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Home My WebLink About2021-04-15 Public Art Commission Agenda Packet IS POSTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54954.2(a) OR SECTION 54956 PUBLIC ART COMMISSION Ben Miyaji, Chair Ian Klaus, Member Loren Gordon, Vice-Chair Nia Taylor, Member Hsinya Shen, Member City Council Liaison: Mayor Tom DuBois Elise DeMarzo: Public Art Program Director Nadya Chuprina: Public Art Program Coordinator Kristen O’Kane: Director of Community Services Department http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/publicart Thursday, April 15, 2021 7:00 pm Pursuant to the provisions of California Governor’s Executive Order N-29-20, issued on March 17, 2020, to prevent the spread of Covid-19, this meeting will be held by virtual teleconference only, with no physical location. The meeting will be broadcast on Midpen Media Center at https://midpenmedia.org. Members of the public who wish to participate by computer or phone can find the instructions at the end of this agenda. To ensure participation in a particular item, we suggest calling in or connecting online 15 minutes before the item you wish to speak on. https://zoom.us/join Meeting ID: 971 9861 1388 Phone: +1 669 900 6833 AGENDA ROLL CALL AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Members of the public may address the Commission on any subject not on the agenda. A reasonable time restriction may be imposed at the discretion of the Chair. The Commission reserves the right to limit oral communications period to 3 minutes. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: PAC Special Meeting March 17, 2021 ATTACHMENT; PAC Meeting March 18, 2021 ATTACHMENT STAFF COMMENTS ACTION: 1. Equity Focused Public Art at King Plaza – Discussion of the resources available to potential artists through the Human Relations Commission and other outlets, expectations of the research and artwork development portion of the artist call, and potential allocation of funds to launch the program. NON-ACTION: 2. Commissioner Handbook Adopted by City Council – discussion of the adopted Commissioner Handbook, the PAC annual work plan, and the Boards & Commissions Training Session. ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR YOUR CALENDAR: Next PAC regular meeting – Thursday, May 20, 2021 MINUTES PUBLIC ART COMMISSION SPEICAL MEETING Wednesday, March 17, 2021 Virtual teleconference via Zoom 6:00 p.m. Commissioners Present: Ben Miyaji, Loren Gordon, Nia Taylor, Ian Klaus, Hsinya Shen joined the meeting at 6:10 pm Staff Present: Elise DeMarzo, Public Art Program Director Nadya Chuprina, Public Art Program Coordinator CALL TO ORDER: HRC Chair Smith called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS – None. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS – 3 members of the public addressed HRC on various issues. NON-ACTION: 1. Joint Discussion with Human Relations Commission – HRC Chair Smith and PAC Chair Miyaji led a discussion regarding the upcoming public art in King Plaza to address racial equity and potential areas of collaboration. PAC Commissioners presented slides with images of previous participatory-based public art projects. Both commissions expressed enthusiasm about collaborating and stated the importance of including artists on community conversations around the issues of racial justice and equity. Commissioners agreed that artwork would need to be reflective of and relevant to Palo Alto, and be able to build discussions and express diverse perspectives and experiences of diverse communities residing in Palo Alto. PAC and HRC agreed to hold another special meeting in May. PAC Chair Miyaji will delegate a PAC liaison to participate in planning meetings for the series of community conversations that will take place in 2021. ANNOUNCEMENTS – None CALENDAR: Next PAC Regular Meeting – March 18, 2021 at 7 pm via Zoom. SPECIAL MEETING ADJOURNED at 6:51 pm by Chair Miyaji. MINUTES PUBLIC ART COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, March 18, 2021 Virtual teleconference via Zoom 7:00 p.m. Commissioners Present: Ben Miyaji, Loren Gordon, Nia Taylor, Ian Klaus, Hsinya Shen joined the meeting at 6:10 pm Staff Present: Elise DeMarzo, Public Art Program Director Nadya Chuprina, Public Art Program Coordinator CALL TO ORDER - Chair Miyaji called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS – None. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS – None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - PAC Meeting Minutes from February 18, 2021, Moved: Commissioner Shen, Second: Vice Chair Gordon. All in Favor. STAFF COMMENTS - Staff updated the Commissioners on the ongoing application and selection process for the ArtLift Microgrant projects. Staff shared visuals and descriptions of the project proposals approved for funding in February and announced an April 16 deadline for the last round of applications. Staff also shared images of eight Temporary Murals installed across Palo Alto. Additionally, staff announced the ongoing recruitment for the City’s Boards and Commissions, including 3 vacancies for the Public Art Commission with the application deadline on April 6, 2021. Staff also provided information about currently open calls for artists for the 2021-2023 Prequalified Artist Pool and Temporary Murals for the new Public Safety Building in California Ave District. Staff announced an upcoming virtual artist talk with artists who created designs for eight temporary murals. ACTION: 1. California Ave Master Plan – Art Builds Community consultants made a presentation of the refined California Ave Public Art Master Plan to the Commissioners. The consultants presented the overall scope, goals and objectives, timeline and methodology for the community outreach, and a set of final recommendations laid out in the California Avenue District Public Art Plan. There was some discussion about the outlined recommendations. Commissioners proposed to make a friendly amendment to move to approve the Public Art Plan with a modification to Recommendation 4 to strengthen the language about commissioning artwork that promotes diversity and racial justice. Moved: Commissioner Taylor moved to approve modification to Recommendation 4 to include language about commissioning artwork that promotes diversity and racial justice. Second: Commissioner Shen. All in Favor. Moved: Commissioner Shen moved to approve the final California Ave Public Art Master Plan. Second: Commissioner Taylor. All in Favor. NON-ACTION: 2. Race and Equity in Public Art –Equity and communications consultant Elizabeth D. Foggie made a special presentation to PAC to share findings from the targeted outreach and artist survey with the goal of enhancing equity and inclusion and access to public art opportunities in Palo Alto for artists and art organizations of color. The consultant presented the purpose, scope, and methodology for the conducted survey. The consultant shared aggregated findings of the demographics for the survey participants, and their experiences working in the field of public art in general, any past experience working with the Palo Alto Public Art Program, and expressed barriers to access and equity in public art. Consultant provided a number of recommendations and considerations for enhancing equity and accessibility for public artists. There was some discussion among the commissioners about the survey results and outlined recommendations. 3. Follow-up Discussion After Joint Meeting with Human Relations Commission – Commissioners discussed the take-aways from the joint meeting with the Human Relations Commission regarding the collaboration between the two commissions on the outreach and public engagement for artwork on King Plaza recognizing the City’s priorities on race and equity. ANNOUNCEMENTS – Chair Miyaji announced the ongoing PAC recruitment and encouraged incumbents and public to apply. CALENDAR: Next PAC Regular Meeting – April 15, 2021 at 7 pm via Zoom. SPECIAL MEETING ADJOURNED at 8:45 pm by Chair Miyaji.