- All right, so the meeting will now come to order. Recording in progress. The meeting will now come to
- order. First, let's do a roll call. So Nadeb Dharahim, chair, present. Rebecca Keough, present. Gerard
- Penacook, present. Paige Sharp, city staff. Rob Shakespeare, present. Gretchen Nall, present. Christina
- Elam, city staff, present.
- Okay, thank you everyone. So the next thing on our agenda is the approval of minutes from the last meeting.
- So the secretary's draft of the minutes of the June meeting were sent to everyone and a copy is in the
- meeting packet. Are there any corrections to the minutes as distributed? Okay, there are no corrections.
- I move to approve the minutes as distributed. Can I get a second? Second. Great. All in favor say yes.
- Yes. Those opposed say no.
- I don't like doing the eyes. I've made the executive decision we're going to do yes now. Okay, thank
- you everyone. Minutes are approved. Do we take a vote on that? Eyes sounds very pirate-y, so. It's very
- like old school. I don't know. It didn't fit the vibe. Alright, so next we will go, you're good. Next
- we will go over to the city staff for updates.
- I just realized you want to do the funds first and then the budget. Oh, the budget. OK. I'll just blow
- this up. We can't make that a notch bigger, can we? Yay. You're so clever. So on this budget, you can
- see that there's actually been expended the $76,000 for arts project support. Under other funds, it
- says emerging artist professional development.
- In the past, that line item has been at $5,000. But we recently found out that that $5,000 was attached
- to funding that no longer exists. So what the good news is, because I was like, well, I don't report
- that without good news. We did find that there was professional development dollars already encumbered
- from another year. And so we've resurrected that and put it here for $2,750.
- with what's the name of the individual, Christina? Andrea Sterling.
- Yeah, so one of the things that she does that I'm really looking forward to in terms of artist professional
- development is artists collaborating with one another because that's a really strong area for artists
- and I think some practices on how to do that effectively, it's always oriented. So we're also meeting
- with her in the future to have discussion about what other potential workshops to offer and those will
- happen this fall and Christina will be coordinating those.
- And that's it for the budget report. That sounds cool. Yeah. Hey, Austin. Oh, yeah. Oh, sorry about
- that. You're good. You're good. OK. The next thing was public art in the right of way.
- So one of the things that was launched right at the transition and departure of Holly and Chaz is the
- public art and the right-of-way policy. And so it used to be merged with public works, where if you
- wanted to do something in right-of-way, you would go through them only. But because the questions are
- different naturally, not with a special event versus art, they separated the two. And so one is that it's
- been launched. And so we do have a public art in the right of way policy, which is great. And here it
- is. And so it kind of goes into like different definitions of public art. And then also a little bit
- about the process and applications and things people will need if they want to propose a public art
- project in the right of way.
- So this is it. This is our first iteration. We'll be kind of editing and kind of doing different versions,
- but just wanted to let you guys know that this has been launched and in place. A lot of it right now
- was also kind of coming out of the Black Lives Matter mural debacle that happened. So that's another
- reason why this was kind of needed. So yeah.
- We have that. And then we also have the application for that, which is through Civic Access. We won't
- be able to see it now, but I will just show you. Hey, it's on the Civic Access portal. So this is just
- what the public goes to. So they go to apply. And then you have to go all and then just scroll down
- to art in the right of way. So it's Civic Access portal, not Arts Commission portal. Correct.
- And so they'll just fill out the application there. And it gives you instructions on what we expect
- before they actually put in their information. And then that'll get routed to Page and I. And then we'll
- just go through it. So that launched. And we just wanted to let you know that that's live. Two questions.
- Yes. Because they're called through legal? Yes. Because they always must. Oh, sorry. They always add things.
- And secondly, how is that funded? I'm not sure how to answer that question. It's not funded. Yeah, it's
- not funded. Just like if you want to do something with a group on your own. Oh, it's that sort of thing.
- It's not like painting electric boxes. It's just like if you want to do anything, you need a permit
- to do it. So this is the permitting process for art permit.
- Yeah. So this would be on someone's personal property, like business or home? Or is that the only context
- that this happens in, I'm assuming? Any right of way. So right of way is just basically public property.
- So sidewalks, alleyways, streets, those types of things that they want. So it would be for traffic boxes.
- But they would just need a permit in order to do it.
- It's those type of things. So they wouldn't necessarily be approved to be able to make that piece of
- art, is what I'm... I guess I'm wondering what's the... Okay, they apply for a permit and they just
- create art, but what if it's not good art? Yeah, that's my question. Yeah, so that's where we'll go
- through... Okay, yeah. Go through us. Yeah. That's a great question. That's where we'll go through us,
- and because we'll be able to see the back end of what they're proposing. And then that's also kind of
- goes into like the public art subcommittee where we want to kind of have a greater discussion of how
- we want to include the subcommittee as well into that process or how that will even look. And so yeah,
- so that's kind of how it's going to work. So that way we have some type of process on what actually
- kind of goes through. Okay, so not every single application is going to be able to do their
- project like they want, right? It has to be approved by the city. Correct. Okay. Yeah, right now it
- has to be approved by the Department of Public Works. And so Christina has gone through this process
- because we're both very new and we're like, oh, there's a policy, which is great. I'm glad there's a
- policy because that's the only one I've found so far. But they will make a final decision about the
- artwork, but it does make sense, maybe not for everyone, but some of them to go between
- before the Public Art Committee where it's unclear.
- And so we're getting our heads wrapped around the policy and how it's actually implemented and how it's
- meaningful. So we just got an application from Lotus about all things that they're wanting to do in
- one application, which we're like, wait a minute, what? So we're going to have a meeting with them and
- they may have to resubmit. And so we're still getting our heads wrapped around the process. But the
- city is definitely wants to make the decision about it. We're also learned that
- if the artwork changed from what they put in the design that was approved by the city, then the city
- will take it down. So some pieces, like for example, could be in the right of way, like obviously the
- traffic box is going to be there for a while. So they take that role pretty seriously. So that's another
- sort of interesting intersect to think about too. So when we think about public art, you know, it's
- going to be,
- We're gonna be talking a lot down the road. We'll tee out that conversation in the public art committee
- next week about policies and processes. So, you know, selection criteria and really sort of think through
- all of those elements. Thank you. I mean, it's good to know this exists. I didn't know about it, so.
- We didn't either, but so now you do. So, is this gonna pertain to the students that, you know, they're
- constantly
- drawing and painting all over the sidewalks for like their fraternities sororities and all that. Yeah,
- I think the other element is, is how is this getting communicated out to the broad community right so
- we'll have to work with.
- the Department of Public Works to understand that as well and how we can get that information out. We
- just got our heads wrapped around the policy because Christina had to go through it. You have to do
- a resolution and a cover memo and all sort of madness because it's sitting in a lot of red tape. Is
- there a fee for it? No. It's free. That's nice.
- about the questions about the students, because they're usually drawing on the sidewalk on campus. Are
- those different rules? Yeah, but like third street, that's a city street. I guess it's true. So in some
- cases, they need to... Public property. If it's public property, then it's the right of way. So like
- the sidewalks or the streets. Is there going to be a fine if you do it without getting a permit? I have
- no idea. We need to meet with them and just
- do a lot more recon than we have, because we also know that one little policy and not sharing what the
- application is and the steps and the timeline is of no benefit to the community either. There's a lot
- of information that still needs to be shared. We're trying to figure out what those steps are. But that's
- a great question, because we were wondering that as well. What's the consequence of violations and things
- like that? I think also, too, what is the public
- versus what is private, like IU Street or whatever. I think that is, I assume a student might not be
- thinking about that, or I think we have to at least be able to point to, this is how you can figure
- that out, or this is who you asked before. What if there's a map or something, straightforward? I don't
- know if that's possible. Maybe that can be IU's job to communicate that to their students, and not us,
- whoever's in charge of that.
- Yeah, but it's like, obviously, administration from IU or whoever kind of deals with those things, hopefully
- they're in communication with the city and that this is an ongoing conversation. I feel like it's not
- always the students' fault, right? Because I don't think that, you know, I feel like definitely people,
- administrators don't always think about the students. Right, right. Even though they say that's what
- they're doing. It's so bad for a kid to draw on the sidewalk. Especially with chalk. Yeah, for sure,
- which is not permanent. So would this include
- Eagleton? I don't know. Yeah, that's a city street. And there's that bridge that gets painted frequently.
- All the time. Between theater and drama and the school of music. Great joint. Great point. What is the
- bridge? There's a bridge that gets painted. Yeah. It's a bridge by the animals. The paint from previous
- paintings is about two and a half inches thick.
- They do it like every semester. That's great. Something like that. At least. Or a couple of times a
- semester probably. It pretty much stays to the bridge. Occasionally it spills out. Yeah, I don't know.
- But there's quite a bit of places. It'd be great if there was a map. Yeah.
- I don't know, I think it's just great to have to point out for students, of course, just in case. And
- what the exemptions are. I mean, a four-year-old is drawing on the sidewalk in front of their house
- with some chalk. They're going to get busted. I wonder, too, if it'll be like if just somebody
- puts in a complaint. Because I can't imagine the city workers walking around in the entire street. They're
- not going to know. They're not going to know. So I imagine it would be someone sees an art they don't
- like, or somebody doing something they don't like, and they know about this policy, and they complain
- to the city. I don't know. So we'll see. Great questions, though. I took some notes, because there's
- just some of the stuff I hadn't thought about, and IU communicating that out. Where's the line?
- between the city and... Usually it's chalk and it comes off pretty fast. But tagging stuff, you know?
- Like spray can. You youngsters can read that. No doubt, it's like...
- Well, it's just like temporary art, permanent art, semi-permanent art, and street art, performative,
- and speech. So, but yeah, we could always, you know, add. Can you point that towards the Public Art
- Committee? Just send us a link or something, it makes it easy to match on. Yes, yes. I think you're
- right, it would be more like complaint oriented, if somebody does something offensive.
- that somebody else finds offensive without the other blank. I think that's when it becomes sort of tricky.
- Just something to keep in mind. Yeah, which I think that's where the Department of Public Works wants
- to weigh in on it. And I think it also has to go through legal first, right? Yeah. So that's where it
- starts to dilute the work a little bit. And I think it's clearly intentional design.
- Thanks for sharing anyway. You can see us. All right. Anymore updates from the city before we move on
- to the next item on the agenda? Okay, great. Thank you.
- So I see the next item on our agenda is a presentation, assessing and communicating impact. Yeah, a
- presentation, I shouldn't have used that word. It's a bit of a misnomer. It's more like gathering feedback
- from you guys under the topic of communicating and storytelling. So when I started consulting for the
- city, it was evident that there's no share out about anything beyond like a press release.
- And so the impact of the work that you're doing, the impact of any of the arts department, city,
- public funds, anything is being communicated. And use the word storytelling because I think it's more
- than just a number, right? It's like we funded 47 grants to the tune of $76,000 or over the course of
- the year, that total amount, the number.
- As a result, we put money into the pockets of artists and they were able to advance their creative career.
- Here's how in sharing some of those stories. But rather than, you know, me dictating what we're going
- to be sharing out, you guys are a really astute group and I wanted to get input from you all from some
- framing. So for example,
- One of the things to think about is if you had a skeptical community member about why the arts are important,
- what kind of information would you want to share with them? So that's one of the questions. And then
- we kind of step back and go, what are we collecting in order to be able to share that out? So let's
- first truly ask that question. If you're really looking to advocate to someone
- about the importance of arts and how the BAC has a role with that, what kind of information would you
- want to share? Well, every year there has been a presentation where this group has been part of it to
- the council about, around budget time. Okay. And there was, I believe, a collection of slides and a
- narrative that went with it that advocates for the importance of arts.
- to whoever happens to be on the council at that time. So there's a starting place, maybe. That's good
- to know. No idea about that. You're going to have to give that. Do what? I'm going to have to give that.
- That's a good thing. I'm thinking about it. No problem. I could totally talk in front of hundreds of
- people. As a business owner downtown, I would say
- To any naysayers, if you look at successful towns, cities, in whatever size, the more and the better
- quality of public art, the better the economic situation is. So I think public art is directly related
- to economic success. So you could probably pull that.
- There's data that's probably can be pulled from that too. Yep. From just knowing what I know in some
- of my classes that I've been into. Yeah. I would agree. Yeah, not all public art is installed for economic
- purposes. No. However. Yeah. I mean, if there were naysayers, that's what I would say. Right. Like,
- it's beneficial in many different ways. Or the arts. Or the arts economically. Arts and culture in general
- is beneficial for the vitality of the
- community and economic basis, you can pull in the economics of arts and culture into that. So has the
- city come up with its statement yet as to who we are? They were working on it last year, there were
- consultants working on it. There was a consultant working on it? Really? I mean the core of this is
- that we all know that the arts culture
- cultural expressions are a powerful part of Bloomington and I would hope that whatever has been woven
- from this consulting group would support that. So my document itself might be a useful thing. But none
- of us have seen the work.
- My understanding was that it was taking place through 2025. I don't know the exact timeline, but I remember
- at one point they were, like, whenever the consultants were coming in, they wanted to bring them to
- a grand balloon and whatnot. This was last year, so I don't remember. It's from Indianapolis, right?
- But I don't know when, what the exact timeline was. Good to know. Yeah, right, yeah. Good to know.
- I think Holly has suggested that it would be very useful when the statement comes out rather than us
- trying to invent it every time we do a call that we could point a public art call also to this document
- that speaks about the values of Bloomington. It wasn't like an in-depth conversation at any of the meetings
- just like maybe one
- Okay. I can't remember the name of the firm. We can probably find it. Costs us money. Yeah. God. Okay.
- Yeah. All right. Something around 2025 around a consultant around branding the BAC. That's good to know.
- I mean, maybe storytelling has been happening and I'm not aware of it. And I'm just like thinking,
- oh my God, we need to do some storytelling. But you guys have done it at all.
- or beside, I mean, there's one, city council. What else? On the website, any, in a report?
- I wonder if like, we've ever made like some sort of like pamphlet or like online on the city's website,
- like people, like highlighting projects that were like successful or like, you know, with photos and
- like potentially, I don't know, like there'd have to be somebody attending the event, potentially if
- it's like a projects grant or,
- Or depending on the grant, if it's for the advancements grant, interviewing an artist one year later,
- what did you get from this? And what were you able to create? And being able to show that some way visually,
- probably, that we could at least point to and say, yeah, these are some examples. Because I don't think
- we could highlight every single artist. Though I know they're supposed to write a report. They're supposed
- to write a report as well. So that could be a way in which we recruit people potentially for this.
- highlight. Either online, virtually, just a virtual kind of way to look at it, or if you wanted to make
- something physical, or a combination of both. What are your thoughts on, because this is something I've
- been thinking about too, is creating like a structure, timelines, so it's consistent, like a weekly
- or monthly share out on social media. I was thinking along the same lines with a grantee,
- And Lucas, from the mayor's office, just the first day I got here, volunteered to do some sort of media
- on social media for us. I was like, great, somebody will do it for free? Awesome. So he could potentially
- interview a grantee. Is that something you guys would be interested in? That sounds good. I think the
- more presents, the better, honestly. OK, more presents, the better. My daughter got her degree from
- the media school here.
- you want to get intense about it, like certain times of the day you're supposed to post for the greatest
- exposure, your interns will find that really quick. Certain days, certain times, you can definitely
- track it through Instagram. I have to track a lot of this stuff for what I do for my current job. So
- if you're on Instagram, you can see analytics. You can see peaks and downflows of when people that you
- follow or people that you don't follow are peaking during the day. So for instance, we had our students
- tend to drop off at a certain time, obviously, but we can see our high-peaked time when we're posting
- things. Yeah. Like three times a day. Oh, that's nice. So from just knowing from my marketing classes
- that they've taken within arts, culture, spaces, the more you feed a machine, technically, and the more
- you feed a content machine being something online, the more engagement you'll have just in any community.
- It's hard because if you're obviously a small team, but tiny team, it's hard to make
- happen but obviously but I think it's more so just to like have things that we can point to yeah and
- like ways that people can find like those stories of
- success stories, right? People getting these grants and like, okay, we're not just giving this money
- out into the ether, right? We throw it out, we like send it out and it never comes back. I think it's
- just more so like having those like examples. Yeah. Yeah. And the bigger the presence, the better for
- like first Friday or anything to do with ours. Right. That might be, that might be a good thing. I don't
- know if you guys do this or have done in the past, but like,
- if there's an artist who's gotten a grant from us in the past or something, I don't know if this is
- too much of an ask, but highlighting that, like, oh, they'll be at these first Friday events, or they're
- showing here. I don't know if that's, like, too much, but if you guys find the capacity for that, could
- be some way to take it. It's great to collect these testimonials. But there needs to be, I think, this
- overarching thing, this branding thing, this who is Bloomington and how these things fit into it.
- And I know Paul and I were wrestling with some verbage for the forthcoming call for the Gateway art
- piece. And then going back to the one that Raysik got, one and other things, there is some text in there
- that tries to differentiate Bloomington from other places in Indiana. And so if you've got that sort of
- importance of culture, and now you've got these testimonials that are the grassroots of why it's important
- to culture, I think. I love that, and I feel like that's important in terms of retaining population.
- So if you have a post, I mean, here's the assumption, we can test that assumption, right? It's like,
- if the artist, the local artist, and we have a post, and it's like, bloom here, it just psychologically
- attaches a little bit more, and that's part of the
- issues that we're seeing is there's a demographic area that is being lost in Bloomington that we're
- really wanting to retain. So that would be really great. I like that a lot. Austin, do you do that for
- secretly? Is that one of your jobs or not? Do you do any social media? No, that one's usually, I think
- Angela does, but kind of like what you were saying about peak time, things like that. For the most part,
- everyone's pretty aware of that.
- Any way that I can help with social media, sure. I mean, I'm pretty rich and heavy. Did you just say
- you'd be willing to help? Just checking. That's funny. Most old people can't do that. I mean, the younger
- demographic. Well, I mean, I just... I'm just concerned myself. It's not that I can't focus on life.
- I don't want to. Do you actually get that flip phone so social media... Oh my God, good for you.
- I'm on my way out. That's the statement right there. I love that, yeah. I mean, I try not to engage
- with it because I just don't want to get sucked into it. I don't know if it's a matter, you know. Okay,
- so great. Is there any, because we are collecting information in the final grant reports. Information
- has not historically been collected.
- The grants team has been great and we've had conversation about collecting information, you know, number
- of folks that have attended because those stats matter. At some point, I think it would be really helpful
- to get like leverage funds of anything that was contributed other than by the city because that amplifies
- the investment. So I think we're going to work on like a social media share out and I'll,
- devise a plan or maybe even, I mean, ideally I was hoping to get like a master's student at IU to do
- that, because I just think that's a really great project for a student to do. And I'd love to have it
- done sooner than later, because I feel like it's really valuable to start getting that out the door.
- But I think at the very least, if you're OK with it, I'd love to start finding a system to contacting
- grantees and start helping promote them
- And at whatever time of day is the best time to do it. I'm sure Lucas knows. And luckily, then they
- can share that out. And I think it'll just help them promote themselves as well, which is of value.
- Well, great. This has been helpful. I just want to make sure I'm not missing something. I have a few
- quick. I mean, we've talked a lot about the impact of granting. But I think it's also important to articulate
- the importance
- the public art work that we do as well, the support there. I think a lot, I guess, about the many different
- ways that the funding has impacts. I guess I used to call it diversity of impact. There's economic benefits.
- there's just recreation and entertainment, there's a sense of community, health. And it just finds its
- way to, we're not just funding visual art, it's like we're funding all different types of audiences
- from really niche experimental stuff to more traditional stuff like family in the park type
- stuff, neighborhoods, venues, it's just like,
- Yeah, there's just such a breadth of places where those public funds go. And there's that direct impact,
- but then also that indirect impact as well. It's huge. And so I think articulating that really expanded
- impact is great. Yeah, art's very cool.
- impacting non-arts and also the diversity of arts disciplines and the type and depth and breadth of
- projects. Love that. That's great. As always. Which is also really helpful in terms of capturing information
- in a final grant report that's easy to capture, like a drop-down menu so that I can collate that data.
- That's how I have to think about this stuff, which is annoying but true. What else? Thinking along public
- art, what are some of the things that could help demonstrate impact or share a little bit of storytelling
- or something maybe we should be collecting to help share the story of public art in Bloomington? I think
- images are going to be the best, always.
- And it's easy enough to use anything to have a picture of, say, a park that has a piece of public art,
- and then this is what it would look like without it. It's like, look how important this is right here.
- Yeah. Yeah. I like that a lot. I think it would be interesting to hear perspectives from younger people.
- Like, I'm really curious what kids think about public art, what the students think about the city that
- they're living in, even if it's temporary. I feel like there's something interesting about there. They
- probably wouldn't be lying to us, and I'd be curious to hear what they think about their community that
- they're sort of... Transient. Yeah. Either as students or even like children, you don't get to choose
- where you're living. So I think it's just interesting to see that kind of perspective, because we hear
- from adults a lot. Yeah.
- And kids are natural born artists, and they just are. And they'll be a completely great story. Oh, yeah.
- I'm so on it. I think it sounds like a fun video or something. They're asking them, what do you think
- of this mural? I love that. I think it would be super cute. That would be super cute. Totally. I think
- Lucas would be all over that. Lucas has no idea what's in store for him, apparently. Oh, my god. Great ideas.
- I know for the, speaking of videos, I know that for the Duke murals, Caleb was one of the artists and
- he created... Caleb Fork? Mm-hmm. He created a video of just like his experience doing the Duke mural,
- especially that was his like first like large-scale mural. And so he talked about his process and experience
- with the city and just like working with other artists and the design process. And it was really interesting.
- It was really good. Yeah.
- He does social media for Parks and Rec Department. Oh yeah, I met him. Yeah, yeah. I was kind of bummed
- he would work for the city because I thought he'd be great on the commission, truthfully. So I was like,
- I don't think it's that bad. He's super involved. That's awesome. He also does really well, I think,
- social media. Yeah, social media is nice. He does the best. The parks do. I mean, in terms of engagement,
- a video does the best compared to a photo. Yeah.
- So it could be a good thing. A lot of artists are already documenting their process. So we can get that
- somehow compiled. Even if there was a way, I was just kind of thinking, too, to have a link. Is there
- already a link to a social media on the website? Probably. Most likely.
- Just double checking that, too, for consistency. Making sure that the social media is connected to our
- Arts Commission website and all this stuff. I don't know. It's all about storytellings. I'm still trying
- to figure out the login and password for Facebook, for the Bloomington Arts Commission. I mean, I asked
- Bethany. I can't find anything. So yes, totally agree. So yeah. Once we figure that out. Maybe even
- links to also testimonials.
- I don't know, just to keep promoting all this, too. Not just that we have our agenda and stuff like
- that on when we meet, but just who we are, what we're about on the website. I don't know. Yeah, just
- promoting it. Can you guys hear me? Yeah. The screen's completely black for me, and I don't know what's
- happening. My phone would be the best search for me. We can hear you. OK. You're not just the...
- at work.
- in the store and then they also get the record store. They give them some recognition. So what I'm thinking
- in this case is perhaps, you know, maybe a newer commission member or whoever might be somebody that
- would be like a mascot of sorts to kind of be the public facing aspect. You know, like, you know, if
- we're in the back and the shadows do and stuff. And here's what came out today
- I love that, that's fantastic. You guys are such a sharp group, really. We're gonna go find that unicorn
- and we're gonna get him out there, we're gonna get him on the team. But I think, you know, I know exactly
- what you're saying.
- I know exactly the prototype of human that you're talking about. I think we may have an applicant, so
- I'll look that up. But if not, I think it would be a great student opportunity, too, right? Totally.
- Yeah, that'd be so cool. It'd be great for them on their resume to be the BAC arts mascot.
- How cool is that? President of the Social Outreach Committee. Sounds good on us.
- I love that they have all these social elements. I love that so much. Interns love a good title. Yeah.
- They have to use them on their resumes. I was spitballing stuff with our intern, Drew. I was like, oh,
- if you did this, you could say this. And he was like, ooh. I said, that stuff matters. All right. Anything
- else, public art-wise and specifically? Well, you had mentioned
- of matching funds, or leverage funds, right? Every time I've brought this up, since I've joined the
- committee, the person in your role and others have just laughed at me. But, just a sec, when I bring
- this issue up. So, the city has 1% for the arts. Developers don't. And I really think that it should
- be pressed
- that and let's put some idea out there. If you're putting something in Bloomington over 20, 30 million,
- that there's a consequence of supporting something in that environment that has aesthetic appeal. Maybe
- it starts with a half percent for the arts, but just to get the wedge in the door and to come up with
- some threshold for it so that they're matching the spirit of what the city is doing. I have a great
- case making for that.
- If Rushville, Indiana can do it, so can Burmese, because that's true. Rushville does. So it's legal.
- Yeah, it's codified. Yeah. You create some benchmark. Oh, totally. I've got the policy. I've armed with
- that policy. I'd love to see it, because I've been at this for a long time. Yeah, and I'm just like,
- here, here, here. If Rushville can do it, you can do it. Yeah. Because, my god, seriously, Rushville.
- Yeah. I mean, I'm down.
- I think we would have to take some time to build political collateral to get to that point, but it was
- initially adopted in 1994, which of course is what, 32 years ago. So I think it's ready for some spit
- and shine for sure. I think that's a good longitudinal goal to focus on.
- because I would love to have more funding in that kitty for sure, because I think there's some really
- fun stuff that the community could do, large scale. That would be community wide rather than just like
- a little dip here and a little bit there. Other thoughts while we're like changing the universe? We're
- just changing the earth, yeah. I was thinking, along with the incremental like, okay, these are the
- things that we're doing.
- kind of along the lines of like the presentation, that yearly presentation that happens at the end of
- the year. If there's just like a year-end review or something that can be posted on the website of like,
- these are all things that we accomplished this year, I think that would be helpful. So then they could
- always see every year what we've done in the past or this year and things like that. How would you see
- that as like a more broadly,
- So you have the budget meeting, and that's not the end of the year. The end of the year is the end of
- the year. I could see that dovetailing like, this is what we did in December. Maybe it's like a January
- thing. Maybe it's launched in an artist party or whatever it is we're supposed to be doing. Ours are
- tough for me. But is there a platform that would be of value to get that out more broadly than the
- We're pretty insulated right now in terms of where we get the word out. So any thoughts on that? The
- mysterious newsletter. Christina forwarded it to us today because I haven't even seen it. Yeah, so maybe
- that should be something we should be looking into more. Maybe we should have more ownership. Oh, like
- the email that comes out? Is that what you're saying? Yeah. I need to add it to this. Yeah, I haven't
- seen this. Yeah, she hasn't seen this. We'll follow up with the link
- to sign up for the newsletter, which apparently Drew and I signed up for it, but I haven't received
- a newsletter yet. And when Christine afforded it to it, it was quite illuminating that it like comes
- from the Bloomington Arts Commission, but the name is the City Arts Newsletter. So I was like, okay,
- well that makes it feel a little bit better than the Bloomington Arts Commission newsletter that the
- Bloomington Arts Commission doesn't review, doesn't have anything to do with. So now it's a City Arts
- newsletter.
- feels to me a little bit more comfortable. What are your thoughts? I mean, this person works for the
- city? That does the newsletter? Yeah. No. I mean, it's contracted. We contract Indiana Arts and Humanities
- Institute, and Bethany does it right now. And I wanted to continue to do it that way until I could develop
- a storytelling action plan. And then we'll relaunch
- maybe even with this branding that somewhere lives somewhere in an archive of, I don't know, in 2025,
- so. Yeah, I feel like that's fair. I think that definitely I would have that on the radar in terms of,
- I think that'll be a really big way that we can highlight projects like artists, things that are happening,
- end of the year, you know, one of the newsletters could be like end of the year, what we did this year
- kind of thing. So I think it's a really
- Somehow there's a way to get more ownership over that newsletter somehow, or at least what can go into
- it. Newsletters are generally a good way, if they're going out to the community to, emails and newsletters
- are generally a good way to get information out to people, because I constantly send newsletters out
- for my job as well on a basis. So I can't really talk about this. And these conversations will help
- inform, because right now it's
- I mean, it's not, it's not bad. There's images and there's opportunities. There's no standard process.
- Oh, opportunities for so many opportunities. Opportunities. But we are kind of hitting close to 630.
- So I want to give time to the other agenda items. So not to cut anyone off. I think if there's any other
- ideas, email page, is that what they should do? Okay, great. So let's move on. Next agenda item is
- from your chair and your chair doesn't have anything for you. So no news is good news. So I'll move
- on to our next agenda item, which is to Rebecca for public art. The only update right now is that we've
- that the DBI downtown public art installations have begun and they first traffic box of five is being
- repainted unless the city has other updates on that project specifically. But that's the only
- They'll be more next week. I have a question about public arts and maybe I should just email, but if
- we could do the public arts meeting the same day as this one, so there's not two separate meetings,
- it would be so awesome. That's a long block of time. I mean, if we could just get it over with. I don't
- mean to say it like that.
- I hear there's a lot the same week. Would you like it just like different weeks? Same day as the Arts
- Commission meeting. We have to meet once a month. That's tough on me. It is? OK. I mean, we can always
- resend out. We sent out in February, we sent out to see what worked for everybody and what time didn't
- work for everybody. But we can always resend it, because we've had people leave and come back and come
- on and so since then.
- So we can just always resend out a doodle and see what works. Okay. Again, for this year. Yeah. I have
- just more of a personal curiosity, but I think just to ask as well, are there any updates on either
- the undulate installation in Hopewell or the
- the gateway call out. The gateway call out, what's the gateway call out? Miller Showers. Miller Showers.
- Underlay, we're waiting for quotes for the concrete that needs to be there in order for the piece to
- be installed, but the hope is to be completed by the end of September for ribbon cutting. That will
- be the, I don't know, I think it was,
- Friday is the deadline for concrete folks to put in a bid. So we'll see what that is, because the city
- picks up that cost. And then with the Gateway, we're meeting with the Parks Department, I think, Friday,
- and hoping to launch that call August or September for a late spring summer installation.
- That's great. For race six? Race six is under late. Yeah. Gate wheel will be an open call. Okay.
- So for you, when you say construction, next summer. Next summer installation. Yeah. Yeah. Oh God. Yeah.
- Absolutely. So this fall put out the RFQ and then late spring likely early summer installation.
- Next year. Yeah. Next year. Yeah. Great. So you do have a template for that.
- which Paul and I wrote. Oh, you wrote an RQ template? Okay. I'll revisit that. Yeah, I'll just say going
- back to the DDI. So we did, we were able to do some tabling and collect some public feedback for that
- alleyway between Peach Cobbler and JL Waters. And so there's going to be a mural on the side of Peach Cobbler.
- And so we were able to, and we're still collecting feedback till the end of the week. So I should send
- that link out. You guys should put it out. Sorry about that. But yeah, and so the call will launch.
- It's a beautiful alley. Yeah, so. It's all underused. And then we'll launch the call next week. Which
- fund again? Downtown Bloomington. That's great. Great.
- Yes. Yeah, she's great. One more question. The substation mural that you shepherded was an incredible,
- is an incredible success. That was funded by Duke Electric, right? Yeah. What about the other surfaces?
- Yeah, that's something that we'll have to reschedule, I mean, have to revisit.
- The original project was to paint all sides, except the one that's not facing the public side. So I
- think it's like five sides total. And so we started the first installation. Duke only provided a portion
- of the funding for it. So a large hang up is just funding. So that's just something we just need to
- revisit. Great, great.
- That's a story in itself that should be archived as to the importance of our community, the artists
- that were brought together through this organization and the success of it. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
- Okay, sorry, back to you. That's it for the PoliGuard updates. Thank you. Now we'll go to Gerard for grants.
- So I think as Paige mentioned in the budget agenda item, like funds are starting to go out the door
- for the arts project grants, 76K, which is, yeah, that's a good chunk of change. Really excited about
- that. So, yeah, I mean, or I shouldn't say it's starting to go out the door. No, because all of the
- contracts are mired in legal and have them for the entire month. I don't mean, like, I, like, but that
- process is underway.
- The artists know the contracts are being made. No funds have actually left the venue. But it's getting
- there. And I mean, at least for the commission for now, it's kind of like, you know, it's out of our
- hands. And we just get to celebrate it and talk about it and share the wonderful impact that it has.
- So for the artistic advancement grants that link or that call is live and Yeah, it's up to $2,000 for
- individual artists or artists groups that are looking to advance their practice or their career Yeah,
- that is open until I believe it's August 16th their
- August 10th. I saw that the office of the mayor recently posted about it on Facebook. I saw that, so
- there are links and there is promo that's going out to the public. I guess a quick note for folks.
- I think it's likely that we will probably recruit from the commission again to to do reviews for those
- we tend to this is the this is the grant that we I think tend to get the most applications for like
- this grant is in the past definitely broke
- Yeah, so I mean if if we're on the trajectory that we were with the project we should we should expect
- a pretty high volume I I don't know necessarily like putting it again having this grant also used to
- be in the either in the fall of the spring it's in the summer now so it's like so potentially but
- But yeah, and we are scheduling it now as opposed to just sort of like figuring out when we're going
- to do this review session. We are going to do the review session sometime the week of September 14th
- through the 18th. But there's the week directly in the run up to the grants committee meeting so that
- we can add that meeting, approve the funding package, and then the process to get those funds out the
- door can take place shortly afterwards.
- put a note on your calendars for some time during that week. I'll be in touch with more info as we get
- closer to it, but that's when we'll review and go from there. Yeah, and then not too long after that
- is the operations grant, but we don't really need to go there quite yet. So, yep, that's the report
- from Grants World. I found it really insightful
- volunteering into the committee to do some of the reading. But one of the things I did notice is that
- there was a conversation about when these projects would be completed. And if the money isn't being
- issued yet, wasn't it like before September or October or something?
- The window for spending, I believe, is July 1st through next June 30th. Yeah, so they have a full calendar
- year to spend the funds. Every program will have a whole year. Can I ask a quick question about the
- grants? I just want to make sure that the Blockhouse grant that they wrote, I don't know who wrote it,
- but they did mention in that grant that it was going to be used
- for part of their payroll or to pay their employees, which we're not allowed to do. That's not allowable
- if it had to do with the project. No, it was their staff at the regular staff that they have. I just
- don't want to get in trouble for that. I just want to make sure.
- Okay, I'll review that application. I do think also this came up a little bit in terms of a lot of the
- folks filling out the application listed all their expenses, but they didn't necessarily say they were
- gonna use the money from the committee or from the city to pay that specific thing. So I think maybe,
- I think there was some confusion with that because I think a lot of them were just maybe the way it's
- written in terms of
- funding that they're asking for needs to be more clear in the future. But like, yeah, they were just
- like doing their laundry list of costs. And I think we weren't always sure what they were planning to
- use it for. Or sometimes they would say, yeah. So I think that's something that we kind of talked about,
- right, a couple of weeks ago. We just need to make sure they don't say that. So maybe the grant, I guess
- that's more work, but maybe the grant says we are supporting this aspect of your
- Yeah, yeah, or maybe we have to like ask them specifically to say like maybe there should be two sections
- of what are your total costs and then what costs are you looking to fund from this grant specifically.
- So there might be just that language change might be enough. What we could do is
- They certify that they are using the funds only for eligible expenses and if they're, if they need to
- modify their budget as a result, then submit a grant modification form and I have a link for that. Yeah.
- I like that. Just to clear. Yeah, that's a kind of protocol. So I'll do a certification. Anything else,
- Gerard? Okay. Thank you.
- So now we'll just move on to upcoming events. So Christina, if you don't mind pulling up the event calendar,
- I think it's very sparse. Three things, yeah. So we just have a few things coming up. We are kind of
- short on time, so I'm going to just say if there's an event or anything happening in the next couple
- months that you know about and you think we should know about, please feel free to jump onto this
- Google Sheet and add it, or you can just like send me an email and I'll add, you know, if you're just
- like, I can't be bothered. Just send me the information and I can add it. But yeah, so at least that
- we know what's going on and we could potentially attend any of these events. The big ones. Yeah. Okay.
- All right. So let's move on from that to comments or commissioner announcements or questions.
- Any comments or questions from the commissioners? I do have one thing that I want to bring up actually
- for our city folks. Any updates on new commissioners? We're still too down and we'd love to fill out
- the roster. The update is I talked to the mayor's office and they have extended an invitation to somebody
- and they're waiting to hear back whether she accepts it or not.
- We do have a pool of applications, but we're just really not getting anybody that we think would round
- out the committee well. I guess for me, I feel like we need somebody with arts experience to be on the
- committee.
- And I think particularly we need members on the public arts committee and somebody with visual arts
- experience, I think in particular would be really beneficial. The individual who has had the invitation
- extended would be like the best human ever to have on the committee, but I'll go quickly because I know
- we're running out of time. But she's super busy, so I don't know. And we have another possibility.
- that's where we're at. So I think we're gonna have to think about actively think about who we can recruit
- or who might be good to serve on the committee. Do you want us to send any recommendations? Please send
- recommendations. I would love that. Recommendations, why they would be good and any like links, webpages,
- social media. Do you have to send them to the Mayor's Office? Then they'll have to submit an application
- to confirm that they're interested in it but I think some of like I said with visual arts experience
- particularly
- And speaking to what Austin was talking about, maybe a younger member who could be the mascot to run
- around and do cool social media stuff. I mean, that's no joke. That's a really good idea. So maybe Austin
- has some suggestions that I would welcome all. I mean, that's a great idea, but I do want to say that
- this is a volunteer position, and that's kind of a time commitment. So I wouldn't want to put that kind
- of pressure on somebody. So whether they are like, oh, I want to join in, or if it's like a commission,
- each commissioner does one video or does one feature. I just think, yeah, I want to caution kind of
- that pushing people into that position. Because yeah, we're not getting paid for this. And it can be
- a lot of work already. So yeah, just to kind of make that work. I think that would be better. We also
- used to have a very active person in the community
- more traditional music world. And she would be advocating for all sorts of things I'd never heard of.
- And a very powerful member of the committee. And well connected in the city. So that might be another
- aspect of what would be useful to inform us. Definitely, if you guys have anybody in mind, make sure
- you talk to them first.
- Like, are you interested? Do you have time? This is kind of the, like I wouldn't probably send the name
- to Pagebook without their consent or like them being okay, you know, like I can do it. Cause I feel
- like if we do, if you do all that work and they're like, I don't have time for this, then it's kind
- of a moot point. So yeah, just something to keep in mind. But you guys are all really well connected.
- So I'm sure you know a lot of cool folks that would be interested in doing stuff.
- about that person we just met in the hallway. That's like the bomb of visual arts, what they're doing,
- right? I mean, I'm just seeing the one. I didn't see all the projects, but from the card it looks pretty
- cool, yeah. Okay, all right, so we're nearing the end. Any other comments or questions from commissioners?
- Okay, so finally, do we have any comments from the public? Is the public with us today?
- So no comments from the public. All right, so there being no further business, I move to adjourn the
- meeting. Can I get a second? Second. Great. All in favor say yes. Yes. Those opposed say no. Meeting
- adjourned.