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Cultural Development Board Meeting of January 15, 2019.
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PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
a. PETER IGLESIAS, CITY MANAGER
Ms. Spain welcomed City Manager Peter Iglesias and gave an overview of the role of the Cultural Development Board (CDB), including their review and scoring of the Cultural Grants. She stated that the Board is also in charge of donation recommendations, specifically art, which felt it was important to have a professional Board of arts professionals to advise and make recommendations when necessary causing the creation of the Arts Advisory Panel (AAP). Ms. Spain clarified that the AAP recommends to the CDB, which makes recommendations to the City Commission.
NEW BUSINESS:
a. DAVID HAYES - ARTWORK ACQUISITION
The Board was provided with a proposal through Mayor Valdes-Fauli to permanently acquire the David Hayes sculpture Quadraped #2 currently on temporary loan and installed in the City Hall courtyard. They were informed of the purchase price of $25,000 and that Art Acquisition funds could be used for this purpose. After a brief discussion the following motion was made:
Dr. Mayorga made a motion to recommend acquisition of the David Hayes sculpture Quadraped #2. Mr. Pantin seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.*
*This item was approved at the City Commission meeting of January 22, 2019.
b. HANK WILLIS THOMAS - ARTWORK ACQUISITION
Staff reported that the studio of Hank Willis Thomas approached the City with a proposal to purchase the twenty-two (22) Speech Bubble artwork signs from the “The truth is I welcome you” for two hundred thousand dollars ($200.000). The Board discussed the positive public response to the work and asked that more be done to engage the public with the pieces, including the artwork benches. Staff talked about the structure of the artwork, stating that it’s likely the signs could withstand extreme weather; however, it would be advisable to remove and re-install them when necessary. The Board discussed the established support of the Arts Advisory Panel for the initial exhibition of the artworks and the natural fit of the pieces to be included in the Streetscape. Continuing discussion, the Board agreed to recommend use of funds set aside for Miracle Mile public art. The Board also unanimously recommended keeping the pink speech bubble artwork as part of the Streetscape. With no further discussion, the following motion was made:
A motion was made by Ms. Hortwitz recommending acquisition of the twenty-two (22) speech bubble artwork signs from “The truth is I welcome you”; recommending permanent installation of Ernest and Ruth (the pink speech bubble artwork) on the Miracle Mile Streetscape; and recommending use of previously set aside funding for public art on Miracle Mile for these purposes. Mr. Pantin seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.*
*This item was approved at the City Commission meeting of January 22, 2019.
OLD BUSINESS:
There was no old business.
CULTURAL GRANT ITEMS
a. CHANGE REQUEST - EL IGENIO
The Board was provided with a Cultural Grant change request from El Igenio. Ms. Cathers stated that the request was received the previous day with not enough time for the organization to attend the meeting. She provided a brief overview of the request to present one performance instead of two and reported that the current grant award is $4,500. The budget was reviewed and discussed.
A motion was made by Dr. Mayorga to not approve the request as presented; however, the organization may address the Cultural Development Board at the next meeting for reconsideration. Ms. Horwitz seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
b. ARTS & BUSINESS COUNCIL
Staff advised that the City has five (5) scholarships available for Coral Gables’ grantees to attend the Arts & Business Council’s Miami Arts Marking Project (MAMP) conference and Labs. After a brief discussion, the following motion was made:
A motion was made by Ms. Horwitz to offer Arts & Business Council scholarships to the Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables Arts Cinema, Area Stage, Montgomery Botanical Center, and the Florida Guitar Foundation; if any are not available to attend, the Board asks staff to move forward with other grantees. Dr. Mayorga seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
c. ADDITIONAL UPDATES
Staff shared news about recent grants provided by the Coral Gables Community Foundation to organizations presenting cultural arts programs in Coral Gables including Coral Gables Based organizations: Actors’ Playhouse, Area Stage, Coral Gables Art Cinema, Coral Gables Museum, GableStage, and Cultural Program grantee Merrick Festival.
ART IN PUBLIC PLACES UPDATES;
a. PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING
The Board was updated on the Public Safety Building progress, including the recent ground-breaking. They were informed that the fourth recommended artist conducted his site visit and once proposals have all been submitted, they will be available for public comment before the selection panel review process. Staff advised that the recommended artist names are being presented at the next City Commission meeting.
b. CIFO DONATION
Staff advised the Board that Arts Advisory Panel member and conservator Emily MacDonald-Korth inspected the proposed sculpture donation by Fredy Alzate and submitted a report re-stating the concerns regarding material and structure. The report included notes that the piece was cut in half for delivery purposes and re-adhered upon delivery. The report, it was said, will be submitted to the City Commission as part of an update, along with the recommendation from the AAP and CDB to place the piece indoors on a raised platform.*
*This item was presented at the City Commission meeting of January 22, 2019 with direction for staff to contact the artist for more information.
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
There were no discussion items.
ITEMS FROM THE SECRETARY:
The Board was informed to save the date for the upcoming Boards & Committee Reception on February 28th at 6:00 p.m.