001quorum, so I'd like to get started. Welcome, Jamal. Um I'd like to call to order our April 1st, uh 2026 meeting. Uh welcome. Our meeting is being held electronically. Um This meeting um is similarly Okay, sorry about that, guys. Backing up here. Um this meeting is being held electronically, but we intend to conduct this meeting similar to an in-person meeting. Public comments will be via telephone or Zoom only. To speak at any of our public comment opportunities, please call 206-337-9723 337-9723 and enter meeting ID 932-8112-0347 or join via the Zoom link. Uh this information is also on the published agenda in the public notices section of the city website. And we are broadcasting this meeting on CTN channel 17, Chris? Was that the correct channel? Uh 16. Channel 16. >> Channel 16. Um thank you,
002CTN, for being here. Wonderful. Okay, uh Chris, if you'd want to take roll. Yeah, no problem. I'm just promoting Sarah. I I see she joins in. Okay, we'll call this meeting to order at uh 7:03. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Uh I'll now call roll. Before I start, I did receive regret from Council Member Harrison, who unfortunately not be able to attend this evening. Please say here and from where you're dialing when your name is called. Uh Commissioner Harrison is absent. Commissioner Bufford. Present in Ypsilanti Township. Okay. Commissioner Neal. Present in Ann Arbor. Commissioner Latifus. Present in Grass Lake. Commissioner Kotarski. Present in Ann Arbor. Commissioner Porter. Present in Ann Arbor. Commissioner Fuller. Present in Ann Arbor. Commissioner Leonard. Present in Ann Arbor. Commissioner Jordan. Present in Ann Arbor. Commissioner Carter. Present in Ann Arbor.
003Okay. And with that, we do have quorum. Fantastic. All right, there are two items on the consent agenda, approval of the agenda and approval of the minutes. Are there any modifications to the consent agenda as it stands? Okay. Um all in Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. Thank you, John and Peggy. Um all in favor uh motion of approving this motion, please say yes or wave at me. >> I. I. Awesome. All right, um the the consent is approved. All right, so uh do we have anybody for public comment tonight? Uh I'm not seeing any public comments or or any attendees, so I think we can skip that part. All right. Well, we'll move into our agenda. Um there is no business, so information for discussion tonight
004where um this is for Chris. He's going to help us understand the existing public art fund agreements, and I believe those were attached. Um I did look through those. Looks like there were two from 1999 and um one for the chair, the um memorial. Uh is you want Go ahead, Chris. Yeah, so Needless to say, as uh city staff are trying to kind of get our head our heads around the this uh mini grant proposal and finding mechanisms to kind of make it happen, we did uh discover a few funding mechanisms that are tied directly with the public art commission and the Ann Arbor Community Foundation. Uh so those have been attached to your agenda. We did find three of two two of them that I think are are worth noting. Uh and my goal
005this evening is to kind of explain to you guys some of the things that we we've uncovered uh so that there's transparency and so that we're both on the same page because a lot of this information in some ways will will change the the way we approach the the grant proposal. Uh but needless to say, I'll start with the endowment fund agreement uh and then I'll move to the pass-through fund and lastly um the Jewett chair project, which was a special project fund made for a specific uh purpose, but uh needless to say, let's start with the endowment fund. Um like I said, the goal here is just to make sure that we we all have a shared understanding of what this fund can and what it cannot do. Uh so as the name suggests,
006this is a designated endowment fund. Uh and what this actually means is that um in practice, the money is held by the foundation, not the city, and the principal stays invested, and only a portion of the annual earnings is available for us. So it's essentially the way we've we've understood it. Um I believe the account currently sits at 178,000, of which $5,000 are um dispersed on an annual basis, depending on the market, of course. Uh and that and those $5,000 is what can be used. Uh but the most important limitation, and this is really what I would like this commission to uh to kind of focus on is that the main key thing to understand is that the purpose of this fund, uh as we've uncovered, is extremely narrow. It specifically is intended for maintenance
007and preservation of existing public art. Uh it is not structured to fund new projects, and it is not designed to support grant programs. So Chris, the document you're referring to, is it the most recent document cuz we updated it's um what the endowment could be used for a couple years ago. You guys did. Okay, interesting. Uh if Well, what we One thing I'll just These are the documents that we currently have on file. Um now, if this has been updated, then uh I'll I'll kind of um I don't I don't know. >> do you have that that you can share cuz I feel like we've had eyes on it. >> been able to find uh any updates, and currently what So just to kind of uh give you guys an idea of of how this
008went about, we we uncovered uh these these um agreements, and then we've reached out to to the foundation to kind of get a better sense of making sure that what we have on file matches what they have on file. Uh needless to say, this is what we currently have on file. Now, if there's Now, if an amendment has been made to these original agreements, uh that that could very well be. I'm just uh not aware of it, and it hasn't been entered into uh into our records properly, so um needless to say, legal hasn't been able to find it. So if you do have information uh regarding that, please send it my way. Uh but at least for the the purpose of today's meeting, I'm just going to go over what we currently um know.
009All right? And then So the other thing I would say is around $5,000 becomes available each year. We haven't taken money in the last several years, so there's a larger fund available for us to just do that. >> Yes, I believe it's 20,000 if Mary, if I'm not mistaken, the the the some balances uh it hasn't been taken out. I think it has gone into 20,000, but the part of that I I want this commission to kind of focus on is if the if the language has been changed, then great. That definitely opens the the room for opportunity, but as it stands uh the direction I got is that this fund is specifically intended for maintenance and preservation of existing public art, which kind of um I understand you changed it. I'll find the language
010or or they I'm sure they have the language on file because they had to approve it at one of their um like board meetings, so Yeah. They would have Yeah. And full disclosure, we're still waiting on a response from the foundation. This is just purely what we've uncovered and what we're trying to kind of get just get our heads around this because on our side, it looks like there is multiple mechanisms. It could very well be that all of this kind of got umbrellaed into a single fund, which is what I likely suspect, but until that gets confirmed by the foundation, I am operating on I will tell you I know specifically the Jewett fund is within that same fund because I saw the dollars that were donated for the Jewett fund as entries in
011the public endowment fund. So, that separate fund does not exist any longer. I don't know about the pass-through fund. Okay. Okay. Well, we can circle back on the endowment fund. Again, if you have that information, please just send me a quick email. Like I said, I'm still trying to I'm still pending a response from the foundation to be honest, so it could very well be that like you said, since the last record that we have is from 1999, so I'm sure things have changed and we're just trying to get a sense of what is the current day present day existing agreement so that we can work within the the confines of that agreement, right? But yeah, that's essentially the endowment fund in a nutshell. Um What what I thought was the second fund that we
012uncovered is a pass-through fund, uh which is the advice pass-through fund uh held through by the community foundation. This is one This one is important because on the surface it looks more flexible, but there's still some key constraints that we need to understand. So, what is this fund? This fund um it's an advice fund, which means that the money is held by the foundation and the commission can make recommendations on how the funds are used, but the foundation ultimately decides whether to approve those recommendations or not. Um so, it it it it would essentially act as the public art commission has an idea to um for a public art installation or or any or anything of that nature, they would send a recommendation to the foundation and ultimately the foundation will decide whether or not
013they would disburse the funds since it's tied to their general fund. Um So, unlike the endowment fund, this one is broader in purpose. I believe its direct purpose is to support public art initiatives, potentially new projects, and activities aligned with the commission's mission. And that can be further found on the purpose language. I believe that's page one of that um of that document. But the key limitation is its control. Even though the commission can recommend funding uses, the foundation is the entity that actually approves the distribution of those funds. So, this is not city controlled funding. Uh the source uh the the source and funding stream comes from the foundation, so that kind of limits um some some of the use of it. In in a practical sense, what does this mean is funding is
014not automatic and recommendations can be accepted or denied by the foundation. Um But this is essentially important when we talk about something like the mini grant program. A grant program requires consistency, predict predictability, and a clear administrative control. This structure does not fully provide that on its own, but it does allow us an avenue to kind of pursue the the grant idea. As a potential funding mechanism. Um but it would have to go through the foundations and it's ultimately subjected to the policies um of the foundation, so distribution has to be uh has to be So, the distribution of the funds as as far as I understand it have to be to eligible nonprofit entities. Um So, stepping stepping back, this fund is definitely a lot more flexible than the endowment fund. It can support
015new initiatives, but it's still it's not a fully controlled or stand-alone funding source. Uh it would it it works best as a partnership tool and not a primary program funding mechanism, which is what what I believe um we wanted to tie to to the mini grant proposal. Uh so, and And needless to say, this is where we're currently at. We're trying to understand how these funds operate in practice and confirming what is actually available. If this pass-through fund still does exist, how much money is currently sitting it currently sits on and what are some stipulations because as far as I am I understand that this pass-through fund was created with the sole purpose of supporting this the initiatives of this commission. But the part that is a little bit unclear to me is whether or
016not this has developed into like like Allison hinted out, it could very well be that these two funds got umbrellaed into a larger fund and we're still trying to get some clarity as to what exactly what funding mechanisms are sitting in the foundation, how much money is presently in them, and whether or not the distribution can be made through a um a a nonprofit that would decide to um run the actual administration of this grant of this mini grant program. Um and lastly, I know I've been talking a lot. I'll just go through the the last funding mechanism and this was actually very interesting for me because it was it was the Jewett Jewett chair project. If you guys have been to the farmers market, it's it's one of those chairs. Um and this was
017a special project that was funded to kind of have this stay this chair implemented. Um The specific funding models that was used uh it it is So, this is not an endowment and it's not a general fund. And I think the easiest way to comprehend this is that it kind of works as a a crowdfunding, right? Um If there's members of the public that uh see a need for a specific memorial or perhaps some form of art installation that for the betterment of the community, this essentially dictates that you guys could crowdfund for it. Um And this is not like I said, this is not endowed but it's a project specific fund um that is set through the community foundation for one defined specific project. Um The purpose of of that fund is typically to
018receive donations for one project and to support the creation of of installation for a specific thing that you guys are trying to achieve. Um But why does this model work? The structure works because it is tied to a specific project and it has a clear funding goal. Um and another thing that I'll point is that it it does have some uh uh some hidden details or critical details that are worth noting. Mainly, 10% of each donation is transferred into the endowment fund, so even uh project-based funding contributions back into it kind of puts contributions back into long-term maintenance. I believe 10% of the the total amount that is donated would have to go to the endowment fund to be reserved for the sole purpose of funding. And a 1% of the available crowdfunding gets gets
019kind of absorbed by administrative cost. These These are administrative requirements that the foundation handles. Handles. So, the those are some of the fees associated with with crowdfunding, right? So, you you can crowdfund for a specific project, but 10% of that would go towards maintenance and 1% of that would go towards the administration of this of this um of the type of mechanism. Uh but some big picture takeaways, uh stepping back, this model shows us something important that this is a project-driven funding approach, and it does open the the room for uh further conversation as to how we can integrate public art into our infrastructure besides of what we've what this commission has historically done, which is uh uh the 1% of the the the capital improvement plan, which is uh it just adds another layers
020of potential funding mechanisms that we can use to get art out there. Uh and what I liked about this is that it's it's it's essentially it's crowdfunding, right? It's dependent on uh on on the community. It's very There's a lot of public engagement that goes to it, but it's it is essentially allows the opportunity uh for integrating public art projects that might not be directly tied to the to the CIP, as we've noticed this year um there there isn't always an opportunity to integrate public art specifically when we're looking at a construction season such as this one that uh where we have a lot of resurfacing, sidewalk gap repairs, and stuff where public art might just not um make sense at that time. Um this kind of provides another mechanism, but needless to say that's
021uh those are the three funding mechanisms that the city uncovered. Uh those are the ones that we currently have on file, and we're kind of we're amidst working with the the foundation and our legal team to kind of understand how these funds may have evolved over time, and uh what um if if it's still possible to do uh projects such as the um the uh Jewel Chair in the Farmers Market. Is that something that we can continue going? Um but yeah. Uh I'll open the the the floor for questions. I'm seeing a few uh hands raised, so I'm just going to go in the order that I'm seeing them. Mary. Well, thank you, Chris, for um for outlining those three funding sources, and um if you could if you could uh CliffNotes the essentials for
022each of those, um basically summarize what you just said and put that in the email, I think that'd be really helpful just so we can really start to see how these could be applied. Um I'll I just need I think I need it broken down um a little more cuz that was just a lot, but I also want to just point out that in 2022, there was a variance on our foundation um grants. The Ann Arbor It's called the Ann Arbor Art in Public Places Endowment Fund. That's the name. Um in 2022, the variance allows for maintenance, preservation, purchase, and installation. That is the present um charge for that particular endowment fund. So and that came directly from the community foundation, so I'm assuming they'll be able to give you that information. So 2022. And
023that was your your um sounds like you had a hand in that, Allison. It happened in 2020 in September of 2020. I have the email from them about it. >> Oh, you have 2020. Okay. I mean All right. The document from 2022 is probably up to date, but yeah, it happened back in 2020. >> Okay, very good. So I I think more stay tuned for that. Um And feel free to rope us into these conversations if I can be of help, if I can jump in on a meeting with the city and the the um foundation I if that could be helpful. Yeah. Yeah, of course. >> um Yes, okay. I I am complete. Uh here, John, I saw your raise your hand raised. Yeah, uh really, that's great, Christopher. Thank you so much. I
024want to just give you a little background on what I understand how these funds came about and and how the name uh because the the arrangement is between the Commission on Art in Public Places. Uh the acronym is CAP. And that's not AAPAC, Ann Arbor Public Art Commission. Uh so as I understood the background uh came about it was originally named the Committee for Art in Public Places, and this was a DDA committee. And it was uh pulled together for the sole purpose of uh creating public art for the Fourth and Washington Parking Structure. Um and so um they they raised the money, and they had two accounts at the Community Foundation. And one of the pass-through account was for the artwork. And there are three pieces of artwork on It's a mosaic, and then
025there's a uh um uh an uh a relief, and then a metal work, I think, on the third floor or something. Each of those pieces cost I think around 50,000, I'm not sure. They went out and raised the money for that. And that was that's the pass-through fund, as I understand it. So whenever they would get money, they would it would go to the Community Foundation. Mainly because if you donate money to the city, uh you you don't get a a tax deduction, but if you donate it to the foundation, you do. So that was the reason they went to the foundation. There was no easy mechanism at the city. Um that um what I I really want to emphasize and highlight is they uh this group was very smart. This This was our forerunner
026group. And it evolved into the Art in Public Places with Percent for Art. When that ordinance came in place, it set up AAPAC. Um what CAP did, it was so smart, is they they designated money for maintenance. They raised money specifically for maintenance. That's where all the language. I should preface all this by saying, you know, in in 1920 or in 2020, when Allison did a deep dive, all this changed. So I mean it it she made it relevant to to being able to function uh with AAPAC. Um but what they did was they set up so they identified that there was a need for maintenance for every piece of public art that they went out and selected. They They raised the money for it. They selected the artist. They supervised um and uh the
027the architect that designed that lived across or has offices across the street from it. So they were really smart, and it's that that idea of of of building in maintenance for public art uh sort of got lost, and the city when it started really investing hundreds of thousands of dollars didn't really think much about maintenance. Now Now that changed um I think uh um uh with Well, Mary Feehily's has a Almondinger Park uh mural. And and it was vandalized. Remember that, Mary? And and there was a there was a problem. We met with the uh the parks, and the parks said, "Well, you know, the Public Art Commission should raise money." And I was chair at the time, and I basically said, "Well, no, this is a this this is owned by the city, you
028know, we're we're we're just volunteers. We're citizen volunteers, and we we don't know anything about fundraising. You really the city needs to do it." So um um Craig Hoopey recognized that, and and and sort of uh uh was proactive and created an amendment to the Public Art uh commission uh the Percent for Art ordinance that uh identified who was responsible for the maintenance. And it is and I'm not sure of the language, but it is depending on who where the particular art is located, whatever department is in charge of that location is responsible for the maintenance. And I don't know whether that really got filtered down, but that's now a part of that Public Art ordinance, and it somewhat takes the place of this maintenance uh funding. Um so that's kind of kind of the
029background. Uh that and it's changed to Commission on Art in Public Places because um Ingrid Sheldon was the mayor and realized that for the city to really have a control over this, it couldn't be a committee for the DDA, so it became this commission. But it was still Commission on Art in Public Places. Um I think when Allison had the discussions with the Community Foundation, the Community Foundation it's a great place to be able to do exactly this. Uh to get money. The Jewel Chair, for an example, um that started out with a memorial at uh Pioneer High School for Mr. Jewett. He passed away and he was an institution in the city and and the mayor, Christopher Taylor, spoke at that and someone afterwards gave an anonymous donation of $5,000 for this artwork and
030that sort of started it but we had no real place to put that money and so the Community Foundation was a natural place to sort of put that money and raise more money and Marsha Chamberlain raised an awful lot most of it for that and so that's kind of how the relationship grew between the Art Commission and the Community Foundation and why it's the Commission for Art and Public Places but it really is I mean it we are taking the place of that and I think the arrangement was made with Allison the Community Foundation understands that this body that we have today actually is speaking for this and now you know there are other kinds of things that probably are details that are very very important but I just wanted to give you the background
031as to what I understand how these started out you know and the important thing I want to emphasize is these artwork needs needs maintenance and a part of the maintenance is it needs to be regularly inspected and and evaluated and and and and addressed before it gets too bad. Now we're going to talk about I think Allison's going to talk about Sculpture Park and it's a good example this this arch in in Sculpture Park actually had a little bit of rust on the bottom and you know nobody knew who was responsible and I'm not responsible well that rust just grew and grew and nobody really did anything and you know it was so bad that it had to be removed because it was a it was a hazard to pedestrians and it cost the city
032I think over $100,000 to repair that when it could have been solved merely by scraping the rust away and painting it that's that's a lesson learned and I want to emphasize the maintenance part of that that's what I know and but I think Allison has a much better view on it. Thank you John um the for providing that context that's very helpful. Allison did you want to chime in you had your hand raised? Um I think it's been covered I think I sent you guys that email at least Chris and Mary a copy of what I have and it's from someone who's not at the Community Foundation anymore anyways and it sounds like Mary you have the most up-to-date document so that should be all set as far as that language goes. I think um
033to John's point since the time of the creation of the endowment the city now owns the maintenance within each department of whoever owns the project and actually my understanding is there's maintenance schedules that are corresponding with each piece and those schedules are maintained within each department and that like for example City Parks goes out and inspects all their pieces and knows how many times they're supposed to do X Y and Z based off of recommendations from the artists and that is built into their budget. Um each year part of our I think it's our annual report we're supposed to talk about what maintenance has been happened and usually our city liaison previously Vinita would collect that information from each of the departments and figure out what had happened that year to maintain our works. Um
034and that's included in our annual reports so I think all of that is a well-oiled machine and now it allows us to use the funding in a different manner at least the um the money that we accrue every year that we can use and the the pass-through dollars is interesting I don't know if that actually exists as a standalone account anymore but um Mary that triggered me to think about matching funds for the grants as a way of to do those matching funds we had talked about so something to explore I think. For sure thank you Allison. Any other comments we have kind of reached our time for this portion of the agenda I wanted to just make sure that anybody that did have any final comments we can we are going to be continuing
035this conversation I think Chris is just making us aware of these other funds and given that we are we really want to get this mini grant program happening so that the Public Art Commission can be behind funding projects within the city um that you know this will be this is our charge so um any other final thoughts or comments before we move on to Allison being able to introduce um our guest tonight? Okay with that we'll move on thank you everybody. Um yes so welcome to our guest thank you for sitting through that section I upon further reflection maybe would have switched the two we do appreciate everybody's time here tonight so we just love to give you all the floor. Welcome. Thank you I guess I'll go first >> [clears throat] >> my name
036is Diana Marsh and Allison invited us to attend this evening because I had a a meeting with her a couple weeks ago to talk about Sculpture Plaza and I know that that was just brought up in a last conversation but I own the store Thistle and Bess which is on Fourth Avenue right next to Sculpture Plaza so I get the joy of looking at it all day every day out my front window um and I've just kind of considered over the last couple years that it's such a lovely large open space the proximity to the farmers market and all the new construction happening around so many more people are going to be living within Carytown and I just think it's time that that park gets a little bit of love and attention um I did
037a a tiny bit of research and saw that the last time that it was um kind of updated and when that sculpture was taken down to be repaired was in 2008 and at that point that's when the tables and the umbrellas and the benches in that area went in and I don't believe it has been touched really since 2008. Um and I I just think it could be such a wonderful space it isn't really utilized at this point in time not many people sit in it or use it at all so I'm just looking for ways to positively activate that space and attract more people to it taking advantage of what it is and what it could be um I started by meeting with Dan Gannon who is on the board at the co-op the
038food co-op next door because they have technically adopted that space and are in charge of the maintenance and care for it um and he I got to talk to him about the planting side of it and how it ways that we could work together to get more volunteers to kind of spruce that space up and he was like very excited and on board and then the other thing that I wanted to talk to I talked to Allison and the Gutman Gallery about and now I'm here talking to you about is getting some more public art in that space just to liven it up and show that people are caring for it and paying attention to it um not only adding public art to the space but trying to host more events in the space um
039I'm involved in a thing that's starting in May called Gallery Nights that is organized by the Gutman Gallery and I've been talking with the Carytown Concert House about organizing music events in Sculpture Plaza once a month during those Gallery Nights so just different ways that we could just add some more art in general to that public space to attract more people um with that being said I was also brainstorming with Avery Williamson and Krista who are here tonight um and they are working on some really inspiring and colorful and energetic and wonderful public art pieces that I think would be perfect for that space um so I think we were just here Allison encouraged us to come kind of talk about the ideas that we have um I don't know if Avery and Krista if
040you guys want to jump in and talk about what you've been working on? Thanks for having us and thanks Diana for giving that back story am am I able to share screen? Yes. Okay let me see if I can um do this okay um can you all see this? >> Yes we can. Okay or not okay so um we Chris and I are artists we collaborate together we've been collaborating together for about a year we both have our independent practices that have lasted long beyond that but we have been working on a series of colorful flowers that are inspired by shapes and forms of native plants to our region of Michigan and um we have been working on prototypes so they're a little bit of sculpture they have dimension and it's been important to us
041to socialize these flowers and to bring them out in public and invite people to engage with them hold them give feedback and on one of those really warm days when it was still February and probably shouldn't have been that warm we went around downtown and just nobody said no to holding a flower and playing with them and so it was just a nice way to think about bringing nature and color and art into daily life. And we went for a walk over to this Owen Best and chatted with Diana, who I've worked with before in her shop and done workshops. And she was just immediately really excited about bringing flowers into her space. So, we started to think about different ideas that we could activate the space with some sculptural elements embedded within what will
042soon be a nice lush native plant garden there. It's just a sad snowy day for kind of mocking this up. And then we're working on proposing and figuring out what concerns might exist for sidewalk paint. We did a fun project in Whitmore Lake. And what we loved about sidewalk paint is that immediately turned the sidewalk into a little bit of a play space for people of all ages, but especially kids. We did one design where there were lily pads and kids could jump and it just turned into a sidewalk into a play space in a very simple way. So, we just like to think about ways to activate um spaces in ways that are relatively easy and just invite some fun and play. And I know that there may be future plans for sculpture park.
043So, we were thinking about these as somewhat ephemeral. They sidewalk paint will have some wear and tear, but we felt that even if this lasts for a year or 2 years with a little bit of touch-up, that's still a significant amount of time, especially if you think of someone who's 6 years old, like 2 years is a long time and we like to emphasize that. This maybe isn't forever, like 10 years, but it's significant to make this area a play space and inviting for people of all ages and think about all of generations coming together and utilizing this space. So, we just wanted to share a little bit about our ideas, our practice, and thank you for having us here and just for us to hear some context of how you all are thinking about
044bringing art into Ann Arbor. I don't know Krista if you have anything you want to add. I tried to be kind of quick in sharing the high-level. Yeah, thank you so much for having us. I feel like Avery covered everything super well, so nothing else to add. Well, this is extremely exciting and really aligns, I think, with the kinds of projects that our our future grant will support. I mean, the I don't think the ephemeral quality of it um is something we should shy away from. I think that it also just invites more rotation of art in the space, more excitement around creating things and workshops that could spin off of that. So, if you're patient with us in terms of funding, you know, we're hoping to launch this granting program in 2027. But before
045then, if you're able to secure your own private funds, would this be something that parks would be involved in? Anybody out there have ideas of what department of the city this could partner with if they if they had their own funding? For approvals and whatnot? DDA, streets and parks. Yeah, another potential avenue could be sustainability. I know that our sustainability has a few grants. Maybe there is some avenue where we can explore public art installation that is also sustainable. Some other municipalities have had success with with some creative ways to implement solar panels, charging stations, stuff of that nature, but I know that this our sustainability team has a few grants out there. Besides that, have you guys identified any potential funding source at this time or is it are we still very at the
046preliminary stage? So, we I did have a quick meeting with the DDA last week. I talked to Amber Miller and Maura Thompson to see if this would be something that the elevate program would be interested in funding. This is kind of like what we're doing with you right now, just very casually talking through it. And they asked us to put together a proposal of some small actionable items to present to them to see if they would could have budget to take this on. And that would just entail like we kind of are thinking about this whole project as baby steps, like starting small and kind of building as the years go on. But it could be as easy as getting the the flowers put on posts into the garden beds. Like that's a very simple
047actionable thing that we could do relatively soon. So, kind of just in the initial works of talking about this, but we have gone to the DDA and then we're coming to you just to kind of get feedback and talk more about it as well. Yeah. Um I'm seeing other hands raised, so John. That's just a quick First, I want to applaud what you're doing. Avery, Diana, and Krista, this is exactly what we were hoping for is we can't really do anything but facilitate ideas that come from the community and it's perfect. A couple of things. I I love the idea of it being temporary. So, installation is a hot sort of public art now rather than a permanent place and it can evolve. So, I would encourage you to make a part of it a
048rotating space, a rotating art gallery, however you want to kind of incorporate. The city understands what that means. I would also encourage you to speak with the Hands-On Museum. This This is a perfect sort of thing for them and it's right up Ann Street. I mean, it's right it's right along right with there. They they've got all kinds of kids. It could be a stop on the way to that. And so, kudo. I absolutely love it. Thank you much. John Jordan, did you want to chime in? Thank you. All right, just waiting for someone to call my name. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate the sentiment. I I just really want to dive a little beyond cuz I've been in that park a few times. I you know, I I sit there often if I go
049to the farmers market. And I think it's just a question of design, really. I think it's about the space. I mean, certainly art will activate it, create, you know, some destination, but I think the I mean, I almost feel like we should rank some of these parks and come up with, you know, some efforts to really change how they function. And this one in particular is bad, I think, from my point of view. In terms of helping the city sort of be a place that people want to sit. It you know, it's sort of a no man's land revolving around the center sculpture. So, I think this is an opportunity for design and landscape and other people to get involved and actually make this a better spot than it what it is today. That would
050be my vote for for some sort of action on a lot of different kind of poorly planned spaces in the city. But that's just a recommendation. But I think art is definitely a part of that equation. So, I applaud the gesture and thank you for bringing it to our attention. Thank you, John. Allison. Yeah, I think Diana was very polite when she said that the space is not activated. Unfortunately, it's kind of activated in the wrong way right now. It's It's has the attention of some folks that are aren't using the space for the right reasons. And I think that art will draw more of the general population to use the space and therefore engage it. And hopefully, it will stay cleaner and it will get better use and not necessarily just I don't know
051if it's the design of it, but I think the way it's being used right now isn't ideal and that art could bring the right people to that space to engage in it. I think what the DDA has been doing in Liberty Plaza is very in that same vein of trying to activate it with more people for more good reasons. And I think the space could have the same type of activation. At any point, if you guys need a letter of recommendation or like another group that's saying, "Yes, we want to see this happen." Come back, we will obviously do that for you. Um I think when we talked previously, we had mentioned Jessica Black. Diana, that's the city parks person who oversees the like I know she oversees Liberty Plaza and I think she oversees
052that space. So, she would be the one who would say, "Yes, you can stick your flowers in here and we won't pull them out." Basically. >> [laughter] >> I don't I don't know if you connected with her yet. If If not, Krista, are you able to make that direct connection or or I can or I've heard she's retiring. Oh, okay. But there's someone new. I've been giving up given a point person though. I have reached out to her and I heard that she is retiring possibly. Um But I have been given another point person and the co-op board had a good parks point person that they've been working with in the past plant takes as well. Okay, so you're already connected. Yeah, and at any point you want us to kind of like chime in
053and be like, we want this to happen. The other good thing about city parks is that they have their own volunteer program and so they might be able to like make an opportunity for their volunteers to participate in like painting of flowers or if you did like a paint by numbers thing like they would have people that could volunteer for that. They have their I think it's called something 360 or something um that they have. Sarah. Thank you, Allison. Um thank you all for for joining and I just I love this idea and I got really excited um with the idea of the rotation. Um like a rotating art gallery and I just wanted to mention there is a wonderful model for that in uh San Francisco. It's the Clarion Alley Mural Project. This is
054an alley in the Mission neighborhood um and this was started I think in 1992. So at this point it's actually grown into a full-fledged nonprofit that runs this rotating art gallery, but it is a a big tourist attraction and it just adds um this beautiful accessibility um for art for interaction um and it draws people to that neighborhood, right? Um when they're coming to visit as well as locals and I just think it's a really well-run uh thought-out um essentially rotating art gallery. So just wanted to mention that that is worth um looking up. So. Thank you, Sarah. Jenna. Oh. Hi. Um not to I I think I just want to echo everyone else like what a cool idea and I would love to see something like that happen. I wanted to build off of
055something that John Jordan mentioned about, you know, I do think that space needs to be redesigned, but I see this proposal as like a short-term activation that can actually build excitement for something long-term. Like I feel like that's a great way to sell it and this idea of it rotating is is right on, too. So just would love to see that happen and echoing everyone else that whatever we can do to help support it. >> [snorts] >> I building on to that as well in my short talks with the DDA, I think they do have their eye on that space for a bigger more involved long-term project. Yeah. Um I think it's more like 10 years down the road though, so this was just like again baby steps trying to get to that. And then
056eventually getting to a bigger and a a better design process for that space as well. Yeah, and it would be a great step, too. I mean like on its own it's it's would really make that space alive. So. And um if I can just pop in, I think um John also to your point, I think that we like to think about our spaces as like an invitation for people to give feedback, to belong, to engage and so I mean I love to think of other artists doing other work and if sidewalk painting gets approved then it's ephemeral and then in a year or two years someone else paints and it just becomes like another opportunity for people to feel like they can have a say in their spaces and hopefully they'll linger a little bit
057longer in that park and have opinions and then that'll help shape what comes next after that. So I definitely agree that there's like design real structural design stuff that would make that more social uh post you want to linger longer and I think of our work as a starting point for more public engagement. Thank you all. >> Well, I like what the I I really enjoy what the conversation is leading to which is that you start you start with something and then get people to come and then it maybe it leads to something down the road. I'm I appreciate that that sentiment totally. I just think it the way it functions is just anathema to making it a place, right? It it sort of dumps out as a set of, you know, crosswalks dumping into
058a circle and then it's just it's a design matters to these things and to make it into a space that people want to sit and then be there day on a daily basis. I think changing it would be the most useful. Not that art doesn't contribute to that, but I think inevitably you want to make it welcoming and right now it's just a transitional kind of space not a not a place really. But I could be wrong. Like yeah, I'm an architect, I think like an architect, so that's how I start. Well, I see a lot of heads nodding. I think this has been a really great discussion and uh really just fills our cup a lot just knowing that there are people out there with these ideas um and this like just drive. So
059um as a commission, this is exactly the kinds of things that we want to be supporting and the conversations we want to have. So um thank you all for bringing this to us and again like Allison said, if there's anything we can do to support um yeah, just keep us posted. Keep us let us know what's going on. And also like shout the project out at some point or if you reach any roadblocks, give us heads up. We'll try to help. Thank you. Outstanding. Well, you guys will be the first to know when our grant goes live. We're hoping to partner with Creative Washtenaw, so it's going to be super juicy and um you all are welcome to stay. Um feel free. We just have a few more things on our agenda um but we'll
060probably just continue to move on unless there's any other final thoughts for Avery, Krista, and Diana. I do have one more thought. With the redevelopment of 303 Detroit Street, I mean they probably would be interested in uh changing the characteristics of that. I'm sure you've already talked to them, but just another thought since they're, you know, I think each one of those apartments is almost a million dollars, so I'm sure both the uh the future residents and the developer would be good allies in whatever you guys come up with. Wonderful. Well, thank you everybody. Appreciate you coming and talking with us tonight. Yeah, I think I'm going to head off, but thanks for having us. >> so much. Thank you. Thanks. Bye. So we're going to move into the communications portion of our evening. I
061really love that last conversation. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Um Chris, do you want to kick us off with any staff reports or updates? Uh yeah, so all the staff report I had is tied to uh those funding mechanisms. Uh so I encourage you all to just take a quick read, uh look through them and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I love that. Thank you, Chris. We I it seems like we're all we're all a similar trajectory, you know, we're moving forward to supporting the city, supporting artists, supporting performers and um just making Ann Arbor more functional, beautiful place. So I'm going to just switch it up here and we'll just go into reports from working groups and then we can uh finish up with communications from
062commissioners if there's updates or things that people want to share. So um just going to go through the working groups here. Um CIP is that's are there any updates from the CIP group since last month? Okay, I think that >> No, we're we're done for the year. We're not making any recommendations. Okay. Um communication and outreach. Um Jamal Marionetta, yeah? Do I have that correct? Correct. Sarah, mhm. I don't think there's anything to report like except Jamal, you had talked about the um what's it our Instagram account or Yeah. Um Well, one thing I don't know if uh John, if you still wanted to collaborate John Katarski uh collaborate on some of the conversations we had previous about um some of your public art ideas and posting those to kind of encourage people to think
063about, you know, public art spaces differently. Um so just I'm still open to that. >> Sure, I'm I'm game. I'm I'm posting it on my social media anyway. Just pick up and you know, they'd be sort of pretty easy to put together, so Yeah. Whenever you're whenever it's convenient, Jamal uh give me a shout out and we can connect. Okay. Sounds good. Do you ever do you ever post on Insta- Instagram or is it mostly Facebook? Who, me? Yeah. You Yeah, well I I uh I have my Facebook account just automatically post. So, a lot of the Instagram posts that probably don't make a lot of sense. I don't know. Uh, I don't know Instagram that much. I have posted a bit, but uh, so everything, you know, it's all meta. Everything, you know, you
064you can just have all your Facebook stuff for post to Instagram and all your Instagram stuff post to Facebook. And so, so, so that's the ex I should know this, Jamal, did we did we post the um, Golden Paintbrush Awards winners to our Instagram? No. >> we did, right? No. Oh, let's do it. Cool. Is >> Um, a way that we can help stream things to you? Is there a good How can we help you get content? Cuz I mean, we can't just assume you know what to post at all times. So, You were breaking up a little bit. Say that again. What's the best way for us for the rest of the commission to communicate with you like pertinent things to post? You know, is that through an email or >> Yeah. Yeah, just
065the email. You know, just put Instagram in the subject. I mean, technically we all can post ourselves, which I'm sure is what Jamal would prefer. >> [laughter] >> We can. But no, I'm down. Just yeah, if you send if you send me something, um, I'll get it up there. I don't What What um, Question, if we're using Instagram, why not I don't know if you guys are familiar, but you can collaborate with other people. So, for example, >> I was getting at with John. That's what I was trying to Yeah, was that you can add collaborators. So, anything that John posts, he could throw it to Jamal. Jamal just repost it. Yeah, I mean, it's yeah. >> I I repost Jamal's stuff that I get from emails and, you know, so, I think I posted
066something about the Golden Paintbrush. And uh, >> So, there was a there was a press release that went out um, with an image of each piece. Um, so, if it was like low-hanging fruit, it would be like the image of each piece and a link to the press release. Cool. Yeah. >> Um, can someone send me that press release? Yeah. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Do you have that, Mary or Chris, the press the final one? Mhm. Okay. Yes, I believe it should be it's posted on our Public Art Commission website under 2025 Golden Paintbrush. That's the press release language. Cool. All right, I'm looking it up right now. I posted it and I linked to the city site, I think. I saw it go live a couple random places, so I was excited about that.
067Marynetta, what Please chime in. Oh, so I I like the the idea that, you know, we're putting out there kind of alerts, events, these things are happening. But I I I I think um, that the idea of also that site being somewhere where we can gather information. So, for instance, the the conversation that we just had uh, about the um, sculpture park. Um, it'd be great to be able to hear back from the public about what would you like to see in that in that place, that spot? What activities would you like to have? Um, they mentioned kind of collaborating with Carrie Tan. I think it's a wonderful idea with and and with the galleries around there, wonderful idea to start to build this community that can keep an ongoing kind of thing happening there,
068whether it's concerts or poetry readings or, you know, the free libraries. It'd be great to have a free library thing set up there where people are sitting on benches, they could grab a book and read when they're having their lunch. So, getting getting ideas collecting ideas from the community about um, spaces or activities that they'd like to see. So, thinking about our our communication going out to the public as a way not only to kind of announce what's happening, but also to seek information about what you would like to see happening. I love that idea. I don't know if we have enough followers to get people to comment on it, but maybe if Mary shares it or something. Mhm. Yeah. I can do it. >> Well, Marynetta, I could I could add Mary as a
069collaborator. >> Right. Yeah. Yes. But help me with the content. That's all. Just just help me with what you want posted and let me know and I'll get it up. Something else we might want to think about is using Cynthia Harrison. I mean, she's on the commission, but she needs content, you know, if we could feed her something at each council meeting to just she could be the conduit to the a much broader sort of area. Uh, but uh, you know, you know, we're all citizen volunteers. We we really don't have that much time, you know, uh, so I I don't know who I don't want to do it. I'm saying it's a great idea for someone else to do it, but uh, uh, in any event, along with with what Marynetta said and with
070Jamal and Allison said that we get the word out there and and I like that concept. And don't don't forget Cynthia. Get her in the loop and give her something, you know, particularly pictures. You know, they love they and they can show pictures, you know, Christopher knows how to do that. Just prepare them and feed it in and all she has to do is say, "Well," and every council member gets an opportunity at the end of the meetings to do that. Definitely think if we're not getting enough people though to to to tap into other organizations in southeastern Michigan with the help, right? The more we tag them and they tag us, the larger the customers. Right? It's all about what do you call this? Kind of harmonizing with your peer organizations and kind of
071cross-populates. Anyhow, that way you kind of create more density. I hate people when people tag me without asking. Just so you know, I tend to want to block them. Well, you don't have to personally do it. It can be our organizational Right. hashtag something. Or ask first. Actually, that's a great idea, John. Jordan, uh, the idea of us creating a hashtag that we can reference back. I think I I think it can have a lot of positive impact, especially if it becomes trendy or something such as like hashtag A2 Pack or or something like that so we can get more people to to just simply be aware that we have a Public Art Commission. I think that's the biggest obstacle, getting getting our name out there and getting members of the public cuz I would
072love to get to a point where we have active public comment participants and we have a a channel where we have these influx of of community feedback out there. But if you guys think of any potential partnerships, uh, such as the university or per perhaps a nonprofit, uh, please feel free to email me. Uh, Mary and myself and we can structure a meeting and kind of get those conversations happening. You're here. I want to I want to take off what Christopher said that I know things could be a lot better, but I'm from a time when we had nobody that wanted to be on. Now, you know, we have two new people. We have three people that wanted to speak to us. Uh, I'm just fluttering inside. I think this is just great, you know.
073I'd love to be better, but this is wonderful. It was really good. >> Here's an example. Like I was on the my my company I work for is part of the Design Core meetings. Um, so I mentioned that I was on here and they all seem excited about that. So, again, there's like there are other organizations that we're not plugged into. This is Design Core Detroit. So, I think just finding out maybe we can and I can help you with this, Jamal. Maybe we just make a list of people we need to start to like that with their doing or, you know, tap to their Instagram and that or, you know, then someone will look at us and anyway, it all kind of amplifies itself. If we're not already doing that, I just haven't been
074paying attention too much to exactly what we're cuz I don't do Instagram per se, but I will set up an account to help the effort. No, that that would definitely help. That would definitely help. Or perhaps something like an associate that just tracks all all our partners. I think that would that would also help administratively here in case uh, uh, we have new staff coming in and to kind of support you guys. It it would help a lot to kind of have a list of [clears throat] these are our partners, these are potential future partners and kind of um, get that inventory list going. But yeah, I love that idea. I mean if Avery and Krista are okay with us even and Diana, right? Posting um pictures of the proposal they just gave to us
075and tagging Thistle and Bess and saying, "Hey, would you like to see this?" Mhm. >> You know, dreaming of uh you know, something new in this park um and maybe you know, something like that. Mhm. I mean cuz I love Marianette, what you said about engaging the community. Like what do you want to see? Social media is a perfect way to do that, but I think we have to feed them something and that proposal like let's dream about something. What could be here? Um really fun. >> I like I like that idea. I like those ideas a lot. >> thing is, you know, maybe we don't have to take it on ourselves. So, um Avery and and her partners have just presented something to us. One of our suggestions might be um maybe one of
076the things you could do is start to gather some information from the community and don't forget to give us a shout-out. We can be a venue that people can respond to as well or they can join on add us on to their response. So, that they have an interest in gathering that information and they can share that with us. So, we don't have to necessarily be the ones that are initiating um that action, but every time someone comes to us and wants to talk about a project, we could say, "Oh, and by the way, this is a little action you could do. Please link us with that." Mhm. Or we could come to this meeting during public comment, right? We could say we have these meetings, look on the website, come for public comment. We
077can host this conversation live and it's recorded, right? So, that could be a great way to invite people. Mhm. To network. [clears throat] It's a good idea. Has this commission ever considered a tabling event in uh the art fair or similar projects just to kind of get the word out? I don't know if Allison, is that something that uh we've done in the past? No. No. Not Not since the percent for art. The The last tabling event, the percent for art, the commission would set up at the farmers market with proposals and they would collect feedback from the community and even collect votes. Do you remember that, Kadarsky? Yes. Yes. >> Yeah. So, that was That was after a lot of pushback that they that the percent for art was selecting artists without community feedback.
078So, that was in response to that they started making their presence known. Yeah. If it's an interest to this commission, I can look about what requirements we need to to hold a tabling event in in the farmers market, especially now that the weather's kind of turning. Maybe maybe having a bi-weekly or even monthly tabling event might just get the word out about the the mission of this commission and and some of the goals that you guys are trying to achieve. Um But yeah, just food for thought. Yeah. It is. Mhm. Um special projects would be the final group to maybe update on the Golden Paintbrush. So, the the the press release went out. What else Where else do we Were the judges thanked? Yes, yes they were. Good job. I have good news. Okay. You
079you made you made the awards. You what? Sorry. I have secured clay and a kiln for when we want to do the the uh impressions. I just need dimensions. So, Allison, I'll I'll connect with you probably and Chris later just just so I know. It's only five awards, so I don't think we need more than 50 lb of clay. Uh I think so. Yeah, you'll be fine. I've been trying to notice which manhole covers are on sidewalks so we don't have to get run over by cars. That [laughter] would be That would be great. Um and then it would be fun, you know, maybe to grab some volunteers and do some documentation of the actual process of us doing this and we can we can post that on social media, too. What is the art
080commission doing? I'll video if you go in the street and dodge cars. That's [laughter] what we'll make a video. We go viral then. Yeah. We'll get some city permits to close the streets and and do it. Chris, have we secured a time for city council to to invite the winners and present the awards or are we going to wait till the awards are done, maybe? Yeah, I believe that we se- secured some time in the June meeting. Okay. Uh but I think that's enough time. Yeah, as we get a little closer to the actual date, I'll work with Sarah Higgins, our director of operations, to kind of give you guys a spot in the agenda for city council. Good. Way to go, special projects. Yeah, good work on that. Well, that kind of wraps up
081working groups. Is there anything else to add? Any other thoughts on that? Are you ready for an adjournment? Well, almost. We have very close, everybody. We have commissioner member communications. Um so, this is brief announcements, upcoming events, any items you would like the group to be aware of or the Ann Arbor community. All of our fans out there. Full moon is April 10th. Oh, that's good shout-out. What is it, Sarah? I'm sorry. Uh the full moon. Oh, yep. Festival of Fools. Yep. And then FestiFools is the 11th or 12th or what is that? Yeah? I think so. And um uh Creative Washtenaw um is putting on their party um on April 15th. So, tickets are available for um members and non-members. Um that might be a good venue to go and and have some face
082time. Yeah, that's a great plug, actually. The I really like what the what Creative Washtenaw is doing as Chloe gets more settled into her role. I think they're they're really going to make um make an impact. And so, the art party, they honor um they have like a life they have multiple lifetime achievement awards. They honor artists in the community. Um it's a a great networking event, really fun celebration. So, um maybe Sarah, you could share out the art party info. Um I will definitely try and be there. Um I'll plug for the last time that we're having our artist conference, April 21st through the 23rd, um the business of art. So, here in Ann Arbor. Um more information on the Guild's web website and I'll I'll link it here, too. That's great, Allison. Yeah,
083that looks like an excellent um event and opportunity. Um I personally just want to quickly share my screen here and um honor the late um great Margaret Lee Parker passed away on March 18th. Um aside from being a very active public artist and activist, um I'll share her um her obituary with everybody, but she actually chaired the public art commission and was a huge advocate for uh the percent for art program um amongst other incredible incredible accolades and um um working making art for the people in honor of the people and um just wanted to give her a little shout-out and her family and thank her for her service. Yeah, do share that, Mary. I'd love to read that. I did not was not aware that she had passed. So, thank you. >> I'll share
084it right now with the group. Thank you, Margaret. Well, we we could have an adjournment unless there are any other comments or this is an opportunity also to throw Chris some ideas for the next um agenda. So, any final thoughts? This was a really great meeting, everybody. I I feel like this is how we should conduct, you know, we have a little bit of input from people. Everybody had great comments and feedback. Great to hear everybody's voice tonight. Um I liked having our visitors to come and do the proposal. That kind of I don't know. Excited me about things to come. So, I like to continue doing that. All right. Well, we're open to suggestions. If you hear whispers of people with ideas, hear it. I was Oh, god. Go, Jen. Go ahead. I was
085going to move for adjournment. I'm sorry. Okay. No, we're hanging out. Mhm. >> [clears throat] >> Oh, good. Well, I I'm I'm late for another meeting. So, I'm going to have to leave. >> another meeting? Lame. Yes. Yes. Yes. All right, everybody. I'm a very professional Okay. Um thank you, John. Um is there a second to adjourn tonight's April 1st, April Fools' full moon, pink moon meeting? >> for that. I was waiting for this whole joke. Have a great evening. Yeah. Um special shout out to CTN. Thank you for your time. And Chris, thank you for all the hard work you're doing behind the scenes. We appreciate you. And um with that, good night, everyone. Bye. See you. See you next month. Cheers, [clears throat] everyone.