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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Arts Commission 07-11-2024 Approved Meeting MinutesCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Newport Beach Public Library 1000 Avocado Avenue, Newport Beach, CA 92660 Thursday, July 11, 2024 – Regular Meeting City Arts Commission Members: Maureen Flanagan, Chair Barbara George, Secretary John Blom, Commissioner Heather Ignatin, Commissioner Melissa Kandel, Commissioner Wayan Kaufman, Commissioner Vanessa Moore, 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 Regular Meeting to order at 5:00 P.M. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Chair Maureen Flanagan Secretary Barbara George (left meeting early) Commissioner John Blom Commissioner Heather Ignatin Commissioner Melissa Kandel Commissioner Wayan Kaufman Commissioner Vanessa Moore Commissioners Absent: Staff Present: Melissa Hartson, Library Services Director Camille Escareal-Garcia, Cultural Arts Assistant Chair Maureen Flanagan asked each Commissioner to introduce themselves and provide information on why they were interested in joining the City Arts Commission. III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Flanagan led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. ELECTION OF OFFICERS The City Arts Commission nominated and elected Commissioners to serve as Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary for Fiscal Year 2024-25. City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 2 Cultural Arts Assistant Camille Escareal-Garcia managed the elections of the officers for the City Arts Commission (CAC). Nominations were completed by vocal recommendations by CAC; votes were conducted on paper ballots which were read aloud by Cultural Arts Assistant Escareal-Garcia. Library Services Director Hartson formally announced the results. Nominations for Chair: Commissioner Kaufman nominated Commissioner George (seconded by Flanagan) Commissioner Blom nominated Commissioner Kandel (seconded by Ignatin) Commissioner Kandel received 4 votes (Blom, Ignatin, Kandel, Moore) Commissioner George received 3 votes (Flanagan, George, Kaufman) Commissioner Melissa Kandel was voted in as Chair and took over running the rest of the meeting. Nominations for Vice Chair: Commissioner Kandel nominated Commissioner Blom (seconded by Ignatin) Commissioner George nominated Commissioner Kaufman (seconded by Flanagan) Commissioner Blom received 4 votes (Blom, Ignatin, Kandel, Moore) Commissioner Kaufman received 2 votes (George, Flanagan) 1 abstained vote (Kaufman) Commissioner John Blom was voted in as Vice Chair. Nominations for Secretary Commissioner George nominated Commissioner Flanagan (seconded by Kaufman) Commissioner Kandel nominated Commissioner Ignatin (seconded by Moore) Commissioner Flanagan received 3 votes (Flanagan, George, Kaufman) Commissioner Ignatin received 4 votes (Blom, Ignatin, Kandel, Moore) Commissioner Heather Ignatin was voted in as Secretary. V. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC – Read by Chair Melissa Kandel VI. PUBLIC COMMENTS None VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Minutes of the June 13, 2024, City Arts Commission Meeting 1. Draft of 6/13/24 Minutes Chair Kandel requested edits, changes, or deletions of the minutes, and made a change as listed below. Chair Kandel opened the item for public comments, but there were none. • Handwritten Page 6: “Commissioner Kandel inquired about the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 Cultural Arts Grant applicants South Coast Repertory and Laguna Playhouse and if staff had ever received the list of schools their programs served.” City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 3 to be changed to “Commissioner Melissa Kandel inquired about the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 Cultural Arts Grant applicants South Coast Repertory and Laguna Playhouse and if staff had received confirmation that their programs served the citizens of Newport Beach.” B. Consent Calendar Items 2. Financial Report Review of financial information. Library Services Director Melissa Hartson reported most of the expenses for the year were documented on Handwritten Pages 12-14 of the Agenda Packet. Some of the expenses for the Art Exhibition were disbursed on the last day of the fiscal year, those will be reflected in the final summary at the August meeting. Chair Kandel inquired about the budget process for the next Fiscal Year (FY). Library Services Director Hartson explained the new budget was determined last year and remained unchanged from the prior year. The CAC will work together with staff on the disbursement of funds for the 2024-2025 programming throughout the year, along with the planning of the 2025-2026 FY budget. Vice Chair John Blom asked about the bills that were still outstanding for the 2023-2024 FY, and the lack of marketing expenses disbursed since September. Library Services Director Hartson stated that outstanding bills included rentals and prize awards for the Art Exhibition. Regarding the lack of expenses taken from the Advertising Budget, she replied that those marketing expenditures are posted in the Programming Budget as there was no more funding in the Advertising Budget. Commissioner Vanessa Moore asked if that was something they could change in the upcoming year. Library Services Director Hartson explained that the City Council had allocated the funding based on particular accounts designated on the budget, they can re-evaluate it as needed. Vice Chair Blom questioned why they couldn’t take the advertising that was put into the Programming Budget and add it to the Advertising Budget. He cited that the Advertising Budget was listed as being $510 dollars in the negative and inquired where that money would come from. Library Services Director Hartson stated that would balance out on the bottom line based on some of the other budget categories. Vice Chair Blom also inquired about the unused grant funding. Library Services Director Hartson confirmed that is the City’s money that was allocated by City Council for the use of grants only, money transferred between budget accounts for reallocation require City Council approval. Most of the budget will have been used after all the expenditures have been paid for the Sculpture Exhibition and Art Exhibition, any funding not used from the revenue account transfers back into the City’s General Fund Account. Chair Kandel inquired about the $1,850.40 spent on advertising this current fiscal year. She called the LA Times about some of the ads for cultural arts programs were running, and they couldn’t find the account and she questioned if those funds could be better spent in another way for next year’s budget since advertising performance reports are unavailable. Library Services Director Hartson responded that is an assessment staff and City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 4 the Commission could review and consider other areas that could benefit from advertising. There are other publications used as well. Chair Kandel commented that if the past advertisement funds were not an effective use of the CAC advertising funds, this could potentially open the door for the Publicity and Marketing Ad Hoc Subcommittee to recommend other marketing strategies. Chair Kandel opened the item for Public Comment, there were none. 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 Central Library Art Gallery is hosting a beautiful and extensive collection of needlepoint art by local artist Dorothy Grettenberg-Handy, whose family has a longstanding history in the City of Newport Beach. Her work will continue in the gallery through July 26th. Another ten pieces were successfully installed in the Sculpture Exhibition for Phase IX. Phases VIII and IX are now on display throughout Civic Center Park. Saturday, June 29, the City Arts Commission presented the 57th Annual Newport Beach Art Exhibition. There were lines of people waiting to get in before it opened. The first concert of the Summer Concert Series will be on July 21 at the Civic Center Green at 6:00 p.m., featuring Radio Rebels. Various commissioners commended and thanked staff for working so hard and doing such a great job at the Art Exhibition. Chair Kandel opened the floor to public comments, there were none. Motion made by Vice Chair John Blom, seconded by Secretary Heather Ignatin, and carried 6-0-0-1 (with Commissioner George absent) to accept the Consent Calendar. VIII. CURRENT BUSINESS A. Items for Review and Possible Action 4. Ad Hoc Subcommittee and Liaison Appointments Staff will present a list of City Arts Commission Ad Hoc Subcommittees and Liaison Appointments for the City Arts Commission to review. Library Services Director Hartson presented a list of Ad Hoc subcommittees and Liaison appointments for the CAC to review with a description of the responsibilities of each; the list can be found on Handwritten Pages 19-20. Chair Kandel noticed two subcommittees were missing from the list, the Public Relations & Marketing Ad Hoc and the Sculpture Exhibition Ad Hoc subcommittees and expressed an interest in both subcommittees continuing. She had some additional recommendations and requested information on that process. Library Services Director Hartson answered that could be discussed offline and return on the August Agenda for the Chair to make the appointments. City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 5 Vice Chair Blom suggested any commissioners seeking appointment email Chair Kandel prior to the August meeting. Chair Kandel expressed that she was interested in hearing from Commissioners what interested them about the subcommittee appointments they were volunteering for, if they wanted to share that in their emails to her. Chair Kandel opened the item for Public Comment, but there was none. The report was received and filed. 5. Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park The Sculpture Exhibition Ad Hoc Subcommittee will present an update from its June meeting regarding Phase X of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park. Vice Chair Blom reported the Subcommittee’s recommendation was to keep the current structure of the Sculpture Exhibition, ten sculptures installed for two years. Commissioner Flanagan explained the process and past work of the subcommittee and provided details regarding City Council’s stance on the lack of budget increase. Chair Kandel referenced Handwritten Page 21 and explained there was an attached overview of the funding for the Sculpture Exhibition. The Newport Beach Arts Foundation has generously donated $10,000 for the past two phases to support a portion of the artists honorariums. The mission of the subcommittee was to overview the process, look at the structure of the program, and find possible options to help mitigate funding shortfalls. At the last CAC meeting there was a motion to push that discussion to this meeting, Chair Kandel inquired what the deadline is for taking Phase X recommendations to City Council. Library Services Director Hartson answered that staff looks to present the information to City Council in the fall. The goal is to make sure the recommendations are solid so City Council can weigh their options. This report is also a receive and file and was for the purpose of bringing the new commissioners up to speed in the process. Secretary Ignatin asked for a breakdown of the City’s budget for the Sculpture Exhibition and the actual costs of past phases for the past three years. She asked for more details about the funding adjustments from Programming and Professional Services budgets to help support the Sculpture Exhibition, and what programs/services have past Commissions needed to scale back on due to these funding adjustments. Library Services Director Hartson responded with the information for the adjustments from programming and Professional Services budgets, the list of programs that fell short in order to help fund the Sculpture Exhibition and which City sculptures require maintenance. Commissioner Flanagan noted that new programs were unable to be implemented as funds were used to make up the Sculpture Exhibition’s shortage of funding last year. New programs can’t be added due to budget constraints, and performances from larger groups such as Pacific Symphony and Shakespeare in the Park were also discontinued. Commissioner Kaufman mentioned that the CAC used to run children’s programs with art vendors and the plans for a Plein Air event also fell through. City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 6 In response to Secretary Ignatin’s questions about the cleaning of City owned sculptures, Library Services Director Hartson added that different pieces require different maintenance from art restoration for thorough cleanings to basic scrubs. The past two years staff have submitted program enhancement requests through the City’s Finance Committee and City Council for the Sculpture Exhibition program and the Cultural Arts grants, neither were approved. Commissioner Kaufman inquired about a budget set aside for children’s programming with $10,000 of restricted funds and if those funds could be used to support the Sculpture Exhibition Phase X. Library Services Director Hartson stated she would have to look into what the stipulations were for those funds. Chair Kandel mentioned she would also like to look into the cost of the honorarium amounts. In researching other similar programs in other cities, she found precedent for other amounts ranging from $1,000 to $2,000. It could be reasonable to lower the overall funds needed if they lowered the honorariums, and potentially support local artists rather than artists not in the area. Chair Kandel requested the subcommittee look into what could lower the costs of the project. Vice Chair Blom noted the City’s webpage for “Opportunities for Artists” states the honorariums range from $2,000 to $5,000 on the Sculpture Exhibition, they’ve already set a precedent for posting $2,000. Commissioner Moore agreed local artists would bring more community interest. Vice Chair Blom believed that more publicity is needed. Chair Kandel emphasized the need for connection with local community by using local artists and with lower honorariums they could instead offer a strong marketing package to selected artists. The local connection is what could help ground the program and breathe new life into it while also lowering the costs. Commissioner Moore felt the Art Exhibition could benefit from having scheduled docent tours through the Sculpture Exhibition during the event. Chair Kandel moved the item to a date uncertain for continued CAC discussion and recommendations and opened the item for Public Comment. Jim Mosher, Newport Beach resident, commented he thought this item was continued from the prior meeting for the subcommittee to formulate how the current program could be funded but also to have more concrete numbers for alternatives two and three, even though they are not the recommendation. The City Council did express interest at their planning session about ways to scale back. If they showed City Council that there is not a substantial amount of savings by scaling back the Sculpture Exhibition, it might bolster their recommendation. He also wondered if the subcommittee made any progress on the costs of those two scaled back options and if it proved any savings. Commissioner Flanagan responded they did not. City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 7 B. Monthly Reports 6. Newport Beach Art Exhibition Ad Hoc Subcommittee Commissioner Maureen Flanagan Commissioner Flanagan reported that the Exhibition had already been discussed and there was nothing else to add to her report. Chair Kandel opened the item for Public Comment, there were none. 7. Newport Beach Art Foundation Liaison Commissioners Barbara George and Maureen Flanagan Commissioner Flanagan commented that she had not attended the most recent Art Foundation meeting and had nothing to report. Chair Kandel opened the item for Public Comment, there were none. IX. CITY ARTS COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS OR MATTERS WHICH MEMBERS WOULD LIKE PLACED ON A FUTURE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION, ACTION OR REPORT (NON-DISCUSSION ITEM) Commissioner Flanagan attended the Newport Beach Sister City Association’s presentation for the 40th anniversary of the City’s sister city relationship with Okazaki, Japan. She stated that the presentation was wonderful. The Okazaki delegates were such gracious people and so excited to be there. Future Agenda Items: Secretary Ignatin requested staff bring back a budget update at the August meeting for the Sculpture Exhibition including all the reallocation of funds, the Arts Foundations contributions, and the General Fund contributions for the past three years. Vice Chair Blom would like to add to the next Agenda the possibility of sponsorships to help fund the Sculpture Exhibition. Library Services Director Hartson responded that staff have asked for a request for attorney services on that, they are waiting for the City Attorney’s Office at this point. Chair Kandel inquired if sponsorships would include the CAC being part of any existing event or adding something to an existing event within the city in order to enhance the programming. Commissioner Kaufman brought up that supporting existing programs was the purpose of the cultural arts grants program, as the awarded nonprofits use the City to help support outside organizations and their events, examples being the Baroque Music Festival and the Newport Beach Film Festival. City Arts Commission Meeting July 11, 2024 Page 8 Chair Kandel requested more information on how the CAC promotes the grants, noting that the same seven organizations keep applying. Promoting it to other organizations could perhaps open up some new partnerships. X. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Gianna D’Egidio, Newport Beach resident and poet, spoke about the proposal she presented to City Council for a poet laureate program in the City of Newport Beach. After speaking with the Mayor, they suggested she come to the CAC meeting and talk to the Commission about it as well. She shared her proposal in writing with each Commissioner and talked about the benefits of that type of program. A poet laureate program would promote poetry and be a storyteller for the City and an Ambassador for the arts. She would be willing to volunteer her time for two years to set a precedent and help the Commission set up a program. Jim Mosher, Newport Beach resident, commented that the CAC does have by-laws and asked for more clarification on what the role of the Secretary is. He noted the by-laws have not been reviewed in over ten years. City Council previously assigned all boards and commissions to revise and shorten the language of their policies, and he felt there was important language that was already deleted from previous revisions. XI. ADJOURNMENT – 6:09 P.M. The next meeting for the City Art Commission is scheduled for Thursday August 8, 2024 in the Central Library’s Small Conference Room. Approved by: Melissa Kandel