Minutes
Public Art Commission
March 18, 2016
 
Attendance
Commissioners: Garrington, Merchant, Bussell, Newman, Friend, Reinhardt, Block-Brown, Lemhouse (council liaison), Seltzer (staff liaison)
 
Absent:
None
 
Guests
None
 
Minutes
Minutes of the February meeting were approved with corrections.
 
Citizen Issues
None
 
Update from Council Lemhouse
Lemhouse reported the Council approved funding for four additional downtown cadets.  Cadets are non-sworn members of the police department with an interest in law enforcement.  Cadets cannot make arrests but can write citations.
Additional signage will be installed downtown with information about certain codes applicable in the downtown area.
Council approved funding for renting two jail beds.  This will give the judge an additional tool and message for offenders.
At the upcoming Council meeting, the City Council will consider an ordinance related to intentional blocking of sidewalks and aggressive panhandling.
At the April 5 meeting, the Mayor will speak to the Council about his interviews with members of the Historic Commission.
 
Discussion of Theater Corridor RFQ
The council approved a budget of $75,000 for the theater corridor.  These funds, informally referred to as beautification monies, are separate from the monies that accumulate each year for public art.  Given the interest in installing the beautification project along the entire stretch of the theater corridor rather than a partial installation as was previously discussed and approved the PAC realized that additional funds would be needed.  At the last meeting the PAC expressed interest in boosting the $75,000 budget with additional funds from the public art fund. Seltzer reported that currently the public art fund has approximately $109,000 and the City anticipates it will receive an additional $21,000 in August of this year and again in August of 2017. Of that amount, $100,000 is earmarked for the Gateway Project. This was the springboard discussion to determine the timeline and installation for the Theater Corridor.
 
The PAC made adjustments to the draft timeline to reflect installation in the spring of 2018, public input prior to concept development and again once final concepts are submitted by the artist.  Installation in 2018 affords the opportunity to increase the budget pending Council approval to $115,000.
 
The PAC reviewed the draft RFQ with prior input from Garrington, Newman, Bussell and Merchant.  Garrington and Seltzer will incorporate all the identified edits for PAC review in April.  It was noted that the images of the Theater Corridor and dimensions provided by Reinholdt will be included in the RFQ.
 
Contemporary Art Presentation
Seltzer explained the Mayor is interested in the PAC developing a presentation showing contemporary art in historic locations but he has not yet decided when the presentation might occur.
 
Upcoming Dates
April 15 regular monthly meeting
 
Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.