Public Arts and Culture Advisory Council

PUBLIC ARTS & CULTURE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Monday, December 10, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Members Present: Chair Lindsay Brubaker – Niles Park District Carol Luc - Artist Debi Gajewski – Artist Steven Vinezeano – VFW Post 3579 Alicia Bermes – Niles Chamber of Commerce Marina Samovsky - Photographer Janet Spector Bishop – School District 63 Kathleen Gallegos – Artist / The Artist Studio Susan Lempke – Niles Public Library Edward Eubank – School District 207 Members Absent: Kim Wasilewski - Artist Barb Karawacki – Niles Historical Society John Kosirog – School District 71 Village Officials/Staff Present: Katie Schneider – Community Engagement Coordinator Village Officials/Staff Absent: Mayor Andrew Przybylo Trustee George Alpogianis I. Call to Order Chair Lindsay Brubaker began the meeting at 5:12 p.m. on Monday, December 10, 2018 in the Niles Administration Building, Room 212, 1000 Civic Center Drive. II. Approval of Meeting Summary Minutes were reviewed. Debi Gajewski made a motion to accept the October 2018 minutes as amended. Steve Vinezeano second the motion, all were in favor; none opposed. Minutes approved. III. Organization Representative Reports Steve Vinezeano (Niles VFW) reported that the VFW which is located at the White Eagle Banquets now has video gaming machines. They are also running a Queen of Hearts raffle, which currently sits at $1,700. He invited all to attend their events every Friday. Debi Gajewski (Artist) has just finished up at The Grove holiday show. It was very emotional as it was the last one and a tradition for many.  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, December 10, 2018 Carol Luc (Artist) finished at Triton College for the semester and began in November teaching water colors at the Senior Center. In January they will switch to charcoal and then back to water colors. Marina Samovsky (Photographer) this is a slow season for her. She had nothing further to report. Edward Eubank (District 207) announced that Maine East had its Winter Concert on December 2nd and had a nice group from the Niles Senior Center attend, there were a few rows reserved for them. An art display is out in the auditorium lobby. There is also a new exhibit called Prime Time with a reception on Thursday. The musical Newsies has been cast, with a kickoff event for cast, crew and parents. New for the theatre is sight wall where animated images are projected on stage. They are one of the first high schools in the country to use the technology. Steve Vinezeano asked Ed to share any promotional materials with us so we can help promote. Kim Wasilewski (Artist) had no new updates. Kathleen Gallegos (Art Station Studio) is continuing to host art programs at Shriners Hospital and Glow in the Dark art at her studio. She held a successful corporate paint party for 60+ people in Rosemont. Alicia Bermes (Niles Chamber of Commerce) has the Niles Morning Network Breakfast on the third Tuesday of every month starting back up in January. The Chamber will be starting a new program called Art in Businesses were local artist can feature their work for sale at local businesses. It’s a similar program to Glenview, where the art is rotated quarterly. Alicia met with Debi to connect artists and businesses. Janet Spector Bishop (School District 63) has many winter concerts at the various schools. The Gemini Idols Show Choir has been out and about including Holly Jolly and Winterpalooza. They also tour private businesses like nursing homes. The annual holiday card contest submissions are on display at the Niles-Maine District Library. Last year there were 45 submissions, this year 71 submissions. Susan Lempke (Niles-Maine District Library) reiterated that the lower level features School District 63’s holiday card display and the Art Stop bench exhibit is on the second floor. Both Susan and Marina commented how great the photos turned out. The next exhibit will coordinate with the Coming Together celebrations and will feature Polish American artists. Following will be the Library’s 60th Anniversary Celebration. Maker’s Fest was last month with over 600 participants. Lindsey Brubaker (Niles Park District) is getting ready for all holiday happenings including Breakfast with Santa and winter break camps. Dodgeball season is also coming up. Lindsey complimented everyone who helped with Holly Jolly on another well attended event. Debi commented that the vendors did well with sales this year. Katie Schneider (Village of Niles) is also participating in the Coming Together programs. The Village will host a luncheon with the Polish author William Kowalsi. His book The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo will be featured and he is presenting multiple engagements (one at Niles- Maine District Library and the others at Niles West HS/Niles North HS). The luncheon will be Page 2  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, December 10, 2018 limited to 30 people with authentic Polish cuisine at Lone Tree Manor and an intimate setting to discuss the book with the author. The Village is also tentatively planning a concert featuring Chopin. IV. Old Business a. Niles Artisan Guild Debi Gajewski reported that the Niles Artisan Guild has agreed to cancel the Butterfly Fest. They decided there were not enough volunteers and needed more time. They will focus on building the guild in the next year. They are looking forward to working with the Chamber on the Art in Business program. The Artisan Guild would also be joining the Chamber of Commerce. The last meeting had a strong attendance about 15 people. They are working on a webpage, logo and a slogan. The group is looking at small events to get the name out there. One idea was the Leaning Tower park to hold an art show. Steve Vinezeano commented that 2019 is the 25th Anniversary of our Sister Cities twining with Pisa, Italy. He suggested there was an opportunity to collaborate. There are issues with parking that should be addressed. Debi asked if there was an opportunity to put local art in the Village Hall lobby. It would help promote the Artisan Guild. Steve was supportive of the idea. Lindsey asked if we could work with Golf Mill Shopping Center for art displays. Both Alicia and Katie will try to reach out to Golf Mill. The guild voted and would like to make the Mayor an honorary member of the Artisan Guild and present him with a membership at a Village Board meeting. Katie Schneider will help coordinate for the January meeting. The Artisan Guild will be having an exhibit at the library in May and June. It was suggested that each artist would interpret a famous piece (like Van Gough’s A Starry Night) in different mediums like a quilt, jewelry, bottle caps, photography, wood worker, etc. The guild will continue to discuss. b. Butterfly Art Fair Event As Debi Gajewski mentioned before, the event has been cancelled. c. Twinkle and Lights Katie Schneider reported that only 8 applications were submitted, this is significantly down from the 30 plus applications submitted last year. She suggested that last was unseasonably warm and there was more opportunity to put lights and decorations out. This year the two weekends leading up to the deadline were cold and very rainy. The deadline (December 5th) is very early in the season for decorating, but the Council wanted to be able to announce the winners at the December 11th Village Board meeting. The Council discussed and decided that moving forward; we may not need to make the winner announcements at the Board meeting and move the deadline closer to December 25th. Other suggestions for next year:  The Village marketing firm that was hired can help us promote the program better Page 3  Public Arts & Culture Advisory Council, December 10, 2018  When judging we need to better identify each house, many don’t have house numbers visible. Maybe applicants can put a sign in their lawn stating “Twinkle and Lights Nominee” it would also help promote the program.  We can promote and have applications and lawn signs at the Holly Jolly event and Winterpalooza.  Do we even need an application? Other municipalities just choose winners and then ask for permission to promote after the winner is determined. We can promote the dates/times that judges will be out but no application is necessary.  We should also consider photo or video submissions. V. New Business a. Initiatives for 2019 Katie reported that as already agreed, the Arts and Culture Council will focus on murals for 2019 and aim to have at least two up on public buildings. We are also going to explore a program for businesses to incentivize putting murals up on their buildings. Since we will not be holding the Butterfly Festival, it was suggested that we support a second initiative. The committee discussed and agreed to host a Day in the Life of Niles project. Marina explained how photographers (professional and amateur) would follow 20- 30 different people all within different aspects of our community for one day. It would be the same day from morning to night. Pictures (or writings) would be compiled into a story or presentation that showed different individuals through town in one day – a baker, a student, a teacher, an artist, a grandmother, an executive, etc. Once completed we can make exhibits, displays, calendars, or books to promote and showcase. Anyone can contribute. On the dedicated day, we could have a website with people posting their own images/selfies. We could also highlight all our diversity and really explore the different cultures by following different families and ages. The Arts and Culture Council discussed and agreed to fund the project and in conjunction with the Artisan Guild, partners on the Council could all contribute. b. Meeting Date/Time Change for 2019 The Council agreed to keep the meetings on the 2nd Monday of the month at 5:00 p.m. But to plan in advance for the holidays that conflict. Katie will send out a 2019 calendar. VI. Open Discussion There was no open discussion. VII. Public Comment There was no public comment. VIII. Next Meeting Next Meeting is on Monday, January 14, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. IX. Adjournment Janet Spector Bishop made a motion to adjourn, Carol Luc second. All were in favor, none opposed. Meeting adjourned at 5:57 p.m. Page 4