HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - September 2, 2025, Ames Public Art Commission Meeting MinutesPAC Meeting Minutes 9/2/25
I. Call to order: 1740 (Zwank)
II. Consent Agenda: Motion to approve by Hauswirth/Rowland. Unanimous.
a. Present: Rowland, Lindsley, Hoff-Grambau, Schmidt, Merchant, Rogowski,
Stromberg-Murphy, Hauswirth, Reutter, Kedrowski, Zwank
III. Commission Committee
a. Outreach
i. Stromberg-Murphy will join the outreach committee
ii. Octagon Art Festival is coming up on Sunday September 28th
iii. Stromberg-Murphy suggested PAC setting up a booth at Brookside
Park’s 100-year celebration (Saturday, September 13th from 10-12)
1. Phillips suggested contacting Keith Abraham for PAC’s
involvement
2. Stromberg-Murphy will contact Keith and will volunteer at the
event with Rogowski and Lindsley (tentative)
iv. The committee will count the votes after the Octagon Arts Festival
and will announce the winner in October
b. Public Relations
i. Lindsley shared that over the last 90 days, we are up 18000% with
3600 views and 17 followers on Facebook and the official Instagram
(@amespublicart) has been connected with Facebook and has 713
views with 53 followers
1. Actively promoting AAOSE pieces and the Octagon Arts
Festival, along with the roundabout piece
2. Will need to promote Brookside if we will be there
3. Kedrowski mentioned that the Brunnier museum on campus is
celebrating their 50th anniversary soon as well
4. Rogowski mentioned that ISU does monthly art walks for
employees to view the art on campus
c. Collection Management
i. Rowland will send out thoughts to the committee around the process
of deaccessioning a piece based on considerations he found online
1. Phillips mentioned that PAC has a deaccessioning policy and
will forward it to the commission
2. Merchant suggested possibly asking artists about how long
they anticipate pieces to last (especially outside in Iowa
weather) during the purchasing process to help the
deaccessioning process in the future
ii. Rowland is still working on connecting with city employees regarding
the GIS website
IV. Public Forum
a. None
V. Chair’s Report/Comments
a. None
VI. City of Ames Liaison Report
a. Phillips forwarded issues with sculptures on to the Parks department, and
they are working on maintaining these sculptures
b. Phillips met with Ames Mainstreet and suggested that they work with the
potential donors to donate the money to the city to purchase the sculptures
they are interested in so that the city can set up a direct agreement with the
artist
c. Phillips looked into permanently running electricity to the blue guitar piece
and is going to talk to Tim Adams about what his thoughts are to do it.
VII. Old Business
a. Calendar Project Update
i. Around 60 photos were submitted. Kedrowski, Stromberg-Murphy,
and Merchant will look through photos to make the final selection of
the pieces. The 2025 AAOSE pictures will also be added to the
calendar, along with art-related events and PAC’s social media
accounts
ii. Discussed selling them at the Ames Historical Society, the Ames
Public Library, and Octagon with Discover Ames promoting them
1. Motion to reach out to the above business to see if they want to
participate in selling PAC’s calendars for $10 and keep the
profits by Stromberg-Murphy/Hauswirth. Unanimous.
iii. Merchant suggested a monthly small desk calendar for next year
iv. Hauswirth also suggested partnering with CODA in the future for
distribution
b. AMES project
i. Reutter, Merchant, and Phillips met to discuss the submissions and
get them to the selection committee to vote on the selections. Hope
to have chosen a selection (out of 21) by the next meeting.
c. Discussion of deaccessioning of “Con Spirito” and possibly other pieces
i. Motion to recommend the deaccession and destruction of “Con
Spirito” to the city due to the piece being damaged beyond repair by
Hauswirth/Kedrowski. Unanimous.
ii. Discussed the damage to “Playthings” and “Oxbow,” as they are still
under warranty. Carly is working on contacting the artists.
iii. Hauswirth suggested having the Collections Management committee
bring recommendations for pieces to be deaccessioned to the greater
commission to streamline the process.
VIII. New Business
a. Professional photos of the collection
i. Kedrowski’s contact is unable to take on this project.
ii. Phillips suggested either hiring a photography intern for the city for a
limited time or going through the RFP process to contract a
professional photography company.
iii. Hauswirth and Rogowski suggested hiring an intern for next summer
to maximize weather and student availability
iv. Phillips also suggested having the digital media and public outreach
team work taking photos into their current workload, though it may
take longer. It would also be more consistent as new pieces are
acquired.
v. Rowland suggested hiring a student to take pictures of the outdoor
sculptures (approximately 50 total) and city staff take pictures of the
indoor pieces
IX. For the Good of the Order
a. Zwank will send up a sign up for the Octagon Art Festival
b. Merchant brought up the suggestion of a memorial art piece for Richard
Deyo. He will reach out to Heuss, who raised the funds to donate the
memorial bench.
c. Kedrowski asked about the policy for selecting pictures for the calendar that
contain people. Carly says that as long as they are taken at a public event in a
public location, we are okay to use them.
d. Hauswirth suggested purchasing shirts for events from Raygun that say
something like “I <3 Public Art.” Phillips reminded the commission that there
are specific ways that the city logo can be used and to contact Kati Frohm.
Hauswirth will look into this.
X. Motion to Adjourn at 1851 by Hauswirth/Reutter. Unanimous.
Submitted by Julieanne Rogowski, Secretary