Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

REGULAR MEETING of the ARTS COMMISSION July 15, 2024, at 6:00 PM Austin City Hall, Council Chambers, Room 1001. 301 West 2nd Street, Austin, Texas 78701 The ARTS COMMISSION convened in a REGULAR meeting on 15, July 2024 at Austin City Hall, Council Chambers, Room 1001. 301 West 2nd Street, Austin, Texas 78701 Commissioner Zisman called the ARTS COMMISSION Meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance: Celina Zisman, Heidi Schmalbach, Felipe Garza, Michael Vernusky Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Gina Houston, Monica Maldonado, Nagavalli Medicharla, Keyheira Keys, Faiza Kracheni Board Members Absent: Amy Mok, Acia Gray, CURRENT COMMISSIONERS: Celina Zisman - Chair, Heidi Schmalbach - Vice Chair, Keyheira Keys, Monica Maldonado, Felipe Garza, Gina Houston, Michael Vernusky, Acia Gray, Faiza Kracheni, Amy Mok, Nagavalli Medicharla AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Beth Burns from The Hidden Room spoke on the achievements that were made possible through City of Austin Cultural Funding support, and the challenges they are facing since not receiving an award since 2021. Heather Barfield spoke on feedback from the community Kayla Moores and Margaret from Brave Communities wanted to thank the City of Austin for the cultural funding that supported their Brave Young Leaders program Jessie Lucas from Brave communities spoke about their positive experience in the Brave Young Leaders program and was thankful to the Cultural Arts Division for the arts funding Laura Esparza from Art Alliance Austin spoke about their mission and launch party at The Canopy Laura Esparza spoke to show her support of the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan Anjanette Gautier from Proyecto Teatro spoke on the Spanish language support and to ask for an extension Luis Ordaz from Proyecto Teatro spoke to ask the Arts Commission to advocate for the Spanish speaking community Yenai Ave is a small business owner who spoke to address their difficulties applying for the Elevate grant as a creative business and asked that the programs be more visible Hector Ordaz from Proyeto Teatro spoke about the languages for Spanish language speakers Maria Luisa from Poyecto Teatro spoke on her desire to have more in-depth communication with the Arts Commission. They were also disappointed that their City contract had to be in English. They also advocated for the extension of the Elevate/Thrive grants. Raquel Rivera from Proyecto Teatro spoke on the difficulty applying for the cultural funding grants and advocated for more outreach to their communities. Hector spoke about his experience with Proyecto Teatro and expressed his frustration with Spanish language outreach for the cultural funding grants. Mauricio Callejas from Centroamericanto Fest spoke on his frustration with the Spanish language outreach and translation for the cultural funding grants. He also expressed his concern with the size of the grants offered because the cost of productions are increasing. Bonnie Cullum from The Vortex spoke on the rising costs of running a theater and expressed their concern that the Thrive grant is not enough to cover their operating costs and advocated for more access Olivia Rodriguez from Proyeto Teatro spoke about their frustrations with access to cultural arts funding Eboni L.Calbow Ceasar spoke to show their support for Proyecto Teatro to advocate for the extension of the Elevate/Thrive grants. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approve the minutes of the Arts Commission Regular Meeting on June 17, 2024. The minutes from the meeting of June 17, 2024 were approved on Commissioner Schmalbach’s motion, Commissioner Kracheni’s second on a 7-0 vote with Commissioner’s Gray and Mok absent and Garza and Keys abstaining Approve the minutes of the Arts Commission Special Called Meeting on June 25, 2024. The minutes from the meeting of June 25, 2024 were approved on Commissioner Kracheni’s motion, Commissioner Houston’s second on a 7-0 vote with Commissioner’s Gray and Mok absent and Garza and Keys abstaining 1. 2. 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS Discussion of Chair’s Report on Arts Commission Retreat Recap by Chair Zisman An update was given by Chair Zisman Report of the Art in Public Places Liaison concerning actions taking during the July 1, 2024 meeting of the Art in Public Places Panel by Commissioner Maldonado An update was given by Commissioner Maldonado Update on actions taken at the May 15, 2024 Downtown Commission meeting by Commissioner Mok No update given Presentation by Shea Little from Big Medium on the future of the Austin Studio Tour The presentation was made by Shea Little Presentation by Raasin McIntosh, Vice President, Active Urbanism and Vanessa Olson, Vice President, Communication + Marketing on the Downtown Austin Alliance's DASA (Downtown Austin's Space Activation) program. The presentation was made by Vanessa Olson STAFF BRIEFINGS Staff briefing regarding an update on the Hotel Occupancy Tax by Laura Odegaard, Cultural Investment Program Manager The presentation was made by Laura Odegaard, Acting Cultural Arts Division Manager Staff update on the Cultural Arts Funding Programs by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor The presentation was made by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Discussion and Possible Action on a recommendation to Austin City Council on the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan with presentation by Kim McKnight, Program Manager, Historic Preservation & Tourism Program, Austin Parks and Recreation; Katie Robinson Edwards and Amanda Valbracht, UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum Reynaldo spoke to express their support for the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan Meredith Wilson spoke to express their support for the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan Richard Weiss spoke to express their support for the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan Francis Thimpson spoke to express their support for the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan Jenny Branch spoke to express their support for the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.  The presentation was made by Katie Robinson Edwards and Amanda Valbracht A motion to approve the UMLAUF Historic Preservation, Expansion, and Unification Plan on Commissioner’s Schmalbach motion, Commissioner Garza second on a 9-0 vote with Commissioner’s Gray and Mok absent Discussion and Possible Action to approve the Prospectus for the Austin Convention Center Expansion AIPP Project with presentation by Riley Triggs, Project Management Supervisor with Capital Delivery Services A motion to approve the Prospectus for the Austin Convention Center Expansion AIPP Project on Commissioner’s Vernusky motion, Commissioner Maldonado second on a 9-0 vote with Commissioner’s Gray and Mok absent Action: Approve the Request for Qualifications for the Elisabet Ney Museum Grounds AIPP Project Action: Approve the Request for Qualifications for the Substandard Streets – Johnny Morris Road, and Ross Road AIPP Projects Action: Approve the Request for Qualifications for the Red Bud Isle AIPP Project Action: Approve the Request for Qualifications for Walter E. Long & John Trevino AIPP Project Action: Approve the Request for Qualifications for Armadillo Water Tank Mural AIPP Project Discussion and possible action to solidify consented terms of Commissioner Agreements as discussed at the 6/25 Arts Commission Retreat A motion to move Item 17 to the August 19th meeting on Commissioner Zisman’s motion, Commissioner Schmalbach’s second on a 9-0 vote with Commissioner’s Gray and Mok absent Update from joint Arts/Music Commission Working Group on Urban Core Issues with Commissioners Gray, Maldonado, and Schmalbach (chair). Update was given by Commissioner Schmalbach Update from Community Engagement Working Group with Commissioners Zisman, Houston, and Kracheni (chair) Update was given by Commissioner Kracheni Discussion on increasing Cultural Arts funding award amounts vs. increasing number of Cultural Arts awards A motion to move Item 20 to the August 19th meeting on Commissioner Schmalbach’s motion, Commissioner Garza’s second on a 9-0 vote with Commissioner’s Gray and Mok absent WORKING GROUP UPDATES 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.  ITEMS FOR INFORMATION Various items were discussed FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discussion around language access ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Zisman adjourned the meeting at 9:30 P.M. without objection. The minutes were approved at the August 19, 2024 meeting on Commissioner Kracheni’s motion, Commissioner Vernusky’s second on a 6-0 vote with Commissioner’s Schmalbach, Mok, Maldonado, and Keys absent and Gray abstaining