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HomeMy WebLinkAboutArts Commission - 10/09/2006 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2006 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL ROAD THE PRAIRIE ROOM COMMISSION MEMBERS: Steve Mosow, Chair; Heather Olson, Vice Chair; Karen Busack, Farida Kathawalla, Ann Rorem, Diane Zielke COMMISSION STAFF: Sandy Werts, Staff Liaison Peggy Rasmussen, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Sarah Ericson, Kristy Shillock, and Cassie Warman SUPPORT STAFF: Bob Lambert, Director, Parks & Recreation Services; Laurie Obiazor, Manager of Recreation Services I. ROLL CALL Mosow called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Commissioner Kathawalla arrived at 7:20 p.m. Commissioner Zielke and Student Member Warman were excused. Shelley Smith and Reed Schulke from Eden Prairie Players were in attendance. Werts read e-mails from Commissioner Grant, submitting her resignation effective October 9, 2006. Grant explained she is resigning because of her time commitment to the Veterans Memorial Committee and other obligations. Student Members Ericson and Shillock were introduced. Ericson is a Senior and Shillock is a Junior at Eden Prairie High School. The Commissioners introduced themselves to the students. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Rorem, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 Olson made a correction on page 4, in the first paragraph under Item B, where the name of the artist should be changed to Richards Poey. Busack questioned the second sentence on page 3, and it was deleted. MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Busack, to approve the minutes of the Arts and Culture Commission held on September 11, 2006, as corrected. Motion carried 4-0. IV. EDEN PRAIRIE PLAYERS UPDATE ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION October 9, 2006 Page 2 A. UPDATE ON CURRENT PROJECTS Schulke reported that 240 people attended "A Collection of One Acts", 125 more than last year. The plays were well received. The winter play, `Barefoot in the Park", will be performed in the high school auditorium. Auditions will be held in early December, and rehearsals begin after the holidays. The second annual rummage sale fund-raiser will be held in April. Casting for "South Pacific" begins in April. Schulke said they are beginning to select plays for the "One Acts" and the 2008 winter show. Mosow asked what process is used for making selections. Schulke replied they share ideas and discuss resources, difficulties of staging, etc. In the past few years, helped by advertising online, more actors have been auditioning for the shows, which helps in deciding what plays to use. B. RECOMMENDATION TO REPLACE AMPHITHEATER FLOOR IN 2008 Bob Lambert has indicated that Staring Lake Amphitheatre will be replacing the seating and remain closed for the 2008 summer season while Pioneer Trail is being reconstructed. Schulke said the Eden Prairie Players believe this would be a good time to replace the stage floor as well as the seating. The boards are deteriorating and are slippery when wet, making it a safety issue. Schulke pointed out that many other groups use the stage, not just the Eden Prairie Players. When the City replaces the seating, Schulke said the Eden Prairie Players would like to recommend adding a row of seats on each level in order to accommodate 1,000 people. Werts said storage of props and costumes continues to be a problem. They had to be removed from their current storage place and are now in the Riley-Jacques barn. They would have to be moved from there before the start of the 2007 season. Smith said the corncrib in the barn is not a good alternative place to store them. There are bat droppings that need to be cleaned out, and there is not enough room in it because Historical Society furniture is being stored there. Reed added that the barn is easy to break into; there were a couple of break-ins before the 2006 season started. It was suggested that the building on the amphitheatre deck could be used for storage if it were expanded. Mosow stated these are health and safety issues that should be addressed by the City. Werts suggested putting these requests into a motion and she would present it to Bob Lambert. The Commission could make a request that the decking be replaced in the amphitheatre at the same time as the seating is being done. The Commission could also ask for consideration of expanding the building on the amphitheatre deck to accommodate props and costumes. If Lambert agrees, the cost would be included in the Capital Improvement Plan for 2008-2009. Schulke said Lambert should be made aware of how many people come to the summer musical. About 2,800 people came to the three shows last summer. Also ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION October 9, 2006 Page 3 volunteers gave 7,500 hours of time working on all their productions in 2005, and about 10,000 hours in 2006. MOTION: Kathawalla moved, seconded by Rorem, that the Arts and Culture Commission requests redesigning the Staring Lake Amphitheatre to accommodate current and future use, including replacing the stage decking at the Amphitheatre at the same time the seating is replaced in 2008. The Commission recommends the seating be redesigned to hold 1,000 people. The Commission advises the storage building be expanded to adequately accommodate props, costumes and sets, and should be heated to protect the investment the City has made in these items. Motion carried 5-0. C. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE COMMISSION IN THE COMMUNITY REGARDING THE ARTS? Smith talked about the St. Louis Park Arts & Culture Grant program, a collaborative program between the city and the Friends of the Arts non-profit organization where arts groups can apply for grants. They offered a total of $20,000 to fund art projects and cultural activities this fall and winter. Smith said she is not sure what the mission of the Eden Prairie Arts and Culture Commission is, but was suggesting this as an example of what could be done to support the arts. Werts pointed out that it is not in the Commission's charter to be a granting agency and it doesn't have the type of funding that Friends of the Arts has. She hopes to find out from St. Louis Park how much support that organization receives from the city. Friends of the Arts also receives support from the school district, individual memberships, and corporate sponsors. D. SOUTHWEST ARTS CONSORTIUM Schulke asked what the Commission would think of forming a Southwest Art Consortium with nearby cities, such as Chanhassen and Waconia, to share resources, mailing lists, promotion of their shows, tech staff, etc. Burnsville has formed a consortium with cities in its area. Olson said Fridley is doing the same thing on the north side of the metro area. Smith suggested expanding this to make a consortium of all the arts. The Lakeville area has that type of consortium. Schulke said a consortium would be easier to promote to the Star Tribune than separate organizations like the Eden Prairie Players. He offered to find out more about the Burnsville consortium. Mosow said a consortium is an effective method to support the arts. It is a coming together of contiguous communities to build on one another's strengths and capabilities. That doesn't necessarily take money. Regarding grant money, Werts said the Eden Prairie Foundation generally uses the money they raise for "bricks and mortar" types of grants, and their grants are fairly small; about $2,000 each. Mosow said that perhaps the Foundation would be willing to support a multiple-arts program. He would like to pursue that idea. ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION October 9, 2006 Page 4 Mosow suggested that the Commission continue discussing where arts in the community are going. V. OLD BUSINESS A. EVALUATION OF ART AND CULTURE PROGRAMS Werts included a revised chart in the packet the Commissioners received prior to the meeting. It includes information discussed at the last meeting. Busack recommended discussing the chart again at the end of the year. B. RESIDENT'S GUIDE Werts distributed copies of the Resident's Guide, which were also included in a recent issue of the Eden Prairie News, to review the "Arts Resource Guide" section. Olson said she had found several errors. For example, neither of the entries under Multimedia are digital art. A rock band that is listed is no longer together. Rorem said a friend of hers who is listed this year has received numerous calls because of this publicity. Mosow wondered if the Resident's Guide could be made available at the City Center and other locations. Rorem said it is included in the local Welcome Wagon. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. USING STUDENT ART ON CITY WALLS Busack showed a local school calendar featuring children's artwork. She wondered if the students' work from the calendar could be displayed for Art on City Walls. Rorem said there was a display of children's art some years ago. She thought it would be an excellent idea for schools to exhibit the artwork of students at City Center. Rorem said the Eden Prairie Center hung individual pieces of art in the lower court area a couple of years ago. Kathawalla suggested that the Commission contact art teachers at each elementary school with these ideas. Mosow said, as part of the Commission's work plan for next year, letters could be sent to art teachers asking them to submit artwork for Art on City Walls. Perhaps two schools could be featured at the same time. Werts said two schools could be featured at the same time, depending on how many items they bring in. She recalled that a number of years ago a college senior hung an exhibit. Kathawalla said a student from the high school displayed excellent artwork a while ago. Werts said she had no problem filling each month this year, but these ideas present other options. She said there would not be any problem in exhibiting children's work. Rorem suggested it would be easier to use folding boards for that purpose. ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION October 9, 2006 Page 5 Mosow said this subject would be discussed further at the next meeting. VII. REPORTS OF STAFF AND COMMISSIONERS A. ARTISTS IN THE NEWS —HEATHER OLSON Olson said at the last meeting it was decided that congratulatory notes from the Commission be sent to artists in the news. Rorem has written and sent three congratulatory notes so far. Richards Poey received the first one. The second one was sent to Amy Fogarty, a high school junior, who won a scholarship to the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. The third one was sent to Susan Murphy, recent winner of Middle School Art Instructor of the Year. B. VETERANS MEMORIAL UPDATE—ELIZABETH GRANT Grant has agreed to be treasurer of the Veterans Memorial Committee, and has resigned from the Arts and Culture Commission. The Committee made a presentation to the City Council and received approval of the design for the memorial. Committee members are now raising funds to build it. The City will hold a Veterans' Day service at Purgatory Creek Recreation Area where the memorial is planned. C. CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM SUMMIT—SANDY WERTS Werts reported on attending this program at the Institute of Arts, which came out of a national summit held at Washington, D.C. Werts went to a session on studio tours and art crawls. She suggested putting an art crawl on the Commission's agenda for next year. Werts also heard about meander treks through counties in Western Minnesota. These can be visits to any type of art, theater, or visual arts. Artists started this themselves and then formed a consortium. The meander was sponsored by a cooperative effort of Artists in the Upper Minnesota River and Western Minnesota. Olson asked if they talked at the Summit about having a tour of homes. Eden Prairie has many attractive houses. She thought it would be interesting to see different architecture through Eden Prairie. Also some people have artwork in their houses that would be worth seeing. Werts said Bloomington did a garden tour where artists were selling their artwork in the gardens. Mosow suggested adding a tour and/or art crawl to the Commission's 2007 work program. D. COMMISSIONER PRIVATE DATA Werts distributed updated copies of the Commissioners private data. ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION October 9, 2006 Page 6 E. CITY AND SCHOOL FACILITY USE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING— STEVE MOSOW Mosow reported that the meeting was Wednesday, October 4. Most of the time was spent discussing artificial turf for the playing field and remodeling of the Community Center. The high school is putting up new curtains and lighting in the auditorium. Rental rates next year for the auditorium will remain the same. They also discussed adding lights to the parking lot at Round Lake Park. The next meeting of the committee is March 14, 2007. Schulke said he was glad to hear about improvements to the auditorium. Eden Prairie Players holds its winter play there and is thinking about using it for the summer show in 2008 when Staring Lake Amphitheatre will be closed. VIII. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. UPCOMING EVENTS • All-City Open House Werts reported that the open house is on October 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. B. LOCALS: COMMINITY-BASED ART CENTERS NETWORK Werts said this program is an opportunity for networking with the directors of metro community-based art centers. She will be unable to go to the October 17 meeting as she had planned. Rorem said she might be able to attend. C. METROPOLITAN REGIONAL ARTS COUNCIL NEWS Werts distributed copies of the October newsletter to the Commissioners. IX. ADJOURNMENT Mosow asked if there were any items that the Commissioners would like to add to next month's agenda. Olson inquired if there would be more information about the City accepting the Cedar Hills Country Club building. Werts said she thought there would be; the Planning Commission was supposed to discuss it at this evening's meeting. MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Rorem, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Mosow adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m.