Loading...
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 -