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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC 01-11-2024 Approved Meeting MinutesCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Newport Beach Public Library 1000 Avocado Avenue, Newport Beach, CA 92660 Thursday, January 11, 2024 – 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 Study Session to order at 5:00 P.M. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Chair Maureen Flanagan Commissioner John Blom Commissioner Marie Little Commissioner Wayan Kaufman Commissioner Melissa Kandel (arrived after roll call) Vice Chair Leonard Simon (arrived after roll call) Commissioners Absent: Secretary Barbara George (excused) Staff Present: Melissa Hartson, Library Services Director Camille Escareal-Garcia, Cultural Arts Assistant III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Flanagan lead the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC - Waived V. PUBLIC COMMENTS None City Arts Commission Meeting January 11, 2024 Page 2 VI. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Minutes of the December 14, 2023, City Arts Commission Meeting 1. Draft of 12/14/23 Minutes Chair Flanagan requested edits, changes or deletions of the minutes. Seeing none, Chair Flanagan asked for a motion. Motion made by Commissioner John Blom, seconded by Commissioner Marie Little, and carried 4-0-0-3 (with Vice Chair Leonard Simon, Commissioner Melissa Kandel, and Secretary Barbara George absent) to approve the minutes of 12/14/23. B. Consent Calendar Items 2. Financial Report Review of financial information. Library Services Director Melissa Hartson referenced Handwritten Page 11 for the latest financial report and noted that there was an error in the posting. The Sculpture Garden Budget’s available funds were listed as zero, but there is still $135,000 dollars of funds available in the account as nothing has yet posted for Phase IX. Available funds for Cultural Arts are currently $81,470.27, added to the $135,000 available funds for the Sculpture Garden equals $216,470.27 total available funds. 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 activities have been fairly quiet with the holidays. Lucie Galvin’s paper collage art is on exhibit in the Central Library Gallery through February 9. Oriana Poindexter was slotted after Lucie’s exhibit and there has been a schedule change, staff is waiting to hear back from her regarding new dates. Another artist will be slotted for that time as soon as possible, otherwise there may be a break between exhibits. Laura Green is scheduled for April 8 through May 31. City Council is hosting their annual planning session on February 3, the first Saturday in February. It will be held at 9 A.M. at the Oasis Senior Center, Library Services Director Hartson encouraged the Arts Commissioners to attend if possible. There will be a portion in which they discuss the Cultural Arts Programing. Chair Flanagan inquired if there is a backlog of artists for the Central Library Gallery. Library Services Director Hartson responded they do have artists that will be presented to the Arts Commission next month for approval. They will have more artists lined up further past May once the Commission has made approvals. Chair Flanagan opened the floor to public comments, there were none. Motion made by Commissioner John Blom, seconded by Commissioner Marie Little, and carried 4-0-0-3 (with Vice Chair Simon, Commissioner Kandel, and Secretary Geroge absent) to approve the Consent Calendar. City Arts Commission Meeting January 11, 2024 Page 3 VII. CURRENT BUSINESS A. Items for Review and Possible Action 4. Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park - Phase IX Richard Stein with Arts Orange County will provide an update regarding Phase IX of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park. Library Services Director Hartson introduced Rick Stein with Arts Orange County who provided an update on the status of Phase IX of the Sculpture Garden. Two outside judges have been secured for the judging process, Tram Le, the Arts and Culture Specialist for the City of Santa Ana who oversees Arts in Public Places and is the cofounder of Viet Film Fest. The second judge is artist Man One (Alejandro Poli Jr.), a graffiti artist who has become one of the most ‘in demand’ California muralists for both public and private collections. The call for artists for the Sculpture Exhibition opened on December 1, and to date there have been 21 completed submissions, of which 16 have been deemed eligible after preliminary reviews. During the Phase VIII call for artists there had been 25 submissions with 19 eligible at this stage, noting that Phase VIII had been the largest submissions of any Phase. The promotional call for entries platform waited until after the holidays to launch and began this week. The submission deadline is January 24. Three submissions have exhibited previously, one submission placed 8th in a prior ranking but didn’t make it through the public poll. Mr. Stein asked for Commissioners to please look for an email from Nicholas Thurkettle in each Commissioner’s City of Newport Beach email accounts, and to respond with acknowledgments. The emails are to ensure he has the correct email address to send notifications and instructions when the scoring has opened on January 26. He will remain available for troubleshooting and questions if needed. There will be ten days allotted for reviewing the submissions prior to the February 8 City Arts Commission meeting when the results will be discussed, ranked, and approved for the public survey. The public survey starts February 11 and will be open for a month. The public ranking results will be brought before the CAC at the March meeting for approval of the selection that will be submitted to City Council for final approval. Chair Flanagan inquired what the expected end date is for the Commissioner’s reviews. Mr. Stein responded he believed it was February 5th. Commissioner Kaufman expressed interest in the reasons submitted applicants aren’t eligible. Mr. Stein answered it’s usually either incomplete applications or the artists submit more than one piece. Some also have been known to submit examples of their work with the expectation that they would be commissioned to create new work onsite. It is made very clear in the instructions that artists must submit pre-made artwork that would be ready for installation. Commissioner Blom asked what the process of applying for the call is. Mr. Stein replied there are forms for the applicants to fill out, and they request resumes from each artist, along with three images from different angles of their work. There are also check boxes for reading the rules, reading the sample City loan agreement, and if they would be agreeable in signing the agreement. All of this is on the CallForEntry (CaFE) website. The first time may seem confusing but once on the website, it’s really quite simple. There are options during ranking to change their minds. City Arts Commission Meeting January 11, 2024 Page 4 Commissioner Blom asked when the judging begins. Mr. Stein answered that the Commission judging begins on January 26. There will be 10 days allotted for judging. 5. Fiscal Year 2024-25 Program Enhancement Requests The Budget Ad Hoc Subcommittee recommends the City Arts Commission approve program enhancement requests for Fiscal Year 2024-25. Chair Flanagan reported that the subcommittee consisting of herself, Commissioner Blom and Vice Chair Simon met and went through the budget that had been provided. They made the determination they wanted to return to their allotted $40,000 for Cultural Arts grants and wanted the additional funds for the Sculpture Garden. In addition, they talked about other programs and the semantics of making the presentation to the City Manager. Library Services Director Hartson explained that part of the program enhancement request will be $37,000, which are funds that have not yet been secured in the Sculpture Garden budget, and an additional $10,000 to return to pre-Covid grants that used to be awarded, which make a total ask of the City for $47,000 dollars for the FY 2024-25. Chair Flanagan inquired what is the best way to make a better impression during their ask request to the City Manager. Library Services Director Hartson responded the current request seems like a reasonable ask considering the cost of everything has increased and the CAC hasn’t had an increase in budget funding in years. It’s a similar request from last year and it positions the CAC to focus on new programming they may want to propose. Commissioner Blom requested clarification of the amount requested when $37,000 is what the Sculpture Garden is short. Library Services Director Hartson explained that the $37,000 would cover the shortfall for the Sculpture Garden and the additional $10,000 would cover new programming for the Cultural Arts Grants. The Newport Beach Arts Foundation will also support the Sculpture Garden as well. Commissioner Melissa Kandel stated she couldn’t support the request as is because so much of it is earmarked for the Sculpture Garden and questioned how an increase in management fees by Arts Orange County (OC) for the next Phase would potentially affect the budget. Library Services Director Hartson explained that the last couple of years $10,000 of the budget has been moved from programming to cover the shortfall of the Sculpture Garden, in requesting the addition $10,000, that could provide for additional programming, in addition to the available funds that would no longer need to be transferred out of other programs. The support of the Arts Foundation has always been and will continue to be a crucial part of the funding. City Council will likely have an expectation of the Foundation’s assistance. Commissioner Little inquired if it would be unreasonable to include a percentage of what is needed for the Sculpture Garden in the event that the Foundation isn’t able to cover the entire shortfall, so funds won’t be used from other programs. Funds from the Foundation are not guaranteed. Commissioner Melissa Kandel proposed trimming the Sculpture Garden expenditures once more, otherwise they may find themselves back in the same situation next year if costs increase again. City Arts Commission Meeting January 11, 2024 Page 5 Commissioner Little suggested figuring out how they could get the City to increase their budget to cover current costs. Commissioner Blom noted they also decreased the amount of cultural arts grants. Vice Chair Simon inquired about the City’s budget process and the role of the Library Services Director in that process. He inquired if she had the ability to plea on behalf of Cultural Arts. Library Services Director Hartson replied there are different accounts for each department, they fall under the same budget that is presented as one. Some of the program enhancements for each department are approved, some are not. Vice Chair Simon commented that City Arts is a very small part of a much larger budget. He noted there was an increase for the Library budget last year while there was no increase for the Cultural Arts budget. He believed that Cultural Arts is not getting the recognition from that process that it could, and the Commission needs to lobby for their cause. Library Services Director Hartson explained that the program enhancement requests are due to City Finance next week, Finance then compiles all the program enhancement requests from each ask and preps a financial packet that is presented to City Council. Vice Chair Simon inquired if the Finance Department makes cuts or presents the requests as they were originally presented to them. Library Services Director Hartson stated she was not sure of that answer, however what she requested last year was submitted in its entirety to the City Manager. She was not sure at what point in that process it was cut. Commissioner Blom asked for a definition of program enhancements and if it is an explanation for the request of funds. Library Services Director Hartson responded that was correct, the program enhancements that the subcommittee produced was the $37,000 for the Sculpture Garden to cover the costs, with an additional $10,000 for other programs. Chair Flanagan proposed making an appointment with the City Manager directly, as well as putting the Sculpture Exhibition vendor management out to bid. Library Services Director Hartson encouraged attendance at the Council Planning Session, City Council wants to hear about the arts. The Planning Session is 9 A.M. on February 3, at the Oasis Senior Center. It is very similar to the City Council’s regular meetings where an item is discussed and then the public will have three minutes for each of their comments. Chair Flanagan suggested writing letters individually to each of the Council members. Vice Chair Simon stated handwritten letters stand a better chance of being seen. Motion made by Vice Chair Leonard Simon, seconded by Commissioner John Blom, and carried 5-1-0-1 (Commissioner Kandel opposed the motion, and Secretary George absent) to approve FY 2024-25 Program Enhancement Requests as presented by staff from the subcommittee. 6. Summer Concerts on the Civic Center Green and Concert at Marina Park The Concerts on the Green Ad Hoc Subcommittee will recommend three bands and three alternates for the summer Concert Series at the Civic Center Green, as well as recommend a band for a fall concert at Marina Park and an alternate. City Arts Commission Meeting January 11, 2024 Page 6 Chair Flanagan presented the results of the subcommittee’s choices for the bands and alternative to the Civic Center Green concert series and the 2024 Concert at Marina Park. Commissioner Blom commented that every demo of the AbSOULute band on google was a different person singing at each performance. Cultural Arts Assistant Camille Escareal-Garcia stated that they are a nine-member band and submitted four samples with a compilation. She played the samples submitted. She also noted that when she looks up the band names for further information, often bands in other states also come up with the same names in a web search. She uses care to type in the bands web addresses as it is provided in the initial submission. Commissioner Blom also noted that Los Silverbacks are mostly instrumental, however when they do sing lyrics, they are in Spanish only. The Commission listened to samples. After the Commission discussion it was a consensus to make Los Silverbacks an alternate and move Tom Petty & the Wilbury Travelers as a forefront. Motion made by Commissioner John Blom, seconded by Commissioner Kandel, and carried 6-0-0-1 (Secretary Geroge absent) to approve the following bands and alternates for the Summer Concerts on the Civic Center Green and 2024 Concert at Marina Park: 2024 Concerts on the Green • AbSOULute • Radio Rebels • Tom Petty & the Wilbury Travelers Alternates for the Concerts on the Green • Los Silverbacks • Hollywood Stones • Kings of 88 2024 Fall Concert at Marina Park: • Gotham City Swingers Alternate for the Fall Concert at Marina Park • Dirty Cello B. Monthly Reports 7. Newport Beach Arts Foundation Liaison Secretary Barbara George, Chair Maureen Flanagan, Vice Chair Leonard Simon Chair Flanagan provided the minutes for the recent Arts Foundation meeting as she was not able to attend. The potential Gallery walk is slotted for January 25 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with the intent to walk around four different galleries. As of this date, it is a tentative schedule. Their next meeting is for the following week, and she will email the Commission if anything changes. The Arts Foundation had requested that all Commissioners invite five friends each to the Gallery walk. She will provide the email address of where to send the five-friend information for the gallery event. As of December 13, 2023, the treasury in the City Arts Commission Meeting January 11, 2024 Page 7 Arts Foundation was $35,012.86, as not all expenses from Art in the Park have been settled. She was not sure if that was before or after they gave the CAC the $10,000 check for Phase IX of the Sculpture Garden. The December CAC meeting was December 14 which was when the check was presented. 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 requested that recommendations for Arts in Public Places be added to the February 8 meeting agenda. Vice Chair Simon commented he would not be available for the February 8, 2024 City Arts Commission meeting. IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS None X. ADJOURNMENT – 6:07 P.M. The next meeting for the City Art Commission is scheduled for Thursday February 8, 2024. Approved by: Maureen Flanagan