San Antonio Arts Commission
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Culture Commons Exhibit Hall
115 Plaza de Armas
San Antonio, TX 78205
Members Present Members absent Staff
Nettie Hinton - D2 Larry Lapaglia - D6 Debbie Racca-Sittre
Yadhira Lozano - D3 Jessica Sanchez - Mayoral James LeFlore
Susana Segura- D4 Sarah Yates
Henry Brun - D7 Lisa Biediger
Margaret Kanyusik - D8
Freda Facey - D9
Mark Rogers - D10
Guillermo Nicolas-Mayoral
Eduardo Garcia-Mayoral
Rene Barilleaux-Mayoral
Suhail Arastu-Mayoral
Call to Order / Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Guillermo Nicolas at 9:12 am.
The roll call was taken by Sarah Yates and a quorum was present.
Meeting Minutes
Motion: Henry Brun set forth a motion to approve the meeting minutes from the meeting held on May 17, 2016. Eduardo Garcia seconded the motion.
Discussion: Nettie Hinton clarified some changes she had regarding Ira Aldridge in the Announcements & Reports section. Ms. Yates stated the changes would be made.
Vote: Motion passed.
Tricentennial Welcome
Debbie Racca-Sittre stated that the Tricentennial welcome would be postponed to the next scheduled Arts Commission meeting.
stART Place Final Funding Recommendations (Action Item)
Ms. Racca-Sittre stated that out of the 22 applications submitted 14 of those applicants were being recommended for funding. She added that the final funding recommendations for stART place would be reviewed for council action on June 16, 2016 and that the reason this category of funding was expedited was so that those receiving dollars from FY 2016 would need to complete their projects by the end of August and those for FY 2017 would begin after October 1st.
Citizens to be Heard (stART Place)
Carolina Storyteller
SA Storyteller Association
Motion: Mark Rogers set forth a motion to approve the final funding recommendations for stART Place. Henry Brun seconded the motion.
Discussion: None.
Vote: Motion passed.
Citizens to be Heard continued
SA Summer Art & Jazz Festival
San Pedro Creek Public Art Planning
James LeFlore gave an overview of the San Pedro Creek project on behalf of the San Antonio River Authority and then welcomed consultants Renee, Ricardo and Jennifer that were in town to do research and gain feedback in order to create an administrative framework for a public art plan for the San Pedro Creek Project. Mr. LeFlore stated that funding for the public art component of the project had not yet been found and that research was being conducted to see if other possible sources could be found.
Renee, Ricardo and Jennifer introduced themselves and then showed different examples of what they have been looking at to determine San Pedro Creek programming including 5 x 5 in Washington D.C., Prospect in New Orleans, Market Square in Pittsburgh, High Line in New York, Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston and Rose F. Kennedy Greenway in Boston. Veronique of Artpace commented that coming from Boston, the Greenway was a project that had the ability to change the city’s psyche of public art. She added that by having temporary projects it made it a place for locals that would keep coming back to see something fresh.
Yadhira Lozano asked about the boundaries of the San Pedro Creek project. Bridgette from the San Antonio River Authority responded that the project would run about 2 miles parallel with I35 from about Santa Rosa to Laredo streets.
Nettie Hinton asked about accessibility and not just for persons with disabilities for accessibility for residents to enjoy and find parking easily. Bridgette from SARA responded that there would be plenty of places along the Creek to gain access or entry to.
Henry Brun asked about whether the design planning aspect was taking into consideration sound engineering for performances. Bridgette from SARA responded that the engineering team would take that under consideration.
Eduardo Garcia thanked the consultants for their presentation. He asked how the curatorial vision was different from River North or Museum Reach and encouraged the consultants to do further research on the stories of the Westside and other histories that have been under-represented. Renee responded that the visit was allowing for a lot of participation to gain feedback from the community and to keep in mind the historical importance of the site but to also begin to think about the future. Mr. Garcia also mentioned the idea of an artist in residency for the project.
Suhail Arastu stated that a site visit would be helpful for the Commission to get a better feel for the project.
Rene Barilleaux asked what the timeline looked like and Jennifer responded that it would come in the form of a report in September.
Valeria Hernandez asked how temporary the project would be and Renee responded that is the type of feedback they were hoping to get and include de-accessioning as part of the planning. Ms. Hinton added that she would prefer not to see a lot of pop up installations and would prefer something more permanent.
Ms. Kanyusik asked if the report would include a management strategy and Renee responded that a management strategy will be about 90% of the content of the report. Ms. Kanyusik also added that she really likes the idea of turning eye soars into eye candy and finding unexpected artworks such as tiny artworks within large scale projects.
Ms. Lozano asked who would manage the artwork collection and Renee responded that was the part of the feedback they were hoping to receive. Ms. Lozano stated she felt that should be the role of DCCD.
Ms. Hernandez asked if there were potential opportunities for corporate sponsorship and Mr. LeFlore responded that those opportunities were still being figured out.
Mr. Arastu added that it might be a good idea to create a non-profit conservancy similar to the Main Plaza Conservancy.
Ms. Hinton added that she hoped some of the artwork would honor those who were originally among the Creek.
Mr. Garcia added that he hoped with the temporary vs. permanent that the value of the culture be emphasized.
Mr. Nicolas added that he liked the idea of keeping the artwork fresh.
Citizens to be Heard
Veronique ZeMelle of Artpace
Graciella Sanchez of Esperanze Peace & Justice Center
George Cox of Ole Flamenco Studios
Announcements and Reports
Mr. LeFlore reported that the 2017 Call for Public Art Qualification would be released soon and that more information would be presented at a later date. He added that he was also hoping to have a few members review the Call before releasing to the public.
Ms. Racca-Sittre reported that the Board Retreat was scheduled for Friday, July 29th in the afternoon and that Kathryn Martin would be facilitating.
Adjournment:
Motion: Mr. Brun set forth a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Hernandez seconded the motion.
Discussion: None.
Vote: Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 10:52 a.m.