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MINUTES OF THE CHANDLER ARTS COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, August 18, 2026 5:00 PM Commissioners Present: David Wilkinson, Mikayla Qian, Shachi Kale, Liz Taylor, Ramon De La O Commissioners Absent: Mahfam Moeeni-Alarcon, Darrell Dick, Staff Present: Peter Bugg, Hanley Ange, Kim Moyers, Jillian Nakornthap CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 5:03 PM by Shachi Kale UNSCHEDULED /SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES / CALL TO PUBLIC APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) Shachi made the motion to approve the minutes from July 21, 2026. David seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ACTION ITEMS a. Approve design for AJ Chandler Park Ostrich a. Peter shared final design for ostrich sculpture by Matt Babcock and explained how the design was finalized. Liz approved the AJ Chandler Park Ostrich Sculpture as is. Ramon seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. b. Approve funding for Ostrich pedestal a. Peter explained that we have some money from City Council, the park renovation construction company, and the Arts Commission for this project. There are additional costs for the sculpture’s pedestal construction ranging from $18,000-$20,000 and around $10,000 for design fees. Shachi asked how much money the commission should contribute to this. Peter answered $5,000-$10,000 is an appropriate range. Shachi asked what happens if the remaining amount is not raised and Peter answered the money would be found from other City departments. David asked a clarifying question about what the proposed budget was covering and Peter answered we usually accommodate for extra costs within a budget inherently but we couldn’t do that this time. Shachi asked if the initial proposal imagery included the pedestal. After some discussion about dimensions of the pedestal, David shared that he’s feeling hesitant about contributing additional money to this project. Liz asked if lighting was part of the artist’s original budget and Peter answered no. After some discussion, Peter suggested tabling this item until the next meeting. Mikayla shared that she would like to see how this money could be spread across departments and what percentage of our budget this spending takes up so the commission has a better understanding of the cost of this project in comparison to the total commission budget. David motioned to table this item for our next meeting. Shachi seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. c. Approve funding for Public Art Conference a. Peter shared that the PAX Field Trip is happening in Scottsdale this year and two staff members would like to go. He invited 2 commissioners to attend alongside the staff members. For registration and gallery staff coverage, this would cost roughly $800. Peter explained what the conference consists of and what the professional development opportunities are. Jillian explained that the conference is local this year and very accessible and would be a great opportunity to network and learn more about other public art programs in the state. Shachi shared that she thinks this a great opportunity and valuable for public art staff to make connections, especially since it’s local. Liz, Mikayla, and David agreed. David suggested if we can’t get two commissioners to attend, that maybe one commissioner goes and an additional staff member attends. Shachi reiterated that she thinks this is a great opportunity and advocated for more staff members to attend. Liz agreed. David motioned to approve up to $900 for attendance to the PAX Field Trip. Mikayla seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Locations of 2026 traffic box wraps a. Peter explained that there are boxes from 2019 that are showing some wear and tear. Hanley reached out to our colleagues in Traffic and learned that these boxes are going to be replaced within the next year. Depending on timing, we may or may not re-wrap these boxes from 2019. The project is moving forward as we work to find locations. b. Pioneer families sculpture name recognition a. Peter shared that this sculpture was originally commissioned as a fountain but due to the park renovation it’s being moved and reformatted. This sculpture includes a plaque with names of Chandler’s pioneer families. Given the new orientation of the sculpture, this plaque will no longer be easily accessible to read. The park designers asked what should be done with the names since visitors won’t be able to read them easily anymore. Peter explained to the commissioners that over the years, additional families have come forward and asked to have their names included on the plaque, resulting in three total plaques. Peter suggested we make one new plaque that includes all the family names and install it in the ground in front of the sculpture, so the names are accessible, easy to read, and all included. Shachi agreed that the single consolidated plaque is a good idea but expressed concern about additional families wanting to be included. Peter addressed that although this could technically happen, extensive research has been done by research staff at the Chandler Museum and the list as-is should be complete. c. Mesquite Groves Park a. Peter shared that Mesquite Groves Park is a 50-acre park that is currently being developed and will include some public art projects. There are opportunities for murals, a playground surface, and some other artworks. d. Pre-qualified list formatting a. Peter shared that Hanley has done research on what other cities’ lists look like and some examples were shared to inform commissioners on what our list could potentially look like. Shachi wondered if we would be including a key or legend that categorizes artists by what mediums they work in. Peter said that this depends, but we would like to do this. David asked if this would be on a website for the public to access and Peter answered yes. Liz suggested that the list is organized like how Hanley organized the presentation for voting, where artists were categorized by 2D, 3D, and site- specific or interactive. BRIEFING ITEMS a. Traffic box selection process I. Hanley shared that we have received 83 submissions to this year’s traffic control box RFQ so far. Hanley and Peter agreed that once the submissions close, the submissions will be organized and shared with commissioners for their review. Commissioners can choose their top 10 submissions to bring to the selection meeting. At the selection meeting we will only be reviewing the top 10-15 artists to select the final 8. b. Ongoing public art projects I. Geoffrey Gross relocation i. Concrete was poured and cured, and sculpture should be installed soon. II. Forensics i. Contracts should be ready soon. III. Traffic Management Center i. No updates here. c. Maintenance projects I. Zora Folley Mural i. Peter shared that the mural was damaged by someone who was parking their car and accidentally accelerated into the building. The wall has been repaired, and the artist is already repainting the mural. MEMBER COMMENTS / ANNOUNCEMENTS Shachi shared that a public art project she has been working on for the past 3 years is finally installed at a dog park and the opening is on Friday August 21st from 8:30-9:30. She encouraged people to attend and bring their dogs. David asked if we like working with a new artist if they will be added to the pre-qualified list and Peter answered yes and this question will be integrated into future projects. Liz share that one of her public art projects, “Bounce + Swing” is in the running for a CODA Award this year. Peter shared that him and his wife went to Iceland for two weeks and saw a lot of public art that was abstracted birds. Peter also highly encouraged commissioners to sign up for the Chandler Museum’s email list so they can register for the Office of Collecting visiting the Museum in October. CALENDAR a. Next regular meeting will be September 18 – in-person INFORMATION ITEMS Current Exhibitions a. The Collectionists: Heidi Dauphin & Laura Spalding Best – August 22 – November 7, 2026 – Vision Gallery Upcoming Exhibitions and Events b. Lurking: Valerie Navarrete - October 3, 2026- January 15, 2027 – The Gallery at CCA ADJOURNMENT a) AT 6:00 PM Peter Bugg adjourned the meeting. ________________________________ ____________________ Shachi Kale, Chair Date