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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Arts Commission 11-09-23 Approved Meeting MinutesCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Newport Beach Public Library 1000 Avocado Avenue, Newport Beach, CA 92660 Thursday, November 9, 2023 – Regular Meeting City Arts Commission Members: Maureen Flanagan, Chair Leonard Simon, Vice Chair Barbara George, Secretary John Blom, Commissioner Melissa Kandel, Commissioner Wayan Kaufman, Commissioner Marie Little, Commissioner Staff Members: Melissa Hartson, Library Services Director Camille Escareal-Garcia, Cultural Arts Assistant I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair Maureen Flanagan called the City Arts Commission meeting to order at 5:00 P.M. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Chair Flanagan Commissioner Blom Commissioner Kandel Commissioner Kaufman Commissioner Little Secretary George Commissioners Absent: Vice Chair Simon (excused) Staff Present: Melissa Hartson, Library Services Director Francine Jacome, Administrative Support Specialist III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Flanagan led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC - Waived V. PUBLIC COMMENTS None City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 2 VI. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Minutes of the October 12, 2023, City Arts Commission Meeting 1. Draft of 10/12/23 Minutes Chair Flanagan requested edits, changes or deletions of the minutes. Chair Flanagan opened the item for public comment and there were none. Motion made by Commissioner John Blom, seconded by Commissioner Marie Little, and carried (6-0-0-1 with Vice Chair Simon absent) to approve the minutes of the City Arts Commission (CAC) Regular meeting on October 12, 2023, as written. B. Consent Calendar Items 2. Financial Report Review of financial information. Library Services Director Melissa Hartson referenced Handwritten Page 15 and reported there has not been any significant movement and that funds will be disbursed in the upcoming months as plans are made for the Art Exhibition and Sculpture Garden. Chair Flanagan inquired about the quarterly fees for the maintenance of artwork and requested a list of sculptures that would need maintenance during this year’s budget. Library Services Director Hartson responded that the bronze sculptures require regular maintenance: Sphere, Sunset Years, Marine 1/1, Reagan, and Ben Carlson Memorial. Chair Flanagan stated it would be helpful during the budget process if they knew which pieces will require maintenance and at what cost. Commissioner Blom asked if the budget amount listed for advertising was for programs and if the advertising for the Sculpture Garden comes out of the Sculpture Garden budget. Library Services Director Harston explained the advertising for the Sculpture Garden is pulled from the programming budget. With the postponement of Tijuana Dogs, new ads with the new dates had to be posted. Commissioner Melissa Kandel stated she went through each line item in advertising to see if she could find the ads and was unable to do so. She found an article for Tijuana Dogs for a concert and inquired if it would be worth looking into editorial articles for marketing rather than purchasing banner ads. It’s challenging to see what money was used for advertising without any metrics of how successful the advertisement was. If the click through rate is less than 1%, for example, they would need to re-evaluate their marketing strategies. Library Services Director Hartson offered to have a meeting directly with Commissioner Kandel, Chair Flanagan agreed that would be a great idea. Chair Flanagan opened the item for public comment. City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 3 Jim Mosher, Newport Beach resident, commented that at the recent Council meeting it was mentioned that the City Arts Commission had requested an exception to the budget that had been previously approved for the Sculpture Garden and he believed the fault was on both ends because when the City Charter was written in 1954, one of the duties of the City Manager was to visit each Commission and Board and review their budgetary needs for the year. In 2012 there was a Charter Amendment election held in which the voters in Newport Beach voted on 38 different amendments to the Charter, one of which relieved the City Manager of that duty. That may be the reason the Commission is not as involved in the budget process as it should be. Budgets are based on needs of the Commission and are generally negotiated. Chair Flanagan thanked Mr. Mosher for his comment, and stated he always has useful history and comments. Laura Curran, Newport Beach resident, noted she had seen in the Municipal Code update that there was a code regarding the Library Fund that was stricken and how they are eliminating certain types of funding for the library with no discussion as to why that was happening. Library Services Director Hartson replied she does not have an answer for that in terms of why it was removed from the Municipal Code. Ms. Curran stated she would forward it to Director Hartson. Library Services Director Hartson believed the City Attorney may have talked about the Municipal Code changes during the most recent City Council meeting, she could review the meeting to see what was said. 3. Cultural Arts Activities Monthly review of cultural arts activities from the Library Administrative Office for upcoming Library and City arts events and services. Library Services Director Hartson reported the summer concert series was wrapped up in October at Marina Park, it was a beautiful day, and it was fun to see the band get out amongst the crowd. Sherry Marger has art displayed in the Central Library Gallery currently, and with last months approval to move forward with Arts In Public Spaces, they have the ongoing exhibits that the Arts Commission approved at the last meeting. Next month’s meeting is December 14. The Student Art Exhibition call for entries will begin in early January and flyers have already been produced. Secretary Barbara George explained that last year she was on the ad hoc subcommittee for the Student Art Exhibition and visited each school and spoke to the heads of the art departments so they can encourage students to participate. She also spoke with the principal for students who don’t have art classes but may still want to participate. Since it is a shared school district, she visits both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa schools. Commissioner Blom suggested inquiring if the teachers would be interested is having field trips to the Sculpture Garden to better acquaint the children and parents who help chaperone. This could provide more exposure. Library Services Director Hartson stated they have brochures, but her suggestion would be to wait until after the installation of Metal Tree. Secretary George responded she would City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 4 wait as suggested but believed it’s a great idea to distribute the brochures and invite student field trips. Commissioner Blom thought it might be beneficial for a couple of the Commissioners, or even local artists, to volunteer as guides. Chair Flanagan commented while she was at a recent tour, she met a woman who said her son had become an artist years ago as a result of the art contest, he’s now in his 40’s. Commissioner Wayan Kaufman inquired what the expenses were in the past for the Student Art Exhibition. Library Services Director Hartson clarified that it is in the packet under Student Art Exhibition. It was a couple thousand total. Motion made by Secretary George, seconded by Commissioner Marie Little, and carried (6-0-0-1 with Vice Chair Simon absent) to approve the Consent Calendar. VII. CURRENT BUSINESS A. Items for Review and Possible Action 4. Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park - Phase IX Staff will update the City Arts Commission regarding the timeline and funding of Phase IX of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park. Library Services Director Hartson reported staff has received Council direction for the upcoming phase of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park. There is a timeline for the call for entries, and the Arts Commission and a curatorial panel to review and narrow down selections for the public online survey. The current timeline has pushed out the opening of the public survey to after the holidays, in the hope that it will warrant more participation. Installation and deinstallation will happen simultaneously in June. The funding will be the $135,000 that was approved by Council for the program, and like last year, the remainder will be covered by reallocating program and maintenance funds. Included in the staff report are the different marketing phases, Library Services Director Hartson referenced Handwritten Page 23. Arts OC starts the calls for entries marketing, followed by the public survey. Marketing efforts will then focus on the grand opening of Phase IX. There will be a Sculpture Garden brochure that highlights both phases in the garden that will also be available at the entry of the exhibition. Commissioner Blom inquired about the estimated number of email subscriptions. Library Services Director Hartson responded that the library subscriber list is estimated at just over 32,000, possibly 33,000 emails, she was not aware of the City’s subscribers. Commissioner Blom asked if there is prerequisite that survey voters on the entries are city residents. Library Services Director Hartson answered there is, based on Council direction several years ago. That is part of Arts OC’s management fee, is that when people are voting in the online public survey, they have to cull through to make sure they are a resident of Newport Beach. When it comes time, she encouraged the Commissioners to spread the word about the public survey, and pairing down the entries for the public survey City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 5 will be an important discussion when Arts OC comes back so that rating the entries won’t be as cumbersome as it has been in the past. Library Services Director Hartson added that last year’s survey resulted in several ties which increased the number of sculptures to be rated within the survey; she also noted that all four alternates were used upon installation. Commissioner Little commented that it’s super important to spread the word more than has been done in the past because the ratio of voters in the survey to residents in the City has been really weak. It’s almost not worth it if there’s not going to be a turnout. If the Commission wants meaningful votes from quality voters, the community outreach efforts will need to be substantial. Chair Flanagan inquired if anything has even been published in the Stu News. Library Services Director Hartson responded they utilized that publication last year in Tom Johnson’s column. Commissioner Blom inquired if the Independent was printed by the Register. Library Services Director Hartson stated she would have to consult with Cultural Arts Assistant Escareal-Garcia, she thought it was the Newport Beach Indy, it’s different from the Current. Commissioner Kandel inquired if the CAC meeting is the appropriate forum to discuss the viability of some of the solutions that were discussed in the Council meeting. Library Services Director Hartson responded that could happen at a later time when it was on an agenda. Commission Kandel asked if the artists had individual marketing plans once they are selected which allowed them to promote the honor of being selected. Library Services Director Hartson answered she wasn’t sure what Arts OC’s process was. Commissioner Little added that quite often the artists pay to have someone go into the Sculpture Garden for promo shots of their work. She suspected it was done as self- promotion. Commissioner Kandel asked if there is social media marketing. Library Services Director Hartson replied they post to Instagram, Facebook, and there are social media banners. Commissioner Kandel added that she believes there may be opportunity to move some of the concert programming marketing to the Sculpture Garden marketing efforts if it’s not effective. Chair Flanagan opened the item for public comment. Laura Curran, Newport Beach resident, inquired if it’s possible to put social media banners on the Chamber, in Corona del Mar, or banners when people drive onto San Joaquin. They are generally low cost and people see them consistently. She also believed that Steve Rosansky and the Chamber do a lot of marketing, it might be worth checking with them for ideas as well. Commissioner Little stated there are designated areas where the City allows banners to be placed and they are limited, and those areas are often earmarked for other programs. City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 6 Commissioner Blom inquired what is eliminated in maintenance and programing when that money is used for the Sculpture Garden. Library Services Director Hartson responded they would have worked on a proposal perhaps to introduce a new program, or possibly allocate more money to the programing that is already in place or add another element to the Art Exhibition. Chair Flanagan stated they had talked about wrapping utility boxes. The problem is it leaves them no money to do anything extra. Commissioner Blom commented he didn’t understand the reaction of some of the Council members when the city of Costa Mesa was presented, when Costa Mesa is recognized as the art capital of Southern California. 5. Date for the 2024 Newport Beach Art Exhibition The Newport Beach Art Exhibition Ad Hoc Subcommittee recommends a date for the 57th Annual Newport Beach Art Exhibition. Library Services Director Hartson reported the Newport Beach Art Exhibition Ad Hoc Subcommittee met and recommended to hold the celebration day of the arts with the installation of Phase IX and the Art Exhibition simultaneously on Saturday June 29, 2024. The call for entries will open at the beginning of February running through May 10, 2024. There will be some overlap with the Student Art Exhibition, but they are separate programs. Staff is doing their best to avoid overlapping of other city programs, fortunately even though last year Corona del Mar High School had an event going on at the same time, the turn out for the 2023 Art Exhibition was fabulous. Commissioner Kaufman inquired about the date of the installation of Phase IX. Library Services Director Hartson responded deinstallation and installation will occur on June 10 – 27. The opening of the Sculpture Exhibition will run similarly as it did last year with the opening day being June 29, 2024. Chair Flanagan opened the item for public comment. Motion made by Secretary George, seconded by Commissioner John Blom, and carried (6-0-0-1 Vice Chair Simon absent) to approve staff’s recommendation of June 29, 2024, for the 57th Annual Newport Beach Art Exhibition. 6. City of Newport Beach Annual Budget Process Staff will present the City Arts Commission with an overview of the annual budget process for the City of Newport Beach. Library Services Director Hartson reported the City’s annual budget process is based on City Council Policy F-3. Newport Beach operates on a fiscal year (FY) from July 1 through June 30. The budget process for FY 2024/2025 is starting its initial stages. Finance generally develops a budget calendar in November that is sent out to all of the departments. Through the winter, staff works with Finance to determine the program requests. Last year, $45,000 was requested for art. Those requests go through City Manager review and then moves to the Finance Committee multiple times before going to City Council for adoption prior to June 30, 2024. City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 7 Commissioner Little inquired if it would be possible to have a retreat or workshop to discuss current programs and events and possibly new programs. Commissioner Little stated that creating new programs has been a continual struggle. It might help to create an outline of information that they could present with the request for additional funds. For example, the photo contest program isn’t planned because the funds are not available. Library Services Director Hartson stated they can have a study session, however it can’t be a workshop because of the Brown Act. Chair Flanagan stated it would be helpful to see how those budget numbers are allocated. Commissioner Little suggested using the study session to talk about how they could present to the Council that they push maintaining the City owned sculptures into a different department rather than the Arts budget since the Arts budget is so limited; and find out from the City how the entry fees from the Art Exhibition can be kept in the Arts budget rather than losing it to the General Fund. Library Services Director Hartson explained that even the Library’s fines and fees go back into the General Fund. Commissioner Blom asked if they could have a study session that is open to the public. Library Services Director Hartson stated they could certainly schedule a study session and add it to the next meeting. Commissioner Kandel asked how the sculpture amount is determined. Library Services Director Hartson explained the $169,000 is a breakdown of the project costs. Arts OC provides their contract proposal with pricing, this year it was for $119,000. There was a $5,000 honorarium for each of the artists, however that has changed over the years, it used to be more. In an effort to look at funding, it was decided to go with the current amount for each artist. With ten sculptures at $5,000, that’s $50,000 plus the $119,000 totaling $169,000. The contract with Arts OC is determined by them. Staff could certainly ask for a review for a future proposal. Chair Flanagan stated next year they plan to put it out to bid, as the last time it went out to bid was in 2017. The Commissioners discussed a date and time for the study session, it was determined for December 14, 2024, at 3:30 p.m., prior to the next CAC meeting. Chair Flanagan opened the item for public comment, there was none. City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 8 B. Monthly Reports 7. Sculpture Garden Docent Tour Ad Hoc Subcommittee Chair Maureen Flanagan, Vice Chair Leonard Simon, Commissioner Melissa Kandel. Laura Curran thanked Chair Flanagan for spearheading the committee and reported that Sherman Gardens had a call out to all their docents who provided a tour of the Civic Center Park. Twenty out of about 100 came and did an hour tour and talked about the plants, the habitats, the aesthetic values, and how the garden is planted to highlight native habitat. Pictures were taken and posted on social media. The docents were very knowledgeable. The next tour is April 15, 2024. Katherine Dickerson is very familiar with the process. Library Services Director Hartson stated that procedurally she had a conversation with Recreation and Senior Services Director Sean Levin on how that works in the park and his suggestion was to go through their contract class process to make sure that everything is covered. If April is the next date, Sherman Gardens should have time to get that all in place. Laura Curran noted that the California Native Plant Society is having its garden tour in May, and it would be nice to make Civic Center Park one of the spots on their map. Using existing systems is the best way to make things happen and scale successfully. 8. Utility Box Art Pilot Program Ad Hoc Committee Vice Chair Leonard Simon, Chair Maureen Flanagan, Commissioner Melissa Kandel. Chair Flanagan stated the Utility Box Pilot Program is being put on hold. She’s going to talk to Costa Mesa to find out how their program works. They no longer have sponsor links on their website. They have forty throughout the city and they had companies and people to sponsor them. 9. Newport Beach Arts Foundation Liaison Secretary Barbara George, Chair Maureen Flanagan, Vice Chair Leonard Simon Chair Flanagan reported the meeting was cancelled and there is nothing to report. 10. Historical Resources Liaison Commissioner John Blom Commissioner John Blom reported he attended the dedication of a plaque on the corner of Seaview and Carnation for the first hotel in Corona del Mar. It was originally built in 1905 and opened in 1907. The dedication was a big draw, close to fifty people attended, along with several City Council members. There was a great presentation. City Arts Commission Meeting November 9, 2023 Page 9 VIII. CITY ARTS COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS OR MATTERS WHICH MEMBERS WOULD LIKE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION, ACTION OR REPORT (NON-DISCUSSION ITEM) Commissioner Little attended the fall preview of the Baroque Music festival season on October 22, it was a lovely event. The music was awesome. There was a rare violin performance by the director, and she shared some trivia about the lighter side of Baroque music. It was nice to see them utilize the Civic Center Park and enjoy the Garden. She recommends anyone able to attend one of their performances should. It’s totally worth the time. Chair Flanagan announced that the Mayor’s Dinner is on February 29, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the VEA Marriott. She is happy to put a table together for anyone who’d like to go. The cost is $150 per person. She will be putting the reservation in after the next meeting so please let her know with payment by the December meeting. IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS None X. ADJOURNMENT – 6:16 p.m. The next meeting for the City Art Commission is scheduled for December 14, 2023. Approved by: Maureen Flanagan