HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_ARTAB_04.20.2010Minutes of the Meeting of the
Arts and Culture Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Members Present: Charles Aguillon, Philip Baker, Kaki Bassi, Karen Lange, Steve Proesel, Dar
Richardson, Mandy Solin
Staff Present: Eric Lashley, Library Director; Judy Fabry, Library Administrative Assistant
Others Present: Judy Ommen, president, Georgetown Art Works
A. Chair Charles Aguillon called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m.
B. There were no announcements regarding upcoming events
C. There were no citizens wishing to address the Board
D. Philip Baker moved to accept the minutes as distributed, seconded by Karen Lange. The motion
passed unanimously.
E. Consideration of and possible action on
1. Revision of bylaws to reflect new meeting day and time — Judy Fabry. The bylaws currently
read: Section 4.1. Time and Date of Regular Meeting. The Arts and Culture Board meets the
third Wednesday of the month, at 2:00 p.m., unless posted otherwise. Steve Proesel moved to
revise the bylaws to read "the third Tuesday of the month, at 4:30 p.m...." seconded by
Mandy Solin. The motion passed unanimously. Judy will take care of getting the change on
the City Council agenda.
2. Georgetown Sculpture Tour
a. Ribbon - cutting ceremony, 4/23 — Eric Lashley. Eric reminded everyone of the ribbon - cutting
scheduled for Friday, April 23, at 5:00 p.m. in San Gabriel Park. Judy distributed copies of the
invitation she had sent to the Mayor and Council members, Paul Brandenburg, Parks and
Recreation administrators, the Parks and Recreation Board members, former Arts and Culture
Board members, and Ben Trollinger, editor of the Sun. The artists have been invited by email.
Steve suggested all of the contacts for the Summit of the Arts also should receive email
invitations. Judy said she would send them tomorrow.
b. Brochure for Tour — Eric Lashley. Eric distributed copies of the quotes he had gotten from
Geoff Hammond for photographing the sculptures, designing the brochure, and printing either
5,000 or 10,000 copies. There was a lengthy discussion about the costs of printing and members
cited other options. Ultimately, the Board reached consensus to have the printing done locally,
even if it costs more, but several people acknowledged that some local printers (Minuteman
and Ink Images) often send their work elsewhere to be done. Steve moved to authorize a
maximum of $3500 be spent to produce and print 5,000 brochures; Kaki seconded the
motion. After more discussion, Dar amended the motion to $3650 (the amount on Mr.
Hammonds quote for 5,000 brochures) and Phil seconded the amendment. The motion passed
unanimously. Staff was instructed to determine who the local printer is that Mr. Hammond is
going to use.
c. Report on payments of honorariums - Tudy Fabry. Judy said she has paid the honorarium
($100 per piece of sculpture) to all but one of the artists. She is still waiting for a W -9 form from
Willy Gunther, which she needs before she can request payment of his honorarium.
3. Cooperative sculpture project with Southwestern University/Ben Pierce /3M grant - Eric
Lashley. Eric said he and Judy had met with Dr. Ben Pierce of Southwestern University and
assured him that the Board was interested in the cooperative project. Ben said he thought there
would be $10,000 available but it would need to be spent by 8/31/10. He drafted an application
that called for a selection panel composed of Arts and Culture Board members, representatives
from the Parks board and administration, and Southwestern faculty and students. Eric
expressed concern that students might not be available after early May, but Ben did not seem
to be worried. Ben will consult with the panel that coordinates the grant program and will get
back with Eric.
4. TSOS sculpture show at the library - Dar Richardson Ly Fabry. Dar Richardson is the Texas
Society of Sculptors member who coordinates their public shows. He reported that the TSOS
show will be installed in the library on May 1. There are 24 artists and 50+ pieces in this year's
show. The opening reception and award of prizes will be on Sunday, May 16, from 1:00 - 3:30.
The TSOS has approximately $600 available for prizes. There was some discussion about the
awards that will be made and after soliciting opinions, Dar decided that the traditional 15t, 2nd,
3rd, with a librarian's choice and four honorable mentions should be the awards this year. He
moved that the Board contribute $1000 for prizes. Steve amended the motion to $1800, which
Mandy seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The cash awards will be $1000 for first
prize, $800 for second prize, $400 for third prize, and $200 for the librarian's choice. Kaki Bassi,
Mandy Solin, and Steve Proesel volunteered to jury the show. They will meet on May 13 at 2:00 to
make their decisions. Dar said he would send them some guidelines before that date.
5. Budget and grants in the next fiscal year - Eric Lashley. Eric went over the facility plan that City
Manager Paul Brandenburg had presented to Council last week because it included the old
library being used as either a children's library or an art center. Judy Ommen, who is president
of Georgetown Art Works, came to the meeting to address the idea of an art center in the old
library building. Her organization wants to create a downtown community center /educational
center for the arts and they believe the old library would be a suitable location. She would like
to submit a written unified proposal for using the building to Paul Brandenburg from
Georgetown Art Works, the Williamson Museum, and the library. Eric responded that he could
not participate in such a proposal unless instructed to do so by City administrators. Charles
pointed out that the City, not nonprofits, must provide the initial support for an art center in
the old library, because the City would be operating it. Ms. Ommen thanked the Board for
listening to her ideas.
Since the Board's last meeting, Eric and Charles met with Paul Brandenburg about the budget.
They reminded Paul that there is no longer a funding formula in place for the Board, so that, at
this point, there is nothing in the 2010 -11 budget for the Arts and Culture Board. Paul told
them to prepare a budget request and send it directly to him. It will not go through the usual
program request process that City departments have to use.
The Board then addressed the Budget Input survey that Laurie Brewer gave the members at
the last meeting. Each person had considered his or her own responses to the questions and
presented them to the group. Judy will compile the responses and prepare a unified response
to turn in to Finance. The bottom line for everyone was that without funding the Board can go
nowhere.
A budget subcommittee was created from volunteers: Charles, Steve, and Dar. They will meet on
April 27 to develop a proposed budget which will provide a starting place for discussion at the
May meeting. Judy will send the information from last year's budget deliberations to the
committee members before they meet.
6. Application for Cultural District Designation — Charles Aguillon. Charles referred to the
attachments about the Cultural District Designation that were included with the agenda. He
pointed out that the questions on the second sheet summarize the reasons the Board chose not
to go ahead in January with a Letter of Intent to the Texas Commission on the Arts. It had
become clear to the Board that buy -in to the idea of a Cultural District Designation from a
number of stakeholders would be necessary before an application could be considered. Among
the stakeholders would be Economic Development, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and
Main Street, but also the City Council and the City Manager. Also, a City employee would
have to agree to manage the application process, which would be lengthy. These requirements
and shortcomings became apparent during the meeting Eric and Charles had with Cari Miller
(CVB) and Shelly Hargrove (Main Street).
7. Old library facility — Eric Lashley. This topic was discussed under item 5. above.
Charles adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
arles A llon, Chair