Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-20 Public Art Commission Summary Minutes IS POSTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54954.2(a) OR SECTION 54956 PUBLIC ART COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Thursday, February 20, 2025 Community Meeting Room & Virtual 7:00 p.m. Commissioners Participating: Hsinya Shen, Tara de la Garza, Harriet Stern, Amber Smith, Loren Gordon, Lisa Waltuch, Ben Miyaji joined the meeting remotely under “AB-2449 Just Cause” provision. Commissioners Absent: None City Council Participating: Vicki Veenker Staff Present: Elise DeMarzo, Public Art Program Director, CSD Nadya Chuprina, Public Art Program Coordinator, CSD CALL TO ORDER –Chair Gordon called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS – None. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS – None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 16, 2025 PAC Regular Meeting Minutes: Moved by Vice Chair Shen, Second by Commissioner Stern. All in Favor. January 31, 2025 PAC Annual Retreat Minutes: Moved: Commissioner Miyaji, Second: Commissioner de la Garza. All in Favor. STAFF COMMENTS –Staff notified the PAC about the two calls for artists: for the pre-qualified artist roster and muralist roster recently closed on January 27, 2025 with over a thousand applications submitted. Staff also announced an upcoming informational presentation for Palo Alto’s immigrant communities, Know Your Rights, taking place at MPCC on February 27. Staff welcomed Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker appointed as the Council Liaison to the PAC. ACTION: 1. Election of Officers – Chair Gordon explained the general duties and responsibilities of the Chair to the Commissioners and opened the floor to nominations for the position of the PAC Chair. Commissioner Waltuch nominated Vice Chair Shen for the position of Chair. Vice Chair Shen accepted the nomination. No other nominations followed. Motion: Commissioner Stern moved to close the nominations. Second: Chair Gordon. All in Favor. Vote: Vice Chair Shen was unanimously elected as the new PAC Chair. Vice Chair Shen then provided an overview of the responsibilities of the Vice Chair position. Chair Gordon opened the floor to nominations. Vice Chair Shen nominated Commissioner Waltuch for the position of Vice Chair. Commissioner Waltuch accepted the nomination. No other nominations followed. Motion: Commissioner Stern moved to close the nominations. Second: Commissioner de la Garza. All in Favor. All in Favor. Vote: Commissioner Waltuch was elected as the PAC Vice Chair. 2. King Artist-in-Residence Presentation – Commissioner de la Garza disclosed her personal friendship with artist Kiana Honarmand as a fellow CASP artist. Staff provided a summary of the King AIR program artist selection process in 2024 which resulted in artist Alma Landeta’s selection as the 2024 program artist. Artist Kiana Honarmand was ranked by the selected panel as the next highest scoring artist. Following the recent discussion at the PAC Annual Retreat, staff made recommendation that the PAC approve Kiana Honarmand as the next resident artist and also approve allocation of funds in the amount of $50,000 for the project. The exact timeline for the residency project to be confirmed with the artist later. Moved: Commissioner Stern moved to approve Kiana Honarmand as the next King AIR artist and the funds for up to $50,000 for the residency project. Second: Commissioner Waltuch. All in Favor. NON-ACTION: 3. Code:ART 2025 - Staff and commissioners discussed partnership prospects and expended public programming during Code:ART 2025 during October 16-25, including attracting sponsorship opportunities, community partnerships with local businesses and organizations, opening and closing events, community programming on King Plaza prior to nightly projections, leading public tours, conducting visitor surveys to measure economic impact and assisting participating artists during the festival hours. Commissioners de la Garza, Smith and Chair Shen formed an ad- hoc committee with the focus on attracting sponsorship opportunities. Other commissioners were encouraged to reach out to local groups and organizations to develop public programming and partnerships. COMMISSIONER QUESTIONS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, OR FUTURE ITEMS: Newly elected Chair Shen thanked outgoing Chair Gordon for her service and dedication to promote public art in Palo Alto in her role as the Chair. CALENDAR: PAC Regular Meeting – March 20, 2025, at 7 pm. MEETING ADJOURNED: at 7:53 pm by Commissioner Gordon.