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APPMIN 04 29 1996ART IN PUBLIC PLACES COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES LA QUINTA CITY HALL -SESSION ROOM APRIL 29, 1996 . The regular meeting of the Art in Public Places Commission was called together at 3:02 P.M. by Chairman Walling who asked for the roll call: ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Commissioners Judi Cothrun, Johna Davis, Michelle Klein, Elaine Reynolds, Rosita Shamis, and Chairman Walling. It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Klein/Cothrun to excuse Commissioner Kennedy. Unanimously approved. STAFF PRESENT: Assistant City Manager Mark Weiss, Community Development Director Jerry Herman, and Executive Secretary Betty Sawyer. II. PUBLIC COMMENT: Council Member Terry Henderson asked to address the Commission as a representative of the La Quinta Historical Preservation Commission regarding a request to add an item to the next Art In Public Places Commission agenda. She stated the Historical Society would like to restore and install the City of La Quinta historic street marker signs throughout the City - the Obelisks. They are historical to La Quinta as no other city has them. The Historical Society is looking to adopt the Obelisks as the City's mascot and place them throughout the City including the north section of La Quinta and at the major entrance streets from other cities. They would be used as the mainstreet entrance markers. They had received support from local developers and would like to receive support from the APP. It was the Society's hope to find a means to market the Obelisks to enhance the City streets. Chainn,an Walling stated the Commission would add this item to their next agenda. III: CONSENT CALENDAR A. Chairman Walling asked if there were any changes to the minutes. Cornrnissioner Shamis stated she was not at the meeting and had some questions regarding the request made by Rancho La Quinta for $35,000. Community Development Director Jerry Herman explained that Rancho La Quinta was asking the APP Commission to . expend $70,000 from the APP fund for the construction of an art piece to be placed at the comer of 48th Avenue and Washington Street. Half the amount tiad already been paid into the fund (which would be refunded to the developer) and the APP4-29 Art in Public Places Commission Minutes April 29, 1996 remainder would be paid by the developer by way of credits when building permits were issued, until the $,000 had been reached. Discussion followed regarding the method in which the money would be expended for the project. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Reynolds/Klein to accept the minutes as submitted. Unanimously approved. B. Financial Statement: There being no questions, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Klein/Reynolds to accept the report as submitted. Unanimously approved. IV. BUSINESS SESSION A. Chairman Walling introduced Mr. Louis DeMartino who addressed the Commission regarding his project at the intersection of Highway 111 and Washington Street. Mr. DeMartino explained he was requesting permission from the Commission to transfer funds from the theater project to the corner project within the Highway 111 La Quinta Center so that he would be able to replace the material to be used on the mountains (stainless steel) with bronze and reduce the size of the gem. The funds, as originally distributed, were arbitrarily figured and had no bearing on what could be placed at both sites. Discussion followed regarding a description of the sculpture. Community Development Director Jerry Herman stated the City Council had approved the contract for $95,000,000 and Mr. DeMartino's letter from the developer states $107,000.00, and asked Mr. DeMartino if the developer had contribute additional funds? Mr. DeMartino stated he had a signed contract with the developer and it was for $107,000.00. Chairman Walling stated he thought the developer should be made aware of the difference between what had been committed by APP funds and the contract price and directed staff to draft a letter to Mr. Shovlin regarding this. 2. There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Klein/Cothrun to recommend to the City Council approval of the modification as requested by the artist, Mr. DeMartino. Unanimously approved. Commissioner Klein asked Mr. DeMartino to verify that Mir. Shovlin, developer of the Center, was aware of the changes being requested. Mr. DeMartino presented a letter he had sent to Mr. Shovlin and stated Mr. Shovlin was aware. APP4-29 Art in Public Places Commission Minutes April 29, 1996 B. Discussion with Assistant City Manager regarding the responsibility of City Boards and Commissions. Chairman Walling introduced Assistant City Manager Mark `vVeiss who stated he had been directed by the City Council to explained the I-eports that had been submitted to the City Council regarding the different City Boards and Commission. He further stated Council had directed him toy meet with each of the Boards and Commissions to obtain their comments regarding the different Boards/Commissions. 2. Chairman Walling asked each of the Commissioners how they felt about the size of the Commission. Commissioner Reynolds explained that seven was better than five and if reduced by attrition the Commission would lose Chairman Walling. If money was an issue the Commission would be willing to remain on a volunteer basis. Seven was a better number. a. Commissioner Klein stated that the Commissioners had. originally agreed not to accept the monthly allowance and would be; willing to do so again. b. Chairman Walling stated that with seven members it gave the APP the ability to break into review committees without utilizing all the members, which was an advantage. Commissioner Cothrun stated it was hard to comment since she had only been a member for one meeting. It appeared that in the past, there was so much to be done and just so many to do it. It seemed prudent to have seven members for that reason. It appeared to her that the APP was just beginning to function and make decisions. The Master Art Plan is ambitious and needs a lot of people to implement it. d. Chairman Walling stated that the focus of the Commission had been on projects and now they were involved with a diversity of projects t be accomplished e. Commissioner Cothrun stated she had no idea what the costs were to staff the Commission. Commissioner Shamis stated this was her third year on the Commission. The first year she sat quietly and determine what the nPPa-z9 Art in Public Places Commission Minutes April 29, 1996 Commission was all about. The Commission has existing commitments that need to be completed and it takes time: and work. Education is very important for the future of La Qunita, bo add to its natural beauty. In order to do this the Commission was looking to the City Council for approval of a workshop to educate the entire community as to the importance of Art in Public Places. I,a Quinta has more developing and this is just the beginning. The Commission has the ambition to not only have new art but temporary art exhibits. Existing, public, and temporary art, needs to be the future for La Quinta. The City needs to work with developers to have art incorporated into the project and not find a place to fit the art into the project from the conception. The City needs the cooperation of businesses, developers, City Departments, and the community for input as to how art can be incorporated into the City. The Artists Bank needs to be organized. Valley-wide joint APP meetings have been started to keep in communication with the other commissions in the Valley. The Master Plan was reviewed in depth by the Commission and the Council. The City would need the AF'P if they were to complete the Plan. She would like to see the APP continue in order to see the plan completed. g. Commissioner Klein stated the size of the Commission is adequate, but she would like to see it increased to enable them to work with the artists more. Reducing the size would remove a lot of excellent Commissioners and some of the projects are labor intensive and require man power. 3. Chairman Walling asked how the Commission felt about consolidating any of the Commissions/Boards. a. Commissioner Reynolds stated that if the APP needed to form a review committee, with five members they would lose strength. The Commission needs a lot of energy and members they could get. There were too may avenues to go through to get something completed. In reference to the the other Boards/Commissions, she suggested that in the Cultural Commission's Plan, Item #2 should be eliminated as it refers to one of their tasks as being responsible for visual arts. She felt this was a duplication of responsibilities. b. Chairman Walling stated that by having an APP Commission it makes the statement that the City is committed to the arts. It would seriously diminish this if it were combined with any other commission. APP4-29 Art in Public Places Commission Minutes April 29, 1996 c. Commissioner Klein stated that any city who had formed an APP, found it had taken time to establish the Commission. d. Chairman Walling stated there was a learning curve to becoming educated and understanding the roll of a Commissioner. e. Commissioner Davis stated it would be a shame to lose two of their members and have to go through the process of educating new members. Seven seemed to be a good number. f Commissioner Reynolds stated that with seven members when one or two members are unable to attend, they are still able to conduct business. g. Chairman Walling stated that efficiency was important, and developing new methods of how they could do this was important. Staff time would not be increased no matter how the numbers changed. h Commissioner Reynolds stated she had no problem with APP members belonging to the Arts Foundation. Their expertise lent to the value of the APP. Currently there were still four members serving on the APP who were not recommended by the Foundation. I. Chairman Walling stated this Commission does require its members to have some expertise and the Foundation members are welcome due to their knowledge and understanding of the arts. j. Community Development Director Jerry Herman clarified that the Foundation only makes a recommendation to the City Council who has the final authority to appoint members. In addition, he read Commissioner Kennedy's comments and submitted them to the Assistant City Manager for his information. k. Commissioner Cothrun stated that in regard to the monthly enumeration received from the City, the value of the people serving on the Commission was beyond what the City could be afforded, due to their expertise. 1 Assistant City Manager Mark Weiss stated the preference was to have seven or more member. Status quo is the preferred structure for the APP Commission. He thanked the Commissioners for their comments and would report the information back to the City Council. APP4-29 Art in Public Places Commission Minutes April 29, 1996 m. Commissioner Reynolds stated the Commission would liike to make La Quinta the "City of art", if given the opportunity. n. Chairman walling thanked Assistant City Manager Weiss fox his time. C. Discussion regarding the Dedication Ceremonies for the Fritz Burns Park art piece- DeMatteis/Emerson - on Saturday, June 8th. 1. Community Development Director Jerry Herman explained that the dedication of the Park had been scheduled for June 8th and this was a function of the City Council. The APP could chose to include the art piece as part of the Park dedication or ask the City Council for a sepazate dedication on a different date. The second alternative may not be accepted as the Council views the artwork as part of the Park dedication. Staff is recommending the APP participate in this dedication and give the City Clerk the list of names to mail the dedication invitations to. The dedication would include an introduce of the Council, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the APP Commission. There would then be an introduction of the artists and a presentation of the artwork. 2. Commissioner Klein stated it seemed to make sense to combine the two. 3. Commissioner Shamis stated she would like to have an invitation sent to every APP Commission in the Valley, local developers and artists, as well as members of the La Quinta Art Foundation, 4. Community Development Director Jerry Herman stated this is a dedication of the City Park and all the elements contained in the park. The Commission may want to request the Council give the APP other opportunities. 5. Commissioner Klein asked if it was too late to put an ad in the local newspaper, the Desert Sun. 6. Commissioner Reynolds suggested an announcement be made at the Mayor's breakfast. D. Temporary Art Program - 1. Staff informed the Commission that they were still working with the City Attorney to make a determination. Consideration was being given to sepazating the temporary art program to be contained in the City Hall and the display of art pieces throughout the City. APP4-29 Art in Public Places Commission Minutes April 29, 1996 a. Commissioner Reynolds asked if it would make any difference if the APP and Council vote on the piece to be placed in the program. Discussion followed regarding having a specific art piece on loan and placed somewhere in the City. b. Commissioner Reynolds stated that artist Snake Jagger would like to design a piece of art specifically for La Quinta. Chairmart Walling asked if he wanted to create a piece of temporary art or specific art. Discussion followed regarding the placement of potential. art pieces. c. Community Development Director Jerry Herman stated the City would be constructing and landscaping medians on some the City streets and the APP would be given the opportunity to :place art at different locations. d. Commissioner Reynolds displayed a picture of the piece that an artist would like to place in City Ha11. e. Chairman Walling asked staff when the Rancho La Quinta, art request would go to Council. Staff stated it would be on the May 21st agenda. £ Commissioner Shamis asked staff if the maintenance to the art piece by John Kennedy had been taken care o£ Staff explained they had contacted the artist and requested a letter to the Council stating what needed to be done and the process. Staff would see that the work was completed. V. COMMISSIONER ITEMS: A. Future Agenda items: 1. Discussion relative to the La Quinta Historical Society request for renovation and placement of the Obelisk landmarks. 2. Location of the Civic Center Art Purchase 3. Temporary Art -outdoor art ADJOURNMENT There being no further discussion, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Reynolds/Shamis' to adjourn this regular meeting of the Art in Public Places Commission to a special meeting on May 29, 1996. This meeting of the Art in Public Places Commission was adjourned at 4:09 P.M. APP449