Minutes
of February 13, 2008
Present: John Reeves,
Chair; Donna Griffin; Elizabeth Hatchett; Matthew Herren, Secretary; Tom King;
David Loewenstein; Jane Pennington; Evie Rapport, Immediate Past Chair
Absent: Lora Jost; Leslie VonHolten,
Vice-Chair
City Staff:
No
public present.
A. The meeting was called to order at 7:07 PM in
the City Commission Room at City Hall by the Chair, John Reeves.
B. The Minutes of January 9, 2008 meeting were
approved, as were minutes of all sub-committees from the past three months.
C. Regular Agenda Items
1. Announcements from the Chair
A.
Growth and Strength: The Chair suggested that plans for upcoming
committee meetings be made and documented and that specific budgets should be
drawn up for the current year’s projects.
B.
Vacancies: Jane Pennington, Director of Downtown Lawrence, Inc. has been
appointed to The Commission, as has Aimee Kelly. Ms. Pennington introduced herself and noted
that she has twenty years of fundraising experience. Other Commissioners introduced themselves and
welcomed her.
C.
Resources: Chair Reeves introduced the idea of building a library of
public art publications and LAC archives.
It was noted that books and subscriptions can be expensive, but
donations will be sought and joining a public service list may be a free
option. Several possible locations,
most public, were discussed and it was decided that The City Manager’s Office
will research them and report back to The Commission.
2. Subcommittee Reports
A.
Grants: Commissioner Hatchett expressed displeasure with her recent
correspondence with The City over scheduling and holding a sub-committee meeting
in her home. Commissioner Loewenstein
agreed that there is a tremendous amount of time, energy, and confusion on the
part of Commissioners, who are
volunteers, when it comes to communicating with The City Manager’s Office. Much
discussion ensued over the policy governing meetings and the KOMA. It was noted that in the recent past meetings
of 4-committee members had, in fact, been held in places that are neither
public nor handicap accessible. Since
The Grants sub-committee has only three members, it is exempt from KOMA
rules. It was strongly re-stated that
all four-member committees (4 Commissioners being the majority of a quorum of
The Arts Commission) must hold meeting in accessible public venues and must inform
the citizens of
B.
Outdoor Downtown Sculpture Exhibit: Commissioner Griffin noted that the
ODSE committee had met successfully with Parks and Recreation on February 11 to
discuss the safety of submissions for public installment. Although there are fewer entries than in
previous years, 22 remain eligible by meeting safety requirements and are on
their way to the juror, Bill Buchen.
Commissioners King and Rapport
warned against a repeat of last year’s ‘Prayer Booth’ disagreement and
Mr. Tubbs agreed that The City will accept The Chair’s request for a meeting if
a similar situation arises this year. A timeline for ODSE selections and
installation is forthcoming.
C.
Phoenix Awards: Commissioner Loewenstein met with past Committee Chair
and former Commissioner Sandra Weichert to discuss policies and procedures and
will meet soon with The Lawrence Arts Center in regards to dates for the award
ceremony. He is working with his
sub-committee to choose a sculptor for commission and noted that they are
working to clarify voting criteria for the awards.
D.
Website: Commissioner King reported that web designer Andrea Wertzburger
will have a demo ready for the March meeting.
He also requested photos of Commission events of late for addition to
the website.
E.
Fundraising and Project Development: Commissioner Loewenstein filled in
for absent Commissioner Jost. He
presented a draft of the KAC grant which will be submitted to cover Andrea
Wertzburger’s future work on the website and, noted that, if awarded, the grant
could provide cash flow for the website and its requirements.
G.
Roundtable: Commissioner Hatchett announced that she will continue to
attend Roundtable meetings and Commissioner Pennington will join her. She was please to announce that Terry
Rombeck, now in charge of The Pulse,
is also an active member of the group and passed around various announcements
of upcoming events.
H.
New Items: Commissioner Pennington has agreed to join Phoenix Awards and
Fundraising sub-committees and Commissioner Rapport will replace Chair Reeves
on ODSE and Website committees. A
new-Commissioner orientation is being planned.
D. New Business
A.
Conflict of Interest forms were distributed and filled out by all
present.
E. Unfinished Business
A.
The Executive Committee will meet soon with immediate past Chair Rapport
to update Resolutions 5966 and 5015.
B.
The Policy Manual will be updated/corrected after the meeting mentioned
above.
F. Commissioner Items
1.
Commissioner King suggested that a committee be formed to catalog the
City’s art collection. Commissioner
Rapport will investigate KU’s model for such a catalog, and The City Manager’s
office offered to help, in conjunction with the Convention/Visitors
Bureau.
2.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 PM.
Respectfully
submitted,
Matthew
Herren, Secretary