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HomeMy WebLinkAboutArts Commission - 03/14/2005 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2005 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL ROAD PRAIRIE ROOMS A & B COMMISSION MEMBERS: Susan Dickman, Chair; Steve Mosow, Vice Chair; Lois Larson, Heather Olson, Ann Rorem, Soni Styrlund, Diane Zielke STUDENT MEMBERS: Casey Carlson, Evan Estrine, Carly Hofstedt COMMISSION STAFF: Sandy Werts, Staff Liaison Peggy Rasmussen, Recording Secretary SUPPORT STAFF: Bob Lambert, Director, Parks & Recreation Services; Laurie Obiazor, Manager of Recreation Services I. ROLL CALL Chair Dickman called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Commissioners Mosow, Olson, and Rorem arrived at 7:10 p.m. Megan Libby, an intern for Parks and Recreation Services, was present as an observer, and Jay Ludwig made the report for the Eden Prairie Players. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Larson moved, seconded by Styrlund, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 14, 2005 MEETING Werts made two corrections on page 3. In the second paragraph, the third sentence, "have" should be replaced by "has." In the fourth paragraph, "Styrlund" should be replaced with "Irene Kelly from the CAPP committee." MOTION: Zielke moved, seconded by Larson, to approve the minutes of the Arts and Culture Commission meeting held on February 14, 2005, as corrected. Motion carried 4-0. IV. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS A. Eden Prairie Players Update Jay Ludwig distributed the Eden Prairie Players 2005 Season brochure. "I Remember Mama" was performed in February; approximately 500 people came to see it, down somewhat from the previous winter's production. Werts explained that revenue was up, however, because ticket prices were raised. Ludwig said one ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES March 14, 2005 Page 2 thing that went very well was the participation of a number of high school students. Ludwig reported that rehearsals would be starting the week of March 20 for "Murder at the Banquet." Performances are April 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10; this is the second run of the play this year at the J.R. Cummins Homestead. Auditions for the summer musical "Pajama Game" will be held April 11 and 12, with performances in June. It is an all-adult cast. However, "Glass Slipper" will be a summer children's theater workshop, with rehearsals beginning in July and performances in August. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Arts Promotion Brochure Dickman reported that she and Werts met with Laurie Obiazor, Manager of Recreation Services, and Irene Kelly, representing the CAPP Committee. Although the City has $8,000 in its budget for the arts promotion brochure project, Obiazor told them that amount was budgeted with the expectation that it would be recovered through the sale of advertisements. However, Dickman said it is apparent there would not be enough revenue to offset printing and other costs, so the project is at a crossroads in terms of funding. Werts has written an application for a "New Initiatives" grant from the Minnesota Recreation and Parks Foundation, but is not optimistic about receiving any money from that source. She will also submit a grant application to the Eden Prairie Foundation, requesting $2,000. Dickman said there is also a possibility of obtaining a CAPP grant that could be put toward this initiative. Werts said Todd Pernsteiner's proposal projected that the City would have to sell $18,500 in advertisements in order to break even. He suggested doing a pre-sale to research whether various companies would be willing to buy ads. However, Werts stated there is no money available to spend on doing that research without knowing if there will be any return on it. Dickman said it became clear from talking to Pernsteiner and also Pat Brink, the City's communications coordinator, that in order to raise the money needed through selling ads it would be necessary to either increase the number of ad pages or decrease the number of content pages. Dickman asked what the Commission would suggest doing. Werts said Obiazor suggested that the Commission prepare a recommendation in the form of a motion to be submitted to Obiazor and Lambert, who would then send it on to the City Council. Werts said there is the possibility of getting quotes from other designers besides Pernsteiner and having someone else do the printing. Obiazor thought perhaps the Commission might want to have a page of arts- related information inserted in the Eden Prairie News, similar to the City's insert, "Life on the Prairie," or ask the newspaper to prepare all of it as they do for the 41h of July or Senior Awareness Week events. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES March 14, 2005 Page 3 Mosow reiterated the goal of the Commission was to increase awareness of arts opportunities in Eden Prairie. He suggested three ways to accomplish that. First, produce an attractive brochure and distribute it to places where people would be most likely to pick it up, in addition to inserting it in the Eden Prairie News. Second, more pages are needed in order to support the project through the sale of ads. Third, it appears that Pernsteiner has a feel for what the Commission wants, but perhaps it would make sense to have his group do the ad sales and have the printing done another way that is less expensive. Larson asked if it would still be necessary to sell ads if they just had a one-page insert in the newspaper. Werts said either the newspaper or the Commission would still have to sell ad space to cover the cost. The design of the Life In the Prairie page costs about $750 and printing is $2,400, so they would have to generate that same amount in ad sales. Dickman said the most frustrating part about the process is that the Commission has worked hard to come up with what it wants and now has to face the realities of financing the project. After speaking with Obiazor she understood the City's financial situation; the decision on the budget was made in 2003 for the 2004- 2005 budget, and these expenses were not envisioned then. Werts said she had to extrapolate the $8,000 in 2004 from the 2005 budget. Dickman said there was discussion at the meeting with Obiazor about just doing an insert in the newspaper for 2005, with the intention of talking to the City about financial support in 2006. However, Dickman said the problem with that idea is the membership of the Commission might change before the financial support becomes available. She would like to see this Commission try to meet the goals it has set in putting out a brochure in 2005. Styrlund pointed out that the information they have gathered is very timely. If they don't get it out now, the information might change because of stores going out of business, etc. She suggested just getting the information out this year through the newspaper. Make it a pilot project. Next year, if funding for it is available, they would be able to put out an attractive brochure. Werts agreed that it would give them more time to get the project together if they had the newspaper put out information about arts-related events starting in September and running through the following August. She said the Eden Prairie News is coming out with a new eight-page section in two weeks, called "Let's Go", that will cover arts and leisure events, but would not include high school coverage. It will go to Chaska, Chanhassen and Shakopee, as well as Eden Prairie. Mosow said they should try to distribute the information they've gathered in the best way possible while it is still timely. That way they can position Eden Prairie as an opportunity for arts and culture. If we want to get arts information out we should do it. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES March 14, 2005 Page 4 Werts said Irene Kelly was going to contact someone who sells ads. However, the work would not get done in time for a June or July publication date. Even if there was only an insert in the newspaper, it might not get done by then. Olson said she felt they would need to have an event to bring together all the business people there are on the Commission's list. They could get together and bring examples of what they do. Mosow said he believes it is necessary to hold an event that would generate enough public enthusiasm to achieve the ultimate objective of producing a brochure; for example, putting on a wine-tasting event at the City Center. Werts responded that it would cost money to put on any event. Mosow said they need to figure out an economical way to do an event and use that as a springboard for a publication. Werts said they should know by April 1 if the Commission would be receiving a grant from the Minnesota Recreation and Parks Foundation, which could be seed money to go after the advertising sales. Dickman asked if they should wait another month to see whether or not they get the grant before making a decision on what to do next. Werts said she could check with Eden Prairie Magazine about placing an insert in the magazine and helping with drop sites. Styrlund wondered what the mission of Eden Prairie Magazine is and if the Commission could align itself with that to help expand the magazine's circulation and to raise awareness of arts in the City. Werts said it would be good if the magazine agreed to do a one-month focus on the arts and then did an overprint for distribution that month. Mosow proposed that between now and next month's meeting Werts explore that idea with the magazine and the possibility of the Eden Prairie News getting the ads for an insert, with the City supplying the content. Werts said they could also contact Southwest Publishing,publisher of the Eden Prairie News. Dickman said it would be a good idea to keep working on the process, such as writing short articles for the brochure. Perhaps during this next month those articles could be lined up, ready to be written. She would like the articles to come from the Commissioners. Werts said they could also give that job to a freelance writer. They would need to identify a list of articles they want written. Larson suggested asking Hennepin Technical College to assist with the project. She believed they would do it at a reasonable cost. Mosow said he understood that the Commission's goal is to make people more aware of the arts opportunities in Eden Prairie. If they are able to produce those articles on the arts, along with a list of events and locations, and get them placed in Eden Prairie News and Eden Prairie Magazine, they might be able to consolidate that collaboration over time and also make people aware of opportunities to participate. Styrlund agreed with that approach, and said she believed it was really important to get the material out to the public in any way they can. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES March 14, 2005 Page 5 Mosow wondered if they could put stories of local artists on the City's Web site. It might be possible to generate interest that way. Perhaps there could be an article about an artist in both the Eden Prairie News and on the Web site. MOTION: Mosow moved, seconded by Olson, that in the month between this meeting and April 11, 2005, multiple avenues for getting information out be explored, including the Eden Prairie Magazine, an insert in the Eden Prairie News and Southwest Publishing Company, while it is still timely. Dickman asked the Commissioners to come up with some further suggestions for the next meeting. Motion carried 7-0. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Possible Re-Use of Former United Artist Movie Theaters Werts reported that on March 1 about eight people went on a tour of the theaters, including Dickman, Styrlund and herself. The tour was conducted by Dave Lindahl, who has approached the AMC theaters about showing art films in a couple of the old theaters; thereby helping to cover part of the rental costs of the facility. That proposal has been presented to AMC, and the City is now waiting to hear what their interest is. When that is known, City staff will talk with General Growth about the cost of the space. Lindahl and Lambert would then discuss the feasibility and use of the theaters with the City Council at a workshop, and future action would be based on the results of that workshop. Werts said there is a lot of work that would have to be done to turn the theaters into usable space, including bringing everything up to code. B. Discuss How to Extend the Eden Prairie Brand Styrlund said the police and fire departments are going to have their own identifying logo within the new Eden Prairie brand. She believed the Arts and Culture Commission should also have its own identity. There is a color scheme to choose from that would complement the logo. Styrlund said she would be willing to help. The Parks and Recreation Services and Arts and Culture Commission should work together. Styrlund referenced the Charlie Brown statues in St. Paul, and wondered if Eden Prairie should consider bird statues as its symbol; they could be placed in parks, and local stores and businesses could buy them to display. The Commissioners were asked to bring ideas on the Eden Prairie brand to the next meeting for a brainstorming session. ARTS & CULTURE COMMISSION MINUTES March 14, 2005 Page 6 C. International Festival Styrlund wondered if there had been any discussion about getting the International School involved in the International Festival. Werts said there had not. She asked how many grades there are and was told it runs from pre- kindergarten through high school. Hofstedt reported that the Eden Prairie high school is putting on a Diversity Festival later that week, which is similar to the City's International Festival. There is a Diversity Club at the school. Werts was told she could contact the Math Department teacher for more information and to find out if any students in the club might want to work on the City's festival after school is out for the summer. VII. REPORTS OF STAFF AND COMMISSIONERS VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Larson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. Chair Dickman adjourned the meeting at 8:22 p.m.