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Agendas and Minutes

Public Arts Advisory Committee (View All)

Electronic Public Arts Commission Meeting

Agenda
Friday, January 21, 2022

PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION - REGULAR MEETING

January 21, 2022

AGENDA

AUDIO RECORDING

Anyone wishing to submit comments can do so by sending an e-mail to PC-public-testimony@ashland.or.us with the subject line “Advisory Commission Hearing Testimony” by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Written testimony received by these deadlines will be available for Public Arts Commissioners to review before the hearing and will be included in the meeting minutes.

The public can speak during Public Forum or to any item on the agenda. If you wish to speak to an item during the electronic meeting, send an email to PC-public-testimony@ashland.or.us by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Please provide the following information: 1) make the subject line of the email “Advisory Commission Hearing Testimony”, 2) include your name, 3) specify the date and commission meeting you wish to virtually attend or listen to, 4) the agenda item you wish to speak to, 5) specify if you will be participating by computer or telephone, and 6) the name you will use if participating by computer or the telephone number you will use if participating by telephone.

If you would like to watch and listen to the Public Arts Commission meeting virtually, but not participate in any discussion, you can use the Zoom link below to join the meeting as an attendee.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

When: Jan 21, 2022 08:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Electronic Public Arts Commission Meeting

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://zoom.us/j/93549349155?pwd=SHcrQkVTamhtTEhHSEQzaGpxaVFRQT09
Passcode: 716830
Or One tap mobile :
    US: +12532158782,,93549349155# or +13462487799,,93549349155#
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Webinar ID: 935 4934 9155
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PUBLIC ART COMMISSION - REGULAR MEETING

January 21, 2022
Minutes

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Jennifer Longshore called the meeting to order at 8:31 a.m. via Zoom.

Commissioners Present:		Staff Present:
Ken Engelund Jennifer Longshore Cassie Preskenis Stanley Smith Destiny Young Laura Bloom Joel Frank		Aaron Anderson, Associate Planner APRC Liaison: Jim Lewis (absent) Council Liaison: Stephen Jensen
Absent Members: None		Members of the Public: Andy Stallman Shane Abrams

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Public Arts Commission regular meeting of December 17, 2021

Commissioners Engelund/Smith m/s to approve the minutes with corrections. Vote: ALL AYES. Motion passed 7-0.

PUBLIC FORUM
Shane Abrams, an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator for the Ashland High School, presented a preliminary proposal for a new installation along Siskiyou Boulevard. It would take the form of a traditional canoe that would be displayed as a land acknowledgement to Indigenous communities. He plans to return to the Commission at the meeting on March 18 with a formal presentation. The Commission asked several questions, and while there was concern about how the project would be protected from vandalism there was general support for the project.

LIAISON REPORTS
1. Councilor Stephen Jensen announced the new City Manager Joseph Lessard and gave thanks to outgoing pro-tem City Manager Gary Milliman. Councilor Jensen then touched on the budget, highlighting the general fund issues, and the Southern Oregon University survey that will be going out to all utility addresses to solicit input on citizen values regarding the budget. He also made it clear that the funding sources for the Commission come from restricted funds. He then discussed some of the conversations around the water treatment plant upgrade and touched on the School district and the controversy around the city development fees.

OTHER BUSINESS

PAC WORKPLAN
1. Golden Connections by Jennifer Corrio and Dave Frei
  - Status of sculpture – Chair Longshore gave a brief presentation of slides showing the sculptures and expressed appreciation for the progress made in its development.
  - Discussion of cost overruns to date with the project. Associate Planner Aaron Anderson outlined the process to acquire additional funds, which would involve going to the City Council or potentially combining it with the plaque request. Chair Longshore commented that Ms. Corrio had made a modest request, and there followed general discussion on the topic. Commissioner Stanley Smith stated that it is a concern that there was very little financial buffer in addition, to other issues, including inflation and supply chain disruptions. Such considerations made the modest request more reasonable. The topic was tabled in order to move on to the next agenda item.
    1. Councilor Jensen questioned if this request needed to go to the City Council considering that the amount of money being considered would be relatively small. Mr. Anderson stated that he would discuss with Community Development Director Bill Molnar the necessity of bringing this to the Council.

Plaque – Review design, content, and proposed location – Commissioner Young gave a brief presentation with renderings of the proposed sign types, including from above and below grade. The Ashland Parks and Recreation department had already expressed concern about an above ground sign. Commissioner Young then provided the Commission with a draft of the sign layout in preparation for the Ashland Parks and Recreation meeting on February 9, 2022.
1. Design – several comments were made regarding the content of the sign, as well as properly attributing David Frei as one of the artists.
2. There was discussion about whether the sign should face the mountain or the fence, and it was agreed that the sign should face away from fence.
3. The project was projected to cost between $2,000-$3,000, but until the sign type is finalized a more accurate cost could not be determined.

Commissioners Bloom/Preskenis m/s to add additional undetermined funds to the Golden Connections sculpture and the plaque projects. Vote: ALL AYES. Motion passed 7-0.

PROJECT UPDATES
1. Masterworks Medallions – On January 5, 2022 Chair Longshore gave a presentation to the Historic Commission and shared the images of the medallions and laid the groundwork for phase II of the project. Chair Longshore reported a favorable reception to the project from the Historic Commission, and that Chair Beverly Hovenkamp would update Chair Longshore in the future about their interest in phase II.
2. Mr. Anderson reported that the medallions are in the warehouse and have not yet been inspected, but that there was no damage visible. Commissioner Smith and Chair Longshore both felt that it was imperative that staff inspect the medallions for damage. There is no update on installation but Mr. Anderson confirmed that he would continue to follow up with Public Works to establish a budget and timeline for installation.

GOALS AND ACTION ITEMS
1. Community Engagement – Chair Longshore updated the Commission on her plans for increased public outreach along with Commissioner Preskenis, including presenting three art pieces in May for First Friday.
2. The Commission discussed its decision to hire an unpaid intern to assist the Commission. Commissioner Preskenis proposed that she serve as an intern via her enrollment at Southern Oregon University. Because it was unpaid the Commission did not see this as being a conflict of interest. She then listed her qualifications and stated that her main source of public outreach would be to use information gleaned from the survey conducted by Commissioners Smith and Engelund, as well as taking pertinent details from the Commission meetings, and creating a monthly newsletter. This would then be distributed to anyone wishing to be on the email list.
3. Commissioners Smith and Engelund voiced support for Commissioner Preskenis’ being hired, but voiced the need to publicly put out a call for an intern in order to remain transparent. Chair Longshore expressed a desire to open the hiring process to any applicant, not only to students of SOU or the Ashland High School.

Commissioners Engelund/Preskenis m/s to publicly call for intern on the City website. Vote. ALL AYES. Motion passed 7-0.

Commissioner Engelund suggested the creation of a subcommittee to screen applicants, there was general agreement from the rest of the Commission.

Chair Longshore presented to the Commission a draft letter she had written calling for a volunteer from the Ashland High School for the intern position. The position would be unpaid but could potentially work towards community service or a capstone project. The letter would be sent to the Principal who could disseminate the latter as they saw fit.

Commissioners Engelund/Preskenis m/s the letter calling for an Ashland High School student intern be sent to the Principal. Vote. ALL AYES. Motion passed 7-0.

Commissioner Engelund updated the Commission on his attendance of the Ashland Gallery Association board meeting, and was subsequently invited to meet with the Schneider Museum Council. The Ashland Gallery Association is actively looking for new members and will be holding an even in May and he suggested that the Commission support them in this endeavor and deepen their relationship with the association.

Commissioner Smith informed the Commission that he had recently met with artist John Pugh who had shown interest in painting a mural on the Elks Lodge building. As such a project would need approval from the Commission he wanted to lay the groundwork for future deliberation on the matter.

Chair Longshore expressed a desire to begin discussion on what type of event should be held for the unveiling of the sculpture and medallion projects. Commissioner Frank supported setting the unveiling date far enough in the future that it does not conflict with any other scheduled events. Chair Longshore voiced agreement on pushing the unveiling back due to any potential delays and suggested it be held off until June. Mr. Anderson stated that he believed it might be too soon to discuss an unveiling date, but that discussion should now be had for promoting and organizing the event. Commissioner Preskenis suggested holding the event on First Friday when there would already be increased foot traffic in the railroad district, and was met with general agreement from the rest of the Commission.

Commissioner Engelund expressed appreciation to Commissioners Frank and Young for their work on the plaque project.