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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CLC-2019-11-18PRESEN Commis OTHER Lewis Excuse Absent: Late Arr GUESTS (PRNR) Sculptur Meeting Review 2nd – All Public C Jan Law Stewart/ in those park to h Elmira R express plaque t Outdoor what are Monika discusse PRNR w and crite recomm PRNR q -concern regardin to the W CO CO NT: Chair ssioners (5) S PRESEN d: Commo : Bakhle & rivals: Hills S: Monika , Commissi re Artist g called to and Appro in favor. M Comment: wless spoke /Cass Park parks to pa have this si Road and co ing oneself to show wh r Art stated e the City o Roth - Cha ed the art s wanted to m eria. 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S Baker Park. d stated the andards and R Commiss sions were place for art this policy, ptures while e for the par and ensurin ld it be farth a growth of ES & Scriber Harris & Co & Natural nd Monica F 019 Minutes opocene Sc culpture as pture. Bake her concern She is not o . She aske e fact that t d didn’t wan ioner Thom e made, the t in the park but CLC s e they are w rks? Tompk ng footers w her north in f trees, but Date: Nove Time: 6:00 Location: C 3rd Floor, Ci mmon Cou Resources Franciscus, s: 1st Byrne culpture, in there is alr er Park is a n regarding opposed to ed if there w he CU Com nt it on thei mas Shelly – y just had q ks as well a houldn’t wa working on kins Giant # will hold it in n the park a not wanting ember 18, 2019 PM Common Cou ity Hall uncil Liaison Commissio Anthropoc e and Hillso n her opinio ready an ar a pretty sma g traffic on sculptures would be a mmittee on r campus – – PRNR questions. as guideline ait to make a policy. #1 at Cass n place; - and not so c g to damag 9 uncil Chamber n on cene on n rea all or – es a Park close ge rs, Community Life Commission November 18, 2019 2 roots of existing trees, maybe making plantings of trees with the sculpture was a suggestion. Baker Park –There were a lot of comments from the neighborhood and going down further west, closer to west side of the park. There were questions of walk by traffic for educational purposes? Maybe an opportunity to tie in with Reuse Center and also safety concerns as well. Tom Shelly – He stated that Alex had pointed out that there was a previous policy in 2003 for Public Art Plan but now CLC oversees public art. CLC should review the policy and revise for current year. PRNR to have some imput for parks and work together on this policy. Some parks are over-programmed, for example at Stewart Park there is new playground and doesn’t need more; art can proliferate (example of Famers Market, over 30 benches there) and have a nice balance and be appropriate. If there is a lot of kid activity in a park, be safe, attractive and not a nuisance. Tom advised that Monica Franciscus is the Anthropocene sculpturist and she isn’t “married “ to having this in Baker Park. Alexander Phillips - Planner – Further public comments and updated handout given. He advised that public circulation comment began on 10/7, was open until today and he received public comments for both projects. For the Anthropocene: 4 positive public comments, 2 neutrals and 6 negative comments. Tompkins Giant #1: 2 positive public comments, 1 neutral and 4 negative comments. There were 2 other comments, but one had to do with concern about copyright infringement for the Giant and the second comment was that art work unnecessary and roads should be fixed. There was fear that the Tompkins Giant #1 was placed right on the trail; Alex checked into this and it’s about 70’ off of the trail. No detailed site drawings done at this stage and we were provided a site prospective drawing. Questions/discussion of Giant view, visibility, etc. Chair Swayze asked if there was any more info about the footers for Giant; Alex advised this is bit ahead of the project, once sculpture/site approved then engineer drawings would be done. The foundation would be approximately 14’x16’ foundation not sure of depth. Discussion regarding the public comments and addressing those; one particular public comment stated that it is a portrayal of a person walking like a gorilla, person of color that this person was offended; Common Council member Cynthia Brock also stated she too felt uncomfortable with the sculpture. CC Liaison Fleming wanted to clarify to the public that the cost of the actual artwork, including installation is born by the artist and the City having discussions of the maintenance of artwork. Keeler stated that he too felt offended and had strong feelings toward the one particular public comment he felt was racist statement and should CLC address this? Discussion regarding how people felt and those community members did feel a certain way and we should consider those, as well as the proximity. Tompkins Giant #1 – Alex was asked by Chair Swayze to review the process that got us to this point. He advised this is a Community Arts Project; they did their own RFP process which was inspired by Taughhanock Giant, but is not a direct connection. This is their first project, they selected this proposal, funds are provided and preferred Community Life Commission November 18, 2019 3 locations in City. Those sites included Stewart and Cass Park, the green space by Pete’s Gas Station and several other sites along Waterfront Trail, as they wanted it along the Waterfront Trail. Cass Park was chosen, Alex spoke with Jim D’Alterio and Jeanne Grace to address any direct environmental impacts, including damages of trees, etc. Jim and Jeanne had concerns about wind load and people climbing on this with a large concrete base. City is requesting a recommendation from CLC to take to PEDC (Planning and Economic Development Committee) then to Common Council, for final approval. Discussion with Alex regarding how this came from local nonprofit and came from outside the City and that City didn’t weigh in to actual design. Alex advised that the old public art plan was used as a reference and City is approaching as a “donation” as no current funding available to do this and the only other public art project that is closest thing, is Ithaca Moves project, which Alex spoke of at a prior meeting. . Question from public regarding public comment and how the public is notified. The Chair reviewed the process, advised there is still time left for public input as it goes to PEDC and then to Common Council and further reminded that this was left open for public comment longer than normal. Alex discussed that this process is still being worked on for the way this is circulated for public comment and at PRNR meeting it was advised that all Common Council members can submit these proposals to their list serves. Motion for CLC recommendation of Tompkins Giant #1 to PEDC – Motion made by Keeler and Hillson 2nd motion – all in favor. Byrne wanted noted that CLC has a lot of time/focus on art. Anthropocene: Alex reviewed the history of this project. Monica Francissa (here at the mtg) gave sculpture to the City and had a site in mind. The process very similar to Tompkins Giant #1process, varying sites looked at, Baker Park was the site chosen. PRNR Commissioner Shelly recommended this site as well and Alex reached out to Jeanne Grace to make sure no damage to park or additional concerns. Jeanne recommended that it be placed along the same row of trees along Elmira Road, not on the sidewalk directly and concern that sculpture not damaged by existing trees or branches falling. This site had an old road that was there, which makes a solid foundation. Alex advised that he presented to CLC to in September and public circulation commenced on 10/7 and open for public comments, including several proposals to Titus Towers residents. CC Liaison Fleming stated that Common Council questioned regarding safety concerns of the sharp edges and how artwork would age? Monica Franciscus the artist, stated priority that all parts would have smooth surface, base of the sculpture will be a rubberized material. Discussion regarding base of sculpture, materials used, fabrication done through Tatum Engineering and that all parts would be primed. Painted surfaces given extra coating of polyurethane to give durability, will maintain color and avoid rusting. Alex passed around the color photograph of the sculpture for CLC Commissioners. There was question and discussion of expected life of sculpture. The foundation will be built by Paolangeli, foundation approximately 12’x4x3, and she stated approximately 10-15 years for lifespan of sculpture. She spoke of what each color has specific meaning and there will be a solar light on the top to give the sculpture light. She also talked regarding the Community Life Commission November 18, 2019 4 meaning the sculpture and sustainability message. There will be a plaque on sculpture and will be used for educational purposes, classes to be taken there, website will also be available for questions. She stated that science got us here and science will get us out of there. She was asked why CU didn’t want on campus and she stated as they only wanted it for one year. There was a discussion regarding whether this park is public enough of a park for this sculpture and Chair made note of this. The Chair also read out loud that CU comment regarding it didn’t meet “their standards” and Alex advised that it was a CU subcommittee and they went in different direction. Questions and discussion of sculpture details. Artist stated that this sculpture is not to be climbed on and be placed somewhere that it won’t be climbed on by the public. Suggestions of barriers around sculpture to keep public from climbing like on it, like what was used for the water foundation on Commons. Chair Swayze stated that she loves the idea of this and idea is perfect for Ithaca. The fact that it makes you think of sustainability, actually encourages interactions and having solutions from the art is great and on the other hand she hears the public comments and neighborhood coming in, fairly overwhelmingly, saying it’s not the right location. Hilson stated he used to reside in this neighborhood and feels that it fits in with the general aesthetic of the area, there is Reuse Center, car dealers and question regarding whether it can be moved closer to the edge of the park? Tom Shelly stated that Jeanne Grace stated it could be a difficult neighborhood to put anything in the park, in the past there was suggestion of community garden and the neighborhood was against it; whole contingent of neighborhood is to only have grass. Byrne stated that she resides there and feels Baker Park is open to Elmira Road and that it would break up the site of seeing the street and voiced her concerns regarding safety. Liaison Lewis stated this sculpture was funded and donated to the city by the artist. There will also be questions by the public of where to put things and pointed out the painted electric boxes adds attraction. There is a question of maintenance of this piece and artist stated that the life span is 10-15 years. Other pieces of art that need maintenance, as there has been vandalism, damage of spray painting. Monica responded that it happens, art work gets vandalized, basically its trash (crushed cars) doesn’t care if its spray painted. A big part of design was interaction with this art sculpture; want to touch this art and its ok, it’s a living thing. It’s a conceptual piece, art is art of right now – not modern where the idea is more important than the end result and concept is priority not end result as this piece is a sexy piece and draws attention and hopes to start conversation! Alex stated that no funds exist for murals or sculptures; once they have reached end of life/disrepair, they would be removed from the public. He stated that there is existing sculptures that have a range of textures, i.e., the horse on Commons, the musical horns by barber shop, etc., they all have sharpness/smoothness and these were acceptable and were put up. Alex did look at other locations and there is a large list of locations and it is up to the artist of where proposal fits in the City. Monica chose this site because accessible to Community Life Commission November 18, 2019 5 public and a central location. Alex advised that process of looking at sites again would take time and having to repeat the process again. CLC recommends to PEDC of Baker Park Anthropocene sculpture Hillson made motion and Scriber 2nd motion – one commissioner opposed, 4 approved. Alex will be having open call for murals in February, 2020, and in the past was just an open call, Alex will bring to CLC in December and asked Commissioners to think of themes to direct artists in the future. There was suggestions of a legal graffiti wall and discussion of content and language suitable for the public, etc. Public Art Working Group Update: Keeler stated that the group met for first time, there were lots of questions about funding and what are we funding, the ideas, values and goals as well. Group will be starting to look at other cities and will look at 2003 public art plan that was in place and starting process of drafting a new one. CC Liaison Lewis gave update on 2020 City Budget – Submit to the Mayor and Common Council for 2020 budget for public art/public art maintenance and the proposal was in 2020 budget for $10,000; CC Rob Gerhart recommended, there was revision of given of $2,000 for 2020 Budget and discussed primarily of maintenance of existing art; not new art. Lewis advised that the challenge is that the City with $80 million budget does not have enough funds to fund everything, example given of 4 firefighters and grant that funded their positions and 2 firefighters absolved and 2 other firefighters added back in to the budget. Is this a reoccurring expense or one time/ the importance of firefighter’s salary and benefits or public art? What some people viewed as essential usage? She discussed in detail regarding the process and thought that went into the decision and the difficulty of budget process and how money is approved and 56% of property in City is tax exempt, all schools, churches, Cornell University and look at proportion it is the case that CU is the largest; in the 2020 budget CU contributes $1,391,527.00 – Common Council approved budget on 11/6 and details is on the City’s website. The $2,000 budget was approved and maintenance work with DPW? Where is that money going under DPW? Who are the allies in public art? Commission serves valuable purpose – cross communication with other commissions – raised topic raises question the agenda for commission chairs meetings? Opportunity to share what commission working on – none of the commission have funding – funding for any other commissions – Who voted for the art funding and who voted against it? Future conversations – 4/5 vote for the art budget line in 2020. Advocacy Flags: Hillson – earth day – end of October through April – at those locations 5 months – city hall flag any times – details for end and start times – advocacy flags to city admin update dimensions, add date limits different locations and clarified who takes and – pass that back to them and finish Discussion regarding issues that CLC commissioners talked about at the beginning; to look at reiterating our goals and move forward with that info; key areas: housing, youth, community’s sustainability, etc., need to review what CLC mission is and other proposals that we really want to pursue and share with Chair, email ideas. Community Life Commission November 18, 2019 6 Green new deal policy – funding for consultant and for full time city positions in 2020; 7:38pm Adjourned Next Meeting: Monday, December 16, 2019, 6:00 p.m., Common Council Chambers, 3rd Floor Adjournment: On a motion, the meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m. Respectfully Submitted by, Jody Hallett-Harris, Executive Assistant