Lawrence Arts Commission
Minutes of May 21, 2008
East Lawrence Recreation Center
Present: John Reeves, Chair; Leslie vonHolten, Vice-Chair; Matthew Herren, Secretary;
Elizabeth Hatchett; Lora Jost; David Loewenstein; Jane Pennington;
Evie Rapport, Immediate Past Chair
Absent: Donna Griffin, Amy Kelly
City Staff: Michael Tubbs, Staff Liaison
Public: Marilyn Roy, Lawrence League of Women Voters
A. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by the Chair, John Reeves.
B. The Minutes of March 12, 2008 meeting were approved as submitted.
C. New Business
1. Lawrence Arts Guild was not present.
2. The size of committees was discussed and it was noted that 4-member committees have both scheduling conflicts and the need to adhere to KOMA rules, which can cause location difficulties. Commissioner Hatchett moved to reduce the size of all committees from 4 to 3 members, and to remove the Chair as Ex-Officio, non-voting, on all committees. Seconded by Commissioner vonHolten. The motion was passed unanimously. It was also agreed that division of labor within committees be monitored carefully and that meetings will be announced and Minutes taken. New committee assignments are attached.
3. Chair Reeves noted that about $8,000 remains in this year’s Percent for Art Fund. It was suggested that this money remain and be used toward artwork for the Carnegie Museum’s upcoming renovation. It was also suggested by Commissioner Hatchett that some of these funds be used for the maintenance and upkeep of public art, which experiences decay. A memo will be sent from the Chair to The City to inquire about The City’s intentions and budget for maintenance of public art, and whether there are small amounts of money remaining from previous years’ Percent for Art budgets.
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D. Unfinished Business
1. No information was available about the Oread Hotel.
2. LAC Resolutions Letter: Chair Reeves reported success with his recent meeting with The City Commission and presented a table showing City’s responses to Arts Commission requests, including a name change, policy revisions, etc. Answers to these requests are all favorable.
E. Regular Agenda Items
1. Announcements from The Chair
A. The 2009 Budget request has been submitted to The City via email. Response pending.
B. Changes and incresase to the 2010 Budget were discussed.
C. Procedures for subcommittees will be discussed at June 11 meeting.
Other: Commissioner King has resigned. It was noted that all Commissioners have been invited to a reception to meet KS Arts Commissioners at the Spencer Museum, June 5.
2. Subcommittee Reports
A. ODSE: Commissioner Rapport showed the final draft of OSDE brochure for the current exhibit, on its way to print. It was noted that John Northington’s sculpture, ‘Untitled’, has been removed. It contains tempered glass, not visible from his photo submission, which has been deemed a hazard by Parks and Rec. Since this is the second year of problems with his submissions, a more complete method of submission was discussed, photos from all angles, in particular. After consideration of our relationship with Mr. Northington, Commissioner Loewenstein moved to write him a letter of apology for the removal of his work and offer travel expenses up to $200, since he will not receive the usual honorarium. Motion seconded by Commissioner Pennington. Vote passed, 7 to 1, Chair Reeves, along with Mr. Tubbs, will write the letter.
B. Phoenix Awards: Commissioner Loewenstein reported that the committee has chosen Kristin Moreland, textile artist, to create this year’s awards. He has also asked the City to display each of the past award sculptures and November’s ceremony. The new Arts Commission website will have new Phoenix nomination forms, which have been strealined. Changes include allowing the Arts Commission rather than nominators to choose a category for each entrant. Evaluation sheets and voting should be simplified by these changes.
C. Website: Commissioner vonHolten will ask former Commissioner King for minutes of the most recent meeting, at which minor corrections were made to the site.
D. Fundraising and Project Development: Commissioner Jost announced that we as Arts Commission may be nominated by an outside person to receive a KS Governor’s Award. Nominations are due in the fall.
E. Grants/Workshops: Commissioner Hatchett had no news.
G. Rountable: Commissioner Hatchett: Roundtable did not meet this month but will meet June 9.
H. Ad-hoc for Accessibility: Commissioner Jost presented an informative handout listing resources, and ideas for making Arts Commission programs, events, and materials more accessible. This piece addressed each committee and offered clear steps toward accessibility.
After motion by Commissioner vonHolten, seconded by Commissioner Pennington, Meeting was adjourned at 8:57 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Matthew Herren, Secretary
Subcommittee’s minutes:
Lawrence Arts Commission
Executive Committee Meeting
Holcom Park Rec. Center, Outdoors
Minutes of April 24, 2008
Present: John Reeves, Chair; Leslie vonHolten, Vice-Chair; Matthew Herren, Secretary;
Donna Griffin; Evie Rapport, Immediate Past Chair
Meeting called to order at 6:12 PM.
1. 2009 Budget
Figures from 2008 were reviewed and a 5% increase was proposed in all categories, with the exception of Phoenix Awards. A 50% increase in this category was proposed, considering the value of artist’s work, cost of materials, and honor of being selected for permanent display in City’s collection. New totals are as follows:
ODSE: $14,000
Phoenix Awards: $4,000
Grants: $7,350
Administration: $3,500
Total: $29,050
2. Make-up of Committees
Questions remain about fair and accessible meeting venues and procedures. This will be discussed at May Commission meeting, along with each committee’s goals and possible obstacles or problems.
3. Primary Programs
Commissioner vonHolten will prepare a list of possible improvements to Grants Committee for May Commission meeting. Ways in which to improve response to programs, particularly grants, were discussed. Press releases, including radio announcements, at set intervals were suggested. A refreshing of ODSE may include a one-site exhibit, in a place such as South Park, which follows the model of Kansas City’s Avenue of the Arts. An increase in artists’ honoraria was also encouraged. Phoenix Awards have clearly been successful. The idea of brief montages of each awardee’s work for the ceremony was proposed.
4. May Meeting
Because of a downtown concert it was decided that May’s Commission meeting be postponed until May 21, 2008.
Meeting adjourned at 7:21 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Matthew Herren, Secretary
Phoenix Award Program Review
May 2008
Submitted by Phoenix Award Committee Chair, Dave Loewenstein
Strengths
Weaknesses
Proposed Changes
Plans for Growth
1. Consider making the Phoenix Award a biennial as opposed to annual program. This would give more time for nominations, increase the budget for artist commissions, and make the award more prestigious.
After motion by Commissioner vonHolten, seconded by Commissioner Pennington, Meeting was adjourned at 8:57 PM.
Lawrence Arts Commission
Meeting: Ad Hoc Committee on Accessibility
Minutes of May 5, 2008
Present: Elizabeth Hatchett, Lora Jost, Evie Rapport, John Reeves, Michael Tubbs (staff liaison), Martin English (Executive Director of Accessible Arts), Kit Bardwell (Program Director of Accessible Arts)
A. While waiting for people to arrive, a couple of arts commissioners chatted with Martin English and Kit Bardwell about the different programs that the LAC runs, and commissioners showed them some of the LAC’s printed materials.
B. The meeting began after Commissioner Jost announced that we were all present, and turned things over to Mr. English and Ms. Bardwell.
C. The commissioners shared interests and concerns about accessibility and shared and/or received the following information: (1) The LAC can contact Ms. Bardwell for Braille sources (one good source is in Topeka), (2) The Kansas Arts Commission (KAC) has grants that can support accessibility services and accessibility-linked programming, (3) The LAC might “trade” programs and services with the Alphapointe Association for the Blind in Kansas City, MO, such as trade Braille conversion services with a sculpture tour for people who are blind, (4) Quail Run Elementary School in Lawrence will be a cluster school for children who are visually impaired and may also trade Braille conversion services for special programming, (5) There are two ways to convert text to brail – by computer (less expensive) or by manual transcription.
D. Mr. English invited the commissioners to share the mission of the LAC as well as their personal interests as board members. Commissioner Jost shared that she learned about the free consultations with Accessible Arts from the KAC’s on-line newsletter.
E. Mr. English and Ms. Bardwell shared the mission of Accessible Arts. Accessible Arts is a non-profit that helps provide access to the arts for children with disabilities and emphasizes inclusiveness by bringing children together based on shared interests, not shared disabilities. Accessible Arts also helps to make programs and venues accessible. Accessible Arts is the Kansas affiliate of VSA Arts. Both the KAC and VSA Arts are their funding sources for the free consultations with arts organizations.
F. Ms. Bardwell shared information about “people first” language. People with disabilities don’t want to be identified with their disability first (such as “blind boy”) but as a person first (such as “boy who is blind” or “children in special education”). It’s important to know how to write about people with disabilities when requesting related funding. The one exception to the “people first” language is when describing people in the deaf community – the preference is “deaf person”.
G. Mr. English made two key suggestions toward making our organization more accessible: (1) try to get a person with a disability onto the arts commission – not as a “token” – but to provide advice and help and encouragement on accessibility issues. Mr. English encouraged the LAC to get people with disabilities involved, and also to connect with administrators of programs for people with disabilities. Commissioner Rapport suggested that the LAC act as a connector to encourage the use of accessible venues and so forth. (2) Appoint someone on the commission to oversee making our programs/printed materials accessible. Accessibility falls through the cracks without one person being assigned this task. (3) In our grants program, we may wish to include a checklist about accessibility as the KAC does – to help organizations think about the issues (funding would not be dependent on accessibility). (4) Mr. English suggested a worst-case scenario where accessibility standards are not met in projects we fund, and the city could ultimately be held accountable. A good faith track record is important.
H. Mr. English and Ms. Bardwell made suggestions about increasing accessibility pertaining to LAC programs and printed materials:
(1) Downtown Sculpture Exhibit: (a) are the sculptures physically accessible to people in wheelchairs, or available for people to touch? (b) the LAC might consider hiring a trained audio describer from the Kemper for a special tour for people who are blind or visually impaired, (c) create an audio tour on CD and make it available to people at the public library, (d) it is very important to make people aware of the services that we make available, (e) have maquettes of sculptures available to people who are blind or visually impaired (commissioner Hatchett’s idea), (f) make arrangements for special tour with the school for the blind, (g) have a sign language interpreter – Able Hands in KC charges between $30 – 50 per hr (later we discussed connecting with KU interns who might interpret for free)
(2) Phoenix Awards: (a) listening devices are available in the auditorium of the arts center, so make people aware of this in our brochures and press releases, (b) have a sign language interpreter, (c) advertise, say “for the first time the Phoenix Awards will be presented in alternative formats…” (d) invite people who would find the alternative formats useful, (e) perhaps a KU intern might interpret the ceremony for free, (f) offer Braille print-outs or large print format programs upon request and include the logos for these in advertising materials, (g) large print formats should be 16 pt. font, sans serif (arial font is good), (h) advertise “programs in alternative formats including brail and large print are available upon request with one weeks notice prior to event.” Include the accessibility logos in ad material, (i) high contrast design is helpful for people who are visually impaired, (j) make contacts with the deaf community to invite deaf people (and for interpreters), (k) make large print version of the Phoenix application form available on our website and advertise this in the flyer (do this with all our materials)
(3) Website: google “bobby” for a website that will check whether our website is accessible for people who use a screen reader (http://www.watchfire.com/products/webxm/bobby.aspx)
(4) General advice from Mr. English: make small goals, learn about accessibility etiquette, learn correct language about accessibility for grants, look at the resources they have provided including a book called “Design for Accessibility” (ask John Reeves for the book)
I. Accessible Arts provides training for artists about ways to make their art more accessible. Mr. English and Ms. Bardwell also mentioned other consultations they offer, including staff and volunteer training. Commissioners brainstormed the possibility of organizing such a consultation with several local arts organizations together.
J. Mr. English and Ms. Bardwell suggested we be in touch with local resources about accessibility for people with mental disabilities, and we spoke a bit about autism (that the number of people with autism is growing, accessibility for people with autism is very diverse). One key point is to integrate programming for people with disabilities with people who have typical abilities. Two local resource people are Lanell Finneran at Bert Nash, and Susan Rieger of 940 Dance Company.
K. Mr. English and Ms. Bardwell offered their continued services to us. LAC members should feel free to call with additional questions and for tips, resources and feedback.
Submitted by: Lora Jost, arts commissioner