Minutes of July 19, 2022

City of Chandler — Regular Meeting (2022-08-16)

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MINUTES OF THE 
CHANDLER ARTS COMMISSION MEETING 
TUESDAY, July 19, 2022 
5:00 PM 
 
Commissioners Present: Michelle Hirsch, José Benavides, Shachi Kale, Farhana 
Ahmed, Caitlin Penny, Julie Ray 
Commissioners absent: Tim Wiant 
Staff Present: Peter Bugg, Caroline Hudson-Naef, Michelle Mac Lennan 
CALL TO ORDER:                                                                                                                                                
The meeting was called to order at 5:02 PM by Michelle Hirsch via Webex. 
UNSCHEDULED / SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES / CALL TO PUBLIC 
- 
None 
 
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE JUNE 21 MEETING: 
a) Farhana made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Shachi seconded 
the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 
 
ACTION AGENDA   
a) Caitlin reported back to the commission about the artist selection meeting 
for the Zora Folley mural with Folley family members, a representative from 
the neighborhood, and the owners of FLO Yoga & Cycle. She stated that the 
group selected the Fleming/Dixon team for the project and that their design 
needed just a few tweaks. Shachi added that the group was interested to see 
how these two artists’ styles combine in this collaborative project. Michelle 
Hirsch asked if any final changes will need to be approved again, and Peter 
said that they will need to be approved by the Folley family and the owners 
of FLO. Caitlin made a motion to approve Jerome Fleming and Giovannie

Dixon as the artists to complete the Zora Folley Mural. Farhana seconded the 
motion. The motion passed unanimously. 
b) Caroline gave a recap of the Pueblo Alto committee meeting to select an 
artist for that mural, stating that the group left the meeting with a top three 
of Martin Moreno, Edgar Fernandez, and Diego Perez. José stated that any 
one of the three would make an excellent choice. The commissioners 
discussed the merits of Moreno’s traditional style versus Fernandez’ more 
contemporary style. Shachi stated that although Fernandez’ style is very 
modern, his imagery is still very much rooted in tradition. José made a 
motion to approve Edgar Fernandez as the artist for the Pueblo Alto mural.  
Julie seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 
c) Peter shared the draft Request for Qualifications for the Downtown bench 
project and explained that it will be funded by Downtown Redevelopment, 
not the Arts Commission. Caitlin asked how the Arts Commission came to the 
conclusion to create benches, and Peter explained that the Arts Commission 
was brought into the conversation after the project had been conceived of by 
Downtown Redevelopment. Michelle Hirsch suggested a few small 
grammatical edits. Julie made a motion to approve the Request for 
Qualifications as amended. Shachi seconded the motion. The motion passed 
unanimously. 
d) Peter shared about the opportunity to apply for an NEA Our Town grant with 
a collaborative project with the Chandler Cultural Foundation. The proposed 
project would be a music festival with artist Michael Mwenso in spring 2024 
that would incorporate a visual arts component. He proposed allocating 
$10,000 of the Arts Commission’s budget for Fiscal Year 2024 to be used for 
matching funds for the grant; the much larger remainder of the matching 
funds will be provided by the Chandler Cultural Foundation. The 
commissioners discussed this opportunity, and Michelle Mac Lennan added 
that the CCF will be seeking in-kind donations from the City with the end goal 
of being able to offer the festival to the public for free. Michelle Hirsch made 
a motion to approve $10,000 in funding for Fiscal Year 2024 for this project, 
should it be funded by the NEA. Farhana seconded the motion. The motion 
passed unanimously. 
e) Peter shared that the commissioners should select a representative to attend 
the Chandler City Sponsorship funding program selection meeting on 
September 13 from 5 – 8pm. Caitlin and Michelle Hirsch volunteered to 
attend. Michelle Hirsch made a motion to approve Caitlin as the Arts 
Commission’s representative to this meeting. Shachi seconded the motion. 
The motion passed unanimously.

f) The commissioners discussed who should attend the selection meeting for 
the Downtown Library artwork project. Peter suggested that Tim serve as 
one of the Arts Commission’s representatives because he is also on the 
Friends of the Library board. Julie also volunteered to attend. Farhana made 
a motion to approve Tim and Julie to attend the Downtown Library artwork 
selection meeting on August 15, 3 - 4pm. Jose seconded the motion. The 
motion passed unanimously.  
BRIEFING ITEMS 
a) Councilmember Orlando budget amendment 
a. Peter shared that he has reached out to the principal of Galveston 
Elementary but hasn’t heard back yet. Michelle Hirsch asked if the 
project will be conducted just at one school, to which Peter answered 
likely yes. Michelle Hirsch also suggested that he consider approaching 
the Kyrene de la Paloma Arts Integration Academy. 
b) Ongoing public art projects 
a. Peter shared a very early-stage construction photo from Lily Reeves for 
the INFLUX project. He said that the signs should be installed before the 
September Arts Commission meeting. 
b. Peter shared that Yuke Li’s traffic control box design has been a finalist 
in a number of design awards that she has applied for and thanks the 
Chandler Arts Commission for the opportunity to create the design. 
c. Peter shared that the Transportation department is installing bike lane 
barriers on Frye Rd and that they approached Peter for a 
recommendation of an artist to work with for this project. Peter 
recommended Yuke Li, and it is likely that she will be the artist to 
complete this project. 
d. In a previous meeting Tim had suggested that staff especially commend 
Library Artwork applicant Andrea Kirvaitis for applying to a public art 
project while only in high school. Peter did this and received a response 
from Andrea thanking the commission for considering her. 
c) Maintenance Projects 
a. Peter shared that some tile benches around Downtown have tiles that 
have fallen out due to age and wear, but that they have been fixed now. 
b. Peter also shared that he is continuing to work with a structural 
engineer to fix the Infinite Wave shade structure to ensure that it is less 
susceptible to wind damage. Currently the City’s insurance policy is 
paying for this but Peter will keep the commission informed as things 
move forward.

MEMBERS COMMENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 
- 
Jose shared that he is getting ready to attend Burning Man later this summer. 
- 
Michelle Hirsch shared that she was approached by Michelle Mac Lennan 
about potentially combining the Arts Commission, Chandler Cultural 
Foundation, and Chandler Museum Foundation holiday parties into one. 
Michelle Hirsch said she thought this was a great idea and a good opportunity 
for the groups to connect. She also recently travelled to Las Vegas and enjoyed 
attending Meow Wolf there and seeing public art around town. 
- 
Farhana shared that the election is coming up and hoped for the 
commissioners’ support. 
 
 CALENDAR 
a. Next regular meeting will be August 16, 2022, via Webex 
 
INFORMATION ITEMS 
Current Exhibitions 
a. Vision Gallery – Melting Point: Artisans of Bollinger Atelier – June 25 – August 
20, 2022.  
b. Chandler Center for the Arts Gallery – Out of the Blue – May 21 – July 30, 
2022.  
 
Upcoming Exhibitions 
a. Vision Gallery – Inward Shift / Outward 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 30, 10am – Vision Gallery – Art Social: Block printing with Olivia Yuen 
b. August 20, 1pm – CCA Gallery – Make and Take: Painted Tiles

ADJOURNMENT 
a) At 5:55 PM Michelle Hirsch adjourned the meeting. 
________________________________ ____________________ 
Michelle Hirsch, Chair 
 
 
Date