HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-26 Commission on Cultural Development Minutes
City of Bangor, Commission on Cultural Development
- Minutes -
March 26, 2008, 8am, Council Chambers
Commissioners in Attendance: John Rohman, Commission Chair, Orion Breen, Susan
Carlisle, Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick, Susan Jonason, Sandra Blake-Leonard
Others in Attendance: Sally Bilancia, City of Bangor
Handouts: Feedback from Maine Arts Commission Grant Review Committee; Copy of
adopted Five-Year Plan.
1. Commission welcomed our new member, Orion Breen. Orion works with Bangor
Metro Magazine through Pro-Motion Studios.
2. Commission approved minutes of January 23, 2008 meeting.
3. Update on Art in Public Places Subcommittee
The Subcommittee met on February 5, 2008 with Daniel Williams from the
Howard Foundation to review his memorial brick campaign proposal (minutes of
that meeting have been forwarded to Commissioners via email). Given the issues
uncovered during that meeting, he officially withdrew his proposal on February
16, 2008. Bilancia added that Mr. Williams expressed appreciation for City time
and for the feedback that helped his board come to their final decision.
4. Report on visit to Maine Arts Commission – Sally Bilancia and Susan Jonason
5. Discussion of Website RFP and next Steps
Jonason and Bilancia both reported a successful visit to the Maine Arts
Commission. Both expressed that the denial of our grant application was for the
best, because we now have the time to further develop our goals before applying
again in December.
Particularly helpful was the discussion of the MAC website, as it offers a great
deal of the information that we had planned for our site. Although we have still
been encouraged to move forward with a site of our own, we should take a closer
look at ways to tie the two sites together to avoid duplicating efforts. When
asked, Bilancia recommended that we determine the focus and implementation of
the site before moving forward with the RFP. MAC specifically recommended
that a subcommittee be formed for this purpose. Volunteers for the Website
Subcommittee were: Carlisle, Jonason and Breen.
- 1 -
Rohman explained that many states have an Arts Commission and then Local Arts
Agencies or LAA’s at the local level. Since Maine does not have this, it falls
upon the MAC to support arts all over the state. Bangor is a leader in creating a
City-funded Cultural Commission.
It was recommended that Donna McNeil, Director of the Maine Arts
Commission, be invited to our next meeting.
6. Other Business
Rohman informed the Commission that a delegation of Council members and
economic development professionals from Northern Ireland would be visiting the
th
area on April 9 to learn more about Maine’s Creative Economy.
Rohman also informed the Commission that WBRC will soon have a 75-seat
meeting room with full video-conferencing capability. Although this room will
be primarily used for meetings for the firm, they do plan to use the room to
nd
further the arts and cultural interests of the area. On May 22, they will be
hosting the first of four yearly gatherings. This one will feature the Portland artist
Angela Adams.
Our next meeting date has been changed to April 16, 2008 at 8am in the Council
Chambers.
Note: An email vote was requested on March 27, 2008 for the following:
“The Commission on Cultural Development recommends to the City Council that
Susan Jonason be our representative on the Special Committee
on Arena Implementation ."
--- Voted In Favor, --- Voted Against. Quorum achieved. So voted.
Respectfully submitted by Sally Bilancia, Business & Economic Development Officer
- 2 -