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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-2005 Approved HCAC Minutes CITY OF DUBLIN HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES OF: SEPTEMBER 8,.2005 The September 8, 2005 meeting of the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission was called to at 7:00 p.m. at the Dublin Civic Center,Dublin, California,by Vice Chair Mack. Pledge ofAlleiiance Vice Chair Mack led the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call Commissioners Present: Acuff,Lussie,White,Mack Commissioners Absent: Fasulkey,Halket and Vonheeder-Leopold Oral Communications-None Approval of Minutes Cm. Lussie stated that she had some corrections to the last paragraph on the last page. After the'sentence ending in the word"everything", insert of the Tate Modern, delete "of their tape mode" and enter permanent exhibits. In the following sentence,enter at the British museum. ON A MOTION BY CM. ACUFF, SECONDED BY CM. WHITE AND BY UNANIMOUS VOTE, THE ' COMMISSION APPROVED THE MINUTES OF JULY 14, 2005 AS CORRECTED. Written Communications-None . Public Hearing-None Unfinished Business-None New Business 8.1 Donation of Art Piece—Amador Valley Industries Heritage and Cultural Arts Supervisor John Hartnett reported that staff has recently received a request from Amador Valley Industries (AVI) to accept a donation of an art piece (small sculpture) for permanent display in a City facility. Since the City is still in the process of developing a Public Art Master Plan, there is currently no formal process for evaluating and accepting donations of artwork. Staff would like the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission's input on whether it would be appropriate and feasible to accept AVI's offer to donate an art piece to the City. The art piece, entitled "Exquisite" is a formed sculpture approximately 2 ft. wide and 2 ft. high with hundreds of in-set tile pieces of numerous colors. The piece was created by a K-3 combination class from Murray Elementary School. A guest artist by the name of Rendy Orlando volunteered to coordinate the design and construction of the sculpture with the assistance of some special educational high school students from San Leandro, working collaboratively with the Murray Elementary students. The sculpture was entered into the Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE) annual art contest and was selected from 150 entries to be one of 25 auctioned off at DPIE's Teacher Grant Program fundraiser. The sculpture was purchased by AVI for $400. AVI has offered to purchase a base or pedestal for the art piece,if necessary. Hartnett explained that in the past, the City has purchased artwork that has been hung in the City Manager's office area. Additionally, donations of silver, crystal and porcelain plates and other items have been given to the City by the Bray and Dublin Sister City Associations, and are housed in 2 large display cases in the Civic Plaza lobby. Finally, the City has accepted 2 long-term loans of large art sculptures displayed on the Civic Plaza grounds. To date,the City has never accepted a donation of a small sculpture to be housed in an indoor City facility. In considering the proposed donation,the Commission should consider the following: MINUTES—SEPTEMBER 8, 2005 PAGE TWO • The City has very little public space to house a 2 ft. x 2 ft. sculpture. The Civic Plaza lobby, Library, and new Senior Center are the only feasible building areas, if an appropriate location can be identified. • The sculpture is a student art piece. • The sculpture should compliment and fit the location in which it is housed. • Accepting the art piece sets a precedent for other donations in the future. • Security of the sculpture should be considered. Cm. Lussie stated that she commends Amador Valley Industries (A.V.I.) for their donation and trying the best they can to become an integral part of the community. On the other hand, she does not want to see the City just "accepting works of art". The piece is quite large and would not fit in with the rest of the art at the Civic Center. She felt that it would be best if the art piece was placed at the Children's Library, at one of the schools or the School District Office. She does not see how it would fit in with the rest of the art in the City buildings. Hartnett stated that he has actually inspected the piece and not only is it large, but is also heavy, weighing about 301bs. It is a pretty significant piece which would require a large area in which to be displayed. Cm. Lussie stated that it is also not the type of sculpture that could be put outside. She would recommend not accepting the art piece,but wouldn't want to give the impression that we are not appreciative of the offer. Cm. Acuff agreed. At Albuquerque High School all during the 30's they collected art work that was purchased by each graduating senior class. The high school displayed these pieces of art in the high school. The pieces were purchased from artists in New Mexico like George O'Keefe and other artists who were not well known at the time. The collection is now worth millions of dollars. Since the art piece was produced by the schools, they might want to think about how to collect and display artwork by its own students or the students could collect art as a student project. The art piece in question was purchased for $400, but who knows what it may be worth in the future. It would be fitting for the Dublin Unified School District to make this art piece a part of their new junior high school building plan and to include a place to display works that their students collect. We have excellent photographers and artists in the Dublin schools. Cm. White stated that she was nervous about making a precedent for the future. The art piece needs to go somewhere because our local students made it. She agreed that it should be displayed at one of the schools or the school where it was made. Perhaps the display of the art piece could rotate around from the schools, the Library, Civic Center, etc. Hartnett stated that he talked to Lee Jouthas at the Library and they just do not have the space to display something of this size. Security would also be an issue. In terms of our whole process of accepting donations, we do not have a policy. Once.the Master Plan is in place, it would make it a lot easier to deal with these types of offers. We would then have policy and procedures in place to determine whether an art piece would fit within our mission. Vice Chair Mack stated that because we do not have our Master Plan in place, it would be best to explain to A.V.I. that we are not ready to accept art donations at this time. In addition, that the City would be appreciative if they would donate the art piece to the schools. The City would like to see the art piece stay in Dublin,but not as a City public art pie ce. In addition, she pointed out that we do have a contract with A. V. I. which could create a conflict of interest. Hartnett stated that if we were to accept the art piece it would be accepted as an official donation by the City Council. Acceptance of donations by the City typically goes through a formal process. Cm. Lussie stated that she likes the idea of the new junior high school, which would set a precedent there. She added that it would be nice for a small plaque to be attached to the art piece specifying that it was donated by Amador Valley Industries. MINUTES—SEPTEMBER 8, 2005 PAGE THREE ON A MOTION BY CM. LUSSIE, SECONDED BY CM. ACUFF AND BY UNANIMOUS VOTE, THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDED THAT THE CITY NOT ACCEPT THE ART PIECE FROM AMADOR VALLEY INDUSTRIES, BUT THAT THE HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ARTS SUPERVISOR SUGGEST THE OTHER VENUES IDENTIFIED TO AMADOR VALLEY INDUSTRIES. Other Business 9.1 Brief INFORMATIONAL ONLY Reports from Commissioners and/or Staff Hartnett reported that there will be a joint meeting of the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission and the Parks and Community Services Commission on Monday, September 19, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers to discuss the Historic Master Plan Study. Cm.White and Cm. Acuff stated that they will not be available to attend the meeting on September 19. Cm. Acuff stated that she has brought a flyer to share with the Commission regarding the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Their National Preservation Conference will be held this year in Portland, Oregon from September 27-October 3,2005. Hartnett said that he will pass on the flyer to Elizabeth Isles. Cm. White reported that she visited the Hearst Castle and was amazed at all the art. There is so much to see, all in one place. Everyone should visit the Hearst Castle at least once, if only to see the art. Cm. Lussie stated that she attended a reception on Tibetan Art at the Asian Art Museum. She also went to Copia in Napa, which is a huge museum waiting for exhibits to fill it. They have an interactive food and wine museum, retro towards the 50's. It is a brand new museum and well funded. Staff might want to look at this museum as a "bench mark"case study. Vice Chair Mack asked if the Day on the Glen is next weekend. Hartnett replied, yes. The event will be held on Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18. Cm.White thanked Hartnett for the trip to the Eugene O'Neill Historic Site in Danville last month. Adjournment Being no further business,the meeting was adjourned at 7:28p.m. Respectfully submitted, Char J.Young g Administrative Technic an • APPROVED: Chaff rson � Opr" y, A ei