Library Board - Regular Meeting

Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Transcript
Video
Agenda

About this meeting

Government Body
Library Board
Meeting Type
Library Board
Location
Alameda, CA
Meeting Date
January 21, 2026

Transcript

253 sections (from 281 segments)

0:000

The meeting is now called to order. The time is 06:00PM.

0:10 – 0:541

Okay. This meeting is being recorded. We currently have one remote participant. For remote participants, please make sure you're using the most current version of Zoom or an updated web browser. Certain functionality may be disabled if the app or browser are not updated. You must register using the link at the top of the agenda. Please click raise hand when you wish to speak on an item and click unmute once you have been called to speak. You may also submit written comments to myself by emailing me, JackieKeliiaa@jkeliiaaalamedaca.gov. Comments submitted during the meeting before the conclusion of the public comment section will be read into record. My email address is also on the meeting's agenda.

0:55 – 1:351

If a remote participant is having difficulty, please call using the number area code (669) 444-9171. Meeting ID 89642081044. This information is also on top of the meeting agenda. People participating via phone can press 9 to raise their hand and 6 to unmute. For in person participation, speaker slips are submitted. Are located at the chair over there with pens. If a commissioner would like to speak, please physically raise your hand and the chair will acknowledge your request. The chat function has been turned off.

1:372

It's called to order. And

1:421

you can you're you're meeting's out.

1:440

Oh, yeah. I'm sorry.

1:451

That's okay.

1:470

Already did the meeting is called

1:482

to order. Come on in. Thanks.

1:541

I'm sorry. Did you do this already? The meeting is now

1:570

called to order.

1:57 – 2:151

Oh, you did? I'm so sorry. Yeah. Okay. Great. So roll call. We have commissioners Liz Rush. Present. Commissioner Peter Platzgumer. Here. Commissioner Lisa Martin. Absent. Excused. Commissioner James Martin.

2:153

Present.

2:161

And commissioner Adrian Sancho. Present. Staff members Jackie Kalia'a, present. Duane Dahlmann.

2:234

Present. Okay.

2:28 – 2:530

Comment public comments is up next. Comments from the audience may concern matters either on or not on the agenda, but must deal with matters subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Arts Commission. Comments will be limited to three minutes. Comments concerning matters on this evening's agenda will be heard when that item is called. Leah, do you have any items to read into the record?

2:531

We do have public comment. Okay. Katie Connell, please come on up.

3:07 – 3:255

I'm Katie Connell. I am an artist in Alameda. I've been living here since 2016. And I am currently in the process of starting an arts coalition on the island. I've been talking to lots of different arts organizations.

3:27 – 4:135

And I'm trying to get some founding members right now. But I've been talking a lot to Radium Runway, West End Arts District, Frank Betts Center, Rhythmics, as well as many other just independent artists people who may not even work on the island but artists who live on the island as well. So the goal of this Arts Alliance coalition is really communication and cooperation and just to kind of herd all the cats, All the artists get everyone together, working together, getting all the same information, sharing resources, partnering, networking, all that good stuff to amplify and boost all the great art efforts that are already happening in the city. So I'm just introducing myself. Hello.

4:13 – 4:245

I'm here as a nosy neighbor, seeing what the art does and what it's called out. And, I'm happy you all are here, and I'm happy to see the work that's going on. So thank you.

4:240

Thank you so much. Is there anyone else who would like to, provide public comment unrelated to an item on the agenda?

4:343

Let me

4:341

check if I have any comments from

4:37 – 5:070

Rachel. I don't. Okay, great. Okay. So next is yours. Actually, the minutes, I'd like to make a motion to move 5A to the top of the regular agenda. Anyone like to second that motion? Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Great. So we will be moving 5A to the top of All the right.

5:07 – 5:361

All right, 5A, and that's an acknowledgment for Commissioner Robert Ferguson. If you would come on up, we have a certificate to present to you to thank you for your four years on the commission, the Public Art Commission, and here you are. This is a recognition of your time and we appreciate everything that you've done for the commission. And we would like to invite you if you'd like to make comments and address your colleagues.

5:37 – 6:046

Well, okay. I mean, was I'm very grateful for having the opportunity that I did. I mean, I came into this really cold, didn't know exactly what I was doing four years ago at all. And everybody here was really kind to me and helped me understand, you know, how to make it work. And I think I got my footing, but, you know, still it was it's been a great experience.

6:06 – 6:246

And I just wanna say to all of the commissioners, please continue the good work that you're doing to bring art into Alameda. And, you know, we're looking around, seeing how you're doing. Again, many thanks for the time I had, and good luck in the future for all

6:243

of you.

6:240

Okay. Thank you.

6:323

And on that note

6:330

Thank you for your contribution. Appreciate it.

6:356

Oh, you bet. Now I'm gonna be right into the sunset.

6:372

Alright. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.

6:52 – 7:351

Brings us to minutes. So item three a, which is reviewing and approving the packed minutes from our October 20 meeting. Were there any any proposed edits or any motions to accept? Motion to accept. Second. Great. Second by Sandra. Alright. That brings us to the Oh, sorry. Yay. That brings us to the regular agenda. We're starting with item four a, which is a recommendation to adopt the Public Art Commission meeting calendar for 2026 that seeks to avoid possible conflicts that inhibit the maximum participation. So any comments or any motions? Questions?

7:390

Go ahead, Commissioner Plascimer.

7:41 – 7:563

Just one question if we need a meeting closer or in FebruaryMarch for the public programming review? Because that's gonna take a while.

7:57 – 8:341

Yes. So we can absolutely schedule as needed special meetings. Special meetings do have twelve day notice dates, so as long as we have maybe two ish weeks in between to get that started. But we have set up the calendar to account for reviewing all the applications. So the grants open on January 29, they close on March 19, and we'll be meeting on April 27 to deliberate. So that gives our team ample time to collect the applications, review them to ensure that they're complete, and then present them to you all to review in advance of the meeting where they'll be deliberated.

8:360

Do we have a question that, including this meeting, that gives us for scheduled meetings? Correct.

8:431

Correct. And as needed, we can add five and six meetings if, you know, we can add Sure.

8:490

Mhmm. Okay. Thank you.

8:511

Do we have a motion to accept the calendar for 2026?

8:550

I motion to accept the calendar for 2026. Seconded.

8:59 – 9:251

Alright. Wonderful. So that brings us to item four b, which is the presentation of Making Waves, the Public Art Ma for the Storehouse Lofts Public Art requirement. So if we can kinda scoot, so we can bring the artist Jonah on up, and I also have a presentation. Would you like me to bring that out or we can start with the with the with with the

9:254

let's put it up here so Sure. Inside in the background.

9:281

Wow. Very cool.

9:314

Looks like got the video right out

9:333

of here.

9:341

Yeah. I've got the video queued up.

9:364

Yeah. And you have oh, yeah. Great.

9:391

But do you wanna do the video now or present first with the clay? Well It's your call. I just need to share screen.

9:47 – 10:134

Yeah. First, let me introduce Deborah Samia, my sculpture partner. And you guys haven't met her yet or so far. But we are collaborators on this project. Also, we are collaborators on the most recent Edley sculpture that we unveiled in December, and the previous Edley sculpture, which we unveiled in May 2022.

10:14 – 11:014

And we actually go back a long time in the sculptural studio together. So we are here to present the clay model known as the maquette of the making waves sculpture. And we also have a couple of a handful of digitized images of the sculpture as well in a three d digital program, sculpture program called ZBrush. And we will be using the digital program to enlarge the sculpture to the full size, which will be just about twice the size of this. Just kidding.

11:03 – 11:374

To the full size. And then we will be initially carving it in foam, which is what it will be sort of milled out of in foam. And then we'll be adding clay, subtracting clay, carving the foam. And then we'll the finished surface will be all in clay, and then we'll have the mold made of that, the final large piece. And where we are right now is, you know, a pretty good solid idea of what the piece looks like.

11:37 – 12:204

And we still have a handful of tweaks that we'll make as we go into the very larger size piece. But this gives you guys an idea of where we are today or where we were actually a little while ago. We had, I think, one cancellation in November. But this gives you an idea of where we are, and we just wanted to kind of present where we are because we're gonna after tonight, we're gonna proceed forward with enlarging the foam the the file into the large foam piece and start working on the the sculpting of the final enlarged piece. And if you have any questions, we'd be happy to answer any questions at this point.

12:20 – 12:464

These are these are some of the digital files, images of the digital files. And essentially will be the digital file that will be transferred to the company that's going to enlarge the file and mail it out of phone.

12:49 – 13:021

Awesome. Oh, let me share screen, actually. Oops. Okay. Just

13:06 – 13:340

as a reminder, everyone, of the process. First, clarifying questions, then we'll have some public comment, and then we'll close the public comment, and then the commissioners will discuss and give feedback. So at this point, are there any clarifying questions? I have a question. Was this taken from a photograph?

13:34 – 14:094

Yes. The original concept came from a photograph. The original concept was from a series of photographs depicting several Navy waves. But specifically, this is a Violet Falker, who was the person who they had most of the photographs of, or at least featured in many of the photographs. And this is actually a photograph with the plane attached to it.

14:10 – 14:534

What they did was they took these photographs because they were using them as promotional material to promote the WAVES program. And they were all taken in Jacksonville, Florida, I believe, at the Navy Air Station Navy Training Center. And there's a variety of different photographs of her and the other women kind of in the sort of getting to know training getting to know the aircraft, learning about how to maintain them and operate them. And it's kind of a cute series that really highlights the women as they're being educated and trained.

14:542

And maybe mention Marilyn York? Yeah.

14:57 – 15:434

Yes. Now Marilyn York was not at the training center in these photographs. So we have sort of blended together we sort of blended together the concept of paying tribute to Marilyn York and the original photograph of Violet Falker. And I suppose if anybody thought that was completely strange, we could do the sculpture of Violet Falker because it's more historic. And we could just honor Marilyn York through text or some other mechanism, who is the local wave that people know here in Alameda.

15:454

But that could be for a discussion if anybody has a strong opinion.

15:502

But for now, the portrait is of Marilyn York.

15:560

Should I just add a

15:57 – 16:312

bit of context? I'm Abby Furman. I'm the director of Phase three Use and Economic Development. So I just wanted to share a couple of things. One is that the Waves Building is in the footprint of the reshaped supportive housing project and will be demolished for that project. It's in really it's the only building that was dedicated to women in the Navy, but it was really not kept up by the Navy. It's a wood structure that was built in a rush during World War II, so it is gonna come down. The ReShape project, which is a block from storehouse lots

16:314

A long block. A long block. Of one block.

16:342

Yes. But one one long Block will have a Maryland York Way, street name. But it is just because that building does have

16:441

to come down. And we

16:452

had a walk with the historic advisory board and the city council in December where they were lamenting that we had to lose the building.

16:521

And we told them this art piece may

16:542

be coming and that the road was gonna be invading. So I just wanted to kind of give that additional context.

17:000

Another question. Will this be a plaque on top up here?

17:07 – 17:314

We we have been kind of, let me let me show you what this has here. But we have been sort of looking, for different ways to kinda incorporate a little bit more, information here. Here's a here's a Maryland York quote that we got from the, museum here. It's critical that we act now to preserve the lessons of history for future generations of Americans. Actually, right now it's a pretty good quote.

17:33 – 18:084

And Marilyn York, in honor of the waves, women accepted for voluntary emergency services, remembering the service of the women in World War II and the little waves emblem here. So we were thinking of different ways that we could go about this. One thing we could do is sort of I didn't really wanna do we didn't really wanna do a whole another big bronze plaque because then all of a sudden, it's gonna be kind of like the two bronze features will be sort of competing a little bit. But we were thinking maybe we could put it maybe sort of make it like on top of here. So if you're standing here, can just look down.

18:08 – 18:344

Or perhaps maybe we will maybe we do do that, but we make it a little smaller and on this side or maybe over on this side. This would be probably be the natural spot for. But we had we have been in the category of things that we are kind of just fine tuning. We're thinking about some stuff like this that could be appropriate. Another thing that we are considering as well is sorry.

18:34 – 19:164

Is we might we might make this the back of this thing of the, engine, the front or the plane, which is also the engine. We might make this solid, and so you're really looking at you're not looking at, sort of air through the engine. You're looking at really more like what the front of the actual, plane looks like. And if it was solid, we might sort of reposition some of this information as kind of a a plaque or kind of a relief sort of on the back of the, the front of the, the back of the, the engine here. So from this view, you would see a lot of the sculpture, but you'd also have something interesting to look at that frames the the back of the plane right there.

19:164

So it doesn't look like it just quite sliced off up.

19:200

Gets a little windy out there. You might wanna have that Keep that open.

19:244

Uh-huh. So

19:240

that the wind doesn't

19:264

catch us. Turn the blade? Yes. Exactly.

19:307

Structurally to me Uh-huh. This looks a little top heavy.

19:353

Uh-huh. Is that not

19:37 – 20:024

Is that gonna be an issue? Yeah. We're going to find Uh-huh. Out soon. And But we think we How do find that out? We've we've been told by the foundry that that that, he he believes that he's going to be able to, support this. In the bra inside the sculpture of the bronze, he's going to run stainless steel up through the figure and then up through the propeller and onto the to support the upper part.

20:027

Yeah. It looks to me like this point right here would be a stressor. Sure.

20:09 – 20:242

From the owner of the foundry, he said no problem at all. That he's put other things that are so much more in weight that he's been able to put it up in the air.

20:247

Even if you put a back piece on it.

20:27 – 20:574

Yeah. I'm not sure if that's going to make a big difference. I think that it's going to be, you know, it's either going to be, you know, plenty of strong and it will work with the back or no back, or it's just going to be a little bit of the wing. I mean, just a little bit of the propeller, but I'm pretty sure that it's going to be fine or, you know, or we might, if worst case comes to worst, we might provide some kind of other type of support or something like that.

20:572

And we'll be working with a structural engineer.

21:004

Yeah. But he he's he's told us that he thinks it's going to be it's going to be fine and and and solid.

21:080

Question. How tall is the base?

21:124

The base 24

21:132

inches?

21:134

Yeah. 24 inches here.

21:16 – 21:284

So it's not huge. And and that could be you know, that also could be 24. It could be 30 inches. But we wanted it to not to be, you know, absolutely huge where you're, you know, looking up like this.

21:290

Can just kinda step up onto this platform. It is such that that's really accessible. Right?

21:36 – 21:524

It's pretty accessible. Yeah. I mean, that's why we're thinking you could we could put some of this text right here on top and just look right. You know, your eye level would be like right here, and you could just look right down on to it. Though it would not obscure the sculpture looking at it from a distance, you wouldn't see that really.

21:542

So would the pole be part of the structure?

21:574

The pole? No. Well, theoretically, it's the pole is not going be included, Assuming that we we can make the structural components work the way that that guy

22:057

So I guess, in terms of my question about structural stability, it's like vision kids jumping up into the propeller.

22:134

Well, that's pretty high. That's pretty high. This is this is already about, six feet right here. Almost six feet at this point in time.

22:212

Or eight feet.

22:220

Or because if we yeah.

22:24 – 22:414

With the two feet. Yeah. But if somebody climbed up to here, it'd be another six feet to get up to there. But, you know, probably, I I haven't seen many many kids climbing on pieces, but maybe you guys see it all the time.

22:451

Oh, Yeah.

22:492

Ahead. You said it's based on a

22:511

the concept was based on

22:512

a series. Like, there's not a particular photo.

22:544

Oh, well, there is a very specific photo that it that it comes from.

22:58 – 23:092

Okay. So I'm new to sculpture. So I'm, like, come from, like, a legal mind. So I'm, like, wondering, like, how did that copyright process get? If you need to get permission from the original

23:091

state of the photographer, I'm guessing.

23:114

Well, was it was a it's it's a navy. It was it was it was shot by the navy. It was it's part of the navy navy. I think we can take it.

23:190

I think it's a

23:214

I think we just go in there and take it. Right?

23:230

Copyright this.

23:254

What's that?

23:265

Is it fifty years or fifty or

23:283

one hundred?

23:28 – 24:104

I don't know what it is. I the truth is I I have no idea. But the Navy took it in '40 in '42 or '43. And and I I doubt that they would come back and say, hey, you you you made a sculpture based on our photograph. Right. And we have some rights to that. You know, we have something We have something there. I would be really shocked if the Navy came back and said, hey, you're making a sculpture to honor these waves. And you based it on a photograph that we took eighty years ago. And we have a bone to pick. I doubt it, but

24:110

Just go ahead of it.

24:12 – 24:254

Yeah. No. Good point. It was not. But one key thing is it was not a private photographer. You know, it was it was the name. And the photographs are in the public domain.

24:252

Yeah. Okay.

24:28 – 24:471

Quick comment. Just for the sake of the public art ordinance which governs sort of on-site art allocations. Yeah. Starting to think we're gonna have to also have a city seal installed as part of this because it's officially part of the city's Okay. Public art collection. So we'll talk more about that, but Sure. It'll have to be made room for it somewhere on the Sure. Black.

24:474

Big is it?

24:49 – 25:091

I think it really is the discretion of the artist. We will have like a typical plaque that says like, this is by Jonah. Like, it'll be the plaque for the artists. Yeah. Not necessarily the inspiration for the art itself, but the day was dedicated, that kind of thing, because that'll be part of it. So anyway, we can talk offline, and I can get the specifics about what's included in that. Okay.

25:120

Okay. Are there any public comments?

25:171

I don't even know if he has. No. Doesn't look like it.

25:210

Okay. We're close the public comment. Commissioners, any discussion and feedback on on this?

25:59 – 26:343

It's a photo in public domain, and it's from the Navy. It's more than 70 years old in this case, which is usually what we need to use for derivative art. And you could be considering this transformative art since since it's now turned into three d, and especially with the change of the person into into someone local. If you you close that or not, it's up to you. We do not have a say in that.

26:34 – 27:123

I think this is a question what you what you feel like makes more sense visually. The one thing that we have to say in this visibility, and I feel like this is very visible. I'm looking forward to it, and I can see it's working really well in the place. The question that we had last time was about lighting. Since this is a bit similar, Like, we had a we had a case with another in New York where we were very specific that they had to add lighting. So I was just wondering how you were planning to to light this up. Is it just the street lights? Or is are there any are there any spots or anything that we may have?

27:12 – 27:374

I don't think we have any plan for lighting at this point in time. There's there's pretty decent lighting coming off of the building Mhmm. In the but there's no there we have not designed any specific lighting yet, for, to highlight the piece at night.

27:39 – 27:533

Like, my comment would be, I don't think it needs to be specific, but it would be nice to keep that in mind that this is, like, visibility is the requirement that we can can vote on and discuss. That would be the one thing that I see.

28:021

Okay. All right. Thank you. Can we get a picture of it before they go? We can just put a picture of it in our upcoming call.

28:104

Absolutely. Sure.

28:122

Usually rotate it? So

28:131

Yeah. The two of can stand behind it, if you

28:153

don't mind.

28:150

Yeah. This is kind of

28:164

That's a

28:161

good Yeah.

28:173

That's a

28:174

good shot

28:17 – 28:353

right there. But what happens to them afterwards? Like, does the city exhibit That'll be really nice.

28:354

Alright. Alright.

28:361

Yes. Smile artist. Both of you. Right?

28:384

Yeah. Yeah.

28:391

Oh, yeah. That's good. Okay. 123. Say public art.

28:432

Public art. Got

28:461

it. Thank you, Appreciate it.

28:484

We are gonna take it now, but later you guys can, display it someplace if you have a place for it. Yeah.

28:541

I feel like we should find a palace. City Hall West.

28:564

Did you guys have any thoughts about the Marilyn York versus Violet Walker?

29:010

Oh, Marilyn. Well, will anybody know that? It's not her.

29:051

So just to just to confirm, this likeness here is not Marilyn.

29:084

This is This is Marilyn. Yeah. Oh. This is is more based on Marilyn. Okay. And the final the final face will look more will look like Marilyn.

29:171

So the inspiration photo was of a different wave.

29:204

Yeah. Is that the That's Violet Faulkner.

29:231

Oh, okay.

29:244

Yeah. You can share

29:251

that. Original photo. Yeah. You can share it. Yeah.

29:284

Yeah. In fact, there's if you go if you go down, you'll see another.

29:331

If you could

29:330

share that.

29:342

So Violet's body and then Marilyn's face.

29:361

Oh, I see. Oh, it's so easy.

29:384

Marilyn's body. You know? And

29:400

That's okay. I can move through that.

29:421

Okay. I'm just

29:42 – 30:004

gonna we tried to get ahold of Marilyn's family, but she didn't have any kids. And she had just it was a very kind of obscure thing. But if anybody has a lead on getting a hold of any of her relatives or or, you know, extended family, it certainly would be

30:000

We could dig into that.

30:012

Given that we're naming a street after

30:031

her. Right? Yeah.

30:050

We just don't have any shills. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know that was gonna dig it up.

30:104

I think I heard maybe, like, a nephew or a niece or

30:130

We can gather in

30:142

Santa Cruz somewhere, but we don't know their last name.

30:163

Our former chairman's nephew.

30:194

We we we tried contacting the I think his name is Dennis.

30:231

That's the

30:240

one. I didn't ask him.

30:254

Yeah. And he did not have very much information.

30:403

Fair that sculptures are built with models. That's how you do it. Yeah.

30:444

You what's that?

30:453

You use models to make sculptures. Oh. That's how you do it.

30:484

Oh, for sure.

30:493

But just in case here.

30:511

Yeah. Yeah. This is really exciting. Great. Very cool. Fantastic. Alright.

30:564

So we will keep you guys posted on the the next thing we're going to do is to initiate the enlargement.

31:050

Fantastic. And then what's

31:07 – 31:181

the timeline? Do you or forget. We talked about this. It's on a paper somewhere that we signed a long time ago. But in terms of committing the the like, doing the actual sculpture at the site.

31:19 – 31:324

Well, it's it's probably what we had on paper plus a little bit at this point. Okay. But we should have the enlarged foam to work from in about six or seven weeks.

31:33 – 31:554

Then we should have a month or two working on the actual clay version of the thing. And then we should have another five months, maybe four if we try to pressure the foundry, but five months or so to have it bronze. And in the meantime, we'll we'll work on our side at the building to prepare the pedestal.

31:550

Site preparation.

31:57 – 32:144

But I think for sure we can unveil it in 2026. Cool. We had been thinking maybe July 4, but I think it's a lot too tight right now. It's I think it's we're probably looking more like the late summer, fall. Okay.

32:146

Sleep Sleep week. That would

32:164

be cool. Sleep week. What is sleep week? Which

32:191

time? Twelve. Oh, never mind. Early October. Yeah.

32:242

My anniversary is always on that week.

32:284

a great it would be great weather. A nice time to do

32:311

that. That's our favorite summer.

32:33 – 32:494

And we hope to have a really nice public unveiling and invite a lot of people. And if you guys can think of anybody that you think would be interesting to invite, we'll host the thing. And I think it'd be terrific.

32:491

That would be awesome. This looks great.

32:527

Okay. Well, you guys you. For your time.

32:542

Thank you. Thank you.

32:581

Yeah. You

32:580

get Thank you. Hi.

33:072

Help carrying this out to

33:086

the car?

33:097

It's on yeah.

33:104

Oh, we got it.

33:113

We got it.

33:112

We got it? Okay.

33:124

It was getting to him the car was the

33:142

Yeah. Uh-huh.

33:144

We figured that out, though.

33:151

Yes. Thanks again.

33:174

Okay, you guys. You take care. Be well. Good night.

33:19 – 33:421

Thank you. Thank Alright. That brings us to item five, which is staff communications. Yes. So I've got a few updates, but our biggest update is we have a new commissioner. Hello, everyone. Welcome, Adrian. And so Adrian was just appointed on the January 6. And, Adrian, do you want to take a moment to introduce yourself to your new colleagues? Sure.

33:42 – 34:132

Hi. I'm Adrian Sancho, president of the I'm but I live on the West End. My family's out here. My background's mostly in the performing arts. So I've done a bit of theater both on stage and off stage behind the scenes. I'm mostly a musician. I played three growing up, changed two symbols. I was in the marching band of Red Cow. Just afforded me a lot of travel as well, so that was fun. Yeah, I just love supporting artists.

34:13 – 34:312

I wanted to go to law school to be a sports and entertainment lawyer. Did not go to law school because of the recession, so my day job is in policy, talking about free speech and tech. So now I'm here. Hopefully excited to talk about art and

34:31 – 34:571

accessibility. Cool. Welcome. Thank you. You're very welcome. Awesome, thank you. And then I'm gonna give a couple of updates here. We have a lot of really cool stuff happening. So our cultural art grants open on January 29, and it's already up on our website, but the application itself doesn't open until that morning, basically. But the application will be open for seven weeks, so the deadline is March 19.

34:58 – 35:221

And to prepare for that, we're we're putting on a grant writing for the arts webinar. So we are hosting this webinar on February 4. It's at 5PM. We are recording it. It will be uploaded to the city's or sorry, the city's YouTube page after, so if folks are not able to attend that day, they can watch it after.

35:22 – 35:471

And we have Kimberly Acebo Artete, who is the executive director of Bravo Women for the Arts, is putting on the grant webinar. And basically it's an opportunity to learn about how to write grants, what to think about when you're telling your story, and how to expand your funding opportunities. So it's not necessarily just for City of Alameda application, but for all grant opportunities in the Bay Area, which we're very lucky to be part

35:48 – 36:361

lovely ecosystem of arts philanthropy here in The Bay. And then the other piece of it is we do have an orientation specifically for our grant process, and that is on February 11, also at 5PM, and same thing, we're recording it so folks are not able to attend in person, they can watch it, and that's where I walk them through how to apply, what are the documents that are required, what are the eligible programming, that kind of thing. So that's more geared specifically towards our program. And then also, we have what's called a Special Event Permit Grant Program. So I don't administer this program, this is administered by my colleague Amanda Gerke, and is There's probably some overlap with folks who are applying for the cultural arts grants and folks who are applying for the special event permit grant, but essentially it's for large scale events.

36:36 – 37:161

I'm talking large events that do street closures. So what it is is funding up to $20,000 to support things like street closures, fire, police, different types of permits that involve city staff that have to get involved to execute the event. So that is open until February 27, and Amanda is hosting a how to on Tuesday. I don't have a date right now, but I will share it. This was shared also in our recent public art updates email, so if anyone listening or watching in wants this information, I'm happy to send it all an email to you.

37:16 – 37:271

But those are a couple of things to keep in mind, we have a lot of cultural art and grant activities happening over the course of the next eight weeks. So that's that's my update.

37:280

Very good. Very good. Let's see. So this is yours. And the that was your written communications

37:50 – 38:083

A few minutes ago, I was mentioning that the artwork on Clement Street got either damaged or replaced by Oh, right. The box. Electric box. Yeah. It's now unpainted. And I wanted to ask if there's an update on that.

38:081

I did send an email out. And now that you reminded me, I realized I never got a response to that. So I will follow-up with them and give you an update about that.

38:157

What is that? I don't remember that.

38:17 – 38:443

Yes. We are on Clement Street artwork that's consists of a mural and several painted transformation transformer boxes. Okay. And one of the boxes or two of the boxes are repainted in gray and don't have the the the paper on it any

38:44 – 39:081

longer. Yeah. This is the picture you sent me. So as part of the public art requirement, this was for a development, so this is technically on-site art. This was meant to be painted, and then it looks like maybe they replaced it with a new box. I'm not sure, but the artwork is gone, so they're required per the public art ordinance to maintain the art for the life of it, which typically is like twenty five years for these kind of things.

39:087

Even if it's replaced, not just

39:10 – 39:221

Yeah. It has to be if gets replaced or removed, it has to be one to one, essentially. That's the per the ordinance. So I you've reminded me that I have to follow-up with him because

39:224

I never got

39:22 – 39:413

a response. That'd be nice. And then my second thing is I hope you are all voting for Alumni Stars, but you can also look for arts organizations. Oh, cool. It's nice to see which arts organizations are nominated and are doing stuff. Okay. Not to people on on Zoom.

39:437

So in in back to the box.

39:446

In that in

39:457

that case, would that mean that the utility company would fund to have the artist repaint the replaced box?

39:511

No. This is a public art commitment for development. So the developer is responsible for replacing the art that's gone now.

39:597

Yeah. And they would communicate with the artist, or that would go through us or no?

40:02 – 40:201

No, it doesn't go through us, so they would be responsible for They're responsible for administering and maintaining the art, so essentially in this instance, they're not maintaining the art, it needs to be, they need to redo it, basically. And it's part of their on-site art requirement. Mhmm.

40:22 – 40:350

Great. Amanda? Okay. I have some communications that I'd like to share with everybody. So this is my thoughts with Pat for this year.

40:36 – 41:210

I'm sad that Lisa's not with us, but I've served eight years on this commission, so there's a lot of history here. During that time, we've accomplished a great deal, expanding art funding, refining the grant awarding process, and strengthening our support for arts and projects. In 2023, we created the public arts master plan. I hope you can find time to read that. It's, you know, that's our guidebook.

41:21 – 41:530

Yeah. Great. Great. Establishing a really clear five year strategy guide our work. We're currently in year three of that process. It is important that we continue building on that momentum with intention and focus. First and foremost, we should work together. Each of us is here because we bring something unique and valuable to the table. Speak up, ask questions, and share your perspective. Your voice matters.

41:54 – 42:360

We should also remain mindful of the time and the energy of our staff and partner departments. They dedicate a lot of support to us. They're generous with their expertise and assistance, but they are not our full time staff. Respect their capacity helps ensure strong, productive relationships. We should also this year, we only have three meetings. This is our fourth meeting. This is our first meeting. We have three after this. There have been complaints previously that, what do you mean we're having another meeting? But that's because we do have a lot to do.

42:36 – 43:060

But we're really careful about our planning of the meetings, and we have a lot to do. So it's especially important to become become prepared. These are trying to gather intentionally so we can move forward working efficiently and meaningfully. Lastly, when I tell people I serve on the public arts commission, I always say it's the best commission because we give money to the arts. What could be better than that?

43:06 – 43:500

Right? Supporting creativity and artists strengthens our community, and that's something that truly makes people happy. So let's stay focused. Let's work hard at each one of these meetings. Let's not stall on anything. Let's move this stuff forward, and I'm so happy to be working with all of you. Welcome to the commission. Thank you, everybody. Nope. Okay.

43:510

Well, in that case, this meeting is now adjourned at 06:44PM.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.