Public Arts Committee Minutes – March 8, 2022

Town of Chestertown
PUBLIC ART COMMITTEE (PAC)
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
4:00PM Town Hall and via Zoom
Meeting Minutes

Participants:

• Elizabeth Healy
• Dave Hegland (Secretary)
• Carla Massoni
• Hester Sachse (ex-officio: Kent Cultural Alliance and Chestertown A&E District)
• Marianne Sade
• Ben Tilghman (Chair)
• Pam White (Vice Chair)

1. Approval of 1-11-22 Minutes – minutes were approved with a correction on meeting participants.  Note:  The February 8 meeting did not have a quorum and no official business was conducted.
2. Ben officially welcomed Marianne Sade as a member of the PAC now that the town council has approved her appointment.
3. Woicke Sculpture Project Update
   1. Ben discussed with Mayor David Foster and Town Manager Bill Ingersoll on how best to proceed with contracting for the movement, installation, and conservation of the Sculpture Collection.  The guidance he received was to raise the money and come back with a proposal(s) to do the work for review and approval by the town council.
   2. Carla and Ben agreed to work together to raise the required money from potential donors.  The current estimate is that $300,000 will be needed for all 24 Sculptures.
   3. The town has established an Account at Chesapeake Bank and Trust dedicated to the Public Art Committee that can accept donations.  Checks from donors are to be made out to the Town of Chestertown with a note specifying “Public Arts Fund”.
   4. Hester agreed to field phone inquiries regarding donations to the Public Art Committee.
   5. There was agreement to reach out to parties that had expressed interest in the move, installation, and conservation of the Sculptures to get a feel for who had the appropriate skills, knowledge, and could do the work at reasonable cost.
   6. The team discussed a proposal received from John Carr – Materials Conservation Co. LLC.
   7. The team discussed the Butterfly sculpture which was being considered for a wall mount or pedestal mount to minimize the risk of damage or vandalism.  However, this would possibly delay and increase the cost of installation over the preferred ground mount.
4.   Publicity/Communications
   1. Pam recommended that we consider a Press Release on the upcoming installations now that we have locations identified.
   2. Public Arts Website
      1. It was agreed to begin planning for a Public Arts web presence to document activities of the PAC and most importantly information about the plans for the Sculpture Collection.
      2. Dave agreed to work with interested members of the committee to come up with the look and feel of a Public Art website and present results of this discussion at the next PAC meeting.  Discussions would follow with Francoise Sullivan the manager of the Town Website.
5. There was a brief discussion regarding sculpture locations for 2023 that was deferred until the next meeting in April.
6. Meeting Adjourned – Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday April 12, 4:00PM.