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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/01/2022 - Minutes RENTON MUNICIPAL ARTS COMMISSION MINUTES Tuesday, February 1, 2022 (via Zoom) Members Present: Amelia Ossorio, Bill Huls, Brianna Burroughs, Evelyn Reingold, Dave Samek, Kaie Wise, Kiley Thornton, Marsha Rollinger, Mary Clymer, Susan Jessick Staff Present: Jessie Kotarski, RMAC Staff liaison Chip Vincent, CED Administrator Amanda Askren, CED Acting Director of Economic Development Guests Present: Barbara McMichael, SoCoCulture Melanie Cates, Renton artist Call to Order: Meeting was called to order by RMAC Chair, Mary Clymer at 6:02 pm. Introduction of Guests: Barbara McMichael, representing SoCoCulture spoke on behalf of the organization’s recent efforts updating the 2022-2024 strategic plan. The plan emphasizes the important role the group has to ensure that SoCoCulture includes and serves cultural groups across the geographical expanse of South King County and recognizes that the population of South King County continues to grow, and the demographics continue to change. As a coalition designed to support cultural efforts in South King County, SoCoCulture embraces those changes with active outreach, and works to connect cultural organizations and producers with one another as well as with audiences and others in the community. Barbara encouraged the Commissioners to review the plan and connect with SoCoCulture when in need of resource and support. The group is currently about 70 members large and hosts 5 professional meetings a year covering topics from access to arts, to volunteer recruitment. Barbara also requests assistance from the Commission to help identify groups to join the SoCoCulture community. SoCoCulture is facilitating a pilot program with Sound Transit (in April/May) to promote the activities of SoCo’s member organizations. Commissioners are encouraged to consider promoting the Roadshow program (or other RMAC-activities) through the program). Melanie Cates is a 15 year Renton resident and graphic artists. She is seeking opportunities to connect with the community and engage more artists in an open dialogue to bring more art to the city. Melanie has a particular interest in disability-focused arts and art programming. Announcements: • The Renton Civic Theatre has postponed opening night of Into the Woods until February 11. • The Renton Downtown Partnership is hosting First Friday events every first Friday of the month to encourage more traffic to downtown. The events are an opportunity to engage with the businesses downtown and connect artists to the community. Singer/song-writer Frankie McCabe will be performing this Friday, February 4 as part of the event and the first Roadshow program of the year. • Evergreen City Ballet is moving their studio to downtown Renton and will open in their new location in February at 1300 Bronson Way N (the former Bryant Motors building). Approval of Minutes: There were no minutes in January. The Commissioners instead reviewed the notes from the Retreat held on January 8. Several highlights from the retreat included commitments in 2022 to: • Review and update the bylaws to clarify the role and processes of the Arts Commission • Participate in the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study facilitated by Americans for the Arts. The Commission will be partnering with Bellevue, Issaquah and Redmond in a regional study and adding a city-specific drill down to the project. The study will begin in May and will require support from the Commission to identify nonprofit arts organizations operating in the city and to assist with surveying participants attending arts programming between May and the end of the summer. • Review the projects assigned to the Arts Commission and outlined in the Civic Core plan adopted in 2018 and work with the city to identify and implement projects to move the plan forward. • Continue to support live pop-up performances through the Roadshow program in 2022. • Update the grants program and continue to outreach to artists and arts organizations creating art opportunities for Renton residents. Promotions Committee update: • A decision was made to merge the Promotions and Outreach Committee to support efficient promotion of the RMAC brand through events and Commission-driven activities. The Committee is responsible for creating opportunities to engage with Renton residents, highlight art opportunities and support art events and programming around the city. The Committee will work closely with the Roadshow team to provide proper marketing for the program. Outreach Committee: • The Roadshow program, formerly the Outreach Committee, will be a standalone committee dedicated to scheduling and facilitating the roadshow pop up series. The Roadshow Committee presented a proposal for 2022 including a full calendar of events and budget estimates. The proposal includes stage management at the Farmers Markets, performances at the First Friday events downtown, four concerts in parks around the city, the Tribute to the PNW concert in August, the Olde Fashioned Halloween event, and Small Business Saturday event. A motion was made and carried to approve the 2022 budget for the Roadshow program as proposed at $19,600. MSC (Evelyn/Kiley) Grants Committee Update: • The 2022 Grant guidelines have been updated and are available online. The first round of grant funding opened on January 26 and will close on February 16. There are two drop-in Q&A sessions (scheduled for February 3 and February 7) for applicants to speak with the Grants Committee and get their questions answered. • The Committee had an opportunity to conduct an initial review of the bylaws and have made their recommendations for updating the document to include more detail about the grant program and process. Old Business: • Bylaws update – The review by the Grants Committee will be added to the revision list and the second round of reviews will be conducted by the Commissioners identified to assist with the update process. • Civic Core implementation – The sub-committee assigned to the review of the Civic Core plan met in January and reviewed projects assigned to the Arts Commission. The group Identified projects that align with the current programming supported by the Commission and projects that appear reasonable to add to the list of goals for 2022. o The Committee is working on a mural program guideline to facilitate the discussion of growing the mural program downtown. o The City is forming an interdepartmental team to help facilitate the plan implementation. o The Commission is waiting for feedback and guidance on the direction the city would like to take the plan (assistance identifying priority projects and how best to work with the city on shared goals). New Business: • The Vacancy Committee met with Janna Kushneryk regarding her interest in the vacant seat on the Commission. The Committee was pleased with Janna’s enthusiasm for assisting in outreach and her offer to assist in capturing the work of the Commission through photography at events and public art installations. Janna’s background in graphic designer and her musical talents make her a great fit for the Commission and an excellent representation of the arts community in Renton. A motion was made and carried to request the appointment of Janna Kushneryk to the Arts Commission to fill the vacant seat left by Christie Randolph. MSC (Mary/Bill) Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:11pm.