Minutes
Public Art Commission
April 15, 2011
Regularl Meeting
Attendance
Commissioners: Davis, Bussell, Edson, Friend, Garrington, Pugh, Slattery (council) Seltzer (staff)
Absent
Wilkerson
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 8:15 a.m.
Approval of Minutes
Minutes were approved with corrections.
Committee Chair
Bussell has served as chair of the PAC for two years with Edson serving as vice chair. The committee thanked Bussell for her work and welcomed Edson as new chair. The committee unanimously voted to appoint Davis as new vice chair.
Calle Response
There were two responses/submissions to the Calle Sculpture Garden RFP from the same artist but neither met the parameters stated in the RFP. Bussell will contact the artist and thank her for her submissions and let her know the PAC is not considering the work.
There was general discussion about the Calle Sculpture Garden and the challenge of getting artists to loan their work and lack of insurance. The group agreed to pursue permanent pieces of sculpture and forgo the “rotating” process of the past several years.
Bussell will contact the donors to discuss the PAC interest in permanent displays rather than rotating and whether the donors objected to the PAC using the remaining funds toward the purchase of the Christman piece currently on display.
Edson will contact Christmas to determine if he is willing to sell the piece to the City and the cost.
The PAC then discussed pedestals. Previously the group discussed installing a third pedestal in order to move the Jack Hardesty memorial piece from the current location. With the decision to have permanent installations, the Hardesty memorial can remain in its current location.
Changes to PAC ordinance
The committee approved the minor edits to the Public Art Ordinance as presented by Friend. Seltzer explained this updates to a number of commissions was a council goal and was not sure when it would go to the Council for approval.
Gateway
The committee discussed the steps to take to initiate a process for the selection of art for the gateway island and identified three areas of focus: community/council values (how to incorporate/articulate those values in an RFP), site/location (how the site might dictate type of art, size of art) and public art in other communities (artistic qualifications, artist vision, community response.
Davis will compile photos of art in other communities, Wilkerson and Garrington will take explore the location and take photos, and Edson and Friend will review council values and citizen survey results.
This information will be presented to the PAC at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 27.
Other
Friend spoke about a group working to market and highlight “Uptown Ashland” the area from First Street to the Library. The group is interested in public art installations at that end of town and there interest in a “Art Walk”. Friend will encourage them to develop a proposal to bring to the PAC.
The group explained that at one time, the PAC was interested in creating a public art brochure for distribution but with the advent of smart phones and apps, the discussion has shifted to the creation of an app.
Slattery commented that a number of entities in the community were interested in creating an application for residents and visitors about Ashland (Chamber, SOU Gallery Association, etc) and suggested public art should be a component and the PAC should work with the other entities.
Meeting adjourned at 9:35.