Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department

Public Art Advisory Board


MINUTES


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

6:15 p.m.

 

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources

Conference Room

316 North Academy Street, Cary, NC  27511

www.townofcary.org

 

Present:  Carol Aupperle, Chair; Ginger Castle; Eric Forehand; Pat Hudson; Charles Rankin; Graham Rinehart; Carl Regutti; Lauren Mincey, Teen Council Representative

 

Staff: Denise Dickens, Lyman Collins, Vicki Hayes

 

Guests:  Elizabeth Conner, Artist and Nik Nikolaev, Arcadis

 

A.         Call to Order – Carol Aupperle, Chair

·         Welcomed New Members

Carol Aupperle welcomed the new members Charles Rankin and Graham Rinehart to the meeting.  The Board introduced themselves and welcomed them.

           

B.         Roll Call

·         Noting those absent

Ginger Hayes; Smythe Richbourg; Gale Adcock, Council Liaison; Lejandro DeRomas, Teen Council Representative

·         Noting a quorum is present

Quorum was present at 6:20 pm

 

C.         Adoption of Agenda

·         Approval of DRAFT agenda

ACTION:  Graham Rinehart made a motion to approve the agenda.  Carl Regutti seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

D.         Minutes

·         Approval of DRAFT 20 February 2008 minutes

ACTION:  Carl Regutti made a motion to approve the minutes.  Ginger Castle seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

E.         New Business

 

 

F.         Old Business

·         Artists Registry - Recommendation

v      Pat Hudson, the Panel Chair reported that the panel met in February with Jeffrey York; Laura Coats; Carl Regutti and Town staff to review applicants.

v      There were 120 applications submitted and 73 were selected.  Staff felt this was a manageable number with great potential.

v      The need for the Artist Registry and Imagebank is to assist developers who are looking for potential artists for their site.  Also, the Town may have projects that have a quick turn around time and the need to contact qualified artists is essential. 

v      The artists will be able to update their images throughout the year and the Registry and Imagebank will be refreshed every two years.

 

ACTION:  Pat Hudson made a motion to accept the 73 artist selected for the Artist Registry and Imagebank.  Carl Regutti seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

·         Downtown Streetscape Project – 90% design update with artist Elizabeth Conner and Arcadis - Nik Nikolaev, Landscape Architect

v      Conner presented an animation of a car driving around the South gateway (Walnut Street/Kildare Farm Road) roundabout. There will be thin bronze or copper colored rounded columns with light on top.  This gateway has its historical roots based on early wireless technology worked on by Cary citizen Robert Johnson Harrison prior to Guglielmo Marconi (Italian physicist) who developed Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America.  Elizabeth read the following excerpt from a historical book on Robert Johnson Harrison.

v       

“In 1882 he invented and patented a cotton planter and cultivator, a machine that is well known throughout the country as the Harrison Cultivator and sweep. The same year he thought out and made drawings of a wireless system, of telegraphy, intending to have instruments made and patented, but he found that the cost of making the instruments would be so great that he was forced reluctantly to abandon the invention. The lawyer who represented him in Washington took the matter up with Patent Commissioner Butterworth, who advised that the device was patent- able, and, moreover, that it was the first application for a patent for wireless telegraphy. While Mr. Harrison rejoices in the success that has attended the efforts of later inventors, it is a matter of regret with him that he could not perfect his own invention and give the world the benefit of this twentieth-century wonder a decade before the century dawned.”

 

v      PAAB reviewed the simulation again with the East and West roundabouts and referred to earlier designs reviewed by PAAB.  The columns will be three sided, color and thematically reference East sun rise and West sunset.  Again, they reference Cary as a Technology Town and serve as a welcoming gateway that serves as traffic calming and safety devices. 

v      Elizabeth passed around visuals and they discussed the remaining integrated streetscape art: Memory Markers, street furniture (bus shelters, benches, kiosks), Town Square, Community Garden

v      Elizabeth made notes while the Board provided comments and enthusiastically responded to 90% designs.

 

ACTION:  Pat Hudson endorsed the 90% design of the Downtown Streetscapes project.  Eric Forehand seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

·         Review 2008 Board Goals

v      The Board reviewed the goals.

 

G.         Reports from Representative Organizations

·         Cary Visual Art (CVA) –Pat Hudson

v      Planning for the Cary Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition is moving along.  The project website www.carysculpture.org is scheduled to launch the week of March 17, 2008.  The Juror for the competition is Hank Foreman, Director and Chief Curator of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone, NC.  CVA will present the proposed artworks to PAAB on June 18, 2008.  A special artist reception is planned for the evening of August 14, 2008 at Page-Walker Arts and History Center.  The exhibition will be on view throughout the Town Hall Campus from August 15, 2008 – June 18, 2009.

v      CVA’s art consulting services have been requested by the developer Crosland for its development at the intersection of High House Road and Davis Drive.  The development will consist of 42 acres, with 390 residential units, plus commercial spaces.  The developer is seeking an artist or team to create a design for public spaces.  CVA will present a short list of artists who we think would be appropriate.

v      The Black Greek Greenway project is going forward.  The deadline for artist submissions was Friday, March 14th.  Approximately 15 artists applied.  A committee meeting will be held March 25th to select up to three finalists who will be interviewed.

v      The West Regional Library project should go forward soon.  CVA has requested artist Thomas Sayre’s availability to complete the project.

v      Upcoming Public Art in Focus Lectures:

§         March 27th: Brett Cook

Brett Cook collaborates with communities to create experiences and art that defy conventional classification.  Dialogue, community building, and group coloring sessions result in large murals that pay tribute to the humanity in all.

§         April 10th: Larry Kirkland

Larry Kirkland has collaborated with design professionals and community leaders creating meaningful places throughout the US including recent works for Pennsylvania Station, New York City, The City of Denver, The California Museum of Science, Los Angeles and the Federal Courthouse, Sacramento, the American Red Cross Headquarters, and the National Academies of Science, Washington, DC.  Outside the USA he has installations including Putra Work Trade Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Hong Kong Central Station and Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan.  He is regarded among his peers as a dedicated and generous collaborator.

§         May 22nd:  Elizabeth Conner

Elizabeth Conner, Cary’s Streetscape artist, will speak about her work.  The Seattle-based artist appreciates the opportunity to work collaboratively and learn how communities and institutions function “from the inside.”  With over 15 years’ experience in public art and planning, she has the ability to communicate important connections and keep key questions open and alive throughout the process.

 

·         Fine Arts League of Cary (FALC) – Carl Regutti

Ř       Carl confirmed that PAAB members were receiving the newsletter.

Ř       Nothing additional to report at this time.

 

·         Other Organizations

 

H.         Public Speaks Out (opportunity for guests and members to address Board – limit 5 minutes per                 speaker)

 

I.          Adjourn

v      Carl Regutti made a motion for the meeting to adjourn at 7:50 p.m.

 

 

The Town of Cary is committed to providing all citizens with the opportunity to participate fully in the public meeting process.  Any person with a disability who needs an auxiliary aid or service in order to participate in any meeting may contact the Town of Clerk at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.  The e-mail address is sue.rowland@townofcary.org; the phone number is (919) 469-4011; the TDD number is (919) 469-4012.

 

Please contact Vicki Hayes with any questions about this agenda.  The e-mail address is vicki.hayes@townofcary.org and the phone number is (919) 319-4560.