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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPAAC Agenda Packet 9-8-22Public Art Advisory Committee Thursday, September 8, 2022 3:30 PM Emma Harvat Hall City Hall, 410 E. Washington AGENDA 1.Call to order 2.Introduction of new PAAC committee members, Jenny Gringer and Jeremy Endsley 3.Introduce PAAC members and public attending the meeting 4.Public discussion of any item not on the agenda 5.Consideration of the August 4, 2022 meeting minutes 6.Longfellow Tunnel Junior High Mural project update, Rachel Arnone 7.Consider retiring Windows and Worlds Bookmark 8.Sculptor’s Showcase 2022-23 Video Review 9.Staff Updates a.Black Mini Park project b.South District Bus Stop Bench project update c.Airport Mural RFQ update d.Simple Flight repair 10.Adjournment If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this program/event, please contact Wendy Ford, Economic Development and Public Art Coordinator at 319-356-5248 or wendy- ford@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Preliminary, p.1 Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 8/4/22 Minutes Public Art Advisory Committee August 4, 2022 Emma Harvat Hall Public Art Advisory Committee Members Present: Tyler Baird (sub for Juli Seydell-Johnson), Dominic Dongilli, Andrea Truitt, Ron Knoche, Anita Jung. Steve Miller, Eddie Boyken Members Absent: none Staff Present: Wendy Ford Public Present: none Call to Order Truitt called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. Introduction of Members and Public Attending the Meeting There were none. Public Discussion of Any Item Not on the Agenda None Consideration of the July 7, 2022 meeting minutes Truit moved to approve, Dongilli seconded. Motion passed. Consider RFQ responses for Artist Mentor for Bus Stop Bench project Ford explained she put out a RFQ for an artist mentor in early July who would work with community and select an artist. Long time Iowa City artist and mentor Hani Elkadi applied. Ford had said she called and asked if Hani would be comfortable with construction. He said he would not and asked to withdraw his application. Ford called Levin to share the news and to see if we might get another applicant for the position that she knew of. Ford talked about the artist Cara Briggs Farmer. Ford will work with Elinor about whether she is having any luck, but we may need to revisit how this project enfolds. Miller said if there is no interest in the Artist Mentorship, then perhaps the project turns into an RFP for a fully emerged artist that would not need the mentorship. Black Hawk Mini Park project Ford reminded the Committee that Dawson Davenport had shown his concept at last month’s meeting, which was approved at that time. She also showed the near final version of his design to the committee. At the last meeting, Dawson had indicated he would be okay with having a 3rd party sign manufacturer take his design and incorporate it into the finished product. An estimate from ASI for that sign was $3,402. Preliminary, p.2 Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 8/4/22 Ford then explained that the agreement with Dawson would need to be modified from the original draft. Working with the City Attorneys office, they drafted a version that would ensure Dawson receive the initial payment of $1667, as had been stipulated in the first draft he saw, but because the 3rd party manufacturer would eat up $3,400 of the $5,000 budget, would risk not receiving any more. Ford reminded the committee that at the last meeting it was suggested that the artist should receive at least as much as the sign manufacturing would cost. In order to do that, however, an increase for the project budget would need to be budgeted into the FY23 budget to be more fully discussed later in the meeting. It was discussed that for the remaining $1804, if approved, Part 2 of the project would be the write up of biographical and historical information on Black Hawk and the Mini Park, accessible by QR code on the plaque. Dominic mentioned the already existing Black Hawk Mini Park webpage saying it, too, would be a good resource. Steve asked if there were any concerns with adding $1,804 from the FY23 budget. Ron stated concern about increasing the budget and wondered how the original $5,000 was determined. Anita suggested it was an optimistic budget figure, and Steve confirmed that even at $5,000 there was not a lot of room in the budget, but he agreed that adding a little more to the budget is fair to the artist. Tyler Baird indicated Juli was okay with the increase. Steve moved to approve the $1,804 budget increase from the FY23 budget, Dominic seconded, and the motion passed (7-0). FY 23 Budget Maintenance Ford displayed a spread sheet with columns for FY22’s budget actuals and this year’s FY23 budget. She suggested the committee start on the Maintenance line because we have a few pieces that need attention. The first is the sculpture at the east end of the bridge over the river at IRP, named Simple Flight. She described the damage, and the repair needs and the scope of the repair, estimated at $3,800 by David Dennis, the art rehab professional who assisted with the Snelson. He also suggested that we could lower that price by $500 with help from the City, including a forklift and a driver. Later Andrea Truitt asked if there was a clear coat that could be applied to extend the life of the repainting. Staff will ask. It was also mentioned that the vegetation should be cut back and Tyler suggested that the trimming could happen the same day with the skid steer the day the piece is removed. Ford also explained and showed slides of damage on one of the bookmarks, located outside the UAY and Transit offices on Iowa Avenue. The severely damaged piece had been gifted to Iowa City by then Library Director, Susan Craig. It was suggested that we consult Susan and let her know of the state of the piece, thank her and explain plans to retire it. Later in the meeting, there was consensus to put the decommissioning of this piece on the next agenda. Another piece in need of repair are the two pillars of mosaic tile at the entrance to the Sycamore Greenway trail which was done by artist Jill Harper and her art students. $400. Preliminary, p.3 Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 8/4/22 A fourth need noted in the interns “state of public art” was caulking around the Literary Walk brass plates in the sidewalk. Truitt suggested we talk to an art consultant about what product to use. Freeze, thaw has done its damage. Steve suggested we engage someone to tell us about caulking or sealing and find out how much they are and who would do it. Dominic stated that we need to do better at planning for maintenance and repair and suggested that we find ways to partner with other organizations like City of Literature and other large city organizations to assist. Discussion about Lit Walk and the current lifetime of the remaining of the sidewalk ensued. Dominic suggested we build a maintenance pool of funds. Ron said re-doing the Lit Walk would be a large capital expense and include the re-do of the entire sidewalk and would probably be a joint venture between the University and the City, as it was when it was built. Ron also talked about the City’s new Asset Management program and eventually bringing Public Art assets into it, which would help track maintenance needs. Finally, in the Other category, the Longfellow Tunnel was discussed. The budget for it was increased from $400 to $500 to account for increasing expenses. Tyler said Parks and Rec. has primed that wall each year before it is repainted. Sculpture Showcase Ford noted she had included honoraria for 8 sculptures at $1500 each in the budget Anita had said at the last meeting that we shouldn’t add to the number of pads until we get more applications. Andrea asked if we only want Iowa artists, or if we should consider those from a wider area including the states on our borders, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Missouri. There was no resistance to the idea of selecting from a wider pool of applicants for the existing 8 pads. In order to get more applications, it was suggested for the next call, we should advertise in Sculpture Magazine and Arts Midwest Magazine. We had only reached out to our Artist Registry and to the Iowa Arts Council for the last round. Ford inquired about whether to budget for a steel plate on top of each pad to help lengthen the life of the concrete pads. There was consensus that would be a good idea but that with the new sculptures just installed, we’d have a year before that could happen. In that time, we’ll investigate costs and budget for FY24 if appropriate. The committee also discussed the merits of going to a two-year display schedule. A couple of artists had said they like it because there is less work for more exposure. Some of the thoughts were that the showcase could become stale, and/but that a higher honorarium may draw a larger pool of applicants. Dominic noted that our honorarium is fairly in line with those in Tyler, TX and Kenosha, WI. Andrea stressed the need to keep up the pomp and circumstance around the program, and make it a big deal for the community. Wendy explained the public relations program in development for it – Preliminary, p.4 Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 8/4/22 Communications is working on a video of each artist and their pieces which will be highlighted a number of ways. Anita will talk with Nick Benson about an intern and the roles one could take on for Public Art. The question of pay came up and Anita mentioned that they are either paid or for University credit. This will be an agenda item for a future meeting. Matching Grants Ford reminded the committee that the matching grants program fulfills many of the public art needs and desires of the community and that it would be more efficient to run one round of grant funding in the winter for spring, summer and fall presentations. There was consensus that running the program once a year would be good. Steve asked if there was any interest in raising the maximum from $3,000 to $3,500. There was if the small grants of $500 would still be possible. Ford explained because last year, we had budgeted a total of $15,000 for community/participatory art, performing art, functional art bus stop/benches, and unexpected art, but had not programmed for those categories, perhaps we should allocate that amount to the matching fund program this year. It was then suggested that we put language in the call that encourages applications to present community/participatory art, performing art, functional art bus stop/benches, and unexpected art. These are categories that had ranked highly in the 2018 Strategic Planning survey. This would bump the matching grant program budget to $30,000. It was noted that the matching grant program is good because it puts money in the pockets of artists here, which is then recirculated through the community. Large Projects Ford noted that there are still three large projects that remain incomplete from last year – the South District Neighborhood Bench project, the Lucas Farms Neighborhood Signs project and the Gateway Airport mural project. There was consensus that we needn’t fund a Large project in FY23 with 3 yet outstanding from FY22. Truitt said that she appreciates that we’re putting more effort into keeping art in good shape and caring and being good stewards of public art. With this discussion, the budget was determined at $12,000 Sculptor’s Showcase $30,000 Matching grant program, for grants up to $3500 $1,804 Black Hawk Mini Park project increase $6,196 Other, including $5696 for maintenance $50,000 Total Dominic moved and /Ron seconded that we adopt this budget. Motion passed (7-0). Preliminary, p.5 Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 8/4/22 Updates We haven’t heard from Lucas Farms folks since asking them to get public input on their sign design concepts. Members asked staff to nudge them and give a deadline to complete. Kiwanis Park project is almost complete. Adjournment Ron moved and Dominic seconded that the meeting be adjourned at 5:00 pm. Motion passed (7-0). Preliminary, p.6 Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 8/4/22 Public Art Advisory Committee Attendance Record 2022 Name Term Expires 8/5/21 9/2/21 10/7/21 11/4/21 1/6/22 2/3/22 3/3/22 5/5/22 6/2/22 7/7/22 8/4/22 Ron Knoche X X X X X X X X* X X X Juli Seydell- Johnson X X X X X X X X X X X* Steve Miller 12/31/23 X X X X X X X X O/E O/E X Eddie Boyken 12/31/24 X O/E X X X X X X X O/E X Andrea Truitt 12/31/22 X X O/E X X X X X X X X Dominic Dongilli 12/31/23 X X X O/E O/E X X X X X X Anita Jung 6/30/23 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- X O/E X X Jan Finlay- son 12/31/23 O/E O/E O/E O/E X O/E O/E --- --- --- --- Nancy Puring- ton 12/31/22 O/E O/E X X O/E O/E O/E --- --- --- --- Sandy Steil 12/31/23 X O/E X O/E O O/E O/E --- --- --- --- Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a member Longfellow Tunnel proposal from Rachel Arnone’s Art Students Book Mark outside Transit office, gift of Susan Craig, former Library Director