I'm Peter Maniani, Chair of the Arts Commission.
Welcome to the October 19, 2026 Arts Commission regular meeting.
The Arts Commission is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber and via teleconference
we think, from 289 Turley Lane, Memphis, Tennessee to accommodate Commissioner Balthazar, who
will be attending remotely.
Please refer to the end of the agenda to review options for participating in the meeting.
If you would like to view the meeting remotely, you may do so in one of the following ways.
YouTube Live, Comcast Cable Channel 28, Rossmore Channel 1082, the Stoun Channel 31, and AT&T
Universe Channel 99, or live stream online on the city's website.
Before we get to the roll call, I'd like to officially introduce and welcome our newly
appointed student commissioner Alexandra Milne to our first arts commission
meeting. Commissioner Milne, if you'd like to say a few words about yourself. Okay
hello my name is Alexandra or you can call me Alex I attend Northgate High
School as a junior so I'm in 11th grade and just a little bit about myself I
love to dance of course that's my main passion I've been a competitive dancer
for almost ten years and I'm on the dance team at my school and I'm really excited
to share that kind of art with this Commission and I'm really excited to start my journey
here so thank you.
We're very glad to have you.
Commissioner Secretary Chris Farrell, would you please take the roll?
Absolutely.
Youth Commissioner Milne.
Here.
Commissioner Curlin.
Here.
Commissioner Dresser.
Here.
We're sure ballots are seems to be absent.
Vice Chair Tesfaye.
Here.
And Chair McNally.
Here.
Thank you.
We have a quorum.
Next on the agenda is 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 or request clarification or refer the item to staff.
we have any public comments? We do not. All right seeing none I'll close the
public comments portion of the meeting and move on to the consent calendar. Does
any commissioner wish to pull any item for discussion from the consent calendar?
Does any member of the public wish to comment on an item on the consent
calendar? Again seeing none I'll ask the Commission if anyone would like to make
a motion regarding the consent calendar. I'm happy to make a motion. Do I make a motion to approve the
the entire consent calendar including A, B, and C at one time.
I move that we approve the consent calendar,
all parts of it A,
B, and C for this meeting.
Do we have a second?
I second.
We'll go to vote.
I guess it's time to vote.
Yes, Commissioner Milne.
No, yes.
Commissioner Kerlin?
Yes.
Commissioner dresser. Yes, Commissioner ballots are absent vice chair tesve. Yes, chair McNany. Yes
Approved. Thank you
Thank you. Next on the agenda is consideration of item for a
Presentation of the general plan existing conditions report and draft vision statement on by staff to provide the presentation
Good evening chair and commissioners. I'm Allison rustic associate planner with the community development department
and as well as a member of our general plan update team.
The general plan update,
which we like to call Walnut Creek 2050,
has kicked off since last June with
a joint commission study session where we began
a conversation about shared community vision
and values to guide the city towards its future.
Since then, we have continued
the vision and values conversation and
hosted our first community workshop on September 24th
and launched a virtual workshop in questionnaire.
We've received a great deal of valuable feedback
from the community so far, some of which
we will highlight tonight in our presentation
as we continue to refine the vision statement
and progress towards the next phase.
Before we do that, however, we also
need to evaluate where Walnut Creek stands today, which
brings me to our primary focus of tonight,
the existing conditions report, or ECR.
This report establishes a baseline of the Walnut Creek
we know today by examining existing plans, policies,
programs, and trends.
And tonight, we'll take a closer look at the findings
as they relate to arts and culture,
which will help inform the general plan update.
We look forward to hearing your perspectives
and any additional considerations that should guide
our work moving forward.
With that, I would like to introduce you
to our consultant team,
who's supporting the general plan update,
Tiffany Eng with Alta Planning and Design,
and David Plattner Saunders with Cultural Planning Group,
who will walk you through tonight's presentation.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Alison.
And good evening, everyone.
It's so good to see you all here again.
My name again is Tiffany Eng,
and I'm a senior associate
with Raymond Associates and Alta Company.
We are the lead consultant team working on the general plan update project.
I'll talk a little bit more about the general plan process, some updates, and some recent
events.
And then David will accompany us with more talk about the arts and culture existing conditions
report.
So again, oops, am I going the wrong way?
Sorry, I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly.
We can keep talking.
Okay, great.
Thanks everyone for being patient
and thank you so much for helping with advancing the slides.
So, okay, just to recap,
we'll be going over the general plan update process,
recent data, recent engagement activities,
and then we'll be going
into the Arts Existing Conditions Report or ECR.
But as Alison mentioned, our main activity for tonight,
We'll be having a discussion on the issues and opportunities
related to arts and culture in Walnut Creek.
We'd love to hear if you have any questions about the ECR
report and also hear your opinions about what you think
might be some of the biggest issues and opportunities
for Walnut Creek when it comes to this topic.
So thinking about, what are Walnut Creek's strengths?
What are your assets?
But also, where are there challenges or issues
that you want to address when it comes to this topic?
Next slide, please.
So yeah, as you know, you're good.
We'll keep it rolling.
OK.
Yeah, I mean, we're definitely flexible here.
So to give a brief overview of what a general plan is,
again, a general plan is a plan that
guides how the city evolves to meet its housing, business,
and amenity needs over time.
This also can be considered with the arts and culture context
when it comes to thinking about what are the amenities,
the programs, the needs for arts and culture
within Walnut Creek, given the vision.
This, the California law, as you know,
requires every city to maintain and periodically update
a general plan that provides a long-term roadmap
for the city's future.
Many of the places and services the community uses every day,
from neighborhoods, parks, transportation,
open spaces, and public services,
including arts and cultural resources,
are made through thoughtful planning decisions.
So once adopted, the plan will help guide decisions
made by the city council, the commissions,
and city staff when it comes
to these really important topics.
Things that really make the city unique
will make it function and make it a great place
to visit, to live, and to work.
And again, as a long-term plan for the city's future,
it sets forth a 20-year vision for the city
and builds upon what you love about the city
and why it might be challenging
while addressing a rapidly changing set of state laws
that govern and guide your own plan updates.
But again, it's not just about planning for the future,
it's also thinking about what you love
and want to address right now, today.
What are the issues that you care about today
that you can also address now and into the future?
Next slide, please.
The general plan is required to have a set
of required elements.
So as you know, some of the required elements
include land use, transportation or circulation,
open space, conservation, and noise,
safety elements, and also housing elements.
But as you can see from the slide,
Those elements were updated recently in both 2026 and 2023.
So those elements will be a part of the general plan update,
but will not be updated as a part of this recent process.
But the general plan law is actually very flexible as well.
And it allows for different ways in which cities and counties
can include other kinds of elements or chapters
in their general plan.
So for the city of Walnut Creek, there
is consideration for economic development.
there can be a chapter in arts and culture.
It can discuss healthy communities,
and there can also be a chapter on implementation,
so making sure the general plan
is not just a set of policies,
but it can also be implemented into the future.
Next slide, please.
In terms of the timeline of engagement,
you know, it is great to see many of you
at the joint commissions meeting back in June.
We kicked off the general plan during that time
and also met with city council to kick off the process
and talk about what the general plan is about.
We're currently in the existing condition stage of the plan,
where we're talking about what's happening right now
in terms of the data related to arts and culture
and all the other topics that we're discussing.
But we're also gonna talk about visioning.
What is the vision for the general plan update?
What are the values, the guiding values
to kind of create guardrails for the plan?
And what are issues and opportunities
to be addressed in the plan that build that bridge
between the vision and the policies.
As you can see in this timeline, as we move forward,
we'll be meeting with commissions again next year
and into the future to talk about the land use
and mobility alternatives, as well as the policy
development to, again, think about ways in which
we can guide the future of the city.
Next slide, please.
As some of you have definitely seen,
and I've talked to you about this before,
when it comes to outreach and engagement,
the main way in which people hear about the general plan
get information is through the website, which you can see here a little bit of
glimpse of the first page. It allows for two-way communication between the public
and city staff. It incorporates a lot of different activities to engage the
public, such as questionnaires and mapping exercises. It also connects
people to upcoming meetings, project resources, and other kinds of videos and
information sources. So for those of you who haven't seen it yet or would like
to follow online you can go to walnutcreek2050.com to get more
information about the general plan update. Next slide please. And again when
it comes to engagement the City of Walnut Creek has been doing a really
great job over the last few years to get the public ready to talk about this
update process which is a multi-part you know multi-year process to plan for the
future. So in addition to activities the city staff have been doing since last
year. We've been doing pop-up events at key locations in the city, for instance
you've, you know, the Locust Street festival, different farmers markets, and
Once Upon a Street downtown, where people have been able to get information about
the general plan process and how they can get involved. There was also a
community workshop on September 24th at Civic Park Community Center, where our
team and the city team were able to engage with the public on different
topics related to the general plan, getting people's feedback on the draft
vision statement, the draft guiding values, and the list of issues and
opportunities among other things like where to see future amenities and
resources. And of course right now we're in a process of discussing and going
through commission meetings, meetings with City Council, and we've been going
through over 40 community partner meetings with different nonprofits, community
groups and business groups to hear everyone's feedback and thoughts about
what are the most pressing issues and opportunities for the city into the
future. On the next slide again we want to reemphasize this current process
which is going through this public feedback period and if anyone you know
here or online wants to get more involved we have an online feedback hub
and virtual open house which you can visit by going to the Walnut Creek
website or using that QR code on the screen to get to that site where you can
also go through a basically an online platform that mimics the in-person open
house. If you can see from the picture there's a video from the mayor, there's
posters that came from the workshop, there's ways to both learn about the
draft materials for the general plan like the division and value statements
and also give feedback and so really welcome everyone's feedback during this
process. The feedback form is open from September 25th to October 25th. Next
slide please. So in terms of our next steps again we're going through we met
with the the pros Commission we met with the transportation Commission last week
to have these similar conversation. I mean with you all today here at the Arts
Commission and we're also meeting with the Planning Commission and Design
Review Commission this Thursday to talk about issues and opportunities related
to land use, economic development, and healthy communities among other topics.
We're going to take all this information from all the engagement events, the
outreach, talks with commissioners, talks with city staff, talks with the
departments, and we're going to put it all together in a package for city council
and discuss it with everybody on December 15th. And so looking forward to
that final conversation when we talk about the final vision statement, the
values and the issues and opportunities. Okay so for those of you who haven't had
chance to see it so far this is the draft vision statement that we're
looking at that we're asking the public for further feedback. Again the vision
statement is really important because it kind of guides where we want to see the
general plan go into the future and how we want it to serve our community. It was
developed through past feedback and conversations with city staff, the
council and commissioners and members of the public and hopefully really
represents what the city wants to achieve through the plan. Next slide. The
plan also has a set of guiding values and these guiding values again were
built on previous conversations and data from previous engagement events to
think about how we want to guide the plans you know elements of policies. So
things that might be related to your commission there is a value on well-being
which focuses on ensuring that residents and visitors have access to essential
services, safe neighborhoods, health and educational resources, and economic
opportunities. It also focuses on creating welcoming public spaces,
cultural experiences, and community events, among other things. Economic
vitality is another very relevant value for your Commission that focuses on
building a resilient and diverse economy that supports local businesses, jobs, and
the city's long-term financial health. And as you can see from the arts and
culture value, this value supports diverse arts and cultural experiences
that enrich community life and strengthen Walnut Creek as a regional
destination. It builds on the Lesher Center for the Arts and Cities broader
network for arts organizations, venues, galleries, and programs. So in addition to
these draft vision and guiding values we want to talk a little bit more about the
existing conditions report so on the next slide I'll set the stage a little
bit to to kind of give some background to the context we're talking about in
Walnut Creek right so I'll provide some high-level demographic data to think
about who we are thinking about when we're planning for the future I'm
talking about population demographics housing and then bring it back to David
to share more of the details of the ECR
for arts and culture.
And as a reminder, we are looking for feedback
on what are the issues and opportunities
related to arts and culture in the future
and what are strategies to build us a bridge
from these issues and opportunities for arts and culture
to that vision statement of the future
that we're trying to achieve.
On the next slide.
So here's some interesting data
about the Walnut Creek community
as it has been over the past 10 years.
So again, to ensure that we're serving the community
with its needs and vision when it comes to this topic,
it's important to understand the city's population,
including growth and changes over time.
The city of Walnut Creek has an estimated 2025 population
of about 70,736 people,
which has been an increase of about 3,000 residents
or 4% over the past 10 years since 2015.
In addition to that, the number of households
has also increased to 33,359 households,
or a 7% increase since 2015.
One thing to note is that since the number of households
has exceeded population growth here over the last 10 years,
this actually means that there's been a decrease
in household size from about 2.15 people per household
to about 2.08 people per household
over this 10 year period.
So that's interesting to note about household size
versus population growth.
This lower average household size in Walnut Creek
could be, it's actually very consistent
with the city's significantly high percentage
of non-family and senior households in the city.
This is particularly due to the Rossmore community
that's a part of the city,
as well as the city's growing inventory
of multifamily housing that allows more people
to move into new housing, which is great.
On the next slide, when it comes to the age profile
of the city of Walnut Creek,
there are a number of demographic trends
that are revealed in this age data analysis.
As you can see from this chart,
residents over the age of 65 continue to represent
the largest age group accounting
for over 30% of the population.
However, it's really important to note
that the city has also attracted a wave of younger people
around the ages of 25 to 34, that cohort.
Between the years of 2015 to 2025,
leading to a slight decline in the city's meeting age
by about one year.
This cohort of people ages 25 to 34
is also the fastest growing age group in the city,
and has increased by approximately 31%
over this 10 year period.
When we talk to our researchers, this change may be due in part to, again, a significant amount of multi-family housing construction in downtown Walnut Creek over the recent years,
as well as more younger adults deciding to live in not only the new developments, but also maybe staying at home with their family.
So this could be some of the reasons why the age of distribution has been like this over time.
When it comes to the cities, on the next slide, sorry,
the race and ethnicity profile, these graphics over here
show the proportion of the population
by race and ethnicity in the city
on the left in the middle cubes, and on the right,
Contra Costa's counties' proportions
by race and ethnicity.
So you can do that comparison to the county.
So each of these graphics here has 100 squares,
and each square represents about 1% of the population.
So for instance, if you look at the very far left square
with the dark blue squares, there's about 14 of those.
So those 14 dark blue squares represent
the proportion of population that identifies as Asian.
So as you can see from this data,
Walnut Creek is a predominantly non-Hispanic white community,
but it actually has been growing more racially and ethnically
diverse over time, especially when
when it comes to a growing number of Asian
and Hispanic Latino community residents,
which they've experienced
both of those different demographic groups,
about 3% of growth over this past 10-year period.
And again, we share this information
because we also understand that it's really important
to understand the city's growing context over time,
seeing where it has been in the past,
to see where it could go into the future
and how we can plan for that future.
So thank you, that was all we had to share
about the demographic profile of the city.
I'm gonna pass it over to Dave to talk more
about the arts and culture ECR.
It is, it's a miracle.
Thank you, Tiffany, and it's great to be with you
this evening and have an opportunity
to talk about this milestone for arts and culture
and the general plan process.
Yay.
So we defined arts and culture very broadly.
All different art forms and different types
of creative activity.
Also, the city's arts programs, nonprofit organizations,
individual artists, heritage groups, creative businesses.
And as background, we reviewed city plans,
budgets, and reports.
Tiffany mentioned this earlier.
In mid-June, we talked with city staff
as well as arts organizations in the community
and two discussion groups of individual artists.
The headline is that Walnut Creek
has been running arts programs itself for over 60 years
with the Diablo Regional Arts Association
as its strongest partner.
The scale is impressive.
The Lesher Center sold about 145,000 tickets last year.
Center Rep produces five shows a year.
The Bedford Gallery drew 22,000 visitors,
and the Center for Community Arts
logged nearly 7,000 registrations.
We, as arts consultants, often point to Walnut Creek
an example of a city and a community that values the arts as civic
infrastructure and has invested over the long term. You are very much far ahead of
your peer cities in the United States. The line at the bottom of the slide
comments on this sustained investment. There's strong service delivery for
community members but less focus on supporting the arts ecosystem. The city
City is great at running programs and less set up to develop the wider arts community
around them.
And all city programs must operate under a cost recovery expectation.
Each program is feeling the pressure in its own way.
The Lesher Center is working to meet cost recovery in a high cost region.
And more of its calendar is now one day rentals as long time tenants thin out following COVID.
The Lessure is now presenting more shows on its own.
The Center Rep faces audience, subscription,
and financial pressures, similar to what
many other regional theaters are facing.
The Bedford Gallery is thriving with a national profile
and through its juried shows showcasing
the work of regional artists.
The Bedford is also in need of a new generation of docents
to spell its long-term volunteers.
Okay, sorry.
The Center for Community Arts is truly a national model
for hands-on arts learning for all ages.
It's a bit of a victim of its own success,
a case study in demand outrunning space.
The Civic Park Ceramic Studio is full
from 8.30 in the morning to 10 at night,
and about half of scholarship applicants
live outside Walnut Creek,
so the center is clearly serving a regional community.
Many of the city's cultural facilities
carry a lot of history, going back decades,
and even as far as 1902.
And they now have a range of deferred maintenance.
The Lesher Center alone has more than a million dollars
in identified capital needs.
Other cultural facilities need
additional capital improvements.
Heather Farms shows what's possible
when there's dedicated funding,
since Measure O is paying
for the replacement of its facilities.
But everywhere else, the approach is ad hoc,
with a capital improvements list,
but no citywide renewal mechanism.
Public art is another success story.
There are more than 70 artworks with an appraised value
of about two and a half million dollars.
The Public Art Fund, which you're going to hear
much more about tonight, I think.
The Public Art Fund balance is about 1.7 million,
nearly a million of which is unallocated,
available for other public art purposes. Under the public art ordinance, developers
subject to the public art requirement can choose to pay an in lieu fee instead
of commissioning a work of art. You are all well aware of this. This revenue is
valuable but it varies a lot from year to year which makes planning more
difficult. What we heard from stakeholders was first and foremost
genuine pride in the collection and in how visible and available it is to the
public. They also articulated the desire for more art in neighborhoods and on
trails, a map, a self-guided tour, and more involvement of local artists. The
Public Art Master Plan dates to 2016 and is due for renewal. Come on, you can do it.
I know you can. Great, thank you. So here's where the collection is located now. You can see the
concentration of artworks in downtown, which is the inset in the map. And this is largely driven by
the private development requirement, which often places the art on the site of the business. This
obviously connects to the stakeholder interest in, we just mentioned, in locating art in more
diverse places in the community. The cultural life in Walnut Creek goes well
beyond the city's arts programs. Major producers, independent nonprofits, visual
arts organizations, heritage groups, many individual artists. 400 in one database
alone. Artists describe often working in isolation or disconnected as a
a community. What we heard most from the arts community was about space and cost. For example,
the Lesher Center is becoming more expensive to use, affordable rehearsal and studio spaces scarce,
artists lack clear pathways into city programs, and smaller groups struggle with visibility.
Next slide please. Let's look now at the wider creative economy. There's also a for-profit
creative sector in Walnut Creek, anchored by architecture and design. Total creative
economy earnings were $54 million in 2024, with 804 full-time jobs. The projections suggest
earnings growing to $114 million and creative jobs to more than 1250 in the coming 10 years.
Looking at just economic impact of the non-profits arts sector in the city, a 2022 study found
$36 million in economic activity and 776 jobs supported.
So by any measure, the arts are demonstrably a part of the city's economy.
Next slide, please.
So the foundation is strong.
60-plus years of investment, recognized programs, and an engaged arts community.
The pressures are scarce space, aging facilities, organizations that face financial stress,
and limited support for the wider arts ecosystem. A central question for the general plan,
and for you, is how Walnut Creek builds on what it has engendered, how it sustains and deepens
it's cultural life for a community that is changing, and this relates to some of the
data that Tiffany shared with us a few moments ago.
Next slide, please.
So based on all of that, we've pulled out six themes.
These form a basis for policy and strategy development for arts and culture in the general
plan, looking ahead for the long term.
We'll have some questions for you in a few minutes about these issues and opportunities,
particularly what solutions you would like to be considered. Next slide. The
first two themes are about the big picture and the city's arts programs.
Vibrant arts and culture is about strengthening Walnut Creek's identity as
a regional arts center and keeping downtown inclusive and vital. Arts
programming covers expanding programs, improving access and affordability for
all community members of all ages, connecting arts with parks and open space, maintaining
quality, and planning for future needs. Next slide. Next are facilities and public art.
On facilities, the priority is addressing the financial health of the Lesher Center
and other arts organizations, plus the facility updates at the Lesher, Civic Park, Shade Lands,
other cultural facilities.
Public art has strong pride behind it.
The opportunities are better access through maps and tours, support for local and regional
artists, more art in parks and across the city, and more diverse and interactive types
of art.
Next slide, please.
These last two themes look beyond the city's programs.
Cultural ecosystem is about affordable venues, broader access to creative spaces, support
for organizations in the region, pathways for artists into city programs, and visibility
for smaller groups. Creative economy is about activating the downtown arts district, strengthening
the design sector, and building an evidence base of the economic impact of the arts. And
with that, let me turn it back over to Tiffany, who will lead us, guide us through our discussion.
Do you want me to stay with you?
Yeah, yeah.
Thanks so much, David.
Yeah, so we'd love to open up this discussion
into these discussion questions that we have here for you,
as David mentioned.
The main questions for tonight are related to,
for all of you, are there any pressing arts and culture
issues or opportunities that are missing from the list
that David just presented?
And if you want to share more information
what those things are and why they're important, that'll be great. Also, if
there are any questions about the presentation, David, of course, or myself,
are down to answer your questions. And on a related note to that first question,
what are the strategies or what are some strategies that could help bridge the
gap between the key issues that were mentioned in this presentation and the
draft general plan vision statement and guiding values? And so in a nutshell,
really all we're asking is like, you know, what are some of those issues and
and opportunities that you think might be missing
from this conversation.
And then what are some solutions or some strategies
to get us to where we want to be in the city?
So for example, an issue could be a lack of arts
and culture programs for high school aged youth
or for early childhood, you know, aged youth.
And maybe a solution could be like more partnerships
with nonprofits or schools to make sure
we can build more programs together in the city.
So yeah, I hope that makes sense.
If you have any questions, just let us know.
I would like to open it to all of you for conversation.
I think thank you very much, great presentation, a lot to talk about here.
But I think before we get into the discussion questions, I would just ask commissioners
if they have any questions pertaining to the presentation.
You just made anything we need to clarify or expand on.
I just have one question not based on your presentation but based on the materials that
that you provided before under arts education and access.
You talk, this is arts education,
you talk about the underserved missing middle
of adult learners.
What, who are those people?
So that refers to, you know, working adults,
folks who are having interest,
adults who have an interest in taking
on some creative practice,
but don't necessarily have the time
or for some reason, they face other barriers to accessing.
It also goes back to the comment about the Center
for the Arts being so successful that they kind of run out
of space.
They don't have the capacity for a lot of new registrations.
So are there questions?
I guess we can go on to comments.
There's no public comments that we see,
so we can move on to commissioner comments.
I saw Commissioner Milne.
Did you have a question?
Yeah.
Or comment?
I wanted to comment on the first bullet point here.
And one pressing thing that I think brings the culture
together a lot was the Walnut Festival being a youth.
I haven't seen it happen for the past maybe two years,
a few years.
And I really wonder why it's not happening anymore,
because I remember I would go every year with my neighbor, who
is my best friend.
And it's a really, really good memory for my family
and I as well as her it's a great way to meet other people in the community and
hang out with people well in my opinion from school that you wouldn't normally
see or things like that and it's just a really good thing that makes Walnut Creek
unique like I remember I'd drive past and see all the rides set up and it
would make me really excited and I think that it's something that definitely
brings the community together and it makes Walnut Creek very unique because
there are things like the Alameda County Fair and other things like that but the
the Wana Festival was something that always left a mark on me
as I was growing up, and I really miss it recently.
And there was also one more thing.
When I was younger, I remember I used
to participate in this parade with my gymnastics gym encore.
And they would go around, and some of the younger kids
would get to do cartwheels down the road.
And I really felt special when I was doing that.
And I think that's a really good way for youth.
There was also older girls.
I was younger, but there was older people
to participate and kind of perform
in front of people in the community,
show what they're learning, as well as smaller businesses
or businesses like Encore can get exposure
to other families, so they can kind of promote
their services, and families can see them
and say, oh, I want to sign my child up for that.
And it can give opportunities for families
to join in on more things within the city.
That's all, thank you.
Thank you.
I wanted I wanted to address the issue with the particularly ceramic arts program and I'm sure there are others that are at capacity.
I don't know where is the place to address that or to have a voice in terms of what we may be planning for immediate expansion or inclusion of of participants.
I'd like to know that I'd like to know where those things are being discussed
and how one can participate.
Chris, did you want to take that or?
Sure.
So the general plan addresses where we're headed and what the end game is.
So ties into the conversation, but it doesn't talk so much about what are we
going to do this year, next year, et cetera, it sets the goal.
So all of that to say, if the general plan comes back
and identifies a need, whether that's an amenity,
whether it's specific to clay arts,
it usually makes higher level generalizations,
but the council would then come together to say,
okay, well, to meet goal A,
we need to build a bigger studio, for example,
or place a second studio somewhere in the city.
So those would be longer range plans.
for what we can do in the next year
to address some of these capacity thing,
it really comes down to budget.
And so over the late winter and early spring,
staff will be working with our
ASD Administrative Services Department
to set the next two year budget
and meeting with council to see what their goals are.
That's when those conversations would happen.
And anytime the public sees a budget item
on the council agenda,
that would be the best time for the public to let council know what their thoughts are what
programs they'd want to see prioritized what facilities they'd like to see prioritized
that's where uh the council would take those comments you're welcome so what you're saying
is that this is not the place to say really it'd be nice to have a duplicate ceramic studio
somewhere out Ignatius Valley Road
and potentially expand the one
or rebuild the one in the Civic Park.
And maybe you're doing kind of duplicative classes
in both places for many things.
So people aren't having to drive always into downtown
Walnut Creek or drive always out to Shadelands
because there's classes in both places
and studio space in both places.
So this is the place for that kind of, thank you.
And especially, just a reminder to turn mics on.
Because that would be a longer-range plan,
we're talking construction, this is the perfect place
to bring up long-range plans.
So where may I, I don't know if this is the right place
to introduce this, but I feel that there
are issues with mechanics of signing up
for those courses for residents and non-residents
like, and you see that it's 100 percent to capacity, that means there are 120 percent,
there's 20 percent people not getting into classes.
So it's wonderful to have something that is at capacity, and expansion of that capacity
is one way to address.
But I'm wondering if there's conversation about other ways to address it on the more
near term in terms of how we might be able to give access or preference to residents
or have a cost structure that changes over the various region that comes in.
I don't know where the place is to have that conversation.
I mean, you can have those conversations with our staff at any time.
But to get a broader voice, pros is probably the better conduit,
because it's not specific to arts when you're talking
the fee schedule in general.
Council obviously makes the decision about fees.
They recently made the new decision
to go resident non-resident.
But if you wanted to dig deeper and say residents
could have some priority, I think
that's probably more of a department and pros decision
then it is a council decision. So I would start with staff and with pros. You're
welcome. I think to build on this conversation though, I'm like we're
hearing very loud and clear some of the priorities the council and that's really
important for us to know, right? We're hearing a lot about the Ceramics Studio,
we're hearing about having good access to those things, and we're also hearing
about like good having good facilities and places to have classes. So these are
all great conversations I have for the general plan update.
And I wanted to comment that I mentioned
and kind of been passing in the presentation
that we as arts consultants look to Walnut Creek
as a national model, including the Center for the Arts
and the Ceramics program.
And that's not just a blandishment.
It's not just being pleasant.
There are very few cities around the United States
that reflect the vision for community arts
that you have here in Walnut Creek.
And so coming back to Tiffany's point,
this is the place to maintain a high level of vision
for all of your programs,
but certainly for the Center for Community Arts.
And this is the place to strengthen that foundation.
So I won't say 60 years from now,
but 10 years from now,
there will be stronger programs and facilities
and infrastructure in place.
The other thing I was thinking about,
listening to Commissioner Milne's self-introduction,
I'm a retired dancer, so I was excited to hear that for you,
but the general plan is about,
it's less about art and more about the infrastructure
so art can flourish in a municipal environment.
So it's kind of a technical perspective to maintain,
but our job, you as commissioners and us
as general planning consultants,
is to help the city achieve that high level
of arts and cultural programs and facilities
and infrastructure and funding into the future,
because it's a stressed system right now.
I want to broaden the discussion just a little bit
and go back to the vision statement, which strongly
emphasizes the role of arts and culture
and describes the city as defined
by its cultural vibrancy.
It talks about it being a regional center, which
is driven in part by the arts and culture infrastructure.
And I think the vision statement is fine.
But there's a disconnect, because when the city updated
its priorities last year, which they do every couple of years,
arts and culture didn't make the cut as one of the,
it was one of the priority areas.
So as Vice Chair Tess Faye and Commissioner Kerlin,
I think Commissioner Dressler and I all noted
that the initial rollout that we did in June with you,
it's important that the city's general plan
clearly reflects that arts and culture are at the core
of the city's concerns.
Otherwise, you know, we risk being treated
as a nice to have.
In fact, Tiffany, you even referred to arts and culture
as an amenity.
I don't consider it an amenity.
And I think if we execute on the discussion here
about needing to quantify the economic impact of the arts
in Walnut Creek, we'd probably find
that it's a need to have as well.
Because when the hard decisions have to be made,
the city looks to its identified priorities
and not to its vision statement.
So I'd just like to see arts and culture be talked about
more as one of the cores of the city's needs and activities
and not an amenity.
And I don't mean any disrespect here.
Yeah, of course, yeah.
And I want to do a little commercial.
Full disclosure, I'm also a member
of the Walnut Creek Library Foundation Board.
So one of the vital cultural resources
that isn't even mentioned in the report
in the ECR is the two public libraries.
The downtown library, it's actually a city-owned facility
and it's the most used library
in the 23-branch Contra Costa County Library System.
It's a repository of some of our significant pieces
from the public art collection, including a lovely mural
by Vice-Chair Tesfaye.
Libraries also host and produce a very broad and diverse range
of cultural programs and activities, all free of charge.
And the Downtown Library houses the county's ancestry records,
which is a substantial collection that draws people
in from all over who are doing
that ancestry work that's becoming more and more popular.
So a good driver of the regional stuff,
as with the Lesher Center and the public art program.
So I don't have any specific suggestions to offer,
except that I think the general plan would benefit
from incorporating libraries into that inventory
of the city's cultural ecosystem,
and maybe give some thought to how that might be
better integrated into the rest
of the city's cultural programming.
That's really helpful.
Thanks so much for mentioning that last point about libraries.
I know David has also met with some people
to talk about library issues as well, which is great.
That's very aligned.
And also to clarify, I think through this process,
the vision and the values were all
based off of previous conversations
with council, commissions, and the public, and the staff.
And so the fact that you see arts and culture in the vision
and in the values really does represent and reflect
everyone's feedback.
So I think that'll continue to be a big focus
and we'll have that in the general plan.
So that's good to hear.
In terms of the point about amenities, just to clarify,
I think what we were trying to say is that,
as David mentioned,
when we're thinking about the general plan,
we have to think about like what are the amenities
or the infrastructure necessary
to really have good arts and culture in the city.
And so those are things that we can think about
as conversation, yeah.
So I wanna call out a couple of things that I found
in your report that I particularly liked.
An integrated one-stop space for arts coordinated
with the city's parks and open space system,
attracting a new generation of Bedford Gallery docents
and maintaining the galleries national.
That's two, maintaining the galleries national standing
and ensuring the long-term sustainability of center rep.
Yes, yes, yes, and yes, I think those are all,
I'm really glad that we're talking
about that kind of stuff now.
Did I see on a previous side where the community arts program
generates $2 million of revenue for the city?
Did I see that somewhere?
It's also something.
I'd have to look at the exact number.
That figure was not on the slide,
but it is in the existing conditions report.
So do I understand correctly then that the program?
OK, yeah.
So do I understand correctly then
that our community arts is a net positive income for the city?
No?
No.
Sorry.
Correct.
But revenue is not including expenditures.
It's not a net.
Oh, correct.
OK, thanks.
Darn it.
I'm thinking about access to art.
People are talking about art in the neighborhoods, et cetera.
I've been a long time dosing at the Bedford Gallery, and we have seen the number of schools
coming to take tours of the Bedford drop because of access, and we invite the high schools,
we invite Northgate and Occolani's in Lafayette to come see our shows, and those teachers
say I have no way to get the kids to the gallery to see a show.
Las Lomas, the kids can walk.
So they have a much easier way to get to the gallery
and they do come once a year.
So it's the access for high school students is an issue.
How could that be changed?
Maybe by having either paid for buses
or county connection, bringing them to the gallery.
And the same thing with the elementary school kids
is that the schools that can walk,
which are St. Mary's, Buena Vista and Park Mead,
come regularly because they can walk
and they don't need drivers and car seats
and two parents in a car,
but all of a sudden when you start talking about schools
that actually have to drive to the gallery
to see something, there's an issue.
And so we're not seeing those schools coming as much.
So there were years when I think a corporation,
I believe Chevron, was funding buses
and they would send the buses out to the school
and bring the kids on buses.
That is no longer, I think the buses
are just for theater for schools, is that true?
Yep, so I'd say we're seeing access issues
with the Bedford Gallery and how many students,
whether they're elementary, junior high, or high school,
we can accommodate.
And it's such a gift to the teachers in the school
to come to the gallery.
And the teachers are frustrated also
that they can't get their kids there.
No, I'm just taking in the input.
It's very, very valuable.
Yeah.
I mean, just to clarify, Tiffany talked
about how we will use tonight's information.
We certainly are happy to answer any questions
about the existing conditions report, clarifications,
all of that.
But we really, the meat for tonight
is getting your suggestions and your perspectives
on what's important to consider for the actual plan,
the element. The goals and strategies it will be crafting next. So your comment
was really helpful in that regard. Well and I would add in that regard that
it's going to take money and people to do almost any of the things that we're
all talking about needing to do. If I might add to my last comment, we also
have a program at the Bedford Gallery where we take art programs out to the
schools. And we're trying to do that to schools that don't have the arts programs internal to
the schools. That's typically not Walnut Creek or Alumrinda or Alamo. But what we've run up against
is other school districts, namely Mount Diablo and some of the Antioch East County districts,
have such onerous insurance requirements for us to go into the schools
that we have we can't get in and sometimes they have the same insurance requirements of parents
also to leave the school so we're seeing issues with insurance affecting how we're able to
bring art outside Walnut Creek and as we talk about access again we're trying to take it out
to the community and we're often thwarted by a school's legal issues. Thanks for sharing that
that's good to know okay I guess we've given you what feedback we have is such
a such a huge chunk of stuff I mean I'm glad you're doing a lot of these
catch-ups because it probably us and others will have other things as we
think more about it but you know thank you thank you yeah and obviously once we
take a first draft at goals and strategies and solutions ways to
improve and strengthen arts and culture here in the city you'll you'll be the
body that will come back to for your review and comment and so there'll be
other opportunities for you to help shape what the plan looks like for arts
and culture I do want to have a comment I'm an artist resident and I've met with
with you before to give my input.
So grateful some of that showed up here.
One thing I haven't seen here,
and that's a general concern for artists in general is AI.
And I like to know what the city's doing in terms of,
I love that we have all of these things
that we're thinking about that are more hands-on
and human-made things that still continue to happen,
which is what we love to believe as an artist.
I have to believe that.
But I also know that the reality looks different
in two years, five years, let alone in 2050.
So how is the city preparing for that,
whether it's in the arts and culture or just in general?
I haven't seen any of that, maybe you guys have,
but I'd like to have some ideas about that.
That would be great, please.
That's a great comment, and those are exactly
the kind of things we're looking for,
is like looking into the future, right, the long term.
What are things that people see as things
to really consider in the long term planning of the city?
So if it's AI or other things that you might predict,
we'd love to hear more about that, too.
And to be candid, I don't think many people have any clue
to answer your question.
And it is obviously an essential question.
So please accept that we'll be thinking about it
and see what possible responses there may be.
What I've been hearing more about
is the conversations taking place in Hollywood
about protections for unionized writers, directors, actors,
and so forth.
But it's a larger question, I think, you're asking.
And I haven't been hearing a lot about real municipal solutions
for that question yet.
And again, I know we're nearing the end of the conversation.
But if you want to take a look at the issues and opportunities
that were shared by David, based on feedback
that we heard from the public in the city,
you can always review some of these points.
and you can let us know, like, are we missing anything?
Is there anything else that you think we should emphasize?
We'd like to make sure we capture some of the,
kind of, comprehensive lists to address
through the policy frameworks in the future.
Go ahead.
So I just saw one of your slides
about creating access for artists,
create pathways for artists to engage with city programs.
I guess I'm looking at that at the Bedford Gallery also,
that we have a jury show every year,
which there's a local artist.
Every summer, local artists have a pathway
to present their art in the city gallery for 10 weeks
with an opening and docents being trained
and we give tours of it.
I am wondering if artists maybe don't all know about that
because if we're doing a show about X and they do Y,
they have no idea that we have that kind of engagement.
But I just want you to know that is happening right now
on an annual basis.
Thanks for highlighting that all right thank you thank you all so much we'll
look forward to talking with you again soon thank you yeah all right next on
the agenda is consideration of item 4b presentation of fiscal years 28 and 29
public art fund budget and I'll invite public art manager Mariah Nelson to
provide the presentation all right good evening commissioners Thank You for
presenters Mariah Nelson public art manager for pardon me for the city of
Wanna Creek and tonight we have one item on the agenda for your
consideration and review and we're just asking you to provide feedback this is
for the Public Art Fund budget development proposal for fiscal years 28 and 29, which
will go to City Council at the end of this fiscal year, so June, 2027. So we have a little
time allowing for feedback. So as you know, every two years City Council approves a budget
that provides a spending plan for the city and this is inclusive of the Public
Art Fund. The Public Art Fund is separate from the General Fund and
tonight we're bringing this for your review. The Public Art Fund balance is
dependent on developer fees which are paid into the fund in lieu of realizing
an art project along with a development project and this is consistent with
municipal code in chapter 10. The other way is that this fund receives revenue
is interest on money that is sitting in there and also up to City Council's
discretion. What we've seen in the last couple of years is contribution of
$10,000 from City Council toward this fund. And then for those of you who don't
know. The Public Art Fund is to be used toward the administration, maintenance,
and stewardship, general stewardship, of this collection, of the city's public art
collection. So that is what it's for. So I'm going to move to the next slide. This is
very hard to read on this screen. It's also in your packet, so hopefully you can
read it better on your own screens. And we will just go, I printed myself a copy,
which is also very small but we can go down line by line and for some of you
you did this last round so maybe this looks familiar to you and for others
this will be new for you. So the first item on the first line item here noted
is staff salary. This isn't actually something that we're asking for feedback
on this has already been determined by City Council and obviously some of the
budget has to go toward administering. So staff salaries and so that's for the
public art team and benefits. Then next we have all of the operating and
maintenance expenses that are listed and per public art committee's suggestion
we've added notes on the right to help explain what these things are for. So at
previous meeting it should be familiar to you that we discussed the rotational
sculpture program and we already have this this Commission has already
approved at a prior meeting the budget to create the infrastructure for this
project which is three sculpture bases with integrated lighting and these are
already planned to go on to Locust Street which is technically the Arts
District. So public art staff has been working with traffic and engineering to
get this project moving forward. It is moving forward. So the next phase of this
project will be to create a request for proposals and artists will be
compensated for loaning us their sculptures for a two-year period of time.
So they'll be on display and we also put some money in there to allow for
Transportation of the artwork. We won't be asking these artists to pay for transportation
And then of course installation. So that's what is noted there
Any question, or I guess we can wait we can hold questions until the very end. How about that?
So and we'll just run through this
So we also would like more money for the public
Mural grant
We've just seen success with the first murals realized and so we've spent that we have funding for this this year in case
We have more applicants coming in but we would like to see this project continue into the future and at this point
It is up to thirty thousand dollars per fiscal year
So that's noted in there
We also would like some budget to be applied toward city facility murals
we have at previous meetings discussed and identified, um, different, um,
municipal sites that would benefit from having a mural. And so in the future, in
the next, you know, a couple of fiscal years, we would like to put out a call
for that and see new artwork on these city buildings. And then, of course, as
you're all aware, Heather Farm Park Aquatic and Community Center, the new
development project we've noted we've noted the money in here we also would
like to do a mural there so that you'll see there's some funding that once we
have a wall we would like to see a mural go that that's a little bit
further down the road and then 415,000 has already been allocated toward
realizing the public art project once that project is moving further down the
line, so that's already earmarked for that. Then next up we have the, under
maintenance, collection management. We have certain works in the collection
that require, they're on a pretty regular schedule, hand of pieces, certainly one of
them. This receives biennial conservation and treatment and cleaning, and so we
have that listed. The last time that was done was 2025, so it'll be done again in
spring of 2027 per the agreement with the lender of the artwork. It's on loan to the city long term.
We have also added, you know, a little bit more dollars into this because things come up with
our collection. Some are planned and some are unplanned in cases of, bless you, cases of
vandalism, or just general wear and tear with artwork that's sitting outside year-round.
So we're trying to stay on top of
taking care of the collection to ensure that these works are in good standing condition,
and will remain on view for years to come.
And next we have marketing. So
we are asking for some funds to be applied toward marketing. This includes
public relations like press release development, outreach to expand the audience of our public
art program. This includes printed collateral such as public art walking tour cards and then
the the printing and the mailing the designing pardon me and also the social media and so that's
what is noted there and those that would be annual expenditures.
And then we have a contingency that is worked in also, of course the staff salary and benefits
are not calculated into this.
And so the total ask is $847,000 for those next years in additional funding.
All right, and we do have some pictures in here so that just to help illustrate some
of the projects.
So these are some of the city facilities that we discussed at previous meetings.
Boundary Oaks, out the golf course out there.
I think they've been wanting art.
We have our clay arts building right here at Civic Park, and then we have the letter
art space built at the leisure and it would be great to have a mural in there.
This is one thing I didn't mention this is something we had discussed also at
previous meetings is moving wind fins by Ned Kahn. This is currently on the Neiman
Marcus building. The developer did indicate that once they have a renter
secure they would like to donate this artwork if the new renter wishes to tear
down this building and rebuild which would part of me was what was going to
happen and that project didn't go through however this is still on the
table so we've set aside some funds for this we did have the artist's engineer
come out and give us an estimate for how much it would cost to remove and then
and reinstall this work, which would be 52,000.
It's pretty waiting to go to the next slide.
Yeah, it's not.
So and then this is just to illustrate
the exciting process of cleaning a hand of peace,
which will happen again in the spring.
And this is just examples of marketing collateral.
And that's it.
So now is the chance for clarifying questions.
Just clarifying that the numbers are real.
The city facility mural 100,000 in 2027
and 125,000 in 2028?
Yes.
Well, and it depends on which building.
So obviously if it's the letter or its base,
it's not gonna be that much.
But what if we realize two murals in one year
and then another, the big one in the next year.
So boundary oaks is pretty big.
And then we're factoring, and this
is going to be taking place a couple of years from now.
Right now, the going rate for mural artists
is about $50 to $55 a square foot.
So depending on the site.
And the Clay Arts building has one big wall,
but then it also wraps around.
So we're just trying to, we would rather
bring the request for a little bit more than possibly it
might cost, and then that way we don't have to come back
if it's more, but hopefully maybe it would even be less.
Might we know more about the general plan
and maybe some, a placeholder for clay arts
being rebuilt or expanded
before we end up doing something like this?
So going to council tomorrow night
is a pros recommendation for council
to approve moving forward
with a Heather Farm Master Plan Update
and a Civic Park Master Plan.
So if that is approved,
the idea is that by end of 2028,
there would be a new Civic Park Master Plan.
So that could include a variety of things.
Can I ask a good question about mural on civic art,
on the ceramics art studio.
Has any consideration been made about having
the artists at the ceramic studio
contribute to create the mural from ceramic tiles
or ceramic art that's done within the community?
So a few things there.
So one, I think to the conversation we just had
is we wanna make sure that building's gonna stay there
before any investment is made in a permanent piece of artwork.
But also, we learned from the Heather Farm Project
that in order for any building to sustain
the weight of a ceramic project or tile,
there would have to be significant infrastructure
changes that are very costly, especially for a building
like the one that's currently sitting.
It would probably be a tear down and a rebuild
actually to hold that kind of weight?
So all of that to say, to get to kind of the last idea
in there, could we do a fundraiser
with any of our nonprofit partners
to pay for murals just in general?
We could, that's not off the table to ever do that.
So I like seeing this mural money left in here,
but I think I'd like to keep it a little open-ended
on where it's gonna go because it just might not go
the clay art quite yet until we know what's happening.
But I'd like to see it then roll forward if we don't use it.
So when we know it's still there rolling.
Great, thanks.
The maintenance contingency, was it also 20,000 for 27?
Oops.
You've got 5,000 left.
Yes.
You started with 20 just like you're proposing
the next two years.
You've already spent-
based off of the total, so it's like 20% of 363,020% of,
sorry, it's hard for me to read, 391,000.
Yeah, I'm just wondering if it's enough,
given that you've already spent that much of a...
Well, it's based on the percentage and...
Okay, so it has to be enough.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, it kind of, that's a great question.
I mean, it's hard to predict whether it's gonna be enough
and we just hope that it will be enough
and I mean, we're certainly open to your recommendation
if you would like to make the recommendation
that we add more for contingency.
I don't know if I wanna go that far.
I wanna ask about, excuse me,
mural program there's talk in the presentation that we just heard about the public art component
of the master plan update about pathways for artists into public art and obviously the
mural program is one of those pathways. We've had the one grant now and it went to what's
it called ABG Art Group, and it appeared from the process of awarding that grant that it
would take an organization that strong and professional to ever have a shot at doing
any of these mural projects.
You've got to coordinate discussions with 15,000 various stakeholders and bring a whole
deal together.
I guess my question is, does that mural program ever going
to be able to provide a pathway for somebody who
doesn't have the resources, the experience of an ABG group,
or are we just going to be doing it that way from here on?
It's a great question.
I think you're right.
The challenge, I think, is that it's
who is applying for the grant.
Is it the building owner that wants
artwork on their building?
in which case it's very easy for us.
We already have a pre-established mural pool of artists
that we could refer to them.
And that's a pretty easy way to do it,
that if we were to have an artist applicant come to us,
then yes, it would require them seeking the wall
because we don't really have staff time
that can, you know, that would be us boots on the ground
knocking on doors.
So maybe if you know of some buildings
that would like to have a mural on their wall,
recommending them.
But I definitely see what you're saying it is.
It does involve multiple parties.
It's what those planners would call a barrier, excuse me.
I think there's two issues.
So there's one, identifying a place for a mural to go.
So that's the issue that Mariah is speaking of.
But the second issue, I think, maybe
is what you were referencing a bit, also,
is just the process, right?
So even if an artist came to us and they had a project
and they had a place, they would still
have to go through the city process, which
can be laborious for those that don't understand the system.
So in those cases, I would like to say
that staff would definitely provide some handholding
to walk the artist through.
And it is our hope and our intention
moving forward we will have loan artists applying and we are prepared to help them through that
process and I know just from my personal experience working in other cities where we've had similar
programs that we had no issue working internally getting them through you know permitting and
insurance and all that is it you know fun are they having the time of their lives no but we can
definitely help them we're not going to just say you know you won congratulations and then walk
So we understand that it will take some time and effort to get any single artist through the process
But we look forward to that and we're really hopeful that we do have some solo artists that apply it's great
For the question. Well, I was gonna comment. I was one of the solo artists that went through the process and
it was a
learning curve for me because it was the first mural I've ever done and an opportunity that was
Absolutely fantastic for my career and I do want to state that I would like to see more of that happen
while it was
Process I didn't find it very cumbersome. I did find the staff to be incredibly helpful
It happened so that it was a time when Mariah was
Transitioning into becoming part of in our team
So that made it a bit challenging, maybe, if any, at all.
But I would like to see more of a Bedford Gallery type of call for art that we do annually that I also participate.
And I just wanted to give back as an artist going through the process.
It is possible and doable, granted that it does require a lot of work on the back end
for people, but I would like to see more of those opportunities for future mural projects
as well.
I just wanted to input that.
Piggybacking on that, our call for artists, our request for proposals for the three Locust
street platforms. Are we going to try to make that local artist? We have a geographical...
Yes. So we are opening that up. So it's a request for proposals. So we're seeking artwork
that has already been made. So ready to go, ready to be installed, available. And that
will be open to the nine Bay Area counties, artists that have either reside in or have
a studio in one of the nine Bay Area counties, and so it's open obviously to local artists and
that way we can feature Bay Area artists in that program. And will those pieces of art be for sale
through this two-year period? Not while they're on display. Certainly if the artist wants to sell
their artwork or if somebody sees it, we're always happy to make that connection and it would be great
if they would sell it, we don't want to be involved in the transaction of, so that could
be something done directly from the artist to whoever, you know, the client is.
I think you have another source of income, like we do at the Bedford Gallery when we
sell a piece and we have a split with the artist.
We won't do that without you.
That is not the intention for this program.
Do we have any public comment?
We do not.
Okay.
I would entertain a motion to approve the budget.
I move that we approve the budget as presented.
I can second.
All roll.
You have Commissioner Milne?
Yes.
Commissioner Balsar, absent.
Commissioner Dresser?
Yes.
Commissioner Kerlin?
Yes.
Vice Chair Tassvet?
Yes.
And Chair McNani?
Yes.
Thank you.
It passes.
Stay there.
Next on the agenda is consideration
item 4c presentation of the Public Art annual report for fiscal year 2026 and again Mariah.
It is so this is an overview this is also in your packet and I am not going to I did not incorporate
the full packet into this presentation we just kind of highlighted some of the the projects that
that took place this year, so project update.
I've been working with this artist duo, Hoda Sousa,
on this work which should look familiar to you,
maybe not all of you.
So this is the sculptures that will be hanging
from the ceiling in the new lobby
for the new Heather Farm Park Aquatic
and Community Center facility.
And just giving you the update that the artists
have been in pretty frequent contact with the architects
for the project.
So things are being fabricated and going smoothly,
and they'll be ready for installation
once there is a ceiling for them to be installed into.
So that is great.
That's in the report.
Also, we just were speaking about this program.
These are just different little closeups of the four murals
that were just realized through the mural grant.
And I think you might need to press that.
And as a refresher, these were the artworks
that were accepted as donations
into the Public Art Program's permanent art collection.
And that was, I think, our last meeting this summer.
And then this was part of what took place this year
under collection management.
The piece on the left is the Dan Dykes
outside the leisure garage.
And the Bruce Johnson is on the right,
that took place, that's at Heather Farm Park,
and that was restored this year.
And then ongoing issues,
this is privately owned artwork that is public art.
And this is a great community asset and space,
but managing or having privately owned public art
has proven to be a little bit, you know,
it's challenging a little bit.
They've struggled with some fountain and hose issues.
Bless you.
This was restored earlier this year.
These little windows that are in the back of the dinosaurs,
these are at Broadway Plaza.
They were in need of repair, so those were replaced.
That was an easy project, and they're back up,
and they look good.
and public art walking tours have been extremely successful.
We continue to sell out pre-sale tickets ahead of time.
However, we also keep tickets available for walk-ups.
So it's just been great to see this program really take off.
And we think it's partially in due to the marketing efforts.
And very exciting news.
We have launched an app platform.
It's called Bloomberg Connects.
And so both Bedford Gallery and Public Art Walking Tours
are now featured on this app.
It's a completely free app for the user.
And it's a free app for us as the administrator, which
is great.
So it's been a big lift to.
And we're still, in fact, transitioning
all of the public art collection onto this app.
And we have our gallery exhibits are up to date.
so it'll be a great resource to check previous exhibits,
but also what's up and coming.
There's also a link on this app
that will take you to programming and events
that take place at the gallery,
and of course, the walking tours.
So if you wanna do something like cocktails
and conversations or craft fest,
all of these things can be found.
All of that information is linked up here on this app.
And it really elevates both the gallery
and the city's public art program
because this is a worldwide app that people use.
So now anytime people log in and they're scrolling,
whether they're in Europe or South America, they'll see us.
So it's kind of exciting.
And then this kind of, that kind of ends the annual report
and then this is not to get ahead of ourselves.
So if anybody has any questions,
because this is the, up next part.
Is this app being used currently
and what are we seeing for traffic for Walnut Creek?
Yes, it is being used and it's great because it also,
as the administrators, we can see analytics down to,
it's great because you can click on
each individual piece of art,
you can click on hearing about it,
and we can hear, or we can even see
how many individual clicks each artwork gets
And then if people choose to listen to the audio
that goes along with each artwork,
we can see how long they listen to the video or the audio.
So it's great, because we get to see where
their interests lie, or maybe we gave too much information,
or not enough information.
So yeah, the analytics are really great on this app.
Is this the answer to the self-guided public art walking
tour or does more need to be done or how. Yes so this is we the goal is right now
we have the self-guided walking tour number one up and then as you know we
have five total tours we just added the fifth tour this past year which is the
library and then right surrounding the library. Additionally we have a lot of
artwork that is not on an official tour so that can be a self-guided tour that
We also plan to add that is all the artwork that is out at Heather farm for example or John Muir Hospital
Out at the shade lens. So none of those are an official
Docent led tour but we will be adding those to the to the app also
So that people can go find them and learn more about the artist and the artwork
other questions
Wow
Okay
Thank you
We don't need to take action on that.
Nope, no action.
And then.
And we have no public comment.
OK.
Let's see.
Next on the agenda, reports on projects.
So.
We have one for Mariah.
Just up next, so we kind of covered a couple of these
in the annual report.
But as you're aware, we have the development project,
which this commission voted on to approve
their renderings for public art, so that will be coming up next, the Joy Bound People and Pets
public art project coming up in the next whenever their development moves forward, and then of
course our own municipal project, which is Heather Farm, and then we also have this rotating
sculpture program that we are hoping to see actual artwork on these pedestals sometime next summer,
And we just use this pigeon from the High Line in New York,
because I love it.
It's huge, and it's fun.
And it's a great example of temporary public art.
I'd like to learn more about the sculpture rotations.
How, where can I find that?
You don't have to do it today, but I'd
like to dig a little deeper for myself.
So nothing has been officially published yet.
I mean, I'm happy to share anything with you.
Right now we are working with the engineering team.
We're just trying to come up with,
we've had one round of renderings for these pedestals.
We found some issues, so we're having them redraft the,
you know, it's just not a big deal,
but we're having them redraft the renderings
to ensure that it's exactly to our specs
how we want them to be.
The infrastructure's already there,
So we've already worked with traffic and like the lights are connected. So there's already electricity. It's everything is ready to go
We will have these three pedestals that are gonna be made of concrete. They'll be hollow
and they will be fabricated off-site and then they will just be brought and installed and then we will be
Working staff is working right now to draft an RFP request for proposals. Yes, not not our cue
I don't know what I said before but
so we're working to draft that and
We're hoping to publish this RFP
early in the new year
Can you speak to water light plaza briefly of where we are with this, please?
Yes, so
They were it's my understanding that they they needed to order a specific nozzle
That has been done. The water is sometimes on
Mm-hmm, and I am in communication with the building manager
I don't know what the most recent is and
But they are definitely aware that the city is you know really wants to have the
The space up and running. I believe that they were running into some the last I heard
The reason it had turned off was because somebody had dumped in
What are those like little gel things or something? So then they had to drain it again and
Anyhow, that's that's where we're at they continued issues with projects that involve water
Mm-hmm. All right
Staff announcements
Do you have any other announcements for you? I don't I'm trying to think off the top of my head
I know Bedford has craft fest coming up before the end of the year
So hope to see you there
and
we have an amazing exhibit right now, which I think some of you are aware of and
There's gonna be a cocktails and conversations. We are gonna have a couple more public art walking tours before the year is up and
That's all I can think of off the top of my head
Thank you. I will add that our Diwali
Celebration is this weekend. So that kicks off on Friday night with a comedy show with Nimesh Patel
Followed by the drone show which is always exciting second year and then the Diwali festival
From noon to five on Saturday
We have Dracula which will be opening on Halloween Dracula comedy of terrors
And then as Mariah mentioned high pile concepts and tufting is showing at the Bedford through December 13th
Okay, commissioners reports
Just a reminder to the public and to the commissioners of the public art walking tour in November
It is our last one on November 21st is tour number four. I am leading it
along with another docent and then we have no tours until
February and we're going to then have our second tour of the library and
We reduce the numbers for that because it's so the art is so much smaller
We're seeing tours sell out quite a bit in advance, and so it'll be interesting to see how we go forward with this with
If people are showing up for those tours
They bought tickets for a couple of minutes in advance, and then how many walk-ups we have so that's could be I think a continuing
evolution of
The public art walking tours, but it's great that they're so popular and thanks to the marketing department as you said and to the excellent docents
And to our amazing public art collection
Also the tour at the Bedford which has been mentioned is so fun. The kids are loving it that are coming by for tours
I think they probably only wish they could stay longer
Within the gallery and doing the art project. So it's a Emily has come out done herself once again the curator with this show
So thanks Emily. I think she's probably watching this
I've got a couple of things. Um, I just I was on a three week
road trip to the pacific northwest and in victoria british columbia there's a neighborhood called
fernwood and in 2008 an artist who lived there painted the telephone pole in front of her house
to cover the junk that was stapled on it you know want ads and lost dogs and what have you
she got permission from bc hydro which is the pgne of british columbia and what happened was
other people in the neighborhood started painting their poles, and it spread to other neighborhoods
in Victoria. Totally grassroots effort, no public art commission or any of that kind
of thing involved, and it was especially vibrant because it echoes the general landscape in
Victoria which is covered with totem poles by First Nations people, and you see them
all over the city. But the main thing is it really brought the neighborhood together.
Fernwood has become this close knit community around the artwork and it attracted tourists,
people coming to see it. So clearly something had to be done. And so BC Hydro answered the
call and banned all painting of telephone poles throughout the province in 2019 for
a whole bunch of completely specious reasons. But they're still there and they're still
energizing the local community and delighting visitors like me.
And I particularly like this one blogger's post.
He said, the more I wander the streets of cities,
the more aware I become.
They're like outdoor art galleries or museums.
In many ways, I find streets much more interesting
than the institutions as I love the element of surprise
and the thrill of the hunt.
So bravo to Fernwood Victoria.
And the other one, this is kind of a follow-up
on what I reported at our last meeting about efforts
to save the Cohen Building in D.C. and its gallery of WPA
or murals.
In August, on the 60th anniversary
of the National Historic Preservation Act,
a coalition of 600 tribal nations, preservation,
conservation organizations, professional associations,
businesses, museums, historical societies,
State and local government agencies delivered an open letter
to Congress advocating, protecting,
and strengthening Section 106
of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Section 106 requires federal agencies to evaluate the effects
of their undertakings on historic places and consult
with experts, local authorities, and the public on ways to avoid
or mitigate any damage their project might cause.
Basically what it says is stop and think before you destroy something
that can never be replaced.
And it's under threat from three sides.
They're doing a sweeping rewrite of the regulations,
implementing the act to weaken it.
There's rollbacks because Congress keeps passing permitting
legislation for this or that project in response to various pressures.
And then there's the good old executive branch efforts
to circumvent Congress altogether
in order to facilitate the President's pet projects
like what happened at the Cohen Building.
So the coalition intends to continue pressuring Congress
to strengthen Section 106, resist attempts
to weaken or circumvent it.
And I just want to cite one section
of the coalition's open letter to Congress just
to bring us back around to the general plan update
In refuting the notion that preservation is a drag
on economic prosperity, here's what the letter says.
In the United States alone,
museums contribute approximately $50 billion annually
to the national economy while supporting more
than 726,000 jobs.
Museum attendance exceeds by 2.5 times the total number
of tickets sold for all professional sporting events
and theme parks combined.
So that's the economic impact on the national level
and that eventually comes down to what we were talking
about earlier tonight, that it's good business
with strengthening our arts and culture infrastructure here.
Anything else?
Yes. We have a current exhibition at the library
and downtown library with our community arts gallery.
It's a woman that show, and it runs until, I believe, December 5th.
It's a compilation of collages, and it's just beautiful work.
So when you have a moment and you're at the library, please stop by and take a look.
We appreciate it.
All right.
The next regular meeting of the Arts Commission is Monday, January 25th, 2027.
At 6 p.m., this meeting is adjourned.