City of Lawrence

Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission Meeting

February 9, 2011 minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:	Susan Craig, Eric Dobbins, Sarah Harris, Amy Kelly, Mandy Lamb, Lori Madaus, Jane Pennington, Kathy Porsch (Chair), Darin White
MEMBERS ABSENT:	Christie Dobson
STAFF PRESENT:	Diane Stoddard
PUBLIC PRESENT:	N/A

January Minutes approved with one correction.

Arts Sustainability Task Force:

The Lawrence City Commission approved the RFP to hire a consultant to assist in developing an arts sustainability plan for Lawrence. The City Commission wants to review the hiring recommendation before the job is filled.

Commissioner Porsch talked to Tom Kern from the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and to Hank Booth a member of the Retail Task Force about our RFP and about exploring how the two groups might collaborate.

Wallace Meyer who teaches a MBA class at KU has contacted Roger Zalneraitis and Diane Stoddard about his interest in having his class participate in gathering information regarding the arts in Lawrence. His classes have previously done similar consulting studies for the city and he is a friend of Jeff Becker, the director of the Kansas City Arts Incubator. The class would conduct the initial study work so we could focus our $5000 budget on Phase 2 of the RFP, developing the long-range sustainability plan with forums and focus groups. Meyer supplied an outline of the work that the class would do and the deadlines they could meet.

Commissioner Pennington moved to use Meyer's students for preliminary data gathering and proposed that the RFP be revised to focus on Phase 2 of preparing documentation for the Strategic Plan. 2nd by Commissioner Kelly. Passed

The Arts Sustainability Task Force will have a meeting with Meyer to outline exactly what work should be done and LCAC’s desire for ongoing communication. The work will include data gathering about the arts in Lawrence and comparison with peer cities both in the region and elsewhere.

The Arts Sustainability Task Force recently had a meeting with Susan Tate from the Lawrence Arts Center regarding applying for a NEA grant to sustain and enhance Final Fridays program. A public forum will be held at the Lawrence Arts Center on Feb. 10 to answer questions and gather community input. Anyone who cannot attend the forum can send their comments to DowntownLawrenceArtsDistrict@gmail.com. Commissioner Pennington serves as point person on this project and is compiling data from the first 6 months of Final Fridays as supporting evidence.

Public Art Navigator Project:

More than two years ago the Metropolitan Kansas City Public Art Consortium received funding to support the creation of a cell phone audio tour of public art in Kansas City and the region. They contacted LCAC at that time asking that we nominate 3-4 public art pieces in Lawrence art to be included. LCAC proposed that the following sculptures be part of the project: Flame by Lin Emery; Mobility by Shellie Bender; From the Ashes by Jim Brothers; and the Hobbs Park mural by David Lowenstein. It wasn’t clear at the time of nomination whether artwork on the KU campus could be considered since the project included installation of signage.

The project has now progressed with a website, http://www.kcpan.net/about.htm, a published map of Kansas City artwork, and business cards showing the phone number to access information about the included work. They have asked that we now send information about only 2-3 artworks in Lawrence plus a script describing the art. They will supply the initial signage and incorporate the Lawrence work into future publicity. After some discussion about perhaps looking for a similar grant so that a more extensive project could be undertaken in Lawrence, Commissioner Dobbins moved that we submit all 4 previously selected works of art to the Kansas City project and consider it a low-cost pilot test of the value of such a tour. Commissioner Pennington 2nd. Passed. Commissioner Dobbins will review and enhance the script that has been prepared by city employees.

Graphic Design Services:

Discussion of whether to select a single LCAC graphic designer for the brochures and announcements issued by LCAC resulted in no motion. Current practice is to hire designers as needed from a list of names maintained by city staff. LCAC decided to continue this practice.

Subcommittee Reports:

Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition (ODSE) The deadline for submissions has passed and a review of the proposed pieces for safety and vulnerability to mutilation has been conducted. Twenty-one pieces passed the review and have been forwarded to the juror for consideration. Commissioner Pennington reports that the committee is considering eliminating the traditional printed brochure and instead developing an I-Phone art application that would provide information about the artwork. Such an application could possibly be expanded to encompass a tour of Lawrence public sculpture. Commissioner Craig raised a concern about archiving the past brochures and other documentation about ODSE in a local library. The juror-led tour of the newly installed sculptures will begin at the Lawrence Arts Center on Saturday June 4.

Phoenix Award: David Van Hee has been selected as the 2011 Phoenix artist. The award program will be Nov. 6 at the Lawrence Arts Center. Commissioner Lamb reported that she has talked with staff at the Lawrence Arts Center about the need for an additional display case for the Phoenix Awards.

Community Grants: An additional email reminder regarding deadlines will be sent soon along with a press release that we hope will be published in the newspaper. The deadline for submissions is the end of March and LCAC will discuss the applications at our April meeting.

Roundtable: Commissioner Pennington reported on various upcoming arts events. A focus of the recent Roundtable discussion was the Governor’s Executive Reorganization Order to abolish the Kansas Arts Commission and replace it with a Kansas Arts Foundation, a non-profit, non-state supported arts organization, Members of the newly formed Kansas Arts Foundation have been appointed by the Governor and include: Bruce Breckenridge, Leawood; Paula Downing, Wichita; Kerry Livgren, Berryton; Virginia Crossland-Macha, Iola; Priscilla O’Shaughnessy, Wichita; Bob Swain, Topeka; Sue Schlapp, Wichita; Linda Browning Weis, Manhattan; and Chris Burger, Lawrence, as Legal Counsel.

Lawrence Art Commission Liaison: Commissioner White reported on various upcoming activities at the Lawrence Arts Center.

Arts Sustainability Task Force: Susan Tate, Director of the Lawrence Arts Center, has proposed the creation of a forum where Lawrence arts organizations that are active in grant activity can get together for sharing of information and synergy. This might be sponsored by the Arts Sustainability Task Force.

The March agenda for LCAC will include a review of the Percent for Art process since the expansion project for the Lawrence Public Library will include funding for artwork.

Adjourned at 8:47pm.