Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission

Minutes

February 10, 2010 Meeting 7 pm

Attendees:  Darin White, Jane Pennington, Amy Kelly, Kathy Porsch, Lori Madaus, Mandy Lamb, Sarah Harris

Other:  Diane Stoddard and Megan Gilliland – City of Lawrence

Absent:  Susan Craig, Christie Dobson, and Matthew Herren

Commissioner Kelly called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the January meeting and the special February meeting were approved as submitted.

Website:

Megan Gilliland, the City’s Communication Manager, was introduced and discussed possibilities regarding moving the LCAC website over to the City server.  She answered questions that Commissioners had about the City’s website. 

Commissioner Harris asked a question regarding a Facebook page.  Megan explained that the City was in the process of developing a social media policy and that there would be further guidance on this topic forthcoming.  Diane indicated that she would update the LCAC on this in the near future. 

After discussion, Commissioner Pennington made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Madaus, to migrate the existing website to the City website.  Motion passed unanimously.   Diane will work on this with City staff to get this accomplished. 

NEA Grant Opportunity:

Commissioner Porsch recapped the special meeting concerning the NEA grant opportunity.  It requires a three page initial submission.  Commissioner Porsch indicated that there was a consensus at the special meeting about creating a downtown art district, which was likely more in the planning stage than in the implementation stage.  It was suggested that $100,000 be the amount of the grant.  She stated that she needed assistance with the budget.  The three page proposal will be due on March 15.  If requested to make a formal proposal, entities will be notified in early April, with formal proposals due in early May.  There appeared to be some interest from the Lawrence Arts Center in administering the grant.   

Commissioner White discussed that he would be meeting soon with the Charlotte Street group.  There were several who were also interested in attending.  Darin indicated that he would send the date out to those who expressed interest. 

Public Art: 

Diane was following up regarding several questions asked by the LCAC in January.  Diane reported that there are two sculptures that the City has at the Parks and Recreation shop.  Also, there had been a question asked regarding whether any particular downtown sculpture sites were prone to vandalism.  Staff indicated that there weren’t any particular sites, but that the ones along Massachusetts Street tended to be more susceptible to vandalism and it also depended upon the sculpture.  Also, staff was asked to update Michael Tubbs’ report from August 2008 regarding public art.  It was reported that there were no additional updates to the report.  However, Diane was asked to check with the Parks and Recreation staff to see what may have been accomplished since the report was written.  It was expressed that there was some interest in spending some of the carryover Outdoor Sculpture funds from 2009 toward public art maintenance. 

Commissioner Kelly indicated that there was one opening on the Commission.  She asked if there were any ideas for Commissioners and requested that suggestions be forwarded to her. Diversity was mentioned as an important goal.

ODSE Committee:

Commissioner Pennington indicated that there was a meeting concerning outdoor sculpture to review the entries and submit to the juror.  It was reported that approximately 21 entries were forwarded to the juror.

Roundtable: 

Commissioner Pennington indicated that there was a meeting of the roundtable today.  She reported that there would be an event coming up – Baroque by Candlelight. She discussed a new Community Theatre Show and activities related to the library.  Downtown Lawrence will be doing the Film Festival again, related to Carey Grant films. 

Lawrence Arts Center: 

Commissioner White reported that he had a meeting with Susan Tate at the Lawrence Arts Center.  Ms. Tate was working on having more art on display at the LAC and people actually working on art in the lobby.  Ben Ahlvers was working on curating the art in the building.  Ms. Tate was also interested in having art in open buildings downtown and in a concept like “first Fridays”, or a night to promote art.

Staff Items: 

Diane provided a financial report for January.  There was a question regarding the carryover funds and if there is a desire to spend it on maintenance.  There was interest in getting an updated list from parks and recreation regarding what had been done for public art. 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30.