Loading...
03/20/2024 - Meeting Minutes In Attendance: Matthew Coles Richard Taylor Lana Taylor Caitlyn Tursic Jeff Driggs Hannah Nielsen Kate Jarmin-Gates Torlee Nenbee Susan Rickman Kat Potter Travis English Excused: Sabrina Martinez Sarah Longoria Kathy Davis City Staff: Jake Maxwell - Deputy Director, Department of Economic Development SLAC Staff: Felicia Baca Taylor Knuth Lindsey Day Renato Olmedo-Gonzalez Guests: Elliot Coda - City Council Staff March 20th, 2024 BOARD MEETING 5:30 — 7:00 P.M. 54 FINCH LANE, SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84102 This meeting will occur in-person. Remote option for the public or those unable to attend in person. Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86983829760?pwd=S3dxZDhPY1 IvUCt5SHBONWVIeVNPZz09 Passcode: 435026 AGENDA I. Call to Order and Welcome Guests Ms. Rickman calls the meeting to order and welcomes guests from the City Council office Elliot Coda. 11. Arts Event Discussion Ms. Rickman invites a discussion of Board members experience with the arts this month. Mr. Kessinger states he will be going of Treefort in support of the acts from Salt Lake City playing the annual music festival in Boise, Idaho. Mr. Driggs explained that he performed in the Weber State Storytelling Festival. Ms. Rickman saw one of our grantees performances of Bonnie and Clyde musical. Ms. Taylor saw Bonnie and Clyde as well. In addition she saw the Michael Jackson musical and attended the Symphony. Ms. Tursic also saw the MJ musical. Ms. Baca went to Balthazar at Plan-B Theatre. She also went to a quirky Opera House near Death Valley, California that was originally built to entertain the miners that worked near Death Valley Junction. 111. Approve Board Meeting Minutes — February 2024 (Action) Ms. Taylor? moves to approve the minutes. [hard for me to hear properly] Ms. Nielsen seconds the motion. The vote in favor is unanimous. IV. Management A. Program/Administrative Updates Ms. Baca provides a number of updates including a new exhibition in the Finch Lane Gallery which had a well attended gallery stroll. Mr. Oberndorfer's Springboard for the Arts sessions went really well and he "knocked it out of the park." Buskerfest applications have opened. In addition, the Wake the Great Salt Lake applications have opened. Ms. Rickman and Mr. Shaw hosted a listening session to inform what work will be created as part of the Wake the Great Salt Lake grant and it was well attended. Artist in the Classroom grants have opened. Living Tradition volunteer interest forms will be sent out. Twilight Concert series announcement was bumped to April to coordinate with one of the bands playing the series. Finch Lane gallery applications will open on March 25th. Mr. Knuth announced that Mariah Johnson was hired for the Marketing and Communication Coordinator position and that she is prepared to hit the ground running. ii. Public Art Program Review— Renato Olmedo-Gonzalez Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez opened his presentation by acknowledging that the Board raised good questions in previous meetings about the public art process, and how we can best support artists in our community to participate in public works of art. Currently the public art program consists of Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez and Ms. Childress. Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez, was born in Mexico and immigrated to the Utah when he was 15. He attended the University of Utah where he received a degree in Art History and Latin-American studies. He first started working in government with the Mexican Consulate in Community Affairs. The Public Art program "combines [his] government experience.... with commissioning artist work." Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez provides a background of the program. It was established in 1984. The program receives in funding from a percentage of capital improvement projects (CIP). Historically it was 1% of capital improvement projects, and it is now 1.5%. The Art and Design Board works to select artists with final approval of the mayor. From the CIP project to a ribbon cutting takes around two to three years. Each year they receive approximately $150,000 per year for the entire budget. Sites are selected from the menu of potential CIP locations. The funding is not tied to each CIP, and instead can be spread over multiple CIP project-sites. Each site is approached as a unique project. After site sel Ms. Rickman asked how many applications they receive for a given project. Mr. Olmedo- Gonzalez answers that for a recent traffic circle project they received 16 applications. Donner Trail Park had 120 artists apply. For the Sidewalk Poetry project they received 81 applications. In addition to public work surrounding CIP, they also help with other public work projects throughout the city including Salt Lake Public Lands, the Redevelopment Agency, and the reinstallation of all the fine art in the City-County buildings collection among others. Ms. Nenbee asks about the Liberty Park Basketball Court resurfacing. Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez explains that they commissioned a local artist to paint a mural on the surface of the coat. Even though each project is bespoke, Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez learns from each project so they may be replicated in the future. The Public Art Program maintains a qualified artist pool that features Utah-based artists. Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez explains that they try to incorporate emerging artists in various ways which allows them to break into the field of public art. For example, they commissioned various designs for neon signs, and the City takes care of the fabrication and installation. Ms. Nenbee thanks Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez for his "great and important work." iii. FY24 Strategic Plan/Work Plan Progress Update —Taylor Knuth Mr. Knuth begins by connecting the work plan with the Strategic Plan. "The work plan feeds the strategic plan activities to do" in service of the overarching goals. He then provides an update of quarter two. The quarter two update is slightly delayed due to staffing and other issues. Goals focused around equity are making good progress but Mr. Knuth hesitates to put them in the complete category because the Council always strives to be more inclusive and equitable. Overall we are on track for the 2023-2024 work plan. Ms. Baca reviewed various policy updates and implementations to bring us in line with the UNA standards. In addition, she reported that we've seen a 30% increase in new grant applicants. Mr. Knuth highlighted important work on creating accessibility and talked about the work the have done to ensure people with sensory difficulties have access to items that can alleviate sensory overload. Ms. Rickman asked about how the work plan is incorporated into the strategic plan and Mr. Knuth explained that in conversations and drafting of the work plan specific strategic goals are paired with specific work plan initiatives. Ms. Nielsen requested the research that Susan Davis has completed. V. Budget/Financial Ms. Tursic then provides a review of the financials. She explains that the Council holds $821,568 in cash. The primary payouts were for grants, and the expenses for Mr. Oberndorfer's Springboard for the Arts sessions and small portion of the Wake the Great Salt Lake grant. VI. Board A. Board Evaluation Survey Discussion — Susan Rickman Ms. Rickman then proceeds to invite a discussion of the Board Evaluation Survey. This is the first evaluation we have performed, and was one of the goals in the Strategic Plan. Ms. Rickman requests that anyone who has questions, comments or improvements related to the survey to send them in. Ms. Nenbee says that overall the survey was a good way to assess her participation on the Board. Ms. Taylor explains that as a new board member she didn't have a lot of experience but says that she was surprised by some of the answers. Overall there were 14 responses. Mr. Kessinger reiterates that this is the first time we've taken the survey and to keep in mind its only one point on a trend line. Ms. Rickman says that she identified issues with allowing participation and the time constraints of a volunteer board. She then explains that with respect to discussion as a board that an item must be put on the agenda prior to the meeting, and Ms. Taylor clarified that we can have the discussion we just cannot take final action without putting it on the agenda. Ms. Jarmin-Gates explains that as a novice board member she was unsure of the best way to answer certain questions. Ms. Rickman explains that we can hire a Board trainer to give novice board members expertise on how to best participate. Ms. Baca agrees that could be helpful. She also discusses how to better encourage the ability for Board members to place items on the agenda for the Board. Ms. Taylor and Mr. English highlight the professionalism of the Board and the onboarding experience. Ms. Rickman asks about why there is a need for "agree" and "strongly agree" for the survey. Mr. Coles answers that its best practice and helps explain the difference between satisfactory and exceptional performance. Ms. Rickman says that the Executive Committee meets to review the agenda and that the Board could receive Ms. Nenbee says that it could be worth taking time to explain the functions of the various committees so the Board can better understand how decisions are made. Ms. Baca agrees that it would be helpful. Ms. Rickman talks about the question that discusses Board participation at Council sponsored events. Ms. Baca queries whether the current attendance requitement is too large a time commitment. Ms. Tursic talks about finding a way to get more Board members to attend events together via a text-thread. Ms. Baca and Ms. Taylor discuss whether that would be considered an open meeting under the open meetings act. Ms. Rickman agrees that it would be helpful to get more Board participation. Ms. Rickman invites the Board to give their feedback on the survey. Ms. Nielsen says that she feel her participation on the Board is a great learning opportunity, and sometimes struggles finding a way to offer her thoughts or recommendations. Ms. Baca encourages Board members to contact her directly for feedback. Ms. Rickman asks that if Ms. Baca would like to participate in an Executive review she would be happy to prepare one. VII. Public Comment None offered. VIII. Other Business Ms. Nenbee moves to adjourn Mr. Kessinger seconds. The meeting is adjourned.