Arts Commission

APPROVED MINUTES OF THE NORTHBROOK ARTS COMMISSION VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK AUGUST 2, 2012 The meeting was called to order by Chairman Julia Miller at 7:00 p.m. at the Northbrook Village Hall in the Terrace Room. Commissioners present: Jerry Block, Maureen Fallows, Elsa Fischer, Christopher Laughlin, Eric Robbins, Bonnie Siegel and Liaison Cheryl Fayne-dePersio. Commissioners Excused:, Linda Goldman, Marilyn Jamora, Terry Luc, and Cathie Winnie. Cherie Natenberg. Commissioners Absent: None Guests in attendance: Sherry Weiss, Erin Malloy and Sharon Moyer. MINUTES: Chairman Julia Miller asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the July 5, 2012 meeting. Commissioner Laughlin called for the motion and Commissioner Block seconded. All are in favor with no corrections. HERE FROM THE AUDIENCE: No Audience in attendance. ART IN THE PARK: Chairman Miller suggested that the sub-committee meet as a group and have an in depth discussion of the Art Festival to present to the commissioners at the next meeting. The meeting will be scheduled within the next two weeks but at this time the budget is not finalized for the event. Once all the invoices and credits have been received, a financial report will be presented to the commission. Chairman Miller has met with Erin Malloy after the event and the overall impression is it was a successful event. Any errors made were all behind the scenes and can be corrected for the next event. We had 78 artists and the estimates in so far looks like the commission will break even but final numbers should be available by the September meeting. The commission budgeted $5000.00 and possibly next year we should budget less funds as we have not used the full budgeted amount the pasted few years. The Friends of the Arts made about $1,200.00 on the silent auction (estimated). According to people attending they had a lot of good things to say about the event which included a lot of accolades for the music. Many people stopped to comment highly of the music. The only complaint received was from one artist that complained about one band that was too loud. Lessons were learned this year and every year the event gets better. Commissioners agreed that the pictures taken really do not do the event justice but there are a lot of good pictures to be used for next year’s advertising. Things that Chairman Miller, Erin Malloy and Kendal Maltas, Liaison think need attention are advertising, need more of it; Jerry Block and Cheryl-Fayne dePersio did a great job this year on the advertising. Chairman Miller asked the commissioners if they wanted to do the event again next year. The food court set up did not work well this year; one vendor set up in the wrong area and another ran out of food too early. These are the types of errors that occurred and could be changed for next year. The Silent Auction will be discussed to revamp it for next year as some of the artists don’t like it the way it is now but the attendees do like it. Many ideas will be discussed. The Jr. Artists tent was very successful this year and even the artists liked it and would like to see the Jr. artists on Saturday and Sunday as well. This should be expanded next year if space can be found. It was suggested that the children’s activity that the YMCA did this year be combined with a community project next year as the children’s activity is very popular. A thank you to Elsa from the Park District for finding sand bags at the last minute. The commission is looking for sponsorship that is art related for next year’s event in hopes the commission can find more projects to sponsor to bring more art related events to the community. The Northbrook Nine advertising was discussed by the commission and will be discussed in more detail at the sub-committee level. GIG AT THE Y: Commissioner Laughlin reported the 3 acts booked are Out of Control for July 7th, Night Crawlers for July 14th, and People of Swing for July 21st. The posters are just starting to go up around town. The construction should not bother the events. Commissioner Laughlin and his son Charlie will be doing all the set up for the event. The commission hopes this will be successful and wants to get the word out as much as possible. There will be a Police Officer directing traffic from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. for the event. The YMCA is also promoting as this is in partnership with the Y and they have completed their renovations and would like people to attend the events and see the new facilities. Other facilities are being discussed for locations for three outdoor musical events in the future. Next Tuesday remember to bring your lawn chair and come to the Y. Liaison Cheryl Fayne-dePersio reminded the commission the reason for having the event downtown was to generate activity and business in the downtown area so keep this in mind when choosing an area for the concerts. The commission received a request letter for funding from the Park District for the concert at Techny in December. This event is very large and the budget is very high. The musicians are paid and the facility is rented. The facility holds around 600 people and they anticipate selling out 80% of the seats. The request is for $1,500.00 dollars from the commission. Chairman Miller reported the commission does have the funds to allow this grant if they want to. With all expenses from this year and repeating them for next year we would still be able to grant this request. MOTION: Commissioner Fallows makes a motion to approve the grant request from the Park District in the amount of $1,500.00 for the Home for the Holidays Concert in December 2nd at Techny. Commissioner Jamora seconded and all are in favor. Motion past. NEW BUSINESS: Chairman Jamora asked Chairman Robbins for potential dates for the Northbrook Originals as they book events a year in advance. Chairman Miller discussed changing the date and making it on a night there is no board meeting. This event is for Artists and their guests and not open to the public. They are discussing changing the date to possibly a March or April date. Commissioner Robbins will check the schedule at the Library and see if the date of this event could be changed. This will be discussed again after the schedules have been reviewed. Everyone thinks the spring dates would work better if they can change it. The library art show called “Journeys” scheduled for October/November has 75 pieces approved this year. ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Lake Geneva Art in the park, 34th year is August 11th and 12th at the Flat Iron Park which is across from the lake but not the library park. 80 Artists and good food at this event. This is all run by the Art League which are all volunteers. Bonnie Lecat has a very nice show at the Library right now so please visit. ADJOURN Commissioner Laughlin made a motion to adjourn and Commissioner Robbins seconded. On voice vote, the motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, /s/Susan Kinney Recorder