001e e e so I'll do the roll call um it is November the 6 time is 7:03 p.m. and I will read the roll call for the public art commission meeting for this evening Allison Neil present in N Arbor Jamal Bufford present in my car in an aror welcome maretta Porter hear you pres an arbor thank you Soph G pres in thank you Mary Thief hey everybody I'm present in uh Grass Lake thank you um and I know that Sarah's coming on at some point I did get um notices that both Peggy and John would be out today as well as council member Harrison I can start with the agenda if everybody's okay with that um can I have an approval of the agenda as it is please thank you Allison anybody want a second
002second thank you son I wanted to know if anybody had any additional public comment comments I'm sorry my light just thank you my lights may go off and on so I apologize for that my lighting is automatically here a certain time of the evening so I also have minutes attached for our January or our um our meeting on the I think I R did that on the October the 2nd anybody had had time to look at the um minutes I think it was a pretty short meeting skimmed them they look good to me okay thank you don't have any old business um we may have a few items that we want to talk about um we can certainly add anything if you need to do that um so for new business I have the the
0032024 annual report thing and I've been working on that um I if you've had some time to take a look at it um if you see anything if and you'd like to let us know um there's some changes or adjustments that need to be made um we he we still have time to submit that and have that go out to um our uh main site for folks to take a look at as well yeah I'll um do some track changes and send them your way there's okay definitely a few things I noticed um the other thing is that the title headings from previous reports were intentional because they hit on each of the points that were in the bylaws that were required to include in the annal report okay so um if you'll just revisit
004I think it's section three of the bylaws there's like a b c d those are the things that are have to be included in the annual report which I think are literally the the headings from previous reports just to make sure we touch on each of the things even even if like I think some years one of them was like one of the things you have to comment on is um donating art and so lots of the years we just said nothing was donated this year we do have a piece that was donated or two but so right okay thank you Alison I one of the other ones in there that is maintenance and traditionally I think Bonita you've been able to pull information from the database on that send me those updates Allison and
005I'll add the additional information there and um Fang and I can go back and forth a little bit but um I appreciate um Fang taking up most of this um and doing most of the work here um for your first time um I thought you did a nice job and I know that the schedule was busy for you and the time was a little bit difficult but I certainly appreciate um working with you to get that done thank you you helped me a lot with a lot of significant information to fill out yeah well I wanted to make sure that um I know we had a lot of art going on um this this last year or so um so I appreciate you giving the reminders Allison about the additions because I felt like we
006added a lot of art information and and things that we worked on this year um and I wanted to make sure that we had captured everything so we'll work back on that uh later on next week hi Sophie do you have a question um yeah I think uh it would be nice if there was a place to mention the uh golden prain brush award that we gave last um to embracing our differences and I think that came fell in that year so it' be nice if it had a a little spot in there somewhere okay I'll have to check that because I thought we did that I I'll look I'll check because I was of that because I can't remember how it how the timing worked out and I think June June 23 through July
00724 so I don't know when we did it but it's worth mentioning in the section about promoting public art and that we're going to do it on a biannual basis the the ward itself even if it's not that award okay so we'll be meeting next week to talk about kicking off the next one I think and you could potentially talk about how we started our Instagram although that might have fallen slightly after the year but yeah I can provide a a photo of the hereon underpass if that would be nicer than the yeah yeah design you me to send that right to you uh we could send out to all of us yeah okay yeah I search on the web only you might yeah we we were thinking you might have better photo there are
008updated photos on the treetown murals Instagram but I can also send those to you thank you Mary do we have any updates from many of our committees working groups um only that Allison and Sarah and I from leaders is it leadership or fundraising Allison fundraising we are going to put a meeting in the books to discuss um the granting you know this 5,000 that we have plus a potential match for the 2025 calendar year I was going to say um any content for the Instagram I don't mind updating it like even you know golden paintbrush stuff or what Mary um is offering to add to the annual report so anything like that um just let me know and I can I can add it to our Instagram thank you Jamal it was it was fun
009to see one of the the posters yesterday of banners posters which uh from that at um the school where I voted bber white school welcome Sarah Sarah we're just um we just got done talking about the annual report so if you have anything to add about that feel free and then we're talking about um working groups updates thank you good to see everyone I guess back to the Instagram if there is any like protocol on it like also let me know that like I could I I will run by whatever I post by the group so I'm just not like posting willy-nilly but um if there's some sort of like checks and balances before things get posted let me know that too Jamal I can check with our legal team just to make sure maybe
010they have a stand standard for using those account Instagram accounts so I can certainly reach out and see if they've maybe got a small too or to not do list okay do you think if it's something fairly straightforward and not contentious that Jamal could just go ahead and post and then or do you think you should check each thing no I I don't I don't have an intention of checking each thing if legal has a maybe they have a standard that they'd like all the commissions to follow um so I can certainly um reach out and see if they have something right now that we should be using as we start the Instagram account yeah so I mean the rules would be good to know but I feel like Jamal could probably use his judgment
011generally without having to run it by everyone although it' be nice to know when there was a post if we haven't seen it you know yeah I I trust your judgment Jamal um I'm following it now so I should CST if you do any um I think in general obviously if it's public art in Ann Arbor it's postable if it's public art that's created by an artist who has public art in an arbor I think that's tangentially related I think use your best judgment if it has any sort of relationship to what we're doing it can be posted I would um just caution the um the projects that are with the anabor art center their art and public program that we just give any shoutouts especially to artists if were necessary you know in the
012post as well that we're not just showing art without shouting out the artists for sure yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm I'm always gonna credit for sure yeah but yeah that's that's noted um I appreciate the the trusting of my judgment I noticed you sent out an email on a login does that mean you're looking for collaborators on the social media Jamal or how does that work can you have multiple people also posting and logged in there's the ability to yeah I I shared it with everybody I didn't want to monopolize it other people wanted to post uh I don't mind taking that responsibility uh but anybody on the team they have access if they want to post as well I'd be happy to help if you know doing some posts and if you want like
013a proofreader editor type person before posting be happy to help with that too cool okay thank you i' say that lwh hanging fruit for Content at this point would be um all the work that's in the tour and link to I mean like n linking and Instagram's difficult but having it go back to our tour and promoting that with that tour exists online um okay cool yeah I can start there Foundation point to start from yeah and I got just put the link in the bio and just give everybody the tech the link in a bio that's a great idea and the Tree of Life sculpture because it still is the bicentennial year so that would be some fun content I have some pictures too from the unveiling so yeah can you send those because
014the picture that's in the report right now is uh at it over at the city building which is oh not nearly as nice as where it ended up I have photo and video so I will send those over great do we have any photos of the basketball court finished the parks project I think we has anybody seen that I think posted already don't we isn't that part of the annual report I'm it's the design design yes the design I don't remember which Park it's in anybody remember is it finished is the project finished par and by Centennial yeah okay I know that the art was selected I don't know that it's been done has it been done I would be surprised if it's done now was the deadline it was like 2024 calendar year project
015I'll have to ask I'll have to ask around that that Manny came and did a presentation to the commission was that the one that Manny was working on and and the parks folks I thought they were going to select it right by now but then paint it in the spring 2025 I think we added that to our to the annual report so I believe that that one is finished I think you're correct Vita there was a a redo on the design they extended the design they realized they didn't want faces and so they made all the artists go back to the drawing board so it did delay the project but I I I have a feeling it was still executed well I know Mary you guys have a nice uh flying camera that maybe could
016get good pictures of it flying camera I love that a drone yes that's what I'm looking for Southeast Park what you I can show you a picture of my house with all the Falla colors from 350 feet up I thought it's beautiful yeah it's been renamed by Centennial Park what used to be Southeast Park which is where it should be so if anyone's down that way maybe where's that Park Sophie soueast Park it's um it's in the southeast yeah it's plat it's plat with Elsworth that corner oh Southeast it used to be we called it the Nike Court uhuh back in the day when we played on it cute there sometimes as well but um I'm trying to remember what the cross street is from Ellsworth it might be like um it's not hon River
017uh I can't remember anyway plat perhaps maybe plat it is plat yeah it's Ellsworth and plat yes um I think the roundabout that you guys that you talk about in the annual report is that the one that Mary did also was that finished or it's un under discussion uh Mary did a roundabout already with the elementary school painting that's finished that's finished it's on my street yeah I know we didn't include that one I didn't include that no oh you guys talked about I was wondering is that what school is that one e e Eber whites yeah I was wondering about that whether that was finished one or it's ongoing discussion it was it was done all done on the same weekend as Art Hop okay yeah but the mar has a photo right you
018should have a photo is that the kind of project we include in the report though we probably didn't include it but do we need to I'm just curious if it's a generally in our annual report we don't talk about every public art project that happens however in this one there are several projects that are not related to the CIP that are mentioned um just because we supported them at one point in our meeting um you go either way with the report you could include a bunch of them you could not include them up to you um go on the Instagram page though yeah it could go on the Instagram page for sure I asked about it because the roundabout there is a roundabout talked about in there at some point I'm not crazy I read
019it today and they some of the supporters are Larry and Katherine Nissen and I know those were different people than the Larry and Lucy Nissen or if it's just a typo um so I don't know U Mary you might run to review that area if it is the one that you did I don't know okay I'll look I haven't had a chance to review the report but I I promise I will I was very confused but I I could be totally wrong it could be totally other people and a totally different roundabout that and why well we did have a presentation from Parks about two or three roundabouts in the north part of town if you all remember that's a future project though that's a future okay well then it must be it's probably just
020a typo yeah Rin was the one who was working on the EA white one so she kind of organized that with um with Mary I think well and it was funded through the art and public program because it was Larry and Lucy's donation through the art center yes it say Larry and Kathy neelson which isn't I don't know who Kathy neelson is or whether she funded anything but yeah that's why I was confused so I just if it's just needs to be corrected cool I just wanted to make sure the right person was getting their eyes on it who I'm pretty sure it was Larry and Lucy niss who did the actual funding of that one if everybody could take a look at the report and just go over it again um feel free to
021send both Fang and I um your you can edit add edit right yeah and we can put you into the editors was that report orual yeah for now we should just for yourself and iang it's probably better if we open it up a little bit more it might be more confusing because we won't know what folks are actually updating so if if you guys have anything that you see in there there's a typo the picture is incorrect um or we got the wrong artist let let us know please um can I ask one other question about the report um there was information about the historical markers um which those are the glass ones correct yes there was not information that I saw about a new historical marker just basic background information so was the intent
022to to include information on the one that went over by Community High School or it's we're still having in discussions with that one so it's still possible that there may be some changes and a different design for that one I don't have a lot of information on it but I do know that the group is still very interested in placing one at I guess I just don't understand why it's included in this year's report unless there's something that happened within this year that you're going to note within the report like we took on the ownership of it or there's another one that's been worked on this year or something that relates it to this fiscal calendar I think the information that we have there now is just us taking ownership of it and working with
023the legal team to finalize the transition from the historic commission to the city does it say that because I don't I don't remember reading that I I okay to be fair I read it fast but I don't remember that being included which would be pertinent to why it's in there okay all right thank you yeah but how can is it just like I send you the the annual report and annual plan and then I put it under everyone can be a editor and then you can start work on that so what I'm planning on doing is I'm going to save the word document in Google Drive I will track my changes and then I will share that document with you so then you can see all the changes I'm suggesting and you can take them
024or leave them and that's probably well that'll be more work because you'll have to incorporate the changes that I suggest it's probably better than let us all just edit away at your thing yeah yeah I think I we can share the file within a group and so anyone with the link right and you can ask for the access and then you are able to add it we may just just end up having a very short meeting here any additional updates from Commissioners things happening throughout the city that you want to share I will say I'm um participating in the Elevate DDA art selection of their um the shade structures in the Farmers Market we have a meeting next Wednesday it's the first meeting so I'll keep you guys updated on what I find out that's
025really great I missed the last meeting um and I was curious about that like if the DDA had actually reached out to include the public art Commission on their panels um did anybody attend their public art Think Tank conversation Alison I think you said you went to that at the library so I don't know if the one so the one that I went to that day was it was not public art focused it it was their plan and the four different parts of it and there's one part that talks about vibrancy which is where the public art Falls um but it was like a afterthought kind of it was not a a primary focus of that conversation um and Jamal you were on a panel to uh select these murals that the library is doing
026as part of the bicentennial is that right I saw you as a judge is there correct an update on that project there's like a party coming up right and yeah December I think they're trying to get a whole like everything all the art Focus things done by December by the party um I got commissioned to do a song for the by Centennial as well um so they want all this stuff done by this event in December yeah is there a date we can put on the calendar for that or is that still not that I know but I can I can check and let y'all know okay if it's a public event that could be great we'd love to hear your song [Laughter] yeah speaking of we have a fundraiser this weekend for the guild
027if you guys are interested I can send you the link for tickets we still have some space available it's going to be at Cahoots downtown we'll have drinks and lots of food and entertainment and art activities and it'll be good time a silent auction so let me know if you're interested I'll send you the link no pressure please send send us all the link Allison okay what is it a fundraiser for Alison The Guild where I work that puts on the an art fair and the gotman gallery our annual fundraiser our second one I just want to plant a seed with the public art commission um I worked um alongside the DDA in the city a little bit um around lighting for the underpass project that we did it didn't really work out in our
028favor um and so it has inspired me to take up a initiative with public art that also is paired with proper lighting so I'm not sure if this is anything that we've addressed as a commission before um but it's just something that I may talk to you a little bit more about Venita like how to get that conversation started um really the long and short of it is that the DDA and the city um felt that they by obligation had to reinstall the utility lights that were um underneath the underpass prior to to um the start of our project and when they were installed they're they're just they're lighting the sidewalk but they're also right smack dab in the middle of the art and it has a very big metal piping conduit that goes through
029the art on both sides of the mural and um we really tried to work with the city and the DDA to um to collaborate on something that would not only be a safety feature but something that would light the art and there was no budging um and so I would like to pursue this as a greater conversation that as we do these public art projects that lighting is a consideration and um that we just sort of ease the city into the importance of that and um also start you know maybe if there's um an engineer on staff that we could be working alongside that this is something that we think about very early on in our in our projects um that lighting is a consideration so this is something I'm just kind of wanting to
030get more feedback on from the commission and um I think it's something we can accomplish sopie has a question I was thinking that uh lighting and any other safety features should be discussed with the artist and um done so that the art complement and doesn't suffer from and that the safety features and lighting complement and do not suffer from the art you know so that all of it is done as with the engineering in the art at one go so that everybody's happy and safe thank you Sophie I agree I went to Europe after the those lights were installed and I I was was just I couldn't believe I mean everything in Europe is lit all the all the artwork on all the buildings all the sidewalks all the architecture everything is just this beautiful
031light uh and celebration of of all the art and architecture and I just what I had to deal with with um it just felt so utilitarian and quick and dismissive that um if we are going to be doing these high-profile projects you know in Partnership with the city that we do consider lighting as a major factor and feature in them I do like the idea of talking about it as it relates not only to you know properly lighting the work but safety also because um there has been a couple different instances where artists work has been changed or asked to be changed after the fact for safety reasons I know the over the the metal pieces on the Bridge originally were supposed to be shinier and they had to be not shiny so that lights
032didn't reflect off of them and people didn't get distracted and have accidents um and so and that had an impact on the overall piece and what light reflected off of it and the coloring and I think ultimately how people perceived the project so maybe would I know we have our guidelines about how to do calls for art maybe we need to add that to our guidelines of what we recommend is included in your call for art um so that whoever is putting out that call is considering the safety features that need to be incorporated within the art design but then also have um the artist incorporate their recommendations for how it would be properly lit excellent yeah suggestion yeah I think that's an excellent suggestion too um having said all that we should also bear
033in mind the city's dark sky ordinance so remember um the whole thing may not need to be lit all night but um you know so it doesn't need to light up the whole sky or anything but so that it can be lit in order to enjoy the art but not necessarily at 3:00 a.m. or whatever yeah weren't there um like little round lights that were in the sidewalk underneath the overpass previously that Lit yes those were on um every single underpass except for hon and they were installed by the DDA in 2002 or three it was under Susan P she saw the work that we were doing under the underpasses and I think they also needed to do some lighting but they were up lights Alison and that is in uh like what Sophie was
034talking about um with the new ordinance we can't actually light artwork from the ground ground up it has to be down um because of this dark sky and um so on and so forth so the on Washington Street those lights that you mentioned were uh blown out and there were big holes in the concrete and um I was down at the Washington underpass uh last weekend we had a group of 20 volunteers we cleaned the underpass we restored the Matt Nisbet mural on the north side of the street and uh we cleaned and prepared the opposite side for a mural that will be done by Asha Jordan um she's going to start work on that right away she has permission from the railroad and um right now the city has piles of asphalt where the
035where those lights were and to I've taken pictures I've I've I've heard comments from people walking by not only is it unsafe but it's a complete isore so I'm not sure what's happening right there with the lighting um but they now have asphalt piles you can walk under that um covering the lights but we did a major volunteer cleanup up down there at Washington Street and we had so many people Thanking us so many um so just so we know you know these spaces may not be managed by the city they're owned by the railroad but in collaboration with the DDA and the City they have to be lit safely um but nobody's really policing or paying attention to these spaces and just so you all know go give Washington a look at it looks
036amazing you know it's like right by the Blind Pig and um um I think destination an arbor has their offices right there Duo the YMCA I mean it's traversed by so many people that live on the old west side children I've seen wheelchairs uh bikes so there needs to be an effort from the city the DDA and wco the railroad to make these baces safer and light the art sure light the sidewalks great can this be listed into our next year annual plan Mary your suggestions about this ligh about lighting or just the the railroad spaces or yeah all of these M you think we should put into 2024 to 25 five annual plan I think so I mean there especially since the Main Street underpass um we now have $75,000 raised towards a $150,000
037budget to do what we did at hereon to Main Street um I think that those those spaces are being talked about more um a lot of people ask me um you know is Washington going to get restored like hon is Katherine going to get restored like hon so there's a lot of interest and excitement um since that project on here on and so sure I think it's um it's not just my interest but I do think the community is interested in seeing those spaces beautified and and well lit and maintained so I will in the meantime share with you me and uh Venita both worked on the annual plan and new report so you guys can you know edit or you know improve on the you know the project which you have in mind or
038you have realized well so I know it gets confusing but there's the annual Plan and there's an annual report which what we looked at for this meeting was your report which did for the annual plan which I haven't seen yeah it was all in the big voters remember Al you shared with me the annual report and annual and those two folders it's all in the folders okay but right now we've only reviewed the you yeah I only yeah because yeah we thought maybe we just concentrate on the report yeah okay there is yeah Sophie question um yeah I did actually because uh I know the the mural that Asha is Asha Jordan is going to be doing I'm not sure what the funding situation is she was hoping for some donations um at Jordan Nick
039art.com but uh I don't know whether Mary might know more about how the funding for that works she crowdfunding it's a a total Grassroots initiative on her part um and she has a link in her Instagram bio I think she just raised enough money to buy all the materials good yeah so anyway Jordan Nick art nk.com is where she's doing her fundraiser for that mural so Mary Mike can I ask you a question is the recommendation that as projects come forward if lighting is an issue or could potentially be an issue is that something that they should be including in their proposal and are you then asking for someone on staff perhaps someone within engineering to work with them on the lighting um as a present things like that to the commission I'm not sure
040who would pay for that I'm not sure if the artist would be contributing a portion of that we um and it may also depend on where the the um art work is um but we shouldn't have a problem getting somebody on engineering team to be maybe be our art Advocate um for things like this um maybe we have a couple handful of people who can assist with stuff like that ahead of time so that we don't get to the end of a project and have something like this happen again um again we're talking really about a safety issue so between City requirements and what the railroad may also require I'm kind of confused why there's safety is not primary especially in that area it's pretty dark there and if there's nothing there I I haven't
041gone that way in a long time especially in the evening so I am concerned about that and and I certainly have a couple of folks on engineering who might be able to help provide some updates for us yeah that's um I think that um like Allison said future projects you know that lighting is a consideration from inception um whether it involves uh the city engineering team or not or extra finances I'm I'm sure that's a projectto project thing that we can determine the all of the sidewalks underneath the underpasses are presently lit they are lit with box lighting there is an electrical conduit that comes straight up from underneath the conrete and it runs the um straight up to a light box that then shines down on the sidewalk and that's you can drive underneath
042the here and underpass and see how they put it up there it looks like they tried to it's a little cute um looks like they tried to not go directly through like a major compositional element but um it's it's it's pretty Raw it's um uh so right now the safety the um asphalt might be a concern but that could also be temporary because I remember when they were patching a hole on Heron while we were working they filled it with asphalt first and then about two weeks later they came with concrete so maybe they plan to fill that and that was just a temporary um way to to kind of um Band-Aid it Band-Aid yeah so I have pictures I can send you Vita and I also have the contacts of the lighting people with
043the city because I did have to work with them a little bit this summer I think so we had that one project that was the tunnel that we never actually got art into and like a project like that obviously is going to have lights at some point underneath it and so I think when we were originally proposing art going down there the art could have been lighting or it could have been art on the walls and then it would have been lit and at some point in the had that project come to fruition during the design process it would be it would behoove everyone to have a conversation about how to best light the space based on the design of the art as well as safety and see if there's any middle ground and if
044there isn't then potentially the artist could work with whatever they're slated to work with at that point and adjust as opposed to the artworks done and now the lights up afterwards and it's slapped on top of it maybe we add that to our um public art proposal form maybe we revamp the form to include that yeah um Cyrus nahidi is that the transportation engineer and Mark Morano were the two contacts with the city of Anita that I had to go through in order when I was trying to negotiate better lighting that those are the two people I spoke with thank you Mary and if it helps you in the future um when you working with folks and you run into things like that if so that you don't have to run through the entire city
045to find out who you need to talk to or how quickly you need to get to somebody um if you give me a call I can help you navigate a little quicker through the city if that's helpful I know you know a lot of people but if there's any kind of way that I can help get you in contact with folks a little bit quicker um let me know I'd be glad to help Bita you are my my point person when it comes to that and I do appreciate that so much the DDA had roped these two people and that's how they they got involved so but yeah you you are my my you're my point person for navigating the city the city people yeah I appreciate that I'm always I'm happy to help um
046so maybe that's just a reach out to the DDA um from a city DDA perspective as a relationship so I I'll touch base with um Amber to just as a gentle reminder and raise my hand that we're also here to help because as we start to collaborate with them on some other things and as they start to do their own projects we're going to run into this again and we need to know yes how to handle it yeah exactly yeah Amber was the she was the M my main contact with the DDA when we were doing that yeah I mean I can see this coming up they were talking about doing murals on the walls of um Liberty Plaza that's an exact place where I would think need more lighting they probably want the walls
047lit good that's a project that I could see that coming up again anybody else have anything to contribute marionetta no thank you no I'm good okay thank you Sarah you okay I am and I actually I do have something I do have a potential donation uh to the city some small tile murals that I was going to um talk to you about so uh some some nice designs I'll send some pictures over and let you know more about that appreciate that thank you s of course I got an idea from since you I already have something up here going that we can chat about I love it so just so I'm oh Mary can I grab Sophie real quick I'm I'm sorry Sophie oh yeah I just wanted to invite everyone to a a small
048a very small I think a seven Artist At Art Fair on the 16th of November at the lower toown bar and grill which is next to the um uh Norths Side Grill uh bar and cafe sorry North lowertown bar and cafe next to Northside grill and we're having a little art fair there in the afternoon on the 16th thank you sopie and the Lower Town Art Collective has organized that did you Sophie could you send send out the information about time and everything to the group thank you I've been wanting to check out that bar so it's a perfect opportunity it's it's a really pretty nice design Place yeah and I bought my pumpkin there and that was very good by pumpkin but there you go um Pete Baker one of the owners of lower
049toown is actually the first guest on Creative mornings that's where I was going to be tonight um the he over at Cahoots they're starting a conversation with artists um once a month called creative morning popup I think it's a I think there's factions all over the globe actually that do this um and Pete Baker from lowertown bar was the presenter tonight can you um send us all information about that meeting I will yeah I was gonna I was gonna go too that's that's why I'm in my car right oh you are late buddy I think it started at six right I know yeah oh Jamal we were both going to go I think meeting so I don't feel so aranged you said December 6th are we meeting monthly now I thought we were B monthly
050I was confused yeah we're B monly did you guys meet in October while I was traveling yeah I think we do it more now now because of the report we're supposed to be approving yeah I see okay that makes sense okay we're just about 7 54 nobody has anything additional I'd like to adjourn the October we're in November now dar the November 6 and our public art Commission meeting can I have a quick chat with you right after this meeting Vanita sure bye everybody bye everybody good to see you all take care bye take care have a good night see you later bye