Welcome to the November 18, 2024 Arts Commission Special Meeting.
Effective October 17, 2023, public comments may be made in person or in writing.
If you'd like to view the meeting remotely, you may do so in one of the following ways.
YouTube Live, Comcast Cable Channel 28, Rossmore Channel 26, Astound Channel 31,
AT&T universe channel 99 or live stream online on the city's website
Mr. Secretary, would you please call the roll?
Yes, chair. Mr. Perlman
here mr. McDonough here mr. Tesfai
Here mr. Clauber here vice chair Balthazar here and chair dresser here. Thank you
Under California law public comments at special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only
Let's see. Oh, oh, we're gonna go, sorry, go back. Excuse me, um, introduction of our new commissioner.
We have a new student commissioner. Her name is Sasha Pearlman,
and we are thrilled to welcome you to the Arts Commission, Sasha, and if you wouldn't mind,
would you give us just a little bit about you, please?
Thank you. So, hello, my name is Sasha Pearlman. I'm a junior at Northgate High School,
and I'm really excited to be on this commission because I've lived in Walnut Creek my whole life,
and I wanted to get more involved in the community.
I'm also really passionate about art.
I've done visual arts since elementary school
and performing arts since middle school,
and I'm currently part of Northgate's
highest-level drama program.
So I'm really happy to be here,
and I love art there.
Thank you, and welcome, Sasha.
Now, for public communications.
Under California law, public comments at special meetings
are limited to subjects on the agenda only.
therefore public comments will be taken during the commission consideration of the item.
Next is the consent calendar. Does any commissioner have questions on any item on the consent calendar?
I do not. If there are no commissioner questions or comments I'm going to ask the secretary for a
roll call vote on the consent calendar. Would you need a motion and a second and I will be happy to
Do you take the role?
I move to approve the regular minutes.
Is that right?
You could approve all the items.
On the consent calendar if you'd like to make the motion.
Yeah, let me.
Oh, for approval of the Arts Commission regular meeting
minutes of July 22nd.
No, I'm still off.
That's good.
You're good than this one.
Oh, and approval of the 2025 Arts Commission regular meeting
schedule with the approval of the FY24 Leisure Center for the Arts annual report and approval
for the FY24 Public Art Program annual report.
I second that motion.
Thank you, Chair.
Vice-Chair Balthazar, this is a roll call.
Yes.
Thank you.
Chair Dresser?
Yes.
Commissioner Clauber?
Yes.
Mr. Magnani?
test fair? Yes. Commissioner Perlman? Yes. Thank you. Motion carries. Thank you. Next on the
agenda is an item for Commission consideration above. At this time I
invite staff to provide the presentation. So right, while Mariah is walking up to
the lectern, I just want to give you a brief introduction to why. So this is, for
Some of you not new, it is an overview
of the public art program.
We also have three new commissioners here.
And so this, and I was talking to the chair earlier
this year and we talked about it would be helpful
as we're getting into a different phase of the economy.
We've had fewer items coming before the commission
to review public art, but we have a significant item
coming soon around Heather Farm.
And so, Stadfeld would be helpful.
We did this back in 2022, right, 2022,
with a bit of an overview for commissioners
about what is the public art program,
and importantly, what's the role of the Arts Commission.
And so that's the purpose of this evening
is to have staff present to you
some significant components of the public art program
and give you a chance to ask us questions
as we go through this,
because there isn't a specific item for you to approve
tonight, but we're looking for your questions
and then some thoughts about budget
as we start to plan for the budget in the next year.
So that's the why of what we're doing this evening, but I'll have Mariah take it from there. Thank you
Thanks, Kevin
Good evening chair dresser and arts commissioners and welcome Sasha our new newest Youth Commissioner student commissioner
My name is Mariah Nelson blier. I'm the public art manager for the city of Walnut Creek and
As Kevin indicated tonight there is no
voting action on the agenda, but commissioners are asked
to listen and receive an overview of the public art program.
So obviously for some of you who are new,
it's going to be a new kind of info session,
public art 101 have you, and for some of you,
it'll be like a refresher, a review.
Let's see.
So you have several attachments in your packets and links
online.
So there was a lot in there.
So we're just going to keep it kind of a broad overview
for you.
We won't go too far into the weeds.
We'll break it down according to section.
And then after each section, we can pause,
allow time for questions, if you have any.
And then in the end, we'll have more time for questions.
if something comes up or something, but the attachments in your packet you
should have public art master plan, public art ordinances, there's two, public
art strategic plan, and the public art review checklist questions for when
we're implementing public art projects, and then for reference we have attached
also the Public Art Fund the fiscal years 24 and 25 that was the first two
year budget cycle that was implemented so we've put that in there for reference
with hope that that will help your thinking about the next budget cycle
kind of a talking point from there so before we begin going through everything
we wanted to, let's see, I'm going to put my glasses on so I can see better. So we're
also going to go over some definitions of what public art is just because that
should help us with our with our understanding of the public art overview.
Let's see, I don't know, we do have a slide presentation. This is the ask for
tonight and these are all of the attachments in your packet. So before we
get started, we're just going to kind of go over a brief definition of what is
public art. So public art is what it sounds like. It's art that is in public
spaces and it's accessible to everyone, no ticket. It's admission free and
accessible to all. As defined in the public art master plan, works of public
art may include sculpture, photography, original works of graphic art, earthworks,
fiberworks, waterworks, neon, glass, mosaics, furnishings or fixtures,
architecture or landscape design if it's created by a professional artist and if
it's unique and original. So as you are likely aware, this city of Ona Creek has
long valued public art in in public spaces. The city officially encouraged
public art projects in the community beginning far back as 1982 when the City
Council first approved public art requirements and guidelines kind of
endorsing public art projects in the city. The public art master plan was
first drafted by the Arts Commission in 1999 and it was officially adopted in
in 2000. It's been revised. The last revision was done in 2016. And the plan was in response
to a requirement in the cultural resources element of the city's general plan to encourage
the inclusion of public art and development projects to ensure a continuing investment
and appreciation of arts in the city of Walnut Creek. The general plan required that the
prepare public art ordinance to assure the continued public and private
participation in the public art program.
Trying to match up slides. Does anybody have any questions about what, like, the
definition of public art is before we move on? So going into the public art
master plan, you have it in your attachments. It's a big document so we're
not going to go totally step-by-step through all of it, but I can read you
just the mission statement. The mission of the City of Walnut Creek's Public Art
Master Plan is to integrate art into the city's everyday environment and build a
dynamic, exciting, and engaging place to live, visit, and do business. Through
Public Art the program aims to make our public spaces more welcoming and to
create a dialogue between artists and the community that honors our ideals,
histories, and shared values. So keeping that in mind, any questions about that?
I just want to make sure that after we go, sorry Mariah, after we go through the
presentation, we'll also have an opportunity for anybody to ask questions
about anything that you've heard this evening. So if you don't have questions
about the Public Art Master Plan now, we can always come back to that when Mariah
is finished with her with her presentation. So just don't feel like
that was your only chance to ask, thank you.
Yes, plenty of time for questions, it's a lot to get through.
So the public art plan, it kind of just outlines and defines what public art is and then how
to implement this through the, so that's what kind of informed the ordinances, so we're
not quite there yet.
The Public Art Plan also goes through the different people's
like staff that requires its various staff
depending on the project.
So it could be building, planning, engineering,
and then of course administrative staff
like this team here, ourselves to implement things
or to make sure that they're happening
such as like drafting RFQs.
And then of course there's the Arts Commissioner's role
which is basically to help us see these projects to life
and inform city council.
So advise, make recommendations
to city council for projects.
And then the other things
that the public art master plan goes through
are public art zones,
which we won't get too much into.
we have the budget and then approving,
and then again, back to the Arts Commission,
it's approving sites and spaces,
and that will lead us into the public art checklist,
which we'll talk more about later,
but this public art master plan
helped to inform the public art ordinances
or helped to define what was needed in the ordinances.
So there's two ordinances and title seven chapter three
states that each major city construction project
shall have an appropriate display of art integrated
into the project or a public art fee shall be paid
into the public art fund.
This is the in lieu in the cases that if you're not familiar
with how the public art fund is set up,
if a developer meets a certain threshold,
whether it's budget or space,
they are required to pay into this public art fund
if they do not incorporate public art into their project.
And this fund is what funds obviously
the public art program,
which we can get further into.
Chapter 10, title 10 discusses more about public art
where the municipal projects are required to also
either incorporate public art or pay into the fund.
Kind of getting all over.
Does anybody have any questions about that?
The public art fund might be confusing, no?
So it's really what the two ordinances,
it's the ordinances that we must have
public art in the city.
All right.
So another big document in your attachments
is the Public Art Strategic Plan.
I don't know if you've had a moment to look for this,
but it's kind of this, this is what really guides us
on what the goals are, how we meet those goals,
who's responsible for what, it kind of breaks down
the different parts of the Public Art Program.
So the purpose of the Public Art Strategic Plan
is to support, grow the public art program
while engaging the community,
attracting others to our community
and building their awareness of the value,
diversity and benefit of the arts in Walnut Creek.
Does anybody have any questions about the strategic plan?
No, it was kind of a long document in there.
Kind of breaks different goals down.
Is a strategic plan something that you and your team
are regularly looking at?
Yeah, we do look at it.
And I think that, you know, so it's
kind of like a working document because as things are completed
or they stay on the list, you know,
it's kind of a document that's always kind of evolving.
It's such a big list.
It's really, when you see all the different pages,
I'm just kind of in awe of how much is in there.
Yeah, it's huge.
All right, so we talked about this before,
of the Arts Commission's role, kind of bouncing over,
but the Arts Commission advises the City Council
on programs that enhance artistic aesthetic
and cultural quality of life in the city
and contribute to the local economy.
The Arts Commission guides implementation
of the Public Art Program and the Public Art Master Plan.
So being familiar with that,
that document kind of helps clarify the role that you play.
I have a question.
Just in terms of guidance on this document,
there's year one, year two, or year three
for each of the strategic plan areas.
So what did those year one, two, and three
refer to in calendar years?
Good question.
So I believe that that was based off
of when it was first drafted,
and it was kind of like, here are the main priority goals
to take care of in the first year,
the second year, the third year,
and some of these things have stayed on the list,
some of, you know, for longer,
I mean, because I think that it was drafted in 2017?
2016, and then in 2018?
Yeah.
And so then that would mean that this,
when we look at year one, two, and three,
We're just a couple of years behind here because we had COVID and all of that.
Correct.
Correct.
All right.
Just so things are just going to stay on the list until...
Until we get it right.
Until we get it right.
One of the things that we're contemplating is when this initiated, there were a couple
of arts commissioners that were very passionate about establishing a strategic plan.
And so yes, this was all done pre-COVID, and so there's an opportunity now for perhaps
another iteration of this to occur,
which is you have a public art committee.
There may be others, you know, of you
who are interested in driving this.
We haven't gotten that far, but this may be worthwhile
as we get into the next year or the next fiscal year
to determine is this a document
that's worth revisiting?
And so perhaps as we get into the new year,
you know, you rotate and you have a new chair
and other things, you're all still gonna be here.
But that might be something we contemplate
for the next year is do we wanna take another look at this
and do something different?
because this feels like a different era in 2016, 17, 18.
So we appreciate the question,
and we have not determined whether this is something
that we can fully dive into making major modifications,
but there may be things that we take this document
and tweak it and make it more current.
And so we're open to that.
And so happy to hear your questions
or your thoughts about that.
So then the last document and, well, not the last,
the almost last, another attachment
is the public art review checklist,
is a super long, again, checklist, but I guess it's really because every public art project
is really different and so there are different things to take into consideration with each
project that is installed.
It's a comprehensive checklist.
It serves as a guide to ensure that the public art is installed only after all of the relevant
factors have been thoroughly considered.
It includes an evaluation of both the site where the work is going, in addition to the
artwork itself, ensuring thoughtful and well-informed decision-making process in the art installation
and acquiring process.
Some key factors that are highlighted in this big checklist are placement within the site,
safety audience, the site activation, fabrication, maintenance, design,
lighting, and of course budget. So it's a it's a great checklist for the the Arts
Commission to review. Alright. Yeah. How does that checklist actually use? Do you
fill it out and we talk about it? How does it actually work when you're
Yes, great question. Yes, so for example when we get to a point where there is a
proposal of a public art project these will be this is a checklist to go down
to look at what the artist is proposing to help decide if it's something that
is meeting all this criteria in order to fit into the site. I don't know if Kevin
if you have something you want to... Well, I think Mr. Magnanti's question was, is that
something that you fill out as staff, or is that something commissioners do? Oh, thank
you. Yeah, so it's something commissioners do. I think we, well, we all do it. Yeah,
we all do it. Just in the past, what we've done is we look
through it to help us, to guide us in the questions that we ask, when the artist is
before us, or when staff is providing information about the art or about the project. So it's
more guidance for us, but nobody really fills it out.
It's just for ourselves.
Commissioner Magnani, I also fill it out
when I get my package on the prior week
and I see what art is up for discussion
and I'll get out one of these checklists
and I actually will go through each part of it
and make a note to have a question about this.
Does it meet the criteria we want?
And then it's great to build and ask questions
at the Following Arts Commission meeting
based on the research that I've done
a couple of days beforehand.
So it's a really great guideline for commissioners
to know if the art that's being presented
meets all the requirements that we want to meet.
Oh yeah, with the project at Heather Farms,
we'll be able to kind of use the tool
and see how it works for you.
Perfect, I was just gonna say that.
You're gonna get to use it pretty soon.
So thank you for that question.
I do have on here staff role also,
that's also indicated in the agenda reports.
So staff is responsible for overseeing public art program
development, installation, and maintenance,
which includes the municipal and private development projects
that are generated by the city's public art ordinance here.
So we just talked about the public art checklist,
which you'll have an opportunity to use coming up
a couple of months.
And last on the agenda is Public Art Fund.
And the city, we discussed it briefly before,
but the city maintains a public art fund
for private development projects
where public art enhancement is required.
And then on the last page, there is an example,
I think it's in here, yeah.
This was the budget from the last two,
so from fiscal year 24 and fiscal year 25.
And we were hoping you would look at this and review
and make recommendations at the next meeting for city council.
We would imagine we would carry forward the projects that
were not realized in this fiscal year cycle.
And of course we're open to suggestions and questions.
Do you want the questions now or later?
You can ask questions now.
So for the murals program, the $30,000,
we allotted for the public private matching fund.
I remember that a card was provided to us,
which was great and I passed it around to all my friends
and family and my neighborhood.
But I was also looking for a link that's directly
on the city's website and the only,
it's only mentioned in the Bedford website.
So I'm wondering if when people are looking
for this information, I would naturally go
to the city's website to see what the city is sponsoring
and not necessarily the Bedford website,
if that makes sense.
So could, the real question is,
could we do more marketing about that program?
Marketing that doesn't cost us any money,
like what I just mentioned, put it on the city's website.
So that's one question.
And then of course, what other marketing efforts
can we make to get the word out that we have this program
that is excellent, not many cities have it,
and for people who own commercial buildings in town,
this would be a fantastic idea to increase the views
and hopefully the value of their own properties
through our program.
Right, thank you for your questions.
I believe that it, and I could be wrong,
I haven't checked lately,
but I believe that it is listed on the city's website
under maybe opportunities or grants,
maybe I'm misremembering,
but it is a great suggestion to add it somewhere
where it's more visible for maybe people
that aren't specifically looking for art already.
I don't know if anybody else
has any thoughts about that, but yeah.
I'm gonna see if anybody in the back of the chamber
might be able to look it up and let us know if it's located
in appropriate places on the website.
You'll look it up and let us know.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, the people behind you are going to look it up.
The very back.
And then your next question, yes.
I think that it's just going to take, it's like staff time
that we haven't really had of going out and kind of taking
walks and drives to look at buildings that have empty walls
and then just reaching out to those specific buildings
or building owners in the city
to let them know that we have this program.
But yeah, I do think it's an awesome program
and we haven't had any real bites on it.
So I'm with you, it would be great
if we did have a bigger marketing effort
or something to get the word out.
I know we're looking at putting out a request
for new murals for Duncan Arcade
and potentially just kind of could piggyback on that.
Also a great idea.
A great request.
Carolyn Jackson, Lesher Center General Manager,
just confirming that it is not easy to find
on the city's website.
So we will be addressing that between Elizabeth and I,
and we'll also have our Lesher Center marketing team
along with Elizabeth put their brains together
to see how else we can get the word out.
Superb, thank you.
All right, and I think I heard your question accurately
and we have not put out a call yet for, yeah.
Any other?
Oh, just a couple of questions about the items on the budget
just so I know what we're talking about.
The Landmark Signature Sculpture, what is that?
Is that a thing or something we're thinking about doing?
so it's not, it was something.
So the funds from that have,
so I don't know how far back I want to backtrack,
but those funds have been set aside
and they will now go toward funding
the Heather Farm Park Public Art Project
so that we're making it a bigger splash, right?
But thanks.
we were considering a signature piece, perhaps,
for that location as well, is right.
So, I mean, the definition of signature piece,
it's kind of a thing of like,
what becomes a signature piece?
It's like, for example, we can say,
it's something that just happens kind of organically, right?
It's like, you never know.
And for example, let's say Fountainhead,
I don't think it was put in at the time and thinking like,
oh, this will be a signature piece.
And now somehow it's just become this symbol
in Walnut Creek, everybody knows this fountain head.
And they all name it what they want to name it.
So it's kind of the art takes on its own.
So Commissioner McNally, thank you for the question.
We should update the table when we come to you in January.
So what Mariah was referring to is in chapter seven,
I think of the Munich code that has the ordinance
that says for public development, public projects,
We're also subject to the 1% contribution to public art.
1% of the construction costs at the time
the budget was developed was about $500,000.
This is about a $50 million project construction wise.
The Arts Commission felt that this was an opportunity
to do something bigger and better.
And so the commission approved that 400 and change
to be added to the contribution for the project.
So it's about a $980,000 roughly.
Thank you, budget for public arts at Heather Farm, which we'll talk about as we come back
to in January.
So it was adding to what was already a substantial budget of about $500,000 to make it close
to a million.
And so there's the feeling that we can do more with that.
It may be one piece.
It may be several pieces, but that's the opportunity that the commission felt at the time was,
hey, we can do something signature or otherwise with this at that site.
that may or may not be integral to the Center itself? It would be, it'll be
either part of that project or within Heather Farm Park in a very visible and
public way. So yes, that's a good question and you'll learn more in January.
Great, thank you. Thank you. I had a question in regards to the contingency
20%. Can you explain what that is? Is that like a rainy day fund? Great
question. Under sub-totals. I guess it is like a rainy day fund. Yes, Kevin would
know more. Well it's meant, right, so as with most construction projects there's a
we don't know aspect of it, right? You're an artist and you think, oh it's this
budget and it's more. And so that's meant to be for each of the projects above is
about a 20% contingency you can have for each one. And so that's just meant to be a
little bit of a buffer if things are beyond our control and or we want to do
this or there was an additional engineering piece of that so um it's meant just like any other
construction project to be yes that I wouldn't call it a rainy day find I'd call it more of a
in the event of unforeseen circumstances we will use that contingency for one of the projects about
that potentially one more um for the yes let's see the mural matching fund of 30k in 2324 and
and then Duncan arcade in 24 25 at 33 six have either of those those have not been spent
down at all so would we be going into 25 26 with like 60 plus thousand in mural opportunities
if that's right yes like if that's what the recommendation is do we get to roll those
things over or City Council makes the if we didn't spend it do they they can kind
of right and see where they need to fill in the gaps kind of thing like what
happens with those programs if they didn't happen this year well I feel like
good evening commissioners Emily enters Bedford Gallery Curator so the public
art fund is separate and independent from the general fund so whereas if you
don't use all your general fund dollars at the end of a fiscal year they do go
back into the general fund budget that gets reallocated depending on what City
Council approves for that fiscal year the public art fund is completely
independent of that and those funds remain in the fund until they're spent
specifically for public art projects whether that's the creation of new public
art projects or maintenance or any other you know like marketing or things like
that crop up. We haven't done any of the mural matching or... Correct. Okay. Right.
So, if depending on the recommendation that we receive from you or the
direction we receive from you tonight, we will reallocate funds, you know,
according to all of the project priorities that you have, and we'll
bring you a proposed budget in January. Thank you, Emily. Thank you. Any other
questions about the budget? I think it's a question I guess are we if we make no
decisions tonight about changing the budget allocations are you ready to go
out to the public with these RFQs for the Duncan arcade and the garage to
Luscious in a garage? These are things that we would like to have as goals for
for the spring time.
Okay.
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Oh.
Yes, just to follow up on that, that's correct.
And we're still in this current fiscal year.
And so there's an opportunity before the end of June,
if there's a proposal or request to have a matching,
a match to a proposal for a mural,
then we have that option to do that this current year.
Right?
And so that may happen for a match, right?
But it's unlikely, let me ask staff,
is it unlikely we're going to do the Duncan arcade
or the garage mural this fiscal year?
Yeah, I mean.
Okay.
How many city buildings or structures do we have
where we would consider put,
or is on our list to put murals on?
Do you mean city owned?
Or city controlled or city owned, yes.
That is a good question
And I don't have a number.
I don't have buildings in mind, or walls.
I ask that because some of these,
like the Dunkin' Arcade murals, they look pretty fresh still.
And it seems to me, and I don't have the numbers,
that we would have plenty other walls to put murals on.
So would it be possible to take our funds
and allocate it to walls that have not had a mural on them?
And can we look at it that way?
Because I, like for example, really love the garage mural
and I know it's been there for so long,
But why take it away and put something else there
when we have other walls that potentially could be wonderful?
The garage mural you're referring to
is at the Josh Key's.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that piece is looking a little.
I mean, it's been there a really long time.
And that one's a little tired.
So that was why that was on the list as for a refresh.
But you're correct, the Dunkin' Arcade.
That's, I think, because it's so covered in that alleyway.
It's really held up.
And so it's painful to think about replacing those ones.
So there is also a vintage character
to murals that are well done.
And along the spectrum of time, people
look at murals with a different set of eyes,
more from a nostalgic standpoint.
So for people who grew up in Walnut Creek,
when it always were in and out of that garage,
it might, you know, that might be a mural that,
although it looks old, it's great that it is old
because it's proof that we've been having
very successful art pieces.
I'm not trying to argue,
I'm just trying to get us to think about
maybe we should put our eggs in a different basket
and like increase or opportunity for art that that's it.
I appreciate that.
I mean, it would be great to see more murals on,
I don't have any buildings in mind,
none are popping into my mind at the moment.
I'm open to suggestions.
Do this from from staff.
This is why we're here tonight.
We wanna hear your thoughts.
And so when you conclude your questions,
we'll come back to you at the end of this discussion
and see what thoughts you have for us
so we can come back to you again in January
with a recommendation, so this is helpful.
Well, since you brought it up,
I'm kind of curious about this whole concept
of putting a mural up for a few years
and then doing a new mural in its place.
I tend to think of murals as more or less permanent.
So I guess my question is,
is there a plan like when we commission a mural,
is that with the understanding
that it's gonna last a certain period of time
or is that decision made as time passes?
So murals are technically considered temporary art
with an idea that the last five years,
depending on the site where they are,
depending on the amount of exposure they have to the sun
or the elements or if they're dirty or graffitied.
So that's kind of that answer, that, yes.
I mean, it would be great if some of them were permanent
and then permanent with murals.
I would think that maybe if they could have a 20-year lifespan
or a 25-year, that would be great.
It's a little different than something else
in a different medium.
I think that in the past, because times were different
when we first came up with the murals program,
I think your characterization
of what a mural is supposed to be is right on.
but I think we need to revisit that point
because different times.
Thank you.
Are there any other questions from commissioners?
Does any member of the public
wish to provide public comments at this time?
Does any member of the public wish
to provide comment at this time?
I think she.
Good evening, I'm Barbara Charon.
I'm a relatively new member of the community.
I'm originally from New Jersey.
I moved out here a couple of years ago to be with my family.
So I'm trying to understand how things work here
a little bit.
The definition of a professional artist.
Is that somebody who, that's their primary source of income?
Or somebody who simply sells things from time to time
and may have another profession besides that?
That's a number, that's my first question.
And my second question is do you solicit these projects?
you commission them, or do people come to you and ask you, can I do something for you?
Thank you.
Let's see if there-hold on, hold on.
Are there any other public comments before we answer a couple of questions?
So, typically, what we do when there's a question of the public for the commission, we turn
to the chair and see if the chair would like staff to respond and make this more formal
than it needs to be, but that's the process.
Chair, would you like staff to respond to those questions?
Yes, please, staff, thank you.
We'd be happy to.
All right, thank you for your questions.
I will attempt to answer what makes,
I mean, that's a tricky question,
what makes, what defines a professional artist,
and I don't know, I don't know how to answer that
the right way, I think Emily would be better,
best to answer that, because, right,
there are a couple of, hi again.
Yeah, that is a very excellent question.
So when we mean professional artists,
that artist should have a portfolio.
Doesn't necessarily mean that they need to be
a well-established artist, but they should have
a body of work that represents their practice
and their commitment to their practice.
We live in the Bay Area, and so being a full-time artist
is not really feasible for a lot of people,
and so it might not be their primary earning job,
but it should be a large portion of where they spend
their time and how they are and operate in the world.
So we do a series of different types of calls.
So we, for Heather Farm, which we have been talking about
kind of a lot this evening,
that was an RFQ and an RFP process.
So we definitely, we put the word out to the art world
and ask people to apply for that particular job.
When we do murals, we usually have a short list of artists
that we develop a smaller list from.
And then we have an artist selection panel,
which is composed of an arts commissioner,
a city council member, community member,
and an arts professional and staff.
And then we go through those artists
and then that panel will select artists
and recommend to the arts commission
that they approve the artists for the job.
Well, at this point, staff would like to hear
if there's any additional either questions
from the commissioners about everything that you saw,
or if there's any comments you'd like to make
that'll help us.
Monica, can you pull up the budget again?
Sorry.
If there's any comments you'd like us to take under advisement
as we come back to you in January
with the more specific budget proposal.
As an overview, Mariah, it's just a beautiful presentation.
I love the new photographs.
Thank you for putting Net's mural in the presentation,
but it was just so easy to follow and to read,
so thank you for your presentation.
Thank you.
I've got a couple.
Is that okay?
It was great to kind of run down things
and look at the budget again
and have this conversation just about
how we bring more art and diverse voices to Walnut Creek.
I think what I've experienced the last couple years
learning from the commission is this budget is great
and I'm all for as many dollars
going into artists' pocket as possible,
but there is a capacity issue
on running these programs inside the city.
Your staff is so small and mighty and great,
but are these the right priorities
given the capacity and how you're structured?
So in order to make a program for 30K work,
what do you need to actually set aside
so that there's space and time
so that money can be spent down.
Or thinking about these few different kind
of mural initiatives against something really large
like Heather Farms, which is gonna be
a much more established artist, likely.
Do you wanna spend murals on growing
an emerging artist portfolio here in the city?
Are there muralists or local artists
that might wanna work with a younger artist
so that we can kind of merge these things together.
Because I think with a project like Heather Farms
being so great, the majority of your capacity
is likely going to be there.
And I know how much I love murals as a resident,
but like, how do you balance those things
and what does that need to look like in the budget
for those things to happen?
Maybe it's not five murals at 5K each, dah, dah, dah.
It's actually three murals this year or two
and we need to set aside a portion of money
so that we can advertise on social,
have it running digitally,
and somebody's actually calling these places and scouting,
because all of that felt like a really large task list
for people managing galleries
and million-dollar public art projects at the same time.
So that was a big thing for me,
and I do think as a commission,
we can help shape some of the narrative
around even these smaller buckets of money,
what kinds of artists,
how we might be opening the door to new voices,
or bringing back folks that are more seasoned
to work with young artists, even in our local schools.
All of that takes fun coordination.
Thank you.
Yeah, I think that that's what this discussion is for,
to decide do we wanna,
I don't know if it would be a reallocation
or maybe creating a new priority
or a new goal in shifting some of that
to create these programs, but again,
and then trying to envision how we would see them
come to life.
May I ask a question?
So these suggestions will then,
Will you guys come back and maybe set us up
in like subcommittees or some committee
to help you figure out where, you know,
where our new priority areas may go.
Like how to, like are you gonna take our suggestions
and then come back on the next meeting
and tell us what you decided
or are we gonna participate in making those decisions?
I think it would be helpful if there was some participation
and we have the public art committee for this reason
to kind of flesh out these ideas
and see what they look like
or how we would implement them.
Emily, have a few.
Yes, Commissioner Clauber,
you have the public art committee for this purpose
and that would be our intent,
is to take something there
and then come to the full commission for sure.
So yes, you will be involved.
So this is the first step of that.
So it's this step, public art committee,
and then we'll come back to you in January
we take the council. Okay, looking forward to the invitation. Thank you. And we are okay with hearing
your thoughts tonight about how you feel about murals because we're hearing staffs hearing some
different thoughts about should we be replacing versus looking at doing other murals in other
places or reinvesting that money and so I'm happy to hear your thoughts about that. Yeah, if
Commissioner Balthazar's, you know, it's good to have different commissioners insights so that
you can then figure out, okay, well, this is the path forward.
If what she commissioned Matt Balthazar had said
was a motion, I would have to second it.
I think it's incredible what the staff does
with their right and left hand, basically.
They're very little.
So yeah, I think it's realistic to reconsider everything
that they have to do so that we do the things
that are on their plate super well.
Yeah, we're not looking for a motion tonight,
although if you want to make a motion
that staff is doing a great job, we'd be happy to do that.
But this, just again, from commissioners.
In your individual capacity, your thoughts are happily heard
and appreciated, especially if one of you
were actually an artist who's done murals before,
we might welcome their thoughts too.
I'll look at that.
Yes, hi, I'm one of the artist commissioners here
who happen to be, who have a mural
in the city of Walnut Creek.
So you can go tomorrow if you like
and see my mural in the children's corner
of the library in the lower level.
And what I want to say to that was,
it was my first mural.
I am not a mural artist, but I am now.
Because of the experience that I had, it was wonderful.
I am a professional artist,
so it was an easy transition to do a mural.
So I do believe that you don't necessarily
have to have mural artists to do these works,
depending on what their capacities are,
and I think that's why we vet them,
is to see if they are able to carry on the work
and execute it, because it's not an easy thing to do.
But I want to say, though, that I
love that the city of Wanna Creek
gives these opportunities for all levels of artists.
Having said that, I hope that my mural stays there longer
than just a few years.
But I think one thing maybe we can keep in mind
as we're looking for artists is having either a nostalgic
or any of these things are a thing with murals,
which they are, people get attached to them
and it's a thing and it's a beautiful way
to celebrate the city.
So maybe part of our criteria could be
looking for things that are not trendy,
possibly having the artist tinker through
and something that's lasting in the classic sort of you know just putting maybe a speck
of some sort as part of the vetting process so that we don't have to have these conversations
just something to consider. Thank you Commissioner Tesfaye. I also think it would be helpful and I
don't know if this is the place to do it for us to know how much capacity you actually have or don't
have to take on a more active role in the mural process?
Because if 100% of your time is being spent on the Heather Farms
project and also maintaining the collection that we have,
you have 0% time to be working on murals.
So I suppose that's important for us
to know of how we dry this if Mariah even
has bandwidth to take any of this on.
Well, I think that it's, you know, these projects are,
everything kind of comes and goes.
It's like we had to hurry and, you know,
drafting the RFQ was a lot of work
and getting through all of that,
speaking about Heather Farm Park.
So that's why we were kind of envisioning,
okay, I'll probably, in the springtime,
once the artist has, or artists, plural,
have been decided on, that will be well underway
and then I will have more room in my schedule
to visit murals, and so that's why we were envisioning,
okay, we can probably put a call out in the spring.
Thank you for being considerate of my schedule.
I'll continue sharing.
Okay, as you think about capacity and priorities
around murals, here are the things
that I've been going through in my mind.
One, when I look at these numbers,
It's like, ooh, better than nothing.
So I wanna be mindful that there's abundance
and not scarcity, like these monies
aren't the end of mural monies.
But with that said, thinking about 25 and Heather Farms,
I like what's in Duncan Arcade.
I think it's beautiful.
It is holding up really well.
So a part of me is like, oh, save it and spread.
But I'm curious about the exercise
of changing those murals.
It's a tighter area.
It seems like production and collaboration
of installation is actually manageable.
Like, is that the better play?
And then you actually know what it takes
to change them over.
And so then it is a process,
and that could get you set on a trajectory
of those get renewed every three to five years.
So it's ephemeral to an extent.
And then the longer term play,
the mural matching is so cool,
but I just, we need a map, we need a scout,
we need somebody doing some biz dev with these buildings
because we don't want, I mean, it's like,
Massimo's side wall in front of Leisure Center,
it's begging for a mural,
but there's plenty of other places in the city too.
So I'm just like, how do we get the squeeze and the juice?
I don't know, whatever the saying is.
But I'm just, I'm a little bit concerned about
how we actually bring murals online,
take them down and do it again as a practice.
to then know what capacity truly is for all these things,
including the budgeting.
I mean, it's a great question or concern or consideration.
And the thing is, is that every mural will be different.
Every, like you're saying, so Dunkin' Arcade,
it's been done once.
It was blank walls being turned into murals.
I mean, logistically speaking, you're right.
It's a small area.
I think that's a lot more manageable than say,
The one that Nigel Sussman just completed out at Tice Valley.
So it's kind of a hard question to answer.
Because without, I don't know, every project
is just going to be different.
So I guess I don't have a real solid answer.
But yeah, sure, these are things to take into consideration.
I think it's like all public art, not just murals,
but everything.
Every project is so different that it's kind of hard.
You can kind of guesstimate.
And then there is that contingency of,
and especially with murals and outdoor art,
of weather and rain.
And there's just a lot of different variables
that can sidetrack or delay a project that's outdoors.
And then, of course, Nat, to your point,
indoor murals will last longer, inside the library.
It's protected from the elements.
So that could be a longer-term mural.
Well, we were introduced to the checklist a little while ago, and that's a very elaborate checklist for selecting
works and sites. I wonder if you have a checklist for this process of
regenerating murals.
I'm not sure I understand your question. Well, how did you decide that
Duncan
needed to be redone in the Leisure Garage?
So I think that well Duncan was before my time here, but I mean Emily has an answer
Hi there
So some of you were actually on the commission when we introduced Duncan arcade
And we had always envisioned that as a rotating sculpture or sorry not sculpture rotating mural
Area, and so we we modeled it after
Clarion alley in the city and that those murals get swapped out very rapidly
So we put those murals up, and now five years in,
they look great.
And so now we are reconsidering what that rotating timeline
looks like we were going to do every other year.
So by now we would have had three different iterations
of those murals, but because they've lasted so well,
you know, we are trying to be cognizant of our budget.
And because they look really good,
we decided not to move forward
with that quickly rotating timeline that we had.
So it's kind of a question to the commission as well.
Do you want to keep that area as a rotating mural area?
If so, how many years, given that we
know that they last a pretty long time there
and we don't have a lot of graffiti that happens?
Or do you want to make those a longer term, more committed
area?
That's kind of a question that we have for you as staff, too,
because that will help us with budget development.
the Lusher Garage mural, that was just an interest
that staff shared with the Arts Commission
and that they agreed on two years ago
because that mural is quite old
and we thought that that would be a great opportunity
for a refresh and to give an artist an opportunity
to put a mural up here.
Doesn't mean it has to go away,
but that was our thinking behind that.
So I would add for the Duncan Arcade,
the thinking was it's an opportunity
for other artists to come in, maybe newer ones,
to have their space here,
because those are five, six?
Five.
Five.
So five new artists to come into Walnut Creek
and have their work displayed for one, two, three,
however many years.
And so that's a philosophical question
from the commission.
So what we're hearing is there's interest
on the part of the commission to not just do
what the Arts Commission settled on a couple years ago,
but to bring you some options there.
And then ultimately, this can be your recommendation
to the city council as to how you want the public art fund
to be allocated in the next budget cycle.
And so again, I'm not looking for answers this evening,
but over the next couple months,
you'll be thinking about this
and what's changed in your minds.
For those of you who've been there for a while,
or those of you who are new, what should murals be?
What should they be representing
as an opportunity for new artists
or should they be there for a while
because we like them, right?
And so those are good, frankly,
policy discussion to have at this level.
and so this has been a good discussion,
but more questions.
I have one more question about this budget.
So for the general fund contribution from city council,
my understanding, I saw somewhere that we in 2023,
it was 10,000, am I correct?
I think it was 10,023 and then 12, five and 24.
Okay, and then does that get put into this total
that we're looking here?
Is that, would that be correct too?
It would.
This budget is for FY24-25, so that was not,
we didn't know, cause it's up to the city council's
discretion how much money they give.
It's a minimum 10 and upwards of 50.
Which you would love.
But so every year it's a differing amount,
depending on general fund support.
So this budget that we developed in 24 and 25,
I assumed I think that we would get 10,000 a year.
So we got a little bit more in FY 24.
Okay, but because it's a forward,
but we're trying to create a budget for the coming years,
then would you make that assumption
just based on what they've allotted to us
to the general fund before, and not the $50,000.
And why can't we think about $50,000?
Well, part of your job as an arts commissioner
is to be an advocate for our programming.
So if you would like to say hello,
which I do appreciate all the advocacy that you do do for us.
But part of that advocacy could look something
like talking to your city council about the contribution
that they do make to the public art fund.
Thank you.
Yes.
True.
And you're asking, as we project what that budget will be,
staff will be working with staff
from the city manager's office
and the finance department to identify
what's the condition of the general fund?
How healthy is it?
What's their sense as to what they'll be recommending
to the full council for their allocation
to the public art fund?
So we'll know that as we get farther into the spring.
The other piece of what the budget will be,
is we are continuing to get in lieu contributions
to the public art fund.
So this budget will be increasing,
even though there's ins and outs, right?
So there'll be increases through developers
who chose not to put public art on site,
but there's also expenditures,
like the signature art piece will be allocated
to Heather Farms that won't appear here.
So there'll be changes that you see,
in some cases significant,
other cases relatively minor, to the number.
And so, at this point, we're just looking more philosophically what your interests are
generally around what you'd like to see rather than the actual dollar amount, but it's still
helpful.
Yeah, that's really helpful.
So then thinking about Heather Farms and how large that project is and important to the
for all of us, at this point has anyone thought to create an actual budget beyond what we
have in here? Do you know where I'm going with this? Like what's the reality versus
what we have and how can we achieve that? Reality in terms of, or dream for Heather
farms how do we make what we have planned for Heather farms really come
together in a realistic budget versus the relatively small amount of funds
that we have so Heather farm that project budget has already been
allocated so it's nine hundred and fifty three thousand dollars in some change
and so that is the set project budget for that particular project so that is
what we're working with in is almost a million dollars,
which is substantial for the city of Walnut Creek.
And we know that we will get what we were looking for
out of that project budget.
Am I answering your question?
The other piece that may come is we don't know
specifically where the arts can be located.
And so let's say the Arts Commission approved
a number of site options, right?
Let's say that the artists that are recommended
by the selection panel and the artists
and the sites that are selected
by the Arts Commission are all exterior.
But the Arts Commission and staff believe
that there should be an opportunity for us
to pursue murals inside the building.
That might be something we come back to in January
or even later in the spring and say,
would the Arts Commission like to recommend a council
that some of the public art fund go toward a mural,
for example, inside the building?
And so we won't know that yet until January
when we come to you with the ideas
around public art at Heather Farm.
And so it's a little bit chicken and egg until we know
specifically where the public art is going to land at Heather
to know what else we may want to do there.
And so appreciate the question.
And we'll know as we go through this process,
what's going to be the 953,000,
and then what other opportunities
the building has built that we can explore.
And off of that, like so if we spend
or budgeted amount for Heather Farms,
How long does it typically take for us to get,
refill or path balance?
Sure, so that really is dependent on developer fees.
And that is of course dependent on the economy.
And so, in any given year,
we're not exactly sure how much money
we might get into the fund.
And we have some estimates, of course,
we look at historical data,
like, you know, that we feel comfortable projecting
those estimates of what will come into the fund.
But then we had a year like 2020, right?
And so that kind of, you know,
obviously changed the trajectory of what we were looking at.
But the public art fund is, you know,
receives a substantial fund from in lieu fees every year.
Okay, yeah, I mean, regardless of 2020,
we still had a boom in real estate development, right?
Even that year, if I'm not mistaken.
No argument, just a statement.
Thank you.
Commissioners, any other comments or questions
before we move on?
I had a quick question with the Duncan mural project.
When it's time to renew them,
are they all, is the idea to renew them at the same time,
or do we sort of look at to see what's new,
what's fresh and what needs to be revamped?
And is that something we can assess
and we don't necessarily have to use all of the budget
for that since not every art piece needs to be replaced?
How do we look at that?
So our original intent was to have them rotate
at five at a time.
So if we were going based on our original design,
it would mean that all five get painted over.
But that's, again, we're looking to the Arts Commission
tonight for feedback and direction on that.
If that's not what you envision for that space anymore,
we are happy to work that into the budget moving forward.
Because some of the murals you write might deteriorate faster,
and those would need to be replaced
while others could stay up for longer.
So I'm going to summarize what I think I heard and Mariah and Emily can join in.
I think the bulk of your discussion around murals, so when we come back to you in January,
that may be some things we modify here.
So questions are, should we retain the existing murals or replace them, either in whole or
in part?
additional money be set aside for Heather Farm beyond the $953,000.
One of the realistic mural budgets, right, for this—some is better than none, but more
is better than some, about that.
Support for new emerging artists, any other new sites, buildings for murals, and then
just a general promotion of the mural match program, marketing or otherwise.
So was there anything else that you heard?
So that's what we were looking for.
Any commissioners have any additions to Kevin's list
or corrections to it?
Thank you.
At this time, we're going to look for reports on projects.
May we please have the public art report?
Yes.
All right.
So that one moment.
All right.
So this is public art updates since our last meeting.
So this should be pretty brief.
As you may recall, in March, we removed Fountainhead, the work
by Seyetta Lavi, because it was, as you can see in the images,
in desperate need of some restoration.
It was gone for quite a while.
And now it is back.
If you haven't seen it, please go visit this piece.
The artist actually was here
because he is serving on the artist selection panel
for the Heather Farm Park project.
So he agreed to walk down with us and have his photo taken.
And actually he was super pleased
with how the work turned out.
So that was nice.
It's always nice when you have an artist
that is happy with the work that's been done.
So that is that.
And you may recall that pinstripes,
They did an elective art project on their exterior wall.
This is on main, this is what used to be,
or actually this is like Broadway Plaza.
This is what used to be Crate and Barrel.
And they are also subject to the percent for art fee
because this is an elective project
which does not meet the public art requirement.
So we can expect that they will be paying the in lieu fee
into the public art fund.
So there's some budget promise for the fiscal year.
I have a question about that.
The difference between expectations
and that's the rule.
So are they paying or not?
Yes, so they are paying.
Yes, and that is, I mean, it's a good question.
It's always something that is sometimes confusing
to developers.
Right.
But they are paying.
And they have not given us any grief about it.
So yeah.
And yes?
So did their art that they put up
have any oversight by you?
Yes.
So the Public Art Committee did see the initial design
by the artist or the sketch that the artist had done.
abstracted landscape or abstracted kind of floral pieces.
So those were reviewed.
Is this not?
I think by none of us,
it must have been prior arts commissioners.
Oh, you know what?
It was the Small Projects Committee.
I'm sorry.
Okay.
Those also must have been other arts commissioners.
Who's on that?
May have been Jane and-
At the time it was Anne and Skye.
Yeah.
Oh, Skye.
Okay, thank you.
No longer here, yeah, so, and again, it's elective art.
So we don't have a huge amount of say in it,
but they did see the design and it's fairly,
it's pretty close to, it was pretty close
to her renderings, the artist's renderings.
Is there an artist like a?
Yeah, her name is Charity,
I'm not sure how to pronounce it, Gangal or?
No.
Oh, yeah.
at the bottom, I see it now, thank you.
So it's enamel paint on hardy board,
and I guess hardy board is like a siding to a house
for an exterior project, so the hope is that it will last.
They have been painted with a clear coat of varnish
with a UV coating to hopefully mitigate any loss due to,
sun and exposure, yeah.
So then what's the difference then between elective art
and art that would satisfy the 1% requirement?
Very good question.
So elective art, so when there is a project
where there is required art, it's a threshold.
So usually, according to the Public Art Master Plan,
if the project will yield more than $50,000,
the recommendation is to implement a public art project
If it makes sense, if it's a building that can withstand
public art or a space that can withstand it,
if it's less than $50,000, the recommendation is usually
just to submit the fee to the public art fund.
With the way things are, it's hard to find public art
for under $50,000 and actually have it fabricated
and installed because it has to be original artwork.
It can't just be something off the shelf.
So, a lot of developers will decide to actually implement the public art where it makes sense.
There are cases like this where they wanted to do public art, but the artwork that they
chose to implement doesn't meet the requirement, because it's not, it doesn't meet the budget
requirement, if that makes sense.
So they chose to do this, they didn't want to spend the required amount that they would
have had to spend on art and so they're doing a little, they're doing both.
If I can piggyback on that, then this doesn't fall within the public art.
That's what we don't know about it, kind of?
Correct.
Okay.
And I say that also, I have seen something, unless you're going to cover it, down on,
by Lesher Center, the piano on the ground.
There's some artwork.
And so, as an arts commissioner, I saw that,
and I said, oh, that's great.
But I just want some clarity on, other than the budget,
from my understanding what the definitions we
have for public art, I was a bit confused.
I thought that was public art.
And I also think this is public art.
So I think it's not, it doesn't involve our committee
if it doesn't meet that threshold of the budget, correct?
I think it's a combination of the threshold
and then also in this case it's privately owned public art.
So we did see it, the committee did see it,
the special projects committee saw it
and had a say in it, but right.
And then for the piano on the ground,
does somebody want to?
Well, right, let me take a step back.
So in the master plan,
which is why we're having this conversation this evening,
the master plan and the ordinance layout,
specifically what the arts commission's role
and responsibility is.
So in this case of pinstripes,
when they had an application in with the planning department,
they are presented with, they're all your fees, right?
There are lots of fees that develop,
you have to come in.
Public art is a fee, they're given the option.
Would you like to contribute to the in lieu fund
or do you want to put hard on site?
They said, we want to contribute to in lieu
and we also want to do, above and beyond that,
hard installations, and if you go to their building,
they actually have some other sculptural elements
in the front there.
There's like a corkscrew and some other things.
Their choice.
So, to the extent that we had the ability to review these,
the small projects committee looked at that
and then we provided reports and updates to you
throughout the last several months.
And so, John Muir did something similar
where there was a specific requirement they had for 1%.
They put art on site, and then some, right?
They did more than that, which is great.
So just like this, you wanna do more
than what's required of you?
Absolutely.
So that's kind of the genesis of this specific project.
And then staff was involved in that.
From these items, we didn't review the corkscrew
or the other things that I think were put on the front.
And then with the Locust Street project,
that wasn't a public arts expectation.
there was no 1% contribution there from that,
because that was just an improvement to the street.
We don't require the engineering staff
to contribute public art to street improvements.
We just said, hey, while you're at it,
if you could add this element,
which is still within the traffic safety requirements,
right, black and white and lines,
and then, because we've seen this in other cities,
would you be willing to put this down?
And they said yes.
And so it wasn't public art per se,
but it was a way to enhance what happens
at the Lesher Center through a project.
So that's something that, looking back,
we probably should have said, hey, by the way,
this is coming, and you'll see this on Locust Street.
But it wasn't within your purview
because it wasn't that 1% contribution,
they just chose to do it.
Because they were gonna put the pavement markings anyway
for the crosswalk, they just did this differently.
And so, some of these are gray areas, right?
Where staff is involved in some, not involved in others.
As long as they're meeting the requirements of the 1%,
either through art on site or through the public art fund
in lieu contribution, then we're satisfied.
But as we go forward, as these opportunities come up,
we'll be bringing more to you as freedom,
at least be aware of, if not be reviewing.
Does that clarify, does that answer the question?
About, okay, let me think.
So we have what's coming up.
Heather Farm Park Aquatic Community Center
Public Art Project, this is just a brief review
of the timeline that we've been working on.
July 2024, the Arts Commission approved sites for artwork
in and around the park and the new building.
Those sites are what the artists
are now gonna be working with.
We don't know what they're going to propose.
In September, we met with the artist selection panel
and they conducted artist applicant interviews
with 10 different artist teams.
After those interviews, there was discussion
and voting, and they arrived at five artist teams
to create proposals.
These artists are working on their proposals now.
There was one other meeting with the architects
where the five artist teams were present,
and they asked all of their very technical,
logistical questions of the architects,
questions that we, as staff, can't really answer,
and so it was great that the architects were available
to answer all of their questions,
and that will help them create their proposals.
Some artists have chosen to come out
and see the site on their own.
I did FaceTime tours for a couple of them
who could not make it in person.
They are working on their proposals.
The artist selection panel will reconvene
in December and the five artist teams
will present to us on Zoom.
After that, it is up to the artist selection panel
to make a recommendation to the commission
on which artists or artists,
depending on which they think
after looking at their proposals and their budgets
and taking into consideration
many different elements and features,
which artists they would like to have present to you
as a commission.
That will take place at the January meeting.
So that is still to be determined
how many artists will actually present
at the January meeting.
And then fabrication and installation will come later.
That obviously goes along with the building timeline,
the building itself.
Questions?
Yes, questions.
So am I understanding correctly that the committee will choose three out of these five and then
present in those three will then present to this commission for final selection? Is that right?
I don't know the answer to that. I don't know what will come after the presentations.
It would be ideal, right, if they did, if we did have at least three to present, but I don't know.
So, Sarah can weigh in too, as a member of the panel.
We're not looking for the selection panel to present you provided with options.
Like you could do, artist A, artist B, artist C, these are the recommendations from the selection panel.
These are the artists that we recommend.
It could be one, it could be two, it could be three, it could be five for that matter, right?
every, you know, let's say five artists come up with $150,000 projects, it could be five.
Unlikely. So the ones that you see will be the ones that are specifically recommended
for the project by the selection panel. So we don't, Mariah is right, we don't know the number.
It could be one that has a spectacular project for $950,000 or it could be less. And so
until we get through the process, what you will see, January is the recommendation from the panel,
but these are the artists that we think should be part of the project.
but this commission approves the final right we vote on who is the final artist correct yeah for
sure and you're unless there's an appeal to the city council which is highly unlikely um your
decision is the decision commissioner questions i just have one question i took the public art
walking tour by fountainhead and someone asked me if the artist approved the color i've said of
course. Am I correct? Because the color is phenomenal.
The artist is super happy with the color.
Yeah, that's great. Who picked the color? Did you pick it or do
you pick it?
So the original color is no longer made. And also we
selected a paint as per the recommendation of the art
conservator to use the special super, super high grade quality
paint that actually has like metal flex in it to last longer. So we were we went
for a different kind of a paint and the closest we could get to the color and so
it just was what was available and then the artist was super happy and he even
said oh I think this is better than the original. So that was a quote by him. I
I agree, I think it's an improvement on the original,
so great job.
So, thanks.
All right.
Time for an update from the Leisure Center Strategic Plan.
Just Carolyn, I think.
Good evening, commissioners.
Again, Carolyn Jackson, general manager
at the Leisure Center.
We've had a very successful kickoff to our latest seasons
for the gallery, center rep, and our headliner series,
including three headliner events just this fall.
We welcomed Chris Bodie to a sold-out crowd as our kickoff,
had a fireside chat with Rita Moreno.
That was also a fundraiser for Santa Rep
and our education programs.
And then had an audience of mostly families
for 360 All-Stars, which is an urban circus.
And so Peggy, the Diablo Regional Arts Association
executive director, and I had a great time
running around being like, we know no one here.
It's amazing.
Because a lot of the programming, of course,
with the Headliners series is to really broaden
what we're offering on our stages,
and to introduce new people to the lecture center.
So to be able to look around at an audience that
was full of a very different type of person
than what our other headliners or center rep events see
was very exciting.
This has also been the launch for the headliner series
of the Pay What You Can option.
So that has been slowly evolving over the last few years.
First was center rep offering Pay What You Can preview
performances, then the gallery moving to Pay What You Can
model last year.
And now this year we're releasing as part of the Headliner
series a subset of tickets that are also pay what you can
as we continue to increase access to great art and artists.
Coming up, we are getting ready to embark
on a critical part of the strategic plan
that has taken a little bit of a long road
to get to, which is a brand new ticketing software.
So exciting.
So tomorrow evening we have an item before council
to approve a contract with a new provider that will also
be merging our data with Diablo Regional Arts Association
so that we'll have a full picture of our patrons,
their ticket buying behavior, their interactions
with our marketing and communications,
and their donations to our various programs,
which will drastically improve our ability
to attract folks to be loyal patrons to us
and to be donors to us.
And so we're really excited about that opportunity
and the new system has a wide range of functionality
that we do not have today, a lot of opportunities
for efficiencies and streamlining and automations,
which will just mean we're able to do more and more
once we get that system set up.
And alongside that, we are partnering with a new employee
at Diablo Regional Arts Association.
They've hired a director of philanthropy
who will be supporting PEGI with fundraising initiatives.
And they bring experience in moving databases and systems
from a prior job that they had.
so they'll bring that kind of lens from the fundraising side
of how do we best implement this system
while our team will bring the ticketing
and the marketing side.
So lots of exciting things ahead
as we hopefully launch in April
with the new ticketing software
so that we're selling next season 25-26 in the new system.
Those are my updates on Strategic Plan.
Any questions for Caroline?
I have a question.
Remember the wonderful program outside of the Luscher Center
that was Hispanic?
Fiesta Cultural?
Mm-hmm.
So how often are we going to have that every year,
or are we going to have different cultures every year?
Great.
T in to future programming.
So we do have the third iteration of Fiesta Cultural
coming in June 2025.
And then we are exploring for Fall 2025 a South Asian focused
festival.
Similar concept, this mix of headliner performers
and then a free day on the plaza with a wide range
of more local performers.
And as we look to then following summer, so summer 2026,
we're exploring different options
for what a festival may look like for that year.
So we'll have done three years, essentially,
of the Latin focused festival.
We're moving into the South Asian festival.
And then by next summer, it'll be a question
of which direction we go in next for that.
And who decides that?
Like what's...
Yeah, so that's under my direction alongside with Peggy
and Matt Morrow, our Artistic Director for Center Up,
and Emily Enders, the Curator for the Gallery.
That's all part of our programming discussions
alongside input from the
Dabble Regional Arts Association Board of Directors.
When did they accept suggestions from this group here?
I always accept suggestions from this group here.
You know how to find me, including right now.
Excellent.
Thank you.
On the initiative to increase diversity and broadness of the audiences, obviously you
track attendance, but is there any way to track whether audiences are becoming more
diverse, or who's coming to what programs, or is that just too complicated?
So at this point, it's more anecdotal because it's us being on site and seeing whether the
mix of audience members looks different than at other events.
But as we move, again, into this new ticketing software, we'll have opportunity for more
robust analysis of, like, how many people here are our first-time buyer?
Or how many people here are our first-time buyer to the Headliner series?
They may have come to youth programming in the past
and now they're moving into our programming.
And there's other kind of demographic
and opportunities for surveying
that we just don't have right now in an efficient way.
So as we move ahead, we'll have better data
and better ability to track that change.
I just wanna chime in and say,
if you ever to do a survey as a city resident,
that would be a really cool thing
because we all have opinions and ideas
And I think it will be more impactful in that way.
I just want to chime in.
Carolyn, is it OK if I dive in a little bit
to the headliner series attendance on the reports?
I was just looking at the numbers.
And it looks like there were 18 headliner shows
in the last annual report, as opposed to 13
the report before that.
And attendance looks to be down overall.
It didn't look like there's any shows a year ago
that were under 50% of capacity.
And this past year, there were quite a few.
How do you and your team kind of look at this data
and decide what you're gonna do about it,
or does it not concern you that much?
Like, you know what, we're gonna put on this show,
it goes with the Bedford Gallery,
and it is what it is, on to the next one.
It's a mix.
So part of it is, this is only,
now we're in our fourth season,
if we count our first half season as the first one,
So it's a huge learning curve, right?
Moving into presenting on this scale
is a massive learning curve.
And so we're seeing over time what things are working
and what things where it was like,
wow we really thought that was gonna be a hit
and interestingly it's not.
Or I was very surprised, personally,
by the Doo Wop project selling out in like a hot second.
That was not one that I thought was gonna be
the most popular, right?
I thought it would be successful
but not the rate at which it picked up.
So we have a lot of learnings, as well as learnings
around just expenses around producing
and what the current climate is going
to be in terms of what kind of additional equipment
do we have to rent, what are the housing costs when we're
bringing in different companies.
For dance companies in particular,
we had to make a purchase of Marley Floor
in order to accommodate being a presenter in that way.
So there's a lot over time that we're trying something new,
And sometimes it's landing, and sometimes it's not.
So like 360 All-Stars.
That was trying something new, and that landed.
So that gives us some information
of what people are looking for.
But the kind of flip side of that
is some of the programming we did around Rediscovering
Native America, the exhibition at the gallery, where that was
very purposefully building components to that exhibition
that were cross-genre, that moved us
into the performing art space by drawing
on the themes of the exhibition, and we understood
that we had never presented something like this before.
So Good Medicine and All Native Comedy Night,
that had never been presented at the Lesher Center.
It had never been presented in a way that wasn't some sort
of outdoor opportunity, so it was also a learning curve
for their producer of what some of the challenges
of the messaging were about how it would be different
and what to expect, and then the panel discussion
around contemporary Native artists
working in different mediums.
We understood that that's not something
we've typically offered.
We've offered things like that at the gallery
specific to visual arts, but not so much broadening
to other art forms.
So we were not surprised that it wasn't as full
as we would have really loved it to be.
But as we're trying to reach all these new audience members
and also just let people know that we're doing something
that may be of interest to them, right?
because we've been around for 34 years now.
And some community members may not even know about us,
because we've only recently had a full-time marketing
department.
Or they looked at us in the past,
and they didn't really find something
that resonated with them.
And so they don't look in our direction right now.
So part of, too, what we're doing with the Headliner series
is trying to attract people's attention back to us.
So sometimes when we do something like a Lyle Love It,
that's a big price tag,
that's not going to see its return on ticket sales
because we're a fairly small house,
but it sees its return on attention to the center of,
wow, something like that can happen here in Walnut Creek,
and then gives us the opportunity
to promote our other activities.
Thank you, how much does a big theater,
how many people does a big theater hold?
785.
785, okay.
My other question for you
is to talk about subscribers for center rep.
I know that the Luscious Henders not alone in seeing subscriptions down and we just lost Cal Shakes is completely out of business.
And this is an issue for all extra theater companies everywhere.
How are you dealing with this kind of reduced subscription patronage?
Yeah, the theater industry continues to struggle, I think, the most coming out of the pandemic.
It's not seeing the return of audiences that other performing arts are seeing.
And they're struggling, not just center up,
but theater, the industry at large is really struggling
with a lot of major societal and cultural shifts
to how theater should be produced and funded.
So there's a lot kind of combating the theater world.
We're really very fortunate
that we have the support of the city,
that we have the support of Diablo Regional Arts Association,
that we are in a stable and strong position
despite the fact that we're experiencing
those lower subscription numbers.
And I think we're coming out of kind of the drop of that
because there was definitely right after the pandemic,
a little surge of, yay theater, like, you know,
all subscribe.
And then the following year, there was like,
but I'm actually not going to theater anymore, right?
I'm not going to subscribe.
So we saw that big drop.
And now this season, we're very pleased
to be exceeding last year's subscription count
and seeing that that is on its way back up
and that we're finding the balance
with Matt's current season
between attracting our current subscribers
and their expectations of center rep
and introducing a new artistic vision
and a new way of working,
including two world premieres in this season.
So I think we're finding that those who are sticking with us
are sticking and we're bringing in new folks
as we build up that subscriber base.
Thank you.
Everything I've been to at the Luscious Center
been excellent. So I'm frustrated when I see empty seats because the programming
is so good and sometimes I think is it possible maybe when there's empty seats
you know there's gonna be empty seats to invite some high school theater
students to come. I'm thinking just to fill seats and to be seen live theater
and get them excited about what we've got going on in Walnut Creek.
Yeah so we do when we especially when we see a night where it's not picking up
like perhaps November 1st the Friday after Halloween in the midst of a major
your election. We do have opportunity to utilize our pay what you can model which
includes free tickets to flip that opportunity so that folks can sign up
for those themselves online in order to help fill in the house but also give us
that data of who's coming who's interested when we have those kinds of
opportunities for either complimentary tickets or pay what you can. And there
may also be opportunity now that we have a student
Commissioner for who's active in drama. I'll tell my theater teacher to
advertise or get extra credit. And then finally speaking of advertisement your
marketing person is doing an excellent job. I'm so thrilled to see the breadth
of what's covered every week in the email and on socials so tell them they're
doing so well and I'm appreciating how the board's getting out about everything.
Thank you for that. It really means a lot when you're working behind the scenes to
have somebody notice everything that you're doing. So I will be sure to share
with Randy Terradash, our marketing supervisor. Can I chime in on that? So I
recently saw the dragon lady with a friend and cried all the way through. I
thought it was fantastic. So I went back naturally to brag about it to everyone
because I'm part of a PTA in my school. And so I just want to chime in and tell
you that there's a huge opportunity to somehow, I don't know how you would go
about maybe sponsoring something. I don't know, I'm chairing one of the art
competitions currently, so I'm in front of, you know, 400 kids, so I think there's
an opportunity for, especially for the parents, they need date nights and things
like that and so I'm just trying to see, like, what programs or what outreach
systems, what do we have in place that can reach out to those folks because I
think it's gold and I think a lot of those folks are ready to go out and
party and also they feel community. They want to give back and they just don't
know how and I think not all of them are on the socials and not all of them have
their they just don't know about it and of course I'm more than happy to
advertise but I think as we're seeing these you know numbers decreasing and
where you know scribes and all that I do believe that either being a sponsor with
a specific PTA because PTA is what makes the schools and we have great PTA's and
a lot of our Walnut Creek school system
who are more than happy to advertise for you.
E-News and obviously all those sorts.
So I think reaching out to schools is excellent.
That's a wonderful suggestion.
And Randy's been with us just shy of a year
and been building a marketing department from scratch.
So he's getting to the point where
he's ready for those ideas, where it's like, OK, now
how can we go further?
Because a lot of his work this past year
has been just foundational of systems
and making sure we're hitting all the things
within our control.
But as we look at how can we broaden,
how we're getting the message out,
because we do have a robust list,
but those are folks who already know about us, right?
So we gotta get to those who maybe forgot
that they have their friendly neighborhood
performing a visual arts center available to them.
I just wanna compliment you on the annual report,
all of you, it's a wonderful document.
that's comprehensive, the strategies and priorities are clear,
the metrics are there to comment on them.
And it makes the Leisure Center look like
the really exciting, vigorous facility that it is.
And I hope it's part of your marketing plan
because you see the whole thing and you come away thinking,
yeah, this is something I wanna be more at.
Wonderful, thank you for saying that.
That was a big part of the strategic plan.
Initially was this concept of stop operating
like three separate units, excuse me,
show the breadth of what you're doing
across the center, Center Rep and Bedford Gallery
in partnership with DRAA.
So the annual report is a nice time for us
to look back and see our collective impact.
Thank you, Carolyn.
Are we on staff updates, because I'll just stay here.
So Adapiki, back on Dragon Lady,
it is your last week to see Dragon Lady
with Sarah Porkelob, Broadway star,
truly stunning talent.
She plays, I think, 28 different characters.
It's a solo musical adventure through the story
of her grandmother's life traveling from the Philippines
to the United States.
And Sarah is just really unbelievable.
She's flipping between characters second by second.
And she's so precise and so fascinating to watch.
And she has a beautiful voice.
And the story, I think, is one that
can touch anybody in terms of family ties
and what it means to hold on to both the legacy that is good
and maybe the legacy that's challenging about your family
and to honor all those pieces.
So you have until Sunday to get there, see Dragon Lady.
We are in full holiday mode.
The tree is up.
The decorations are going.
The nutcrackers are happening.
So between all of our producers and our own programming,
we have holiday in abundance.
So we hope to see many of you throughout the center
in the next few weeks.
But from our internal programs, we
have Center Reps at Christmas Carol,
as well as an opportunity to visit the North Pole
and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Both of those activities have less slots available this year
because of the way the holidays fell.
They just kind of carved up a couple of dates from us.
So if you want to join, make sure you grab your seats soon.
And then in 2025, we're off and running
with more headliner programs.
We've got two in January, two amazing vocalists,
as well as kicking off our Lushman Center
and Your Neighborhood Outreach events for 2025.
And the world premiere of Froggy from Center Rep,
which is a graphic novel thriller.
Unlike anything you will have ever seen
and in development for more than a decade,
and finally getting to see a full production,
we're very excited for Matt Morrow,
our Artistic Director, to be directing that as well.
Thank you, Caroline.
Emily?
It's me again, you guys.
So just a couple updates for the Bedford.
If you've never been to Craft Fest, it's this Saturday,
and I highly recommend.
We have, I think, 32 vendors this year
that fill up the gallery from 10 to 5.
It's a great opportunity to get your holiday shopping done
in November, 1st December, and it's very lively and very
festive.
So please stop by for that.
I will be there at 7.30 but you can come at 10.
We also have yoga and sound healing in the gallery.
So this is our second opportunity to present
this type of workshop and event in the gallery,
the first time it sold out.
So we decided we would do it again
to try to help people with their holiday stress,
to de-stress a little bit and take a break.
So that's happening Saturday, December 7th at 10,
from 10 to 11.30.
And our current show, Drawn to Abstraction,
prints from the 60s and 70s,
closes December 15th,
and so we will be closed through the holidays
and reopening January 11th
with stitched contemporary embroidery.
And that show features 19 international, national,
and local artists who are using
traditional embroidery techniques
to tell these really beautiful narrative stories
and use contemporary themes.
Emily, will you just talk for a moment about the different artists that you have in this
Draw Under Abstraction show, please, because it's amazing.
Uh, like the different types of abstraction?
Oh, sure, oh, the names.
Absolutely.
So, if you are a fan of abstraction, if you're a fan of famous artists, if you're a fan of
the 60s and 70s, this show is definitely for you.
It has some huge heavy hitters from the 20th century.
Helen Frankenthaler, Nero, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella,
Rauschenberg, Ruchet.
So there's a ton of people in that show, huh?
It's Rita Kent.
Yes, Rita Kent.
She's wonderful.
If you don't know who she is, she is an artist nun.
And she did some really, really wonderful work
while she was alive.
So it includes abstract expressionism, minimalism,
Pop art and Op art, so kind of a really wide breadth
of abstraction from those decades.
And last week we had the director of curatorial affairs
from the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts here,
and so she came and did a curator talk,
which was really wonderful.
I have a question about the embroidery show.
Is that one of our shows, or is that a traveling show?
No, I curated it, yep.
Oh, excellent.
and how did you go about selecting the artists for that?
Lots and lots of research, so I have the opportunity
to go to Art Week in Miami almost every year,
and so I find about, I don't know, 80 to 90% of the artists
for our shows there, because it's a week's worth
of research that gets done in a week,
and there's about 35 art fairs that happen at that time.
I don't get to quite all of them,
but I do get to a lot of them,
and that's where we find a lot of our artists.
So if they hit the Arts Week in Miami,
they might be in your show?
Yes.
Okay.
If I'm lucky.
Any other questions?
Thank you.
Good evening, Chair, Arts Commissioners.
My name's Elizabeth Orcutt.
I'm the Community Relations Manager
for the Arts and Recreation Department.
And I have the honor of giving you the updates
from our colleague, Miley O'Gosawara-Garcia.
She's our Program Manager over Center for Community Arts.
She's unable to be here with us this evening.
So before I dive into her updates,
I do wanna actually shout out her whole division, CCA.
They hosted just this past weekend,
the Chili Bowl fundraiser, which was a huge success
in partner hosted in partnership
with the Clay Arts Guild as a fundraiser
for ceramics art students.
I think they were able to pay for over 15 scholarships.
So diving right in here, handcrafted holiday sale
will be Saturday, December 7th and Sunday,
December 8th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., both days,
at Shadelands Art Center.
This will have over 60 community arts,
both teaching artists as well as students.
It'll have their artwork available for sale.
There will actually also be even a bunch of partnerships
there, also raising funds for scholarships,
all sorts of different non-profits that'll be there.
Clay Arts Guild, again, Community Arts Foundation,
and they'll be offering different activities,
even your gift wrapping will be a fundraiser, too,
for the Community Arts Dance Ensemble.
They're raising funds for their costumes
for their next show that will be hosted
at the Lesher Arts, the Lesher Center for the Arts.
So again, Saturday December 7th,
Sunday December 8th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Next, Youth Orchestra Winter Performance,
Tuesday December 17th from 7 to 8 30 p.m.
I believe this will also be at Shadelands Art Center.
So this is the Community Arts Youth Orchestra.
will share classical and contemporary arrangements
in their upcoming winter performance.
The Youth Orchestra is led by instructor and conductor
Rem Diamelaev featuring performers ages 8 through 18.
So that'll be a wonderful experience.
That's just Tuesday, December 17.
Last, we have adult performing arts winter concert
on Thursday, December 19.
That's $6.45.
Also at Shadelands Art Center.
Tickets will be $15 online or at the door.
And let's see, that evening will entail magic, actually,
magic of live performance as the community arts dance ensemble,
adult orchestra, and adult choir.
So you're getting a multifaceted experience that evening.
And that's on December 19th, a great way
to kick off your winter.
And I also wanted to give you two quick updates
from my point of view.
We added the mural matching grant
that was mentioned earlier to seven different pages already.
So we're up and running there.
we'll get it in a couple more email newsletters and I think we might work on
a press release or two as well so that's up and running and then also arts and
rec our winter registration opens this upcoming Wednesday I'm starting at 12
online and you can also come see us at any of our front desks as well and
that's when all of our registration will kick off for winter so thank you thank
you Elizabeth and then two two things for me well three things one thank you
for hanging in there, it's almost eight o'clock.
We appreciate your volunteer time
to help the community become more engaged with the arts.
That's why I'm first, just thank you.
So just other updates, you may recall
there's an election two weeks ago.
Setting aside whatever national election news,
there's always gonna be that.
But locally, three seats were up.
So council members Kevin Wilk and Cindy Darling
were re-elected.
you're where the Luella-Haski was retired from Council. So Craig Davini, who's new to elected
office, was elected as well. So on December 3rd, I believe you will be invited to the
installation of the new Council and the retirement of Luella-Haski here in this room. So stay
tuned for that. There'll be events here as part of the formal meeting, but then also
reception afterwards in the lobby. So you're welcome to join. You should receive an invitation
shortly for that. And then for your January meeting as you heard from Mariah you'll be
spending most of the time on the Heather Farm Public Art consideration as well for those of
you who are here two years ago the City Council sets its priorities for the coming two years
in February following their election and so they look for each commission to provide input on what
your priorities are and what you think the council should be considering for their own priorities.
And so, I will help facilitate that discussion in January on the 27th, so you can weigh in
on what their priorities may be as they go into retreat in February to determine their
own priorities.
So, you can look forward to that.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you very much.
It's time for Commissioner announcements and reports on activities.
Who would like to share what they've been up to in the arts world?
Hi, again.
I'm very excited to share that I got an agent.
I will be represented by Marco Tanto,
so I'm a creative artist who is now represented
by Tanto Studios.
And you had the commissioner reports before I start talking.
Anything going on with Northgate Productions, Sasha?
November One Acts closed.
That's the show we do in production workshop,
which is the highest level of drama.
We closed on Saturday.
So now we're starting a new show
We'll be for the snow yet. Okay, you let us we let us know in January. Yes. Great. Thank you
Life mural updates
we I am leading a production team of 14 women and we're installing 18 murals at
Central California women's prison in Fresno. We'll do that the whole first week of December
I've been busy with the Bedford Gallery right now with the show about
abstraction. We were hoping we'd have a full slate of school tours, but my
Thursday docents and I don't have many any tours left and we're pretty bummed
about that because it is an amazing show and I feel like every high school art
student should be seeing this show. And I guess we're thinking that schools
either having a hard time getting parent drivers or parent chaperones or
drivers or whatever it is, but we had a couple schools at the beginning of the
and then cancel all the tours.
So I'm frustrated by that because I want so many people
to see this show, it's so great.
I also want to say yes to the sound healing at the gallery.
I went to the last one with the Yogi Janine Ellis.
So if you've never been to sound healing, it's super cool.
You're there with your mat on the ground
in the bed for gallery and Janine plays
all her wonderful instruments about an hour and 15 minutes.
You don't have to have any yoga experience.
so if that sounds interesting to you
for like an hour and a half of Zen, sign up for it.
I also went to my first cocktails and conversation
this past week, and that was really interesting.
I learned so much, so if these come up for every show,
there's a cocktails and conversation,
and I highly recommend them.
But I have to say the highlight of my week
is the public art walking tour on Saturday.
We had heard word that we were gonna have a group
of like 15 people from a meetup group,
we thought from next door.
So we made sure we had two docents
because we found that last November,
we also had a big crowd.
Well, Emily, I'm giving you $350.
That's 70 walkers.
70 paid walkers went on this public heart walking tour.
So I kind of want you just to like go, oh my goodness.
It was a beautiful fall day in Walnut Creek.
I had about 40 of those walkers, thank goodness I had a microphone.
Carol Fowler had the other 35, and Sasha was in my group with her mother.
I think you guys enjoyed it, didn't you?
It was really good.
Yeah, we just had a great time.
I think most of the people stuck with me all the way through.
I love tour number four, I love December.
So we'll be back again in April for tour number one, and then we go one, two, three,
four, then one, two, three, four, then we take off the winter.
So I'm excited to give you $350.
Oh, I want to tell you who is there, Sasha and her mother,
this meetup group from, I don't know where,
Long Run to Arts Alliance, AAUW,
which is American Association of University Women,
one of our Bedford Dossons who brought
eight other people with them,
and I have recruited two new Dossons.
That's my report.
Pardon?
I'm thrilled, I am thrilled now to adjourn this meeting
and do a nice, big good night, everybody.
Thank you.