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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-18 Public Art Commission Summary Minutes MINUTES PUBLIC ART COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, June 18, 2020 Virtual teleconference via Zoom 7:00 p.m. Commissioners Present: Ben Miyaji, Loren Gordon Nia Taylor, Hsinya Shen, Ian Klaus Commissioners Absent: Amanda Ross, Jim Migdal Staff Present: Elise DeMarzo, Public Art Program Director Nadya Chuprina, Public Art Program Coordinator Kristen O’Kane, CSD Director CALL TO ORDER: Chair Miyaji called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS – None ORAL COMMUNICATIONS – None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 20, 2020 PAC Meeting Minutes Moved: Commissioner Shen; Second: Commissioner Taylor. All in favor. STAFF COMMENTS: Staff announced the opening of Fire Station 3 and unveiling of a permanent public artwork by Portland-based artist Pete Beeman. The artwork, titled Welcome Wagon is a kinetic bench installed along the sidewalk on Newell Rd. ACTION: 1. Election of Officers - Staff provided an overview of the protocol for the election of new Chair and Vice-Chair. Chair Miyaji opened the floor to nomination for the position of Chair. Vice Chair Gordon nominated incumbent Chair Miyaji for Chair. Miyaji accepted the nomination. Commissioner Klaus nominated Commissioner Taylor for Chair. Taylor accepted. Moved: Vice Chair Gordon made a motion to close the nomination. Second: Commissioner Klaus. All in Favor. Commissioners submitted their votes for the position of Chair to staff via text. Staff announced the votes: Chair Miyaji won the Chair vote (Miyaji – 3 votes; Taylor 2 votes). Chair Miyaji opened the floor to nomination for the position of Vice Chair. Chair Miyaji nominated incumbent Vice Chair Gordon for the position of Vice Chair. Gordon accepted the nomination. Commissioner Klaus nominated Commissioner Taylor for Chair. Taylor accepted the nomination. Commissioners submitted their votes for the position of Chair to staff via text. Staff announced the votes: Vice Chair Gordon won the Vice Chair vote (Gordon – 3 votes; Taylor – 2 votes). 2. Temporary Public Art Initiatives - Staff presented a rational for the project initiative to the PAC. The project idea of commissioning up to 8 local artists to create original artworks exploring themes of resiliency, community, diversity and inclusion for temporary murals originally came out as a response to COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement to draw the public to commercial corridors of downtown and California Ave. The temporary murals will be printed on recyclable aluminum material. As a pilot project staff requested that PAC approve funding in the amount of $32,000 to cover stipends for eight artists, fabrication and installation. Commissioners provided input regarding inclusive language in the call for artists, longevity and geography of temporary installations. Moved: Vice Chair Gordon moved to approve funding in the amount of $32,000 for the temporary pilot project. Second: Commissioner Klaus. All in Favor. 3. Black Lives Matter Mural – Staff provided background information regarding Council’s directive to explore creating a temporary mural in front of Palo Alto City Hall and shared some visual examples of other BLM murals created in other parts of the US. Staff reached out to Commissioner Taylor and community member and former PAC commissioner Dr. Ally Richter to co-lead the project. The co-leads would get the word out to their networks about the open call and make decisions regarding which artists are commissioned and assigned which letters. Each artist will be assigned an individual letter to create original artwork and paid a stipend in the amount of $700 to cover materials and artist fees. Community member Stefania Pomponi who initiated a community petition to bring the BML mural to Palo Alto addressed the PAC to highlight the importance of the project and urge its fast completion. Community member and former PAC Chair Ally Richter also addressed the PAC in support of the community-led BLM mural project. Commissioners expressed support of the project and approved funding in the amount of up to $20,000 to complete the mural. Moved: Commissioner Shen Second: Vice Chair Gordon. All in Favor. NON-ACTION: 4. California Ave Public Art Master Plan – Staff articulated the purpose for the California Avenue Master Plan and provided an update on the research, stakeholder and community outreach efforts by the consultant. Barbara Goldstein and Associates made a presentation to provide a summary of the community engagement strategy and introduced coUrbanize, a public outreach and engagement website to gather diverse input that will inform the Art Plan. There was some discussion about the need to reconsider the nature of public engagement in the post-COVID environment. 5. Discussion regarding upcoming Council Agenda Items related to Public Art– PAC Chair led a discussion regarding the City Council report on Boards and Commissions and proposed changes to the number of Public Art Commission members, as well as budget discussions. PAC unanimously expressed a concern over the proposed downsizing of the number of Public Art Commissioners and discussed ways to provide input to City Council. 6. Code:ART2 Update – Staff updated the Public Art Commission on the selection process and presented conceptual proposals of 6 Urban Interventions for Code:ART. Six Bay Area and international artists and teams were awarded $6,000 commissions to create new media, sound and light based, interactive installations to be displayed at several locations in downtown Palo Alto during Code:ART. There was some discussion about the need to refine the initial concepts to satisfy social distancing and low touch requirements as preventative measures in light of COVID- 19 virus pandemic. Staff also noted that there is a possibility that the public art festival might be postponed to October 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic. 7. Temporary Public Art for King Plaza – Staff updated the Public Art Commission on the status of design development of the temporary installation titled Arbor by artist Adam Marcus. The data-driven installation visualizing the City’s database of over 45,000 trees in Palo Alto will be fabricated in Summer 2020 to be displayed on King Plaza later in the fall for a period of up to 12 months. 8. Temporary Public Art at the Palo Alto Art Center – Staff provided an update on the status of a temporary public art project initiative in partnership with the Palo Alto Art Center to produce a series of large scale artworks by late artist Susan O’Malley along Embarcadero Road near the Palo Alto Art Center. Staff will return to the Commission with a funding request in the upcoming months. ANNOUNCEMENTS – None. CALENDAR: Next PAC Regular Meeting – July 16, 2020 at 7 pm. MEETING ADJOURNED at 9:22 pm by Chair Miyaji.