked
over the last several months about committing Matching Funds ($20,000) and Neighborhood Art
funding ($12,000), primarily focused in the South District.
Bollinger said her intern, Anna Clowser, went through the survey results and put together a
summation of the high priority items. Ford said the priority project categories expressed in the
survey ranking would be: gateways and/or an airport mural, parks & trails and a community
participatory piece, buildings and grounds, unexpected art, functional art, and performance art
categories, the Sculptors Showcase, and additional funding for the Oracles project. Bollinger
said she allocated somewhat arbitrary numbers to each project, although it would be the
minimum funding required for each. Seydell-Johnson suggested combining the several smaller
projects into a few larger ones for site convenience and ability to complete. Miller, Purington,
and Steil agreed. Dongilli said a potential avenue to explore, if the Committee wanted a
concrete project listed under the BIPOC artist category, is the project proposed last year about
the indigenous history associated with Blackhawk mini park.
Motion: Seydell-Johnson moved that their budget be for the Airport Gateway mural and
the items listed under “other” for this upcoming year. Seydell-Johnson withdrew the
motion.
Motion: Dongilli moved to establish a gateway project as the funding priority for FY22.
Purington seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
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Purington said that $8,000 for the Airport Gateway mural is not enough for a piece that size, and
to avoid going over budget again, asked if there is any way that the Committee could increase
that number. Miller said the Airport Commission has their own budget, so $8,000 from the PAAC
should be enough to kickstart the project. Bollinger said she also thought it was adequate seed
money for the project. Knoche said he felt confused and like there wasn’t consensus among the
Committee with whether or not they had interest in funding the Airport Gateway mural or just
opening up a call for a more general gateway project. Bollinger said, based on their
conversations last month, that Staff felt like the Committee was in support of the Airport
Gateway mural.
Purington said she would also like to see the amount per project allocated within the Matching
Fund Grants increased as well. Miller asked if that per project number has ever fluctuated within
the history of the program. Bollinger said it has always been $2,000. Dongilli said they could
have this conversation when it comes closer to time to put out the first call to artists.
Motion: Seydell-Johnson moved to fund the three items shown under the “Other”
category. Knoche seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion: Steil moved to approve the FY22 Budget Allocation worksheet with $5,800 going
towards a miscellaneous slush fund and $8,000 going towards a gateway project such as
the Airport Gateway mural. Knoche seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
ARPA Recommendation Discussion
Bollinger said she made some adjustments to the letter based on input - including streamlining
the first paragraph discussing how COVID-19 has impacted the arts community, narrowing
down the WPA language, and bullet-pointing all of the items they felt would be a reasonable use
of ARPA funding (like providing opportunities for BIPOC artists, how they can continue to host
community conversations, etc.). Steil asked if they could incorporate some of the
recommendations from the FY22 funds survey into the ARPA funds. Bollinger said the ARPA
funding was a bit narrower and that they need to be used for projects that were specifically
impacted by COVID-19. Steil asked if they should expand on the positive feedback regarding
murals. Bollinger said that specific topic would be more appropriate if it came from the FY22
allocation. Miller asked the Committee if they felt the letter was representative of their stance
and if they felt comfortable sending it on to the City Manager’s office.
Motion: Seydell-Johnson moved to approve the letter and send it as the Committee’s
recommendation to the City Manager’s office. Dongilli seconded. Motion passed
unanimously.
Artists Registry – Purington
Bollinger said her and Purington had discussed about collaborating with a private web designer
to make the registry more sophisticated and usable. Knoche said he spoke with the City
Manager about the current limitations of the Artists Registry and said that Fruin is willing to
expand it to artists from The Corridor as well. Purington said Johnson County would be a good
parameter and expanding it to The Corridor might impede on the Cedar Rapids public art
community.
Motion: Purington moved to expand the Public Art Registry to Johnson County
residents. Steil seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
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Ford said the City is also planning on getting a new website, which will need to be compatible
with the new Artists Registry Database, so they can’t start the integration process with an
outside web designer until the City makes strides with their new site.
Bollinger went to the Artists Registry website and briefly showed the Committee how to use and
navigate it.
Staff Reports
Bollinger said Anna Clowser is working on an interactive Google map that makes local artwork
and information about the piece and its artist visible and accessible, and it will be on the front
page of their Public Art webpage. She said they have also created an article on the website
about the Oracles project.
Miller said the Jason Snell’s performance that they funded through Matching Grants is
happening tomorrow night from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Adjournment
Knoche moved to adjourn the meeting. Dongilli seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 5:04
p.m.
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Public Art Advisory Committee
Attendance Record
2020-2021
Name Term
Expires
12/3/20 1/7/21 2/4/21 3/4/21 4/15/21 5/6/21 6/3/21 7/1/21 8/5/21 9/2/21 10/7/21
Ron
Knoche
x X X X X X X X X X X
Juli
Seydell-
Johnson
x X X X O/E O/E X X X X X
Steve
Miller
12/31/23 X X X X X X X X X X X
Eddie
Boyken
12/31/21 X X X X X
X X X O/E X
Jan
Finlayson
12/31/23 X X X O/E O/E X X X O/E O/E O/E
Nancy
Purington
12/31/22 X X X X X X O/E O/E O/E O/E X
Andrea
Truitt
12/31/22 X X X X X X X O/E X X O/E
Dominic
Dongilli
12/31/23
X X X X
X X X X X
Sandy
Steil
12/31/23 x X X X O/E X O/E O/E X O/E X
Potential Entry Way Art Locations
#1-Hwy One and Mormon Trek Blvd
(facing east)
#2-Old 218 and McCollister
(looking north)
#3-Riverside Drive/Airport
(facing north/northwest)
#4-South Gilbert and McCollister
(looking north)
#5-Gilbert/Sand Road and Sycamore St.
(looking north)
#6-Hwy 6 and Scott Blvd
(looking west)
#7-Rochester and Scott Blvd
(looking west)
#8-Scott Blvd and 1st Ave.
(looking south)
#9-North Dodge and I-80
(looking south)
#10-North Dodge
(looking south)
#11-N Dubuque
(looking south)
#12-N Dubuque and Foster
(looking south)
#13-N Dubuque—Iowa City sign
(looking south)
#14-Hwy 6 and Rocky Shore Drive
(looking northwest)
#15-Melrose and Camp Cardinal
(looking east)
#16-Melrose Median