City of Lawrence

Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission (LCAC)

Monthly Meeting, December 10, 2014

City Commission Room, City Hall, 6 E. 6th Street

Members present:        Chair: Katherine Simmons, Christie Dobson, John Hachmeister, Jerry Johnson (via telephone), Patrick Kelly, Kathy Porsch

Members absent:          Mandy Enfield, Lois Greene, Michel Loomis, Mike Maude, Richard Renner

Also present:                Christina McClelland, City Liaison, Rachael Perry, Percolator and Lawrence Inside Out; from the Lawrence Arts Center: Sarah Bishop, Director of Grants and Special Projects and Susan Tate, Executive Director; Elizabeth Sullivan, member of the public

MINUTES

Chair Katherine Simmons called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. in the Lawrence City Council Chambers at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. 6th Street.

Action Items:

· The November 19, 2014 minutes were accepted with corrected spelling of the names Paden and Hachmeister on p. 6.

· Patrick Kelly made the following motion, which was seconded by Christie Dobson and approved unanimously by the LCAC members present:

The Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission recommends that a steering committee be convened for the Lawrence Cultural Plan RFQ review to include city staff and community stakeholders, as presented in the draft document, including Katherine Simmons and John Hachmeister from the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission.

New Business:

      January LCAC retreat: Topics for the annual January retreat were considered. It was agreed to focus discussion on three items: 1) Refinement of the Percent for Art resolution related to application of Percent for Art to off-budget cycle projects such as the Rock Chalk Park project, 2) Revision of RESOLUTION NO. 6773 to bring it into compliance with practice, and 3) Consider formalizing operating procedures of the standing grants committee in regards to working with arts and culture-related grant applications to agencies that require a public/private partnership between the City and an arts or culture organization and begin discussions of possible ways to enhance the Community Arts Grants program.

      In regards to the grants committee, Susan Tate asked to address the LCAC about the concept of public/private partnerships in grants. She said the LCAC needs education in how grant cycles work. This year the [NEA] OurTown Grant [announcement] came out in September and we contacted the City but there was a short turnaround time, she said. Susan said that she and Sarah Bishop met with Dave Corliss, Diane [Stoddard] and Christina [McClelland] on Oct. 8 and 28 to explore partnerships in several grants. We need to talk about creative place making and how public and private partnerships work because we're taking the lead in these projects and over-extending ourselves to do these things, she said.

      Katherine said that there's someone dedicated to arts and culture on the City staff now so this type of partnership will be more doable.

      Kathy said the LCAC understands grant cycles. She pointed out while timelines for first time or one time grants may be necessarily short, planning for grants that cycle regularly with known deadlines, such as the NEA OurTown grant, can take place and proposals can be worked through with partners over the entire period between competitions.

      Susan said that having worked with these grants for five years, she knows when the deadline are, but they sometimes shift and requirements [for the NEA OurTown grant] changed between cycles this time so working on the application before the call for proposals wouldn't have worked. Several [other grants] have never been available before, she said, and suggested that the LCAC put together a list of available grants requiring City/public engagement.

      Patrick said that in considering the Grants Committee process in regards to public/private partnering going forward, the LCAC needs to make it clear that anyone is welcome to come to the retreat and join the discussion about the grant partnering processes and that the city is open to partnering on city/private grants with any Lawrence arts and cultural organizations.

2.   Rachael Perry reported on her LCAC Community Arts Grant-funded project, "Lawrence Inside Out," a photography project involving portraits in black and white taken at various locations around Lawrence to capture the images of a wide range of Lawrencians. She said she will be placing the portraits all around the City in April and although some sites remain to be identified, those who have already committed to showing some of the images are the Maker Space, Percolator, and Lawrence Library. Rachael said she is contacting businesses about posting the portraits all around downtown Lawrence, but is open to other places throughout the community. The portraits will range in size from 5'x4' to 4'x2', and some will be really large, pasted in strips onto the outsides of buildings. She said she is seeking to place portraits in the windows of businesses rather than the inside walls so they will be easily viewed by the public and that she is looking at unusual spots rather than typical galleries. She will talk with Downtown Lawrence, Inc., to help with business connections, she said. She added that she has photo releases from those who have consented to have their portraits taken and posted.

      John asked if there will be a map so people can find where their picture is in the community. Rachael said smaller versions may be set up as a location map at the Percolator so people can use that as a map and locations would be indicated on the website, but she also is considering a hand-out map of some sort. John asked if, since she is considering a book, she has considered other ways of archiving the portraits. Rachael said she has a website and a Facebook page where the images are being posted as she collects them, but may talk with Spencer Museum of Art about archiving the photos. She passed out business cards and asked the LCAC members to encourage people to contact her with ideas about exhibition sites as well as to have their portraits taken for the project.

      Rachael said she will come to the LCAC for site approval of those large images as required for mural projects and asked about the process. Katherine said she and Christina will provide that information and work with her on her application. She also said she would email the information about Rachael's project to the LCAC email list and encourage people to help spread the information to their contacts.

Old Business:

1.   Update on Lawrence Art Center request to partner with the City of Lawrence for NEA OurTown grant. Christina reported that the City and the Lawrence Arts Center are jointly hosting a community engagement meeting in the LAC Middle Gallery on Monday, Dec. 15 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to gain public input and discuss how the community wants to engage with the grant process as the proposal for continued support of the Free State Festival is developed.

2.   Update on the Ninth Street Corridor Project. Christina reported that the City Commission voted on Tuesday, Dec. 9 to proceed with developing a scope of work with el dorado and community stakeholders, which will then be brought before the City Commission for approval and consideration of a possible contract with el dorado as the consultant to oversee implementation.

3.   Update on the Cultural Plan Project. Christina reported that the City received three proposals from potential consultants to lead the development of the Cultural Plan. The Cultural Plan RFQ Steering Committee will review them and start putting together interview questions and set up interviews with the applicants. She offered a draft document listing recommended steering committee members including: Katherine Simmons and John Hachmeister from the LCAC; Susan Tate, Lawrence Arts Center; Steve Nowak, Watkins Museum; Mary Doveton, Theatre Lawrence; Josuha Falleaf, Haskell Indian Nations University; Saralyn Reece Hardy, Spencer Museum of Art; Bonnie Lowe, The Chamber of Lawrence Kansas; Derek Kwan, Lied Center of Kansas; Ardys Ramberg, Artist; and Fred Conboy, Destination Management, Inc. (Convention and Visitors Bureau and Freedom's Frontier). Christina asked the LCAC to make a motion accepting the committee as presented in the draft and indicated that the names of the participants listed in the draft did not need to be included in the motion. Patrick Kelly made a motion asking that the committee as presented in the draft document, including the two LCAC representatives, be approved. Christie Dobson seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously by the LCAC members present, including Jerry Johnson via telephone.

4.   Update on RESOLUTION NO. 6773, which establishes LCAC membership as consisting "…of the mayor and his/her appointee; the chairperson of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission, or his/her appointee; and the chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, or his/her appointee, all ex officio members, and eleven members to be appointed by the mayor as persons competent to determine the value of artistic works, architecture and events which affect the environment of the City of Lawrence." Katherine reported there is a draft of a revised document to be considered during the January retreat. Kathy asked if the LCAC should look at all the resolutions related to the LCAC and the possibly of combining them into one guiding resolution. Christina said she thought there were only two, including the Percent for Art resolution, which she said needs to be separate, but that she would look into resolutions pertaining to the LCAC and share her findings.

Committee and Liaison Reports:

Nominating Committee: Chair Christie Dobson said she had not talked with anyone about serving as officers for 2015. Patrick proposed that the election of officers for 2015 be postponed until the January retreat if the current officers will agree to serve until then. Katherine, Kathy, and Christie agreed to serve until the slate of officers can be considered in January. Patrick said consideration needs to be given in this discussion to all LCAC members' attendance records as well, because the commission needs committed individuals who are fully engaged.

Lawrence Community Arts Grants Committee: Chair Kathy Porsch reported that she emailed the application instructions and forms that were accepted in November to Christina to be posted online and a draft press release announcing the competition to be sent to the Lawrence Journal World on several dates prior to the deadline. Christina confirmed she had received them.

City Owned Art Maintenance Committee: Chair Katherine Simmons. Committee member Kathy asked Christina about the status of the contract with artist Dave Lowenstein for partial restoration of "Synchronicity," at the East Lawrence Recreation Center. Christina said the City Commission needed to approve the motion the LCAC passed in November and then the City would contract with Mr. Lowenstein to complete the repairs. She said she would place it on the City Commission's consent agenda.

Kathy asked if the City would own artwork to be installed as part of the Ninth St. Corridor project. Christina said the City would own the artwork installed on City property. Kathy asked if consideration is being given to the City's anticipated future costs in regards to maintenance of artwork to be installed as part of that project, given that some may include sophisticated electronics or other high tech media.

Katherine suggested that the requirements for artists to submit proposals for the Ninth St. Corridor project be the same as is now standard for all art the City considers for permanent or long-term installation, which is that artists include a maintenance plan with instructions for upkeep over time that includes the period of time the artwork is expected to be viable, so there will be a record of what is required and of the artist's vision for the piece over time. Such contacts with artists should require estimated costs of such maintenance. She said the maintenance committee will work with Christina and City Parks and Rec liaisons to refine the policy that incorporates language into contracts with artists saying the artist is responsible for maintenance issues that arise during the first year after installation and that the City will consult the artist about artwork maintenance issues whenever possible.

Outdoor Sculpture Committee: Chair John Hachmeister. Christina handed out the activities calendar for the program showing the deadline for entries is Feb. 6, 2015. John said he has a recommendation for a juror and that he will interface with that individual on the timeline. Christina said she will start publicizing the call for proposals. She suggested using the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Listserv, an international email list of public artists and public art administrators, and Call for Entry (CaFÉ) https://www.callforentry.org, where sculptors can actually apply on the site. She said CaFÉ has fees that would be about the same as the cost of the postcards previously used to call for applications and suggested eliminating the post cards.

John said he would still like to see something printed that can be handed out, circulated and placed in arts venues within the community. Christina suggested printing a flier in-house, publicizing via email lists, and posting to local arts websites and lists to engage with local artists. Katherine said these seemed like great ideas to reach a broader pool of applicants. John agreed and indicated that having the flier also would be important for local engagement.

Percent for Art Committee: Chair John Hachmeister indicated this had already been set for discussion at the January retreat.

Phoenix Awards Committee: Chair Mandy Enfield was not present. Kathy asked about standard operating procedures to document the committee's work. Christina said she would follow up with Mandy on this.

Lawrence Arts Roundtable Liaison: Kathy reported that two Lawrence Journal World reporters, Johana Hlavecek and Jon Ralston, were among the 22 who attended and they urged arts organizations to send them details about events and other news via email. Both said press releases are still welcome, but if there is a website with further information to include the link. An opportunity for Lawrence arts and culture organizations to have their information posted on informational kiosks at the Eldridge and Oread Hotels is being offered for a fee by Media USA, Inc. https://mediausainc.com and several small performing arts organizations could have their information posted together and pay one fee to make the cost more affordable. She said Christina has information on this she can share with interested parties.

Commissioner Items: None.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.