Test 1, Test 1, Captions 1.
Welcome to the April 21st, 2025 Arts Commission regular meeting.
Effective October 17th, 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 28 Rossmore channel 26 astound channel 31 and
AT&T universe channel 99 or live stream online at the city's website
Secretary would you please call the roll?
And bear with me as I get used to running down this
Commissioner Perelman here Commissioner clobber here commissioner magnani here
Commissioner Tesfaye. Here. Vice Chair Balthazar is running late and Chair Dresser. Here.
Public Communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda.
Under the Brown Act, the Commission cannot act on items raised during public communications,
but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer
the item to staff. Next on the agenda is a consent calendar. Does any Commissioner have questions on
any item on the consent calendar. No questions. If there are no Commissioner
questions, do we have any public comment on the consent calendar? We have no
public comment. Would you please call, I'm gonna call for a motion to approve the
items on the consent calendar. Motion to approve the items on the consent
calendar. Second. Great, thank you. Would the Secretary please call for a vote? First
There's Commissioner Perelman with your preferential vote.
And Commissioner Clobbert?
Aye.
Commissioner Magnani?
Aye.
Commissioner Tesve?
Aye.
And Chair Dresmer?
Aye.
Next on the agenda is an item for commission consideration, item 4A, election of chair
and vice chair.
At this time, I invite any public comment.
Any public comment?
No comment.
An eligible voting commissioner will take a, make a motion for chair.
I'd like to motion to nominate Sarah Baltazar as chair of the Arts Commission.
I second that motion.
Would the secretary please take a vote?
Commissioner Parraman?
Aye.
Commissioner Claubert?
Aye.
Commissioner Magnani?
Aye.
Commissioner Tesfay?
Aye.
And chair Dresser?
Aye.
Motion carries.
Now it's time to make a motion for vice chair.
I move that Peter Bhagnani be the vice chair.
May I have a second?
I second.
Secretary, please call for the vote.
Commissioner Perleman?
I.
Commissioner Klauber?
I.
Commissioner Tesfaye?
I.
Commissioner Dresser?
I.
I think you're still Commissioner Magnani.
You didn't call my name.
Yes, I was trying to get my order right,
but I'm Commissioner Magnani.
I.
I'm going to turn the meeting over now to Vice Chair Magnani as we are waiting for
Chair Baltazar.
Thank you.
Next on the agenda is an item for Commission consideration, consideration of proposed changes
to fiscal year 26 and 27 fees and charges for arts-related programs, and at this time
I'd invite staff to provide the presentation.
Good evening, Commissioners.
My name is Kevin Gordon.
I'm the business manager for the Arts and Recreation Department, and I'm here tonight
to present the proposed fees and charges changes to the master fee schedule for fiscal years
26 and 27.
This will include classes, workshops, and studio rentals at the Center for Community
Arts, Admissions, Rentals, and Tours at the Bedford Gallery, as well as ticket and rental
fees at the Lesher Center and Center Rep.
So every two years as part of the budget development process, Arts and Recreation staff review
the existing fees and charges and recommends changes to the fee ranges.
The way these ranges work in Walnut Creek is that instead of setting specific fees for
for each class or program, we set fee ranges
and then staff set the specific fees within those ranges.
This gives the department some flexibility
within those ranges that we can change the fees
based on demand or changes in programming.
So tonight we're here to consider some changes
that staff are recommending to the master fee schedule,
which include eliminating or changing certain fee categories,
increasing the ranges for certain fees
and modifying some of the rental hour requirements.
So to determine these fees,
the Arts and Recreation Department staff
do fee surveys of similar municipalities.
They take into account the cost of programming
and adjust for trends in the market.
As costs provide programming increase,
we need to increase the associated fees
in order to maintain our department's cost recovery goals.
Most of the cost increases we've been experiencing
are driven by rising personnel costs.
For instance, the mandated minimum wage increase
from $16 an hour to $16.50 an hour
that took effect this past January.
In many of the fee categories,
we're nearing the top of the ranges,
of the approved ranges,
and so staff are recommending expanding these ranges
to accommodate for potential future fee increases.
I will mention that increasing the ranges
doesn't always mean an immediate increase in the fee.
It can mean that we're adding new programming
that falls outside the current range,
or we're offering a different way to pay for programming,
like with subscription or ticket bundles.
So I'm not gonna go into detail on every change.
You'll notice that there's quite a few changes
in the proposal that we've sent.
But I will point out some of the more significant ones.
To start at the Bedford Gallery,
based on the success of the pay what you can model
for admissions, staff are proposing to also eliminate
set fees for the public art walking tours
and move to a pay what you can model there as well.
this similar to admissions will provide a more inclusive program and it also has a small
potential to increase revenue as we've seen with the admissions at the Bedford Gallery.
Also at the Bedford the ranges for equipment rentals are being expanded to allow for more
flexibility and a greater variety of rental uses. At the Lesher Center staff are recommending
expanding the fee range for season subscriptions so that a wider variety of subscription packages
can be offered.
The minimum rental hour requirements for the Vukasan Theatre are being increased to better
align with standard event rental periods at similar spaces.
We are proposing to eliminate the telephone order and online order fees to comply with
SB 478, the Honest Pricing Law, and so those fees will be included in the advertised ticket
price.
And finally, we're proposing changes to the definitions and ranges for advertising packages
with the Lesher Center so they can include both print and electronic media and allow
for more flexible advertising options.
So those are some of the top line changes.
I'm happy to take any questions you have on those or any of the other proposed fee changes.
Any commissioners have questions?
Jill?
Commissioner Dresser.
Thank you.
Thank you. What is the hit to revenue by eliminating the online and
telephone fees? It sounds like you're gonna roll it into ticket prices, but
will there be any hit to revenue? Great question. So we already had to implement
this because the state law came into effect in July of last year, and what we
did was we analyzed all of our fees over the course of the prior year because
is they were variable depending on how you purchased
online, in person, by phone,
and came up with a new fee structure
that we felt would maintain the overall revenue
to the Lesher Center and be viewed as more of a,
it's applied to every single ticket
so it doesn't matter how you buy the ticket,
that's then applied flat.
So we're in the first year of seeing
whether our calculations were correct.
And so we'll know as we get into especially
season renewal time where we have a really big influx
of ticket sales, we'll start to see if we arrived
at the right balance.
But before it was kind of a two part fee situation
and now we've streamlined to comply with the law.
As each year goes by and more people do everything online,
are you seeing that you need less physical staff
in the ticket office?
Because people are buying their tickets
for subscriptions online?
So we are not seeing a reduction in the need
for ticket agents given the number of folks
who still call us with questions.
Not as many people walk in as maybe would have historically,
but we have a very, very busy phone line.
And so we maintain our staffing to be able to ensure
we don't have folks on hold for too long.
But that is something we would continue to look at
if we find that things are really slowing
and on the phones we would make adjustments.
Thank you.
My other question is for the Bedford Gallery
walking tour since I am a docent
for the public art walking tours.
It is easy to collect five dollars from every participant.
I'm basically gathering lots of people together
and saying I need your five dollars,
or do I have your five dollars, blah, blah, blah.
I'm wondering how I as the docent for that
is gonna say pay what you can,
and someone hands me a 20 and I'm saying,
do you want change back from that?
Like just kind of that odd, uncomfortable, awkward place
that's gonna put the Walking Toward Dosen in short.
Good evening commissioners,
Emily Anders, Bedford Gallery Curator.
So what we do at the ticket office,
and I think we'll wanna implement this
with our public art Walking Toward Dosen as well
is we have like a little pitch.
And so we say it's a suggested donation of $10.
You can, you know, but it's up to you
what you feel comfortable giving
if you'd prefer to come for free.
We're happy to accommodate that.
If you have $5, $15, $25, $100, $100,000,
we'll take all of that.
And so we'll give you a little script to go off of
and then I think we'll just need to coordinate better
about having change on hand for public art walking tour
docents and kind of that hand off and how that would look.
So that just, what that does,
it just changes the beginning of the tour
where people are walking up and as soon as they get to,
they want to pay the docent.
Sure.
So you're not having to collect from 20 plus people
as soon as you give this spiel.
I know I've been on several city guides tours
in San Francisco and they ask people
to make their donation online before they,
when they sign up for the tour.
And then they do the spiel afterwards
and they pass an envelope around.
So people that actually have the tour experience
and can decide how much they think it's worth,
and it's a little bit more anonymous.
So just food for thought as we move into
a new way of doing things.
Sure, absolutely.
And I think we'll be also looking to our public art
to a docents for feedback on how that's working and language to use and you know
maybe we actually have some sort of printed document that people can look at
as they're standing and waiting to start the tour. And any chance from this we can
go to people be able to pay for their tour without handing over cash that
there can be especially with the ticket office not open when we start the tours
at 10 o'clock? You mean like getting some sort of like a square or something like
that we will have to look into that I think that really depends on how our
ticketing system works and if that those mechanisms are available for carry
carrying around and all of that kind of detailed consider that thank you any
other questions some commissioners I have a question which might overlap with
someone else's but I'm just wondering about these ranges how would how do we
know what we're charging for this because there's only a range stated here
for example resale merchandise goes from 50 cents to 1,027 and like at the end
there is another example like we charge for in-house equipment for visual
technical equipment between a dollar and 3,000. So how do we know? Yeah so the
ranges for that are specifically to give us the flexibility because a lot of
those aren't it's not going to be apples to apples. For instance with the arts
resale and having a range of one to a thousand three thousand dollars is
because of the wide variety of things that might be sold. So it just accounts
for a lot of that diversity that we'd see there.
For the rental equipment,
that's gonna be based on equipment
that clients are gonna be renting
and then reimbursing the city for that equipment.
So it's kind of a pass through anyway.
So that would just account for the wide variety
of equipment that might be needed.
And staff maintain a separate list of internal charges.
And the reason it's so wide is,
especially for the theater,
we have everything from you're using a microphone
and that's an $85 charge
you're using a very expensive high-end projector and that could be a $2,000
charge and again it depends on the client interest in demand so they they
review what the pricing would be and decide if they want to move forward with
that added expense. And my other question is related to I think it's the Hoffman
theater seating and it's from 100 to it goes from 100 to 450 I think seasons
tickets I'm on page one wait one okay yes center up the subscription ticket
package right so that will depend on how many shows are in the package so this
past season we had a five-show package and each show was $49 per show. In the
future we're looking at options where you know midway through the year right
you might have a smaller package or we might have some combination of add-ons
and different things so it really will depend on how many items are in the
package but we feel like that range is enough to accommodate if we put every
single sign of rep thing under the Sun into a package that it wouldn't exceed
that range so it's actually being lowered it's giving us the flexibility of
not having only a five show or or for show package right that we could do
something that's more reduced and still call it a subscription gotcha that's it
for me think I think I'd like to I want to ask a question with in regards to the
Bedford Gallery, pay what you can method, just out of curiosity was the when we
had this set amount for fees compared to pay what you can since we're going for
the public art with similar model obviously because it worked out for the
Bedford Gallery are we able to sort of know by percentage wise like how much
significant like what the numbers are because if we had a set amount let's say
five dollars pay what you can there's also a chance where people could pay a
dollar and it could go less so like how do we maintain sort of something similar
to so we can keep consistent to what we've had in the past but I'm just
actually curious to know what was the significant difference so that we as we
We move to this new model.
Yeah, I'm sure Emily can address that.
I know based just on the budget level,
it's seen about a 50% increase.
Five zero.
Yeah, five zero, 50% admissions increase
over the previous way of collecting admission.
So if you had anything to add or, yeah, okay.
So yeah, pretty fairly significant, so.
That is significant, thank you.
Yeah.
I have a couple of questions about the Rudney Plaza.
The top of the range is going up from 1300 to 2000,
seems logical, but then the bottom of the range
is going down significantly from 1000 to 600,
which seems illogical.
How does that work?
So what we found in terms of the Redney Plaza
is that the range of activities that are happening there
are much broader than we thought.
So it was kind of thought that it would be
all these larger scale rentals and that's not the case.
We do have folks who want to do something
that has much smaller like staff impact
and much smaller impact on even use of the facility
and custodial, so again, it's just to give us flexibility
if somebody wants to do a much smaller scale event
that it wouldn't then be priced
out of their ability to do it.
So how many people, how many events
are you getting at the plaza?
So mostly the folks who have been interested in that
have been those who are on the higher end of the price point
because they're really wanting to maximize
the use of that space.
But we're hoping that by having this expanded range,
we'll see more of the folks who are at a less heightened
technical expertise but want to use the space
and get more utilization that way.
Thanks.
And one other question.
This is curiosity, but in the library gallery,
There's an item called gallery outreach presentations
where the minimum is increasing from $30 to $200
and the maximum is increasing from 150 to 5,000.
So first of all, what are gallery outreach presentations
and why are they suddenly becoming so expensive?
So a lot of our gallery outreach presentations
are something where I will go and present.
So that $30 range is a little low
for me putting together an entire presentation
and going and speaking about
the Bedford's exhibitions programs.
So that's more, so what that is for,
is for staff to develop and then go out into the public
wherever that might be and execute those programs.
Excuse me, but did you say library?
It's under the library gallery?
The library gallery.
So does it have anything to do with the library gallery
where we have the art everything months?
Do we charge for that?
Can you tell me what page you're looking at?
I have to find it now.
I'm going to have to find it.
I think this is more of just functionally,
the fees and charges are not always consistently formatted.
Because you see the bolded library community art gallery
exhibition application fee, where you see three lines
or so, individual and artists and groups.
And then we get to public art tour,
which is not part of the library community art gallery
exhibition fee.
So that's OK.
So I think we're probably missing a sub header or something.
Can I ask one follow-up question to your presentations? Is that educational? Are
they business development in order to acquire more artists to the gallery? They
are much more educationally based so we go like to Rossmore for instance and
and teach the people of Rossmore about the Bedford, what we do, all of our
programs, our docenting program, all of our volunteer programs, and so it's more
much more of an educational experience where we share kind of the ins and outs
of how we develop exhibitions and programs and how that works within the
city of Walnut Creek. Emily, sorry, about how many requests you have a year for you
to go and speak it outside the gallery? Between five and ten requests per year.
Doesn't mean that they all are were able to accommodate every single one of them
but there are handful. Thank you, commissioners, for your questions. Are there any public comments
at this time? I have another comment. Under sales commission, page one, second page one,
under sales commission resale merchandise. So I don't understand what that means. So it's
50 cents to a thousand, it's not a percentage.
So it's, is that, how does that work?
Under resale merchandise.
So we have items in our merch case that we purchase
and then we resell, so that's what those are for.
So it's, it does range.
I know that seems like an incredible range,
but it really does.
It goes from like little pins to t-shirts and prints
and things like that.
So it's not on consignment.
We actually purchase it.
and then we resell it.
Right, so we do both in our merch case.
We do have consignment items,
and so that is under the artist only,
those percentages from 30 to 50%.
And so if a piece is on consignment,
we do offer the artist a commission,
but if it's bought and then resold,
there's no commission involved.
Okay, thank you.
Any other questions or comments from commissioners?
Yeah, I have a question.
Sorry, Emily, going back to the artists only.
Does that also mean, I'm sorry,
is that applying to works that are sold
through the Bedford Gallery?
Like the juried exhibitions, for example,
if artists sell the work, is that part of,
is that what we're talking about?
Okay.
Yes, so when we have things for sale in the Gallery
as part of our exhibition, there is a commission split.
So that is negotiable between Bedford Gallery and the artist.
So the percentage ranges.
But when the work sells, a portion of that commission
goes to the city, and then a portion of that
goes to the artist.
How often are we selling?
Funny you ask.
So for our embroidery show, I think we sold nine works, which
is really, really exciting for us.
But some works, for some exhibitions,
none of the work is for sale,
because it's either on loan from a collection
or from a private collector.
And sometimes everything is for sale,
like our jury chose, a lot of the times I'd say
between 80 and 90% of that work is for sale.
So it's really dependent on the exhibition
and the comfort of the artist
with having their work for sale.
I had a question on the last page for the center rep.
It says concessions, and then it's going from 15% to zero.
I'm just confused how does that work?
So in this current year, we're based on feedback
from various rental clients who were very challenged
by the concession fee on merchandise
because it really made it so that the merchandise
was not profitable for them at all.
We have been piloting with approval from the director
to be able to not charge that fee
to see if there is any significant impact
to the leisure center's overall revenues by not charging.
So this update is just to allow for,
if we choose to continue that in the next fiscal year,
it would already be approved in the fees and charges
to be at 0% instead of what we had been charging,
which was 15%.
Okay, thank you.
I think I have a question.
It looks like it's canceled off,
but I'm very curious to know
about the photoshoot backdrop situation
at the Bedford Gallery.
I was like, what is that, and why does it cost $200 first?
I am happy to get my steps in for the day.
So that was kind of a longstanding item
that is rare.
In the six and a half slash seven years that I've been here,
we've never used it once.
And it also creates some issues around artist licensing.
Because if a photo shoot is done in the gallery
and an artist has not given us permission for their artwork
to be used in a photography shoot that could cause
copyright issues for us.
And so we just removed the photo shoot option
from the gallery.
So that it would be for someone like maybe a fashion designer
wanted to come in and do a photo shoot in the gallery.
So things like that, not for our photographer who comes in
and does our installation photos or our opening reception
photos.
Those are still very much in our budget as a separate item.
So there is a recommended action in your agenda report
if there's any commissioner
that would like to make a motion.
How long did it take for you guys
to bring up these new budget lines, like to work on this?
Oh, this particular item?
Well, we do it as part of the overall budget development,
which is many, many, many hours of staff time.
And it really depends on the program
if they were making significant changes or not.
There were some items
where we were really researching best practice
versus other items will renew our costs
for going up a small amount
and we needed to adjust the range accordingly.
And for some of the theater charges like seasons tickets,
I saw that the Hoffman is going up like $50 only
that's next year, but the next year is another $50.
So is that based on like attendance?
So for example, California Symphony Tickets
will go up $100 by 2027.
And was that based on pricing
or just on the hit that it has become?
And it's so popular.
And did that come into the equation?
So our fee structure for the theaters for event periods,
so that's when there is a performance,
is based on a percentage of their gross ticket sales
and it has a minimum and a maximum for each space.
So groups like California Symphony
are frequently hitting the maximum.
And so they're not really paying 23%
because their gross earnings are so much higher
than the maximum.
So we looked at, when we look at what the minimum
and maximum is going to be for a year,
we're looking at our rising costs for staff,
for materials, for utilities, all of that,
and needing to recoup a larger amount
in that minimum maximum range,
but it's still 23% of gross ticket sales.
And so for a producer, it's their determination
how they're gonna price their tickets
and they would know that the most they would pay
for that six hour block would be the maximum
of the theater rental amount.
Thank you.
You're looking for the motion.
Yes, we are looking for a motion
to recommend forwarding these items
to the city council for approval
should there be any commissioner
that wants to make that motion.
So moved.
Commissioner Perriman?
Aye.
Commissioner Dresser?
Aye.
Calvert? Aye. Commissioner Tesfaye? Aye. Vice Chair Magnani? Aye. And Chair Balthazar? Aye.
Motion carries by unanimous vote. Great at this time I invite staff to provide
presentations. Good evening Arts Commissioners I'm Mariah a public art
manager for the city and I just have a few updates this evening. First we just
completed. Last week we had the biennial maintenance of Hand of Peace over at
Civic Park, which you know is on long-term loan and requires periodic
maintenance. So this took place last week over a period of about three days and
cost just over $15,000, which was approved in the last, last time it would
happened back in 2023.
But they did a great job.
So obviously, I don't know if you have seen photos.
I didn't have time to get them into this presentation.
But they bring a lift out.
There were three members from ARG conservation that came.
They do a full, complete inspection.
They're looking for loose tesserae.
They're regrounding that.
They're fully cleaning it, fully waxing it again
to make sure that it can endure outside time
until the next preservation maintenance scheduled.
So they did a great job.
It looks great, and it was done just in time
for our kickoff of the 2025 Public Art Walking Tour season.
So this just kicked off this past weekend on Saturday,
and we had over 41 people join the public art walking tour,
which is great.
I hear that that's a lot more than we normally get.
So it's great.
Happy to see it moving in that direction.
We do have new marketing that goes along with it.
So this is the new card.
It went in the mail to certain people addresses,
and then I gave you each a copy of the card.
So it lists all of the dates for the season's tours.
And since our last meeting in January,
the only update I have for you for Heather Farm Park
is that we have had meetings with the architects
and the artists so that they can all plan.
And they are talking about very specific logistical things
on how they'll plan to install their work in collaboration
with the building of the building.
And we, staff is in contract process right now.
So no other update on that.
And I don't know if you recall the big bellies in downtown.
There was a call that was put out.
This is really a job that is being headed up
by Walnut Creek Downtown Association.
And they have selected the artists and they are,
this is a project done in collaboration with Recycle Smart
and then the city of Walnut Creek's Clean Water
and Maintenance Departments.
And they're expecting to see these be rewrapped
some point later this spring and summer.
So you'll see a little bit of a refresh downtown.
And that's it.
Any questions about any of these things?
I have a question about the Heather Farm Project,
the Poppy's piece.
Yes.
I was showing that to someone
on the Design Review Commission
and they liked it, but they said,
well, you know, this has to be permitted.
And when they go to permit it,
they're gonna make them install some kind of arrangement
so that they wouldn't crash into each other
in the event of an earthquake.
Are either of those things true, and is that a problem?
Yes.
So. Puppies, the one on the.
Here, I'll go back.
So you see it's on the top right,
the puppies that are hanging.
So that is why we've been meeting early with the architects
and they're meeting directly together in these meetings
to discuss all of these things,
the architect is actually taking care of the permitting
for the two pieces that are going in and on the building.
The only one that they're not doing the permitting for
is the one exterior piece by Alex Proba.
That's gonna be a standalone on the lawn.
So everything will definitely be OSHA certified,
inspected, and all kinds of other architecture stuff
that I'm not an expert on.
But yes, they will look, they've looked for safety.
I know that they've measured to make sure
that if there's swinging going on,
they're not hitting each other.
Yeah.
In our, oh, sorry.
We talked about that a lot in our committee meeting
and how they regulate for both kind of state
and local standards, as well as just their experience.
And they were talking for a very long time
about the roof pitch, so.
Right, right.
And it should be noted also that the artists
that design this, they are actually architects also.
So they have lots of experience with this kind of project.
I have questions.
So do you have more, Peter?
No.
I'm on the public art walking tour,
just wanted to clarify because we chatted beforehand.
41 Walkers is a lot for the first tour of the season.
Typically April's pretty quiet and then it ramps up
and then December you're like, oh my goodness.
So that's amazing for April,
but I say in general last year,
the numbers on our tours are way,
each year they're growing leaps and bounds.
That said, I would like to see us collecting,
if people would like to give us emails
or having people jump on right there
and be part of our Instagram feed.
Like we should be collecting data
while we're doing this as well.
So if the two of you would think about how we can be collecting some data from our walkers
so we can keep them abreast of what's going on at the Bedford and the Lesher Center,
it'd be great because whoever's at the Lesher Center doing the marketing is doing an amazing job.
And I think when people hear about what's going on, they like want to go to things.
So let's get some more people even on those lists.
My next one is the big bellies.
Are all the big bellies going to be rewrapped or just some?
They're gonna roll it out in phases.
It's tied to budget constraints,
so I believe they're starting out with 10.
So they're gonna be rewraps, they won't be new wraps.
They will be rewrapped, so I don't know if you recall,
but currently they have these acrylic frames
that are screwed into the sides,
so those are all going to be removed.
The big bellies will be cleaned,
and those holes where the screws were are gonna be plugged,
and then they're gonna be wrapped with the vinyl wrap.
That's good to know because we actually do talk about
those on the public art walking tour, believe it or not.
Great.
Yeah, so we talked about our artists that have made those.
I know you have big bellies out there.
And for the hand of peace, is a 15,000 per biennalee
pretty standard, like are they,
we paid that two years ago, we'll probably pay it
in two years. Correct, correct.
So there was- And did you find any damage?
Was there any damage?
So just a couple of the pieces in the mosaic were loose,
so they regrouted those.
They rechecked the wire
that holds the stained glass pieces together.
Those are all great.
Those were, a couple of them were replaced two years ago,
but they're all holding up really well.
The base did have a little bit of chipping.
The base is concrete that's covered in stucco.
And so they patched up the stucco
and they fully repainted and resealed the base.
So where the end of the hand, I guess,
where the wrist would be, meets the base,
there's a sealant that goes all the way around.
So that was peeling in some places.
So they removed it, applied a fresh sealant,
and then after they were done with patching of the stucco,
they completely repainted it with a mineral paint.
So it looks really fresh and clean.
That's quite a bit of work.
Yeah.
Great.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
I have a question about the Big Belly projects.
In the past, you've commissioned several artists,
a few of my own, that was lucky to be included.
Does that mean that you only showed one artist?
One artist is doing whatever is currently the season is
allowed, or?
No, so for this.
I thought the call was out for a lot of.
Right.
So there was a call that was put out,
I believe it was last summer?
It was in July, yeah.
And so, and then the artist selection committee
came together and selected, created a list basically
of all of the approved artists.
And so I am not sure how, because there were more than 10.
So Walnut Creek downtown is,
they're heading up the project.
So they're going through the list of pre-approved artists
to make their selection.
And it will be one artist per receptacle.
and the receptacles come in groups of two,
and then we have two units that actually come in
in groups of three, so it's a compost, recycle, and trash.
But it will be one wrap around each,
it's considered one unit.
But at the end, as a resident of Walnut Creek,
we will see more than one artist's work on these belly.
Yes, yes.
Okay, I just wanted to, yeah.
And am I correct, there was nobody
on the Wall and Creek Arts Commission
on that artist selection panel, correct?
That's all downtime business and...
No, from what I read, it was,
it was a small projects committee, right?
So at the time it was...
Small projects committee, who was on that?
Yasmini?
No.
No?
You should...
It's Meredith.
Anne Meredith.
It was Anne Meredith.
Well, it must have been more than a year ago
because we've had a new arts commissioner since last April.
yeah, I guess I'd have to look and see.
I know it was somebody.
Anybody here?
And I think that it's possible also
that our student commissioner was on that.
I'm pretty sure Sky was on that, that committee.
Then that had to be this, they had the call for artists
had to be before this group of arts commissioners was here.
No, I remember when that came out,
but it feels like over, it feel,
doesn't feel like last summer, it feels like before that.
Yeah, maybe.
Okay, I can double check and follow up with an email.
any other questions?
All right, thank you.
So next, Lesher Center Strategic Plan update,
thrilled to say that we've launched
our new ticketing software.
So if you go online by ticket, you're in the new system.
Lots of beneficial things found already,
including some significant savings for staff time
compared to our old system.
As an example, it used to take many weeks
to do the season subscription process for CenterRep
to move people from the current season
into their seats for the new season.
And staff completed that within the setup within one day,
instead of within multiple weeks.
So that's just one of many wonderful things
we found in the new system.
And we're still actively working
with Diablo Regional Arts Association
on the fundraising piece so that we will have
that unified view of patrons and donors
to see not only what are they attending,
but what are they giving to?
We also announced a new partnership with SFJAZ
for the Headliners Series.
So that will be starting with next season
and will include four to five productions
that'll be co-presented with SFJAZ.
We're really thrilled to be in partnership with them.
They are a really world-class organization
and it's an opportunity for us to continue to elevate
our presence on a national basis for the work
that we're doing.
And then on May 20th we'll be giving a presentation
to council with just an overview of the strategic plan,
the work that's been done in the last three years
and some of what's coming ahead.
So I encourage you all to tune in to that one
or watch it remotely.
It'll be a combination of our staff presenting
as well as Diablo Regional Arts Association
and some of our key supporters,
so that council gets a full picture
of what has been going on.
They don't get as many updates as you all get
from me every meeting.
So we're looking forward to that.
I have a question.
Was redoing the ticketing software part
of the strategic plan?
I can't remember.
It was.
It was one of the most urgent priorities,
but government procurement processes
are a little bit longer than maybe nonprofits are used to.
So we finally made it.
Great, congratulations.
I wanna preface this by saying that I was a theater critic
in the Bay Area during the 1970s and 80s.
I've seen a lot of theater.
And I just wanna say that the center rep production
of Froggy was the best thing I've seen
on the Bay Area stage in a long time.
He's really killing it and they're really killing it.
And just I think really bringing some really sophisticated
theater to Walnut Creek.
Very, very happy about that.
Enjoyed the other ones too.
So if you could just start selling ice cream
in the intermission, I'd be perfectly happy.
Not another ice cream request,
but your kind words will take precedent
over the ice cream comment.
I'll be sure to let Matt know about your positive feedback.
We really appreciate hearing that.
I just want to say, we came with my daughter's school
for the Little Bears, the recent theater work
that you guys did.
Sorry, I don't know the title of it.
I was chaperoned.
But the kids had a really wonderful time.
And the level of, I think, just theatrical work
was just insane.
And it was really wonderful, and everybody
really wonderful things to say. Thank you. We have a lot of wonderful rental
clients that do school offerings in addition to our internal programming and
it's been an offering that's been really successful coming back out of the
pandemic and closures so I'm glad you had a great experience. Goldilocks and
the Three Bears. If we're ready for staff announcements I'll key that up too. So
next up for Santa Rep is Happy Pleasant Valley a senior sex scandal murder
mystery musical. Something you will never seen before. So this is a world premiere
in partnership with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. So it just closed its run
with TheatreWorks and it comes to us starting performances June 1st. It's
also by a local playwright so we're excited to be supporting our local
community and it follows an internet influencer and her rebellious grandmother
who is residing in a residential community for seniors and there's a
string of mysterious deaths of her lovers and so and the granddaughter is
on the hunt to solve the mystery and save her grandmother's life and it's
quite the the fun kind of campy romp so we hope you will come out and check that
out that's the end of our season and we are preparing for season announcements
which will be mid-May for Center Rep.
So be on the lookout for that as we look to the next season.
And closing out our headliner series
is the return of Fiesta Cultural.
We have Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles,
who's performing June 13th, and then June 14th.
The Saturday is the free street fair.
And we've also partnered with Best of SF Stand Up Comedy
for two nights of comedy by Latin Bay Area Comics.
So it'll be another fun June celebration.
Hope to see you all for that as well.
It's me again.
So just a couple updates.
Two weekends ago, we opened Limitless,
Celebrating Artists with Disabilities.
So that is our spring show.
There are 65 artists and 177 artworks in that show.
I know that I saw a bunch of you at the opening,
and I really appreciate you coming
and being supportive in that way.
If you haven't had a chance to visit yet, please do.
It is very, very joyful, very exuberant,
and I think you'll leave just feeling really inspired
and just hopeful for everything
that we have going on in the gallery.
So this show will also travel nationally
after it closes at the Bedford
in hopes of encouraging other communities around the US
to open their own progressive art studios.
So all the artists in the show are
from either Creativity Explored, Creative Growth, or NIAID,
which are the three barrier progressive art studios.
So they help artists with disabilities
with their practices and also their career development.
So it's a really wonderful program.
And the artists are absolutely phenomenal and top notch.
So we have a couple of programs in addition to our exhibition.
One is actually this Saturday.
It's a linocut printing workshop with Limitless artist Shaina
Harper.
So she's a NIAID artist.
And she'll be teaching the class how to use linocuts.
And we'll be making linocut objects
on bandanas and tote bags and all sorts of materials.
The second one is Saturday, May 17.
And that's a freestyle art workshop with Dina Shapiro,
who's another Limitless artist.
so you can come and work with Dina
and make your own freestyle art,
so that should be very exciting.
We have a Pride Day coming up on June 7th.
We'll have story time in the morning
with local artist Cara Navoldio,
and then we'll have an art project in the art space.
We haven't fully figured that out yet,
but it will definitely be Pride themed.
And then in addition to Fiesta Cultural,
we are doing two free workshops in the gallery that day.
And again, we're still working out those details,
but that evening at six p.m. or seven p.m., I think seven,
we're having a Frida-inspired art journal
making workshop as well, so a bunch of events coming up.
Any questions?
Will there not be a cocktails and conversation
for this show?
Not for the show, no.
Okay, and then are we moving to our openings
to be a little later, starting in the next,
with the next Susan?
Sounds like he has some insider info.
Yeah.
No, I think he told us.
Yeah, so starting this summer, our opening receptions,
we'll move them to the evening.
So we're gonna do a year of evening openings
to kind of see how that works out.
That's the usual time that art galleries
and museums have their openings.
But if we see a huge decrease in attendance,
then we'll move it back to this mid-morning type.
I just want all the art commissioners to hear that
because it's, oh, we see a time change,
you're like, what's going on here?
I used to go in at 11 o'clock in the morning on Saturday.
I just make a comment.
I think this show is amazing.
I thank you and your staff
for being able to choose the art that you have there.
And I heard that even choosing it was tricky
because you would choose pieces and then they were sold.
So you had to go back and choose again.
And then more art was probably even sent than you thought.
And then you had to figure out where to put all this art
and it's hung beautifully.
So kudos to you and your staff.
Thank you, appreciate it.
I second that big time.
Just, it was unbelievable.
I've told everyone about it, I always do,
but this show in particular hits different, I think.
So thank you so much for just the amount of work
and love, so much love went into it.
And it was really wonderful.
It's very hard to keep a dry eye.
Thank you.
Any staff announcements?
Oh, that was staff announcements.
Commissioner announcements?
and or brief reports on activities?
I've been busy doing cultural things I want to share.
Besides the Limit List, which is another one
of my favorite shows at the Bedford,
I only keep the dose and notes of the shows that I love
so I can refer back to them.
I'm keeping more and more, Emily.
You've just done an amazing job curating the shows.
So I'm looking forward to seeing what's coming next season.
But I'll be sad when this travels.
And I'm looking forward to seeing the list of things
that are not traveling so I can maybe buy something.
So yes, arts commissioners, actually a lot of art
in my house is from the Bedford.
So I always like to buy, especially ceramics,
from the Bedford.
I've also been to see the Ruth Azawa Show at MOMA.
It is phenomenal, you need to allow several hours to see it,
you just don't wanna leave that show.
And then the Wayne Thiebaud Show at the Legion of Honor
is another must-see show I've worked there,
I've never seen before, I'm a Thiebaud fan.
to make sure that you get a chance to see that.
So that's my, oh, and then Berkeley Rep,
here there are blueberries.
Just took my breath away is also one of my favorite
Berkeley Rep shows I've seen in a long time.
It just opened, it's gonna be here for another month.
Here there are blueberries.
It just got reviewed in the Chronicle today.
I've got a few.
Just a reminder on Saturdays, it's great for the family.
They're in Broadway Plaza from 12 to one,
is beautiful resistance march that
everyone can be a part of.
Also this Saturday at the Berkeley Public Library,
there's Courage and Chaos, which is an LGBTQIA town hall,
in discussion with several authors.
It's free and open to the public.
And then we have Coming Up May Day, which is May 1st.
It's being sponsored this year.
Well, there's multiple, but Oakland's in Fronteras
and the Palestinian Youth Movement are a part of it.
So if you're looking for ways to resist
and be a part of the action.
There's lots of things going on here in Walnut Creek
and in our local communities.
And then I'll be traveling
to the Central California Women's Prison
with traditionally classically trained artist,
George Morton, and we're hosting a full day
of master traditional arts and oil painting class
inside for 150 women later in May.
So really excited to be a part of all of those things.
That's it.
That's all right.
Oh my God, good night.