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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20240508 Arts & Culture Commission Minutes Page 1 of 5 Hastings Arts & Culture Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – 6:00 PM Hastings City Hall – Volunteer Room 1. Call Meeting to Order Meeting called to order at 6:05 p.m. Present: Commission Chair Hollenbeck; Vice Chair Read; Commissioners Humphrey, Maner, McCoy, Tribe, Wagner; Staff Representative Lee Absent: None 2. Approval of Agenda Vice Chair Read motioned to approve agenda as presented; Commissioner McCoy seconded. Motion carried. 3. Approval of Minutes – April 10, 2024 Regular Meeting Commissioner Wagner motioned to approve; Commissioner McCoy seconded. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS 4. Subcommittee Updates a) Policy & Procedures - Maner Commissioner Maner reported they had not met recently, though their last move made as a subcommittee was to put all art acquisition information into one document and pull it apart. They agreed on the need to simplify the information for users to follow more easily. Because Read has art procurement experience, Maner suggested his involvement would be helpful once the subcommittee is ready. Maner talked about the importance of keeping objectives and following a timeline to move the policy forward to completion and suggested having a polished policy and procedures for others to review in fall. Hollenbeck suggested that she, Maner, and Wagner schedule another meeting before the next commission meeting on June 12. Maner inquired about building a relationship and rapport with the Pioneer Room volunteers since these subcommittee policies will overlap with their work. Hollenbeck said the commission has been working with them on a city hall art inventory list with the goal of creating a digital master list. Staff member Lee will find out the status of this project. b) Finance & Fundraising N/A – currently inactive Arts and Culture Commission May 8, 2024 Minutes Page 2 of 5 Commissioner McCoy spoke of an available Minnesota State Arts Board’s cultural expression grant that supports activities that share, explore, pass on, express, or celebrate culture through the arts with a grant range of $5,000-$35,000. Awarded funds would be used during the period of March 2025 through February 2026. The application deadline is July 12, and there is a virtual information session offered on June 5. He asked if the commission would like to explore this opportunity, perhaps partnering with BR4R or the school district. Commissioner Humphrey said the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at the high school is no longer there, but she is involved with the Native American Parent Advisory Committee (NAPAC) and they would be willing to partner. The group is looking for funds and will be planning for future events, which will be done as they meet throughout the summer. She remarked that the school superintendent has talked about the idea of Indigenous Peoples’ Day becoming a weeklong celebration, rather than recognizing just one day. Vice Chair Read said the commission should identify what it wants, and he will be happy to write the grant proposal. He asked if city has ever done a demographics study. Lee reported that when this request was made in the past, census information was provided. Read motioned to explore a partnership with the school district’s Native American Parent Advisory Committee and write a grant proposal for Indigenous Peoples’ Week to be held within the grant period. Seconded by Commissioner Wagner. Motion carried. Hollenbeck said she will find out what, if any, of this information needs to go before the City Council. c) Outreach & Communications - Humphrey and Tribe See next item (5) on Creative Convergence Discussion. 5. Creative Convergence Discussion Commissioner Tribe met with Wendy of The Studio to discuss logistics and venue layout for the event, which will be held the following evening, to ensure the space is conducive to both presenting and mingling. Humphrey shared the PowerPoint presentation that will be shown at the event to include an introduction of commissioners, a few words from The Studio as hosting venue and Black Dirt Theater as hosting organization, commission updates by Vice Chair Read, tutorial of arts event calendar by Commissioner McCoy, and opening the floor to participants for sharing. She also made table tents that with a QR code that leads to a Google form asking the same questions of how we can better serve the art community that were posed at the previous convergence event. The table tent also includes the date of the Fall Creative Convergence (Thursday, October 3) and a QR code that leads to the arts community calendar. Arts and Culture Commission May 8, 2024 Minutes Page 3 of 5 Hollenbeck said Hastings Community TV will attend to do a PSA on the event. Commissioners noted that the event flyer has been shared far and wide, and they are looking forward to a wonderful, well- attended event. 6. Civic Arena Mural RFP - Read Read presented the draft RFP he created for the civic arena mural project and spoke about timelines, as well as project materials, installation responsibilities, and wall surface area to be utilized. He asked if City Council approval was required, and Hollenbeck said she would check. The scope of the project has been set for $25,000 to $35,000, which brought up the topic of budget. Hollenbeck said she had met with City Administrator Wietecha, who said this is project-based and the commission could request funding. She reminded that the city budget will be finalized in September, so any funding requests would need to be made by the commission prior to that. She said that if we know our numbers, she will feel more confident requesting gap funds for this project. She suggested the commission address this at its June meeting. McCoy asked about approaching hockey board to see if they would be interested in contributing funds. He believes we should identify each group’s maximum input. Alternatively, he suggested limiting variables for artists, but Read said he left room for flexibility because he doesn’t want to hem artists in. Commissioner Wagner asked if a hockey board funds contribution meant they would also be involved in decision making as well. Consensus was that others would have a degree of input, but the commission would have the final say. McCoy has connections on the hockey board and suggested we approach them and see if they are interested in contributing funds for the project. After making a call, he said the boosters have a meeting scheduled on May 19 and will be setting their budget. They could not give a direct number but could offer a range. The commission agreed to hold a brief special meeting on Wednesday, May 29 at 6:00pm to discuss hockey association funding, finalize the budget numbers, and plug them into the RFP. Once the RFP is finalized and approved for publication, Read knows how to publish and send it to muralists and disseminate it to artists for response. Hollenbeck guessed this needs to go through city channels and wondered who is responsible for putting the RFP out there. Read will provide a list of places to post the RFP to get the right eyes on it faster. Everyone agreed this is new ground for the commission. Hollenbeck wants to make sure the city has the capability to do installation of the mural. She will also contact Parks and Recreation Director Jenkins to get dimensions and photos of the civic arena building. Arts and Culture Commission May 8, 2024 Minutes Page 4 of 5 Additionally, she will approach City Administrator Wietecha before the special meeting to get his feedback. If this information needs to go before the City Council, he will need the information by May 30. 7. Classical Actors Ensemble for June 30 – Read Read reported that the event is happening, but he still hasn’t received an invoice. Once received, the commission can forward the proposal to city council for approval and payment. He said the performers are happy, excited, and like the space. He will collect literature from various arts organizations to display at a table set up at the event. 8. Fall Music Event (musicians in Vermillion Falls Park) – Draft name for event McCoy said there is no update on performers yet. Tribe reached out to Jeremy, who teaches painting at the Hastings Arts Center, regarding the plein air painting portion of the event. He will attend the Creative Convergence, and they will talk more then. Hollenbeck reported that Dave Youngren is on board to do plein air painting. Read will reach out to Andy Evensen to see if he is interested and available. Hollenbeck asked about the musical performers for the event. McCoy said he contacted Travis at the Arts Center for contacts. He reminded that the commission determined a $2,000 budget—four musicians for two hours. He will email information to commissioners for discussion at the June meeting (and noted he would not be able to attend the June or July meetings). Read said he would reach out to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Art Department to find plein air painters, if needed. McCoy will reach out to the UWRF music department for musicians. NEW BUSINESS 9. Electrical Box – Roadside Park Parks and Recreation Director Jenkins approached Hollenbeck about getting an electrical box at Roadside Park painted and asked if the commission could hire an artist to complete the project. He offered up to a $1,000 budget and said the main criteria was that the artist uses an anti-graffiti coating and complete the project as soon as possible. Hollenbeck sought commission approval to approach Jessie Eckroad to complete the project and will ask her for a sketch of her ideas. Commissioners agreed, and Wagner suggested Tim McNeill as a backup. Motion by Maner for Hollenbeck to contact Eckroad about painting the electrical box at Roadside Park. Seconded by Wagner. Motion carried. Arts and Culture Commission May 8, 2024 Minutes Page 5 of 5 10. Recap of Action Items • Hollenbeck – contact Jenkins for civic arena dimensions • Hollenbeck – meet with Wietecha to discuss civic arena mural RFP before May 29 • Hollenbeck – reach out to Jessie Eckroad regarding electrical box painting • Humphrey – meet with NAPAC and school administration regarding grant partnership • McCoy – email list of performers for June event to commission • McCoy – contact performers/reach out to UWRF students for fall event • Read – collect art literature for Shakespeare in the Park event on June 30 • Read - reach out to Andy Evenson about plein air painting • Read – reach out to UWRF students about plein air painting • Read – find rough estimate of civic arena mural size 11. Announcements • BR4R pride parade and Juneteenth event held in June 12. Adjourn Commissioner McCoy made a motion to adjourn at 7:36 p.m. Seconded by Vice Chair Read. Motion carried. The next Arts and Culture Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 12th at 6:00pm in the Volunteer Room at City Hall.