Minutes

City of Chandler — Executive (2024-08-05)

View PDF Meeting page

Extracted text (via pymupdf) 7548 characters
Meeting Minutes 
Chandler Museum Foundation  
Executive Subcommittee  
Regular Meeting 
 
June 3, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. 
Chandler Museum, Saguaro Room 
300 S. Chandler Village Drive, Chandler, AZ 
 
 
Call to Order 
The meeting was called to order by Barbara Meyerson at 1:06 p.m. 
 
Roll Call 
Board Member Attendance 
 
 
 
Staff Attendance 
Barbara Meyerson, Chair  
 
 
 
Jody Crago, Museum Manager  
Joan Clark, Vice-Chair 
 
 
 
 
 
Absent 
Tom Escobedo, Treasurer 
 
Scheduled and Unscheduled Public Appearances 
Rich Feely 
 
Consent Agenda  
1. May 6, 2024, Museum Foundation Executive Subcommittee Meeting Minutes 
• Joan Clark made a motion to approve the meeting minutes of the Museum 
Foundation Executive Subcommittee Meeting from April 1, 2024.  
• Barbara Meyerson seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously (2-0). The 
minutes were approved as written.  
 
Action Item 
2. Recommend Conditional Approval of Museum Foundation Spending Policy 
• Joan Clark made a motion to recommend the conditional approval of the Museum 
Foundation Spending Policy. 
• Barbara Meyerson seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously (2-0).

Page 2 of 4 
 
 
 
Briefing 
3. Cash Kitty for Chandler Museum Store 
• Jody Crago notified the Executive Subcommittee that the museum has two cash 
drawers with $100 each. This $200 belongs to the City of Chandler. He intends to take 
$200 out of the Foundation’s bank account and then return that $200 to the City so 
that the store operation is fully under the Foundation. 
4. Marketing Opportunity for Museum at Chandler Fashion Center 
• There are kiosks in the mall that the museum can advertise through. We are thinking 
of advertising through these kiosks, maybe the ones close to Scheel’s, during the 
holiday season since there is so much traffic there. We would highlight that the 
museum is free and nearby. 
• The Executive Subcommittee agreed that this is an idea worthy of further 
investigation. Tiffany Egnor will work on getting pricing and availability for advertising 
on the kiosks. 
• This topic will be placed on the agenda for a future meeting, though not the August 
one. 
5. Organic Architecture and Design Archives Special Event – November 8-9, 2024 
• OAD is a non-profit organization that collects organic architecture. There is a lot of 
material in the collection by Frank Lloyd Wright and his acolytes. The group originally 
started as collectors and then became a formal non-profit. They have a reference 
room and study center in Chandler, as well as three locations across the country. 
They are increasingly wanting to center in Chandler, and the city is considering a 
collaboration with them as a non-profit.  
• OAD has requested a special event at the museum on both November 8 and 9. They 
are looking for a collaboration, not a straight rental. Jody Crago will present the group 
with what a straight rental entails, but he is sure that they are more interested in a 
collaboration. OAD is interested in using the Saguaro Room, the courtyard and 
having a display in the Price Gallery. 
• The Foundation needs to approve or deny the request for a collaboration versus a 
straight rental, because this is a potential loss of revenue. The City Manager will want 
to ensure that the Foundation is aware and approves before moving forward. It is a 
collaboration that Jody Crago believes has long term benefits for the museum, the 
community, and the organization. The estimated loss of revenue would be in the 
$1,000 to $2,000 range. 
• This would be a fundraising event for OAD. They are inviting organic architecture 
groups like the Friends of Kettener, Taliesin Fellows, and Bruce Goff people. There 
will probably be around 400 people invited. The Executive Subcommittee would like 
to see if there is a way the Foundation and/or public could participate free of charge.

Page 3 of 4 
 
• With the support of the Foundation, Jody Crago will take this through the city process 
to get approval. 
6. Status of Museum Campus Landscaping 
• The museum has approved an expenditure of approximately $9,000 to do some 
plantings along the front area, put some plants back in the island in the parking lot, 
and replace plants along the front of the Saguaros. It’s not extensive, but it is filling 
in some holes. Those will go in in the fall.  
• Over the next 2-3 fiscal years, there will be additional plantings encouraged, but that 
will be a shared expense with the parks department and the museum. It will probably 
include asking for decision packages as part of the City’s budget.  
• Interpretation and benches are a separate conversation. 
• There have been many questions at board meetings and discussion as to whether 
the Foundation could do something. It is important for the Foundation to understand 
that the museum does not control the contractor. The campus is considered a park, 
and it is negotiated through the parks board. 
7. Status of Gila River Internment Camp Building 
• There has been this conversation about trying to save this building. There's an 
individual, Bill Staples, who was a former park board member who happens to be in 
the Japanese American community, he's a member of the Japanese American Citizens 
League. He is one of the founders of the Japanese Nisei Baseball Research 
Association.  
• There is a family from Gila River that bought one of the original buildings, likely a 
washroom, and moved it to their land on the reservation. They lived in it, but no 
longer do. They had known that this Bill Staples might be interested in saving it, so 
contacted him and said they might be willing to donate it if Bill can move it. Bill 
stopped by the museum a couple of months ago and informed us. With the master 
planning for the ranch happening, this is an ideal time to talk about how the building 
could eventually get put into the plan. The museum needs to talk about what the cost 
might be.  
• We will be bringing Gaman, the exhibit, back to the museum, at the beginning of 2025. 
It's slated to run about eight months. This would be an ideal time to start a campaign 
to raise funds for the building.  
• We also must start talking about how we might integrate it into the design of the 
ranch, because we can't really put it on this campus. In this coming week, Jody Crago 
intends to talk to Bill about the status of the building. 
• The building has an interesting history. Either a former president, or a tribal leader 
of some level, grew up in that building. I think there's a lot of interpretive 
opportunities.  
• We need to figure out the costs of moving, restoration and preservation. To 
fundraise, we need to know what it's going to cost.   
8. Discuss Next Topic for Museum Moment 
• Approval of the spending policy.

Page 4 of 4 
 
• Short update on landscaping in the Director’s Report. 
• Membership program under Briefing. 
9. Review Agenda for Next Museum Foundation Board Meeting 
Member Comments 
None. 
 
Member Announcements 
None. 
 
Calendar 
10. The next Museum Foundation Regular Meeting will be held on June 17, 2024, at 5:30 p.m., 
at the Chandler Museum, Saguaro Room, 300 S. Chandler Village Drive, in Chandler, 
Arizona. 
 
11. The next Executive Subcommittee Meeting will be held on August 5, 2024, at 1:00 p.m., at 
the Chandler Museum, Saguaro Room, 300 S. Chandler Village Drive, in Chandler, Arizona.  
 
Adjourn 
With no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 3:06 p.m. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Barbara Meyerson, Chair   
 
 
 
Jody Crago, Staff Liaison