HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - PAC Meeting Minutes 04/05/22PUBLIC ART COMMISSION, CITY OF AMES
MEETING MINUTES – April 5th, 2022
AMES CITY HALL, ROOM 135
Present: Angie DeWaard (Outgoing Chair), Brian Phillips, Erica Briest (Incoming Chair), Olivia
Madison, Claire Kruesel, Aspen Pflanz, Armaan Gupta (Guppy) (Incoming Vice-Chair), Kyle
Hauswirth (Incoming Secretary), Elias Simpson, Joseph Merchant, Oakley Cadogan (Incoming
Treasurer), Paola Sepulveda, Sahiri Kaissi, Sarah Sherman, Ryan Hurley
Absent:
Public Forum / Guests: Craig Kaufman
I. Call to Order – Angie DeWaard, Chair, called the meeting to order at 5:31 PM.
II. Public Forum – Priscilla Sage, Ames Auditorium-
A. Sage was upset at the status of the pieces currently hanging in the auditorium as they
have been moved and damaged by the moving and by exposure to the elements, but
believes that they can be saved, the pieces are hung by a special type of tape on a
dowel, and the movements have disconnected the sides of the pieces and the pieces are
putting too much pressure on the center of the piece. Priscilla Sage was clear that she
was not doing the repair of the pieces, but she believes that with the right materials and
a person who has some skill could repair the pieces.
B. The two pieces that were wall hung are currently sitting in the City Manager’s Office
until decisions can be made on them, but that can’t last. When the pieces were taken
down they couldn’t be put back up right away due to fears that the dowels the pieces
are on would snap. Another issue to discuss is if the auditorium is the correct spot for a
wall hung piece like what is available. Decisions need to be made if these pieces should
be moved to a different spot. Pieces are difficult to store due to the fact they need to be
stored either completely flat or hung.
C. Few things to take care of;
1. Spec out new rods to hang on
2. Figure out who could repair them
3. Figure out if they need to stay in the spot they came from, or figure out where
they should go.
4. Also discuss with stakeholders to figure out where they could go so as to not
ruffle feathers. Finally, figure out how these should be protected.
5. The second-floor piece has two rods, including one on the bottom to stabilize it.
If local person isn’t willing or able to fix them what is the next step, do we find
an art restorer, or store them in a way until we can find someone to fix them.
6. Brian was more concerned about them stagnating in a city facility and them
being moved and lost among the bustle of city works.
7. Catherine Rinehart, Theresa Passki were two names from the local community
who were put forward as potential people who could help repair the pieces.
D. The pieces are silk and need to be cared in a very specific way. Is shipping them out and
having them professionally restored the best use of PAC funds. Question about special
lighting & security that was promised to be installed by PAC from Town & Gown, there
was no records back that far on the promises that may or may not have been made
regarding the pieces.
E. Question on Database on care of art, and it is being worked on in terms of the GIS
database, but recently we have been doing better on care of art and building out that
list. Sub-Committees will be assigned shortly, and collection management is the group
that takes care of ongoing maintenance and monitoring of public arts.
F. Aspen Pflanz volunteered to be the lead on the Pricilla Sage artwork project.
G. Craig mentioned that people who rent the auditorium think they should have more
control over what is displayed in the auditorium, and as such wonders if the auditorium
is the correct location for these pieces.
H. Maybe if the Auditorium recommends the pieces moved then the committee should
look into moving the pieces to a more appropriate place for them.
I. There is no language in contracts about not touching or moving the auditorium artwork
currently, and that language should be put in place just in case that happens. Craig
mentions that legal would need to be consulted in order to change the contracts.
Concern is that it will force people to request the pieces moved, or not rent the
auditorium if they are going to be liable for them.
J. Brian brings up the difference between a rule (don’t do this) vs. eliminating the cause of
people potentially breaking a rule.
K. There is language in the contracts for damaging the facility and the ancillary pieces in
the facility.
L. There are potential pieces that could go in that spot that might be more appropriate for
the auditorium and the Sage pieces could be moved elsewhere where they might be
safer.
M. The room the meeting was taking place in was brought up as a potential spot for the art.
N. Craig was concerned about the patrons of the auditorium not loving the artwork in the
space, as art is subjective, and the people who use the auditorium frequently might
want more modern art, or less dated art within the auditorium, and the lobby is not
themed or anything, and if they try to put up their own decorations for events the
artwork can sometimes clash.
O. Craig said he can help facilitate discussions if necessary for use of auditorium and bring
news from auditorium users if necessary.
III. Consent Agenda – Paola Sepulveda moved and Claire Kruesel seconded to approve- Motion Carried
Unanimously
A. Approval of March 2, 2022 Minutes (Penny Adam)
B. Treasurer’s Report (Karen George)
C. Committee Reports and Comments
1. Outreach (Olivia Madison and Erica Briest Co-Chairs; Penny Adam, Candace
Zwank)
1. Neighborhood Art
a. Pieces approved and prices negotiated (Erica, Aspen, Penny,
Claire)
2. AAOSE – Entries opened Oct. 1, 2021, and closed Jan. 28, 2022
a. Met during special meeting on March 15, 2022 for approval.
b. Installation and next steps
2. Public Relations (Paola Sepulveda and Sara Sherman as Co-Chairs; Taylor
Carlson)
1. New Instagram Account- New Instagram Account- AmesPAC will be
rolled into the PR committee as well.
2. Digital frames for festival and events (Elias Simpson) - document from
Elias with research (No action needed immediately, for future
discussion)
3. Collection Management (Angie DeWaard and Amanda Gigler as Co-Chairs; Olivia
Madison, Claire Kruesel, Karen George)
1. PAC Collection GIS Database (volunteer needed)
2. Glowforge Laser Cutter (Candace Zwank) (No action needed
immediately, for future discussion)
IV. Chair’s Report and Comments- Anngie DeWaard
A. Quick Review of last meeting
1. Tom Jackson came from Town & Gown – see Priscilla Sage item
B. Welcome of new members, thanks to outgoing members
V. City of Ames Liaison Comments - Brian Phillips
A. New Parking Passes- New parking passes for PAC members, new map for parking as
well. The parking lot across the street is getting demolished, so the new parking spots
for the PAC will be based on the maps passed out. Zone 5-5 or Lot MM. Only use passes
for PAC meetings please!
VI. Status Updates, No Action Needed Today
A. *CONTEXT for new members*
1. 7 Transformer boxes have been chosen around main street, and art was
requested from the community, and there were 7 pieces chosen for those.
2. Storm Drain art was also requested for the same purpose, artwork to decorate
and beautify the sidewalk drains around town.
B. Transformer Cabinet Wrap & Storm Drain Intake Artwork Contest (Sara Sherman)
1. Committee met last week, and approved winners for storm drain and
transformer box applicants, winners have been emailed out, and wasn’t sure if
council had to approve before we could send out that information. Because the
idea came from the council, we want to pass it by them, it will be put on the
agenda for the meeting. There were a lot of great applicants, and there is some
left in the budget, and there are more boxes that could be wrapped, and there
is some art that could definitely be used. There were not enough submissions
for the storm drains.
2. Green Hills was told that we wanted to see what happened with the
Transformers we are doing first before expanding the project.
C. Potential wording change to Deaccession Policy
1. Deaccession Policy is being revamped and will be a part of the governance
handbook.
D. Revamp and revise Art in the Parks program (Claire Kruesel)
1. Art in the Parks is an ongoing project, West Ames- Tahira and Labhira park has
been completely redone, and we have an opportunity to bring in some big art to
that new park, new members will be brought on for the Art in the Parks part
going forward. “What Not To Do With Public Art” features on social media.
2. Current discussion is to hold this idea until after the next generation of AAOSE
sculptures are installed.
3. Olivia will remain on subcommittee in ex-officio status
E. “What not to do with Public Art”
1. We have discussed holding this idea until after we swap out AAOSE Sculptures
2. Include item about removing art considering Priscilla Sage pieces.
3. Discussion was had on how communities can use haptic art, art to be touched to
show the damage that can be done by excessive touching to public art.
Problems in the past with art and people touching them, so a public education
thing might be necessary to protect art.
F. Ames Ice Arena-
1. The Ames Ice arena has an area that they have previously asked if a mural of
some sort could go there. The committee needs to be cognizant of budget
constraints but discussed the chance of public fundraising.
VII. New and Continuing Business, Action Needed
A. Vote on review of PAC Documentation-
1. Most of these changes are clarification, only a few are big changes
1. Change- Role of Past Chair
a. Previous Chairs were just done when their term was up
b. Now the chair will hold a roll as “Past Chair” as a tie to the past
and educational purposes, to avoid new chairs feeling like
they’ve been pushed off of a cliff.
c. This role will only take place if the past chair is still a member of
PAC.
2. Change- Executive Committee meetings
a. Might be that exec committee get together more for
communication.
b. Help Designing agenda
c. Long term project guidance.
d. Gives officers ability to be more proactive with their roll.
3. Change- Tiebreaker mechanism
a. Toss of coin determines a tiebreaker
4. Change- Chair not attendance/Chair vacates their office
a. If chair office is permanently vacant then vice-chair takes over
5. Clarification- Budget Process
6. Clarification- Attendance
a. Chair & Secretary in charge of attendance and monitoring who
is there.
b. At end of year attendance is reviewed for vacancy questions
7. Change- Executive Committee as a committee
8. Clarification- Streamline minutes & agenda
9. Clarification- Training & Future members
10. Clarification- Renew and Review Bylaws Annually
11. Change- Dates and Times of meetings to First Tuesday of every month
at 5:30 PM
2. Discussion-
1. Typos have been fixed
3. Motion- Olivia Madison
4. Second- Hauswirth
5. Passed by Unanimous Consent
B. Officer Elections-
1. Chair-
1. Erica Briest
2. Vice-Chair-
1. Armaan Gupta (Guppy)
3. Secretary-
1. Kyle Hauswirth
4. Treasurer-
1. Oakley Cadogan
5. Past Chair-
1. Angie DeWaard
C. Subcommittees-
1. 3 Main Subcommittees that are always relevant
1. Collection Management-
a. Maintain and manage collections.
b. Maintain GIS Database for PAC
c. Aspen & Kyle offered to be leads for the GIS Database project
2. Public Relations-
a. Facebook, Insta, Press Releases also assisting with GIS Database.
b. Responsible for producing brochure for AAOSE collections.
c. Someone with access to adobe cloud would be very helpful.
d. Questions were raised about City staff assisting with the
brochures and other small projects in the future so the
committee can focus on the running of the committee, instead
of the mechanics.
e. PR Committee also takes photos of new pieces.
3. Outreach Committeee
a. Responsible for Outreach in community for ongoing projects
i. Ames Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition (AAOSE)
1. Yearly display of the artists along main street
and near city hall. These sculptures are not
purchased by the community.
ii. Neighborhood Art-
1. Allows neighborhoods to request pieces of art
to go in their neighborhoods from the AAOSE
selections.
b. Question was raised if AAOSE locations are always the same,
and the discussion was raised that the Main street locations are
the ideal spots, but the one across from City hall won’t be
available this year due to the construction of Lot M.
c. Main street was notified that all of the pads won’t be fulfilled
this year, so Main Street will probably be applying for
Neighborhood Art to complete their pads.
d. PAC has a fund for Neighborhood Art.
e. Money stays within its line item unless voted on by PAC to move
the items around in case of rollover.
D. Decommissioned Fire Hydrants-
1. Take old hydrants and move them to Dog Park or Animal Shelter
2. Hydrants will be decorated
VIII. For the Good of the Order
A. Applause and Thanks to outgoing members!
IX. Adjournment- 6:50 PM
A. Motion- Kyle Hauswirth
B. Second- Joseph Merchant