June Minutes

City of Chandler — Regular Meeting (2022-07-19)

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MINUTES OF THE 
CHANDLER ARTS COMMISSION MEETING 
TUESDAY, June 21, 2022 
5:00 PM 
 
Commissioners Present: Michelle Hirsch, Tim Wiant, José Benavides, Shachi Kale, 
Farhana Ahmed, Caitlin Penny 
Commissioners absent: Julie Ray 
Staff Present: Peter Bugg, Caroline Hudson-Naef, Kim Moyers 
CALL TO ORDER:                                                                                                                                                
The meeting was called to order at 5:01 PM by Michelle Hirsch in the Vision Gallery 
multipurpose room. 
UNSCHEDULED / SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES / CALL TO PUBLIC 
- 
None 
 
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE MAY 17 MEETING: 
a) Michelle Hirsch noted that her last name was misspelled once and one other 
capitalization error. Michelle made a motion to approve the minutes as 
amended. Farhana seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 
 
ACTION AGENDA   
a) Michelle Hirsch and Shachi gave a recap of the selection committee meeting 
with Fire Department representatives for the Fire Department memorial. 
Shachi said that the group discussed how both Rascona and Slick had taken 
the feedback well and that Rascona’s had come out on top with a few 
additional small edits needed. Tim made a motion to accept the 
recommendation of the selection committee to approve Nicholas Rascona as 
the artist for this project. Farhana seconded the motion. The motion passed 
unanimously.

b) Peter shared the submissions for the Downtown Library project, as well as 
the ranking of the artists by the Arts Commission and library staff collected 
prior to the meeting. In this ranking, the top three artists were Troy Neiman, 
Jason Chakravarty and Jennifer Caldwell, and Diego Perez. Tim expressed 
concern that the budget would be too low for Troy Neiman, and Peter shared 
that he had spoken with Troy and that Troy is still interested in the project. 
Tim also shared some constructive feedback for the introduction narrative 
submitted by Diego. José made a motion to approve Neiman, 
Chakravarty/Caldwell, and Perez as the finalists for the library project. Tim 
seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 
c) Peter shared that the Zora Folley mural selection committee will meet 
between July 5 and the July 19 regular meeting. He will reach out to the 
commissioners to seek a representative when a date has been scheduled. 
Peter tabled this item. 
d) Peter shared that Yuke Li has asked to donate her piece from the Creative 
Drive exhibition in January to the city’s Portable Public Works collection. Tim 
made a motion to accept the donation. Farhana seconded the motion. The 
motion passed unanimously. 
 
BRIEFING ITEMS 
a) Councilmember Orlando budget amendment 
a. Peter shared that the amendment to do an art project with children 
passed for $15,000. He shared that the Arts Commission does not get 
the final say in the project, but that their input will be involved. Kim 
Moyers shared about the adjustment process and gave kudos to the 
Visual Arts staff for helping to make it happen. 
b) Ongoing public art projects 
a. Peter stated that the Police Memorial project has been installed and is 
getting the finishing touches tomorrow. It has received positive 
feedback from the Police Department. Michelle Hirsch asked if the Arts 
Commission could get recognition in PR for projects like this. 
b. Peter stated that Lily Reeves, the INFLUX artist, has been paid and is 
working on her pieces. We are looking to install around the end of 
August. 
c. José shared about the Pueblo Alto committee meeting a couple weeks 
prior; he said that Caroline shared lots of options for artwork, but that 
a mural emerged as the clear focus of the group. He also said that a 
mural seemed like the best option for communicating the themes the

group wanted. Caroline shared that the committee was flexible about 
the site of the mural and that staff will send out the RFQ so the 
commissioners can share it with interested artists. 
d. Peter shared about the site visit with the 5 Zora Folley mural finalists, 
owners of Flo, 4 Folley family members, and Chandler Museum staff. He 
said that the Folley family members shared important information 
about Folley as a dad, and that the Museum staff was able to give 
specifics about his career. Proposals will be reviewed after July 5 by the 
same group plus a representative from the neighborhood, and that the 
committee should have a recommendation by the next regular meeting. 
e. Peter shared that he is still working on a few things internally with the 
City for Gerald Clarke’s signage project in Jan 2023. 
f. Farhana asked if the Arts Commission will do another round of traffic 
control boxes this fiscal year. Peter said yes, the Arts Commission 
approved funding for 5 more. Farhana asked if the commission could 
do more provided with matching funds, and Peter answered yes. 
c) Maintenance Projects 
a. Peter said that some tile benches along Arizona Avenue have been 
damaged over the years, and that Kathleen Escobedo and Ted Wolter 
are working on repairing them by making replacement tiles. 
b. Peter shared that a fin in the Infinite Wave shade structure at the 
Chandler Museum was damaged by high winds last weekend. The 
damaged piece has already been removed, and staff is working with a 
structural engineer to determine a long-term solution. 
 
MEMBERS COMMENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
- 
Tim got to see John Williams conduct an orchestra at Star Wars Celebration. 
- 
Caitlin said it was nice to meet everyone in person and also enjoyed the Boards 
and Commissions training provided recently. 
- 
Michelle Hirsch shared that she has really enjoyed the CIVIC program 
experience and encouraged the other commissioners to participate. She also 
enjoyed the cyanotype Make and Take event. 
- 
Shachi shared that she is leading a workshop at the Draw-a-thon event at the 
Tempe Center for the Arts this Saturday. 
- 
Peter shared that Caroline will be missing the Arts Commission meetings this 
August – November due to a class occurring at the same time. 
 
 CALENDAR

a. Next regular meeting will be July 19, 2022, via Webex 
 
INFORMATION ITEMS 
Current Exhibitions 
a. Vision Gallery – Melting Point: Artisans of Bollinger Atelier – June 25 – August 
20, 2022. Reception: Saturday, June 25, 4-6 p.m. 
b. Chandler Center for the Arts Gallery – Out of the Blue – May 21 – July 30, 
2022.  
 
Upcoming Exhibitions 
a. Vision Gallery – Pandemic Gaze: Chelsie Tamala & Cam DeCaussin – August 
26 – November 10, 2022. Reception: Friday, August 26, 6-8 p.m. (Tentative) 
b. Chandler Center for the Arts Gallery – Michelle Emami: Both, Neither, and 
All of the Above – August 5 – October 15. Reception: TBD. 
 
Upcoming Events 
a. July 9 – Vision Kids fall sign-up 
b. July 16, 11am – Vision Gallery – Make & Take: Custom crayons 
c. July 30, 10am – Vision Gallery – Art Social: Block printing with Olivia Yuen 
 
ADJOURNMENT 
a) At 5:54 PM, Michelle Hirsch adjourned the meeting. 
________________________________ ____________________ 
Michelle Hirsch, Chair 
 
 
Date