Arts and Culture Commission - Regular Meeting

1 p.m. I call the meeting to order. Now I'll hand it off to Lindsay for roll call.

Commissioner Chen. Commissioner Arora. Present. Commissioner Panda. Present. Vice Chair Lamba.

Present.

Chair Wang.

Present.

For the record, Commissioner Chen is absent.

Okay.

So the first item on the agenda is approval of minutes. The subject approval of the May 18th, 2026 are called commission minutes. The recommended action is approved. Do we have any comments or questions? None. Can I get a motion?

I can put a motion. Yes.

Yes. All right. Can we go for a vote?

Sorry, I jumped the gun on this.

Commissioner O'Rourke?

Aye.

Commissioner Panda? Yes. Vice Chair Lambert?

Yes.

Roy?

Yes.

The motion carries with Commissioner Joan Everson.

All right, oral communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Commission on any matter within the jurisdiction of the Commission and not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three minutes. Do we have any oral communications?

We have no speakers, Chair.

Moving right along to new business, 2026 Artist Awards Program and Theme Selection. The recommended action is to receive a presentation of the 2026 Artist Award Program and to discuss and select a theme for this year. And now I'll hand it off to Sam.

Thank you so much. My name is Carolyn McDowell, and I met all of you in January of this year at the Arts Awards program. And to be quite frank, your faces all look familiar, but I was in week two of work, and I met a ton of people. And thank you for being such friendly faces as I joined the Cupertino team. But that night, I told you that thanks to my friend Jessica here, my canoe colleague, that we're going to be guiding you through the 2026 Artist Award Program. And I'm really going to lean on her a lot tonight and hopefully over time become a little bit more self-sufficient in supporting the commission with this really valuable program. So for tonight's agenda, we are going to be going through the background, the artist award category descriptions, the art submission types. the application requirements, the evaluation criteria, the timeline, the next steps, and any questions that you may have. Obviously, we'll do the best we can to get answers to those this evening as well. So the purpose of the program is, or our purpose in the Parks and Recreation Department is to support the Arts and Culture Commissioner in fostering and encouraging artistic expression here in Cupertino, and really specifically in the fields of visual, verbal, and performing arts, while also preserving arts to benefit citizens of Cupertino. So every year, the commission has been presented with a similar packet since 1988. So this is not a new program to Cupertino, but it's my understanding that it used to be called something different is distinguished award or distinguished artists award program and has since been changed to what you know it as today. I know all of you have been through this program at least one year, some of you several years, and the way we're going to go through it tonight is just to remind you of some of that stuff since it is just an annual thing that's brought before the commission, remind you of all these things so that way we're on the same point at the end of this evening on a theme and moving forward with the marketing. I do want to let you know that in 2024, the Commission did review the Artist Award descriptions, application criteria, and evaluation form, so they were recently updated. In 2024 and 2025, the program has been in existence under that new format, and we are anticipating, just because of the timing and everything, to move forward in that same manner in 2026. For reference, in 2025, the commission received, I was blown away, I have to be quite honest, was received and evaluated a total of 164 submissions. And the winners are still displayed in the Cupertino Library on the first floor, as you're all familiar with. So I'm going to jump forward here into the program itself and describe the different categories to remind you of the different categories that we have. So we do have the Distinguished Artist Award, which does have a stipend that goes along with it for $1,000. And it recognized artists having substantial body of work that displays merit and excellence, as well as history of contributions to the artistic field and the community. Last year's artist did do a photograph out at McClellan Ranch. And in her acceptance, it was nice that she recognized open space, the Parks and Recreation Department, and that sort of thing. So that was very touching to us in particular in this department. Prize winners have taught classes. They participated in shows. They're definitely more distinguished than your capital artists that we have in some of the other categories. We also have in the next category the emerging artists. It too has a cash prize of $750 for the platinum winner. And it's established to encourage and recognize demonstrations of artistic promise. So it's kind of your up and coming artists. And they do recognize younger artists in rediscovering their love for art later in life as well. The last category that we have is the young artist. Obviously, there's the most participants in this category. It too has a cash prize of $150 per age group. And within the young artist category, there are two age groups. Group A is six to 10 year olds, and Group B is 11 to 14 year olds. And these are for deserving artists in recognition of their achievements in the various mediums that they can submit in. Thank you, Jess. So talking about the different submission types, we have four different primary categories. The distinguished and emergent artists can participate in visual arts such as painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. performing arts such as dance, music, and theater, literary arts as poetry and essay writing, and then, of course, digital arts, which is film and video. The young artist is only the one category of visual arts. So there were quite a few entries in that category. So if we can move on to the application requirements.

Can I ask a question there?

Yes, sir.

On the previous slide? Um, so in terms of 3d art, uh, which include mixed media, uh, could include ceramics, which is, you know, in one of these visual arts and sculpture, like a pot.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. Okay, so for the application requirements, there is different requirements for Distinguished and Emergent has similar or the same requirements, I should say, and then the Young Artist has a separate requirement. So let's go through the Distinguished and Emergent Artist online application. Does require a personal statement that addresses artistic promise, goals, and past accomplishments. A letter of endorsement and or support that includes the relationship to an artist, so possibly an instructor or fellow colleague, that sort of thing. A digital portfolio of up to three pieces. So in this case, they can submit more than one piece that best represents their body of work. And then a resume and exhibition record if they have a history of exhibiting their art. so that would be for distinguished or emerging artist applications for the young artist application it's truly just the visual art entry that is being submitted in all cases the applicants must either live in Cupertino so that would be zip code 95014 attend an educational institution in Cupertino or participate in an art school physically in Cupertino so I do want to point out that attending a Cupertino Union School District School or Fremont Union School District School does not necessarily make the child eligible or the person eligible. They do need to live in Cupertino, attend an educational institution in Cupertino, or participate in art school physically in Cupertino.

I'm sorry. I'm reading there or and or. So I thought that was sufficient condition if they were attending Cupertino Union School District. So Cupertino Union School District. In Cupertino.

In Cupertino, then yes. Oh, God. Like Cupertino High is in West San Jose.

Yeah, I understand. Okay, so that's okay. Correct. I got it. That's fine. Correct. Okay.

okay any other questions regarding the application requirements before we move forward okay fantastic so all three categories are evaluated on media creativity and originality and obviously fitting in on the theme which we'll be talking about later tonight the emerging dis and distinguished artists are also evaluated on their personal statement um and um everything else that's in part of their submission packet okay so you guys all received several attachments for tonight attachment b in your packet describes the evaluation criteria in full and as we talk about the timeline um when it comes time to evaluating the artist submissions Later this year, then we'll be talking a bit more about the evaluation criteria and refreshing those for you before we actually start to evaluate the art itself. Just to remind you of that. Okay. So, moving forward the timeline for the program tonight, the. the commission will finalize and select a program theme, which really is the catalyst for our department being able to move forward and start to create the marketing that goes along with the program and getting you all of that content to be able to start to disseminate amongst your contacts in the community We, too, also will do a mailing to all the prior participants. Email, of course, these days, but you know what I mean. But distributing information to prior participants, et cetera. But really, none of that can take place without us getting to a theme this evening. So before we can update the website or create those content materials, we really need to get to that piece. But the program will start, once we've gotten all the marketing prepared, the program will start to accept online applications beginning Tuesday, September 1st, and we'll accept them through Thursday, October 1st at 4.30 in the evening. You'll see Jessica and I back at a November meeting where we'll start to evaluate and select the award winners. And then as you're aware, the January meeting is generally where we have the celebration of the artist, the ceremony itself, and then immediately thereafter, putting the exhibit in the library for the entire community to see. So with that being said, I just want to do some final thoughts before we move on to the brainstorming process. For the 2026 selection process, as a reminder, the theme was Threads That Bind Us. To get the conversation going this evening, Jessica has been kind enough to create a spreadsheet for us that has all of the 2025 ideas that were brainstormed by the commission. What I'd like to do is to go through that briefly with the commission, refresh ourselves with some of the ideas that were brought forward. There are some amazing ideas on this list. I can only imagine how they would play out. and various pieces of artwork and see if any of those might be able to slide over for consideration this evening. We may look at that list and say, perfect, based on what's going on in the world today, based on what's going on in Cupertino, based on how you all feel as a group as art looks in 2026. We may hit the nail on the head with something that's already on the list. If not, we can go ahead and move forward with some additional brainstorming tonight, but I do think it's worth consideration to take a look back at this list and to get our juices flowing. Is everybody good with that? Okay.

A question?

Yes. Before we go, it's on the criteria for a block, right? So this is maybe just a reminder for me and then for others if they're wanting to know. Previous winners may apply. Is that correct? Correct. Yes, they may. Okay.

But not pieces they submitted.

That is correct. They have to submit new pieces, but they may apply.

I would think too that pieces, I mean last year's theme was threads that bind. This year's theme is likely going to be something that may not fit with that. So even if they were to resubmit something, it might not be as competitive as it likely will not match wherever it's processed. That's fine. That was a good question. Thank you.

And then another question. Do we have a location booked for the art award and exhibition?

So right now it is booked for, I have the date here, Jess, for your general meeting in January. So you guys generally meet the last Monday of the month, correct? Thank you very much. So right now we have it booked for the 25th. A year meeting generally takes place at 6.30. We have the artist award tentatively for 5 to 6, allowing you from 6 to 6.30 to make your way over here and then to start your meeting. That is tentative, but I would block it out on your calendar as we move forward.

And then that would be at?

That's what we have booked right now, yes.

Yeah, I think we've tried two different locations, at least when we've been on the committee. And I think community hall worked the best. I mean, it was a little bit more intimate. It was more grand for photos and for award recipients. So thank you.

Absolutely. You can thank Jess. As a participant last year, I definitely felt like it was special, right? Special for the people that were in attendance and very thoughtfully done. So looking forward, all of that work obviously took place from somebody else sitting at this table, but look forward to participating in addition.

And then one thing to note, I want to go back to question about previous artwork that's already been submitted. So in the description, we have that submitting pieces from a previous artist award submission is highly discouraged. We don't say that it's not allowed. However, you as the evaluators are able to, if you see a piece that's already been submitted, you know, you can factor that into your story.

Submitted is allowed, but discouraged.

It's highly discouraged.

Please. I just want to make sure that Mr. Chen's attendance card has it.

Yes. Okay.

Okay, so before we move forward on the actual brainstorming of this year's theme, are there any other questions about the staff presentation or anything about the process for the 2026 Artist's Award Program?

I have one question. So the media and the section that you said that the media type of art, does it also include digital art? Yes, it does. I think it was five. Yeah, that one. One more ahead, please. So those are all the submission types. One more? I saw one. Yeah, media slash tools evaluation. So in that case, any submission that's done from any digital art tool, like Photoshop, or if I design something from Canva, will that be considered a digital art format? And in which category will that be considered?

So if you can go back to these are the evaluation criteria, right? So for instance, for the young adult, you're just going to be looking at the actual piece of art, right? For the distinguished and the emerging artists, you're going to be looking at their application, their resume, all of that stuff. So that slide that Jessica just moved away from is really more the evaluation criteria, not necessarily... anything else. Here is the different categories. So visual arts, performing, literary, and digital arts. And obviously everything's being submitted online. So if it is something, going back to your comment earlier, right, it is going to be a digital form of, let's just say, a sculpture, right? Going back to that example earlier.

May I add something? I think I understand, and I thank you for bringing that up. Maybe if that is your question, what I'm thinking, if that's the same, is is it created through computer and software tools and technology? And I'm glad you mentioned because I was thinking about it this morning. And we've experienced that in the recent years, and it could be becoming more and more with the AI tools. I can become an artist. So this is something maybe my proposal would be that we discuss as commissioners. Do we want the artists to let us know that? Just to give you an example, now when we are using altered photography in our business, we need to write the digitally altered or whatever footage out of lighting, whatever, but it's artificially or with software tools.

Actually, I was thinking one step ahead. Ms. Caroline, Ms. Jessica, if it's possible, can we have a separate category for the digital art? Because that might not be as, I mean, it might not be at the same par with other form of arts. That's what I was, if it is allowed, then instead of mixing it with other forms, can we have a separate category altogether for digital art forms? That I would like to suggest.

So we don't accept any AI-generated art.

Not for AI, but even when I use the tools, like I'm a designer. I don't use AI. I design myself. I use different tools. That's not AI, but myself on digital media, though. So in that case, that might be unfair for people who are designing on canvas paper or other forms of art. So is it possible that we have a section which is actually digital, only digital, not the video, but the art form of digital kinds? Is that feasible?

May I? Sure. Why create a separate category only for digital? When you create, I mean, these things are not categorized. I see. Anybody can submit in any form. It could be a performing art, could be digital art, could be physical art, could be a painting, could be 2D, 3D. They are not like In digital art, who wants something? So it's all one bucket.

Visual arts.

We will be comparing a 3D piece of art with a painting. I see. Right? That's a challenge, but that's how it is.

Yeah, as you mentioned, it's a challenge. It's also a little unfair for people who are actually designing.

But it's unfair to everyone equally. Right? So if we create, again, in my opinion, if we create categories it could be a very long list.

Got it.

Right? Sure.

I understand. Interesting.

Okay, but you did clarify something interesting.

Yeah, the AI piece.

So AI-generated art is not accepted.

Correct. Correct.

Well, number one in class, but that is flagged here.

That is a... Make a mistake.

Yeah, that is, if I remember correctly, we had this discussion last year and I intentionally added that line. Okay, good. Okay.

I think that's part of that. Yeah. And I also totally recognize what you're saying and that what commissioners said, they have something to think about, but we don't have any categories. So we are not telling them. submit to an entry in performing arts either. So that's the point.

So for distinguished category, there is a one winner that is getting the $1,000 or the $750, right? Regardless of what category. So we can be running neck and neck. you know, competing as the group is trying to decide first place over second place, and yours could be visual and mine could be performing, right? Two very different types of art, but because there's just one winner, not categories of winners, we're competing against each

So, question. Layer generation versus tool media generation, how do you differentiate? I can design two which are exactly the same replicas. How do you differentiate? How do we differentiate?

I think you have to depend on the integrity of the submitter. Because we don't have the tools to do the forensics.

Okay, okay.

Right?

Understood, yeah.

It will be a challenge. It will be a challenge. We could have a discussion.

Even from last year to this year, I mean, the capabilities have expanded. Yes.

So this year, AI is adopted like anything. If I can suggest, I mean, you're talking about the integrity of this submission. We do have the capability with the submission to be able to ask folks, is this AI-generated, or please confirm that it is not AI-generated, et cetera. It would be one more thing that you could check whatever box you choose to check, but it would be a check and balance of sorts to incorporate, and it's not too late to do that if you would like for us to consider that for this year.

Yeah, if you have a protocol of not allowing that, so it would be better to ask them because they might not know. It might be in an IVD that they submit something. So yeah, it'll be better to ask if you're not allowing anything like that.

Yeah, if I understand correctly, basically you're saying in the form where applicants are, I mean, we already have a whole questionnaire, right? What is your name? What is your class? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So you're suggesting just adding one more line that says, I confirm that... I did not use AI-generated art in my submission. Is that your point? Correct.

I think that's a great idea. It prevents people making mistakes and getting into uncomfortable situations.

I know, at least in some college admissions, they do the exact same thing, because the reality is it's impossible for the entity to vet literally everything, but relying on some sort of the word of the applicant to confirm.

Do we need a motion on that, or this is good enough?

This is fine. It sounds like everybody's feeling the same way, and it's something easy to incorporate. At this point, it would be a little bit harder later in the game, but at this point, it would be pretty simple to incorporate. Can we move forward with the selecting of the theme?

Before we go to the discussion, do you want to do public comment?

Sure. I'd like to open it for public comment. Do we have any speakers?

We have no speakers, Chair.

Okay. Closing public comment. Moving on to discussion among the commissioners. We're still on agenda item number two. Okay.

okay so um there's there's not many but there's a lot at the same time so i'd like to just go through the 25 things that were brought forward from this group um just read through them real quick um better world and diversity beyond the borders bridge of friendship bridge of hearts bridging between cultures building a bridge between cities cupertino through time Details of daily life. I am unique. I feel this. Imagine a better world. Kaleidoscope, colors that make us. One voice, many stories. Our world is a rainbow. Past, present, and future. Rainbow of Friendship, Threads That Bind Us, I'll remind you that's the one that was chosen for last year, but there were some twists to that.

Threads That Bind Us, Diversity, Threads That Bind Us, Unity and Diversity.

Then just Unity and Diversity, Unity and Diversity That Bind Us, Unity in the City, and We Are Family. So after that list, I mean, There's some pretty good ones on there. I don't know if there's any that stood out to you that you might want to have Jessica pull over to the 2026 list to start our brainstorming for this year and to see if anything from that 2025 list may carry over for consideration.

I guess procedurally, why don't we just go around in a circle, and if there's one that you'd like to pull over, feel free to nominate it. Maybe, can we start here?

Okay. So, in terms of process, can we pick, can we propose one, two, or three?

You can propose as many that you think we should consider in discussion. Got it.

I'd like to bring forward from the previous list two of them. One is imagine a better world. Second one is we are family. And I'd like to propose the new one. Can we do new ones later? Sure.

Commissioner Vara, I need... Take your time.

And, yes, if there's none that you want to pull over, that's fine. Just to scroll down so you can see the bottom.

Okay.

I also like, sorry, may I not? Yes, please. Unity in the City. But I can also be your fan. Yeah, I've already seen that. Do you want to put a tally strip next to that one? I'm okay with one.

We are family.

Last year?

No, last year was, right, is that fine?

The last few were pretty close.

And then I'd like to nominate, pulling over, Cupertino through time.

on that too, yeah. Yeah, that's the last one. Yeah, I selected this one too. I am unique. Yes.

Okay.

Yeah, that was last time I had these three and I still feel very strongly for these three. I feel that this was my suggestion for the emotional health of people because we all have so many social subjects, but we don't talk about mind, which is kind of very important at this time. I feel this. It's emotional for especially youth. We have so many cases where a youth was rejected and we have suicide cases as well. So if you can touch upon this emotional face of a set of Youth, children, seniors, people like that. I feel this. That was the emotional side. Next, I suggested last year was I'm unique. Like every person be the, I mean, children have a lot of competition. People have competition, but no matter where I stand in the competition, no matter where I'm in the race, I still have something special. So that's my suggestion. And the third that I still feel is kaleidoscope, the colors of life, colors of time. So these three, I would like to suggest again.

Okay. Perfect. Thanks, everyone.

May I clarify something? What I heard you say was kaleidoscope colors through time, which is slightly different than this. Do you want us to change it to say colors through time or colors that make us?

That was mine. What I had was colors that make us as a society. Okay.

I just want to clarify. All right. Next, I'd like to propose that we go around the circle again and then share our new ones. Let's try to limit the discussion now. Once we have everything on the board, then we can discuss. I'll go first. I have one only.

I'm happy, please.

I was trying to see what are the initiatives in the city.

And I have come across a current mayor, Kitty Moore. She's talked about wellness in our community. She also has a lot of programs of counting steps and so on, some fun ones, and then yoga in the park. But wellness is one of the higher priorities. So I wanted to talk about, I had something of that in mind. The title would be healthy communities, creative arts. I have lots of them. Even together, we try. It doesn't have wellness or wellness in every color. But if you leave healthy communities and come back to it to see what title we have to give, I have lots of ideas. But it's in that theme of both physical and mental wellness in our community and supporting that.

But maybe just if we can do just parentheses of wellness, that's like the bucket.

Yeah. Yeah, wellness.

All right.

And then I'd like to add a day in Cupertino. And then also bridging generations, building community.

I still want Cupertino sometime, no other choice. I see their face. That's a good choice.

Okay. For me, I would like to take the topic issue, which is very current, and that is the social media now impacting all of us. So it's something if we can make away from media, actually living in life, the present moment, like something like Look at the sea, not the screen. Something like, you know, which makes you think about real life as compared to always looking at the phone, always looking at the computer. Something which makes us live happily the current moment, not the screen, but the sea kind of thing. So something like that. Okay. The sea, not the screen. Yes. Look at the sea, like enjoy the moment, not the screen all the time. We can change the words, but that's the problem.

So that was the easy part.

Now let's discuss. Okay, yeah, no particular order. Feel free to speak up. I'd love to hear your thoughts, what you're thinking about, what you'd like to see from a theme this year.

The thing that's changed for me since last year is the additional element that has come in besides the divisiveness and so on, it's AI anxiety. it's become a problem area, especially in Cupertino, especially with computer science jobs being up in question, where every kid in Cupertino thought they'd gone into computer science. I'm exaggerating. So I always would want positive wellness, happiness, those teams to counter the pressure on kids and the anxiety there. And I'm thinking kids, but let's go figure it out. Anyway, that's my comment. I still don't know which one I like because all of them are so good.

Yeah, that looks good. My comment, I would say, because we've done this a few years, right?

The chair and I, of course, all of you also through your roles and interests.

Some of the topics that have always come across and are very strong is the diversity, the unity, the community, going across whatever those are, like cultures, generations, borders, something different. Of course, art is the center. How does art heal us, for example? How does it give us... a different perspective. I really think it is all of us. I really think so. The music, the dance, looking at the picture. Absolutely. So that kind of like, how do we use art as wellness? A little bit also comes back to what I was just saying about this AI anxiety. A little bit also what you say. But for me, it was You've done all the others. Can we do community and wellness? Also a lot of mental health. But we don't have to say that. Let's just say wellness. But I said maybe that's, and I've come across also mayors. So that kind of spoke to me. So I was thinking if that's something we can bring some of the elements. I mean, some of the things are there in different topics. And they all speak to me, all of them.

Just for art, just for scaling to try and capture what you were saying, if there's something different that you'd like for us to capture.

Yeah, so I did find my title. It was below the end of the document. I have written together. We try out of healthy. It's about thriving together. Art and a lot of artists also together like music and more than one musician, a theater, a movie, a dance, even a photography is more than one because you have a subject. So it is a community. Art is in community. Art fits very well in the community.

Yeah, I think for me personally, I guess two thoughts. One thought is I like a theme that ties directly to Cupertino. Like I think that it's always challenging to strike the right balance, but in my mind, I want to make sure that it's something that's specific enough, but also not really prescriptive. Like, for example, I think the ideal theme in my mind is something that definitely has some level of specificity. That's very vague. But yes, that's my personal preference because I think it challenges the artist to maybe create something different from what they would normally create. If the theme is too broad, I think it's easy for them to just submit what they normally already make and just say, oh, it ties to the theme because X, Y, Z, right? So that's why I err towards the side of like, medium level of specificity. I think like last year was a good example of that. The second point, I really liked everything that you said about wellness. I mean, especially because this is an area that the mayor cares about. I think it would be fantastic for us to tie our theme to that as well.

Well, okay. Talking about why we chose the pubertina so tight. And that pubertina developed so fast. We have so many things going to change from culture, history, to beauty. So I'd like to see through the artist's eyes, show the city before, now, and the future. You know, Cupertino is such a blind city. If you want to choose one to represent the Cupertino landmark, it's very difficult. The people always pick maybe Apple or something else, right? So I like to see our history. That's why I like the topic here. Something different. And also realistic.

Yeah, that's a great idea. And also I love the idea of wellness, healthy life. But I would like to point something which is an issue. And how our artists suggest, dream, and my stage of solving it. So health can be one. City is one. But that's all we can photograph. We can picture. How do you put your ideas, your dreams into art? And that can be a novel thing. It's not always what they have not done before. They have to think new. They have to vision something. In that case, I recommend health or something which is like like a social media issue or health. Health is a very common thing. Healthy, wellness, by all means. That is really appreciated. How can they imagine of staying away from all the issues, the depression, the emotional health, the screen time, and bring themselves to the future? Something that can have a futuristic goal. Not just what is, but what should be or what would be. Looking ahead. That kind of futuristic, we can bring some vision into it. Not just what exists, but what you think would be in coming times. That I would love to see.

Okay.

I think now that we've all shared our perspectives, I think I'd like to focus us back on kind of the worst aspect. So yeah, I guess, are there any on the board already that you feel strongly for? I know we've mentioned several themes, including like wellness, Cupertino through time, is there any wordsmithing that you would recommend to better capture your thoughts into a theme? I think, yeah, once we feel comfortable with how it's worded, then I think we would want to move for actual voting. I guess, speak now.

I'm struggling with one, which I didn't think of earlier, but I want to put that on the table. Let's not write anything yet. There's a dream I've been saving for a day like today. It's too long, you know? Somehow. I mean, I feel like we can put it down. Okay, let's put it down. Let's noodle on it then. So there's a dream I've been saving for a day like today. Happens to be a 1960s Lee Hazelwood song. Okay, apologies for deviating.

I have like two slightly different angles for my number 15. I would just recommend either just putting behind 50. I don't know whether you want to put new, doesn't matter to you. Okay. So one was a Nature Nurtures. It is about, obviously as the name says. And the other one was, I had the word thrive somewhere.

I had the word together we thrive in front of that.

The number 15? Yeah, I had together we thrive. And then it continues. I did want to put thrive and together.

Dash?

It had a colon. Dash is fine. We could work with that.

Is it all nature nurtures or nature nurtures?

Nature nurtures. Again, we could work with it. Oh yeah, I had nature nurtures. Only added them. Rather than reduce them.

I like to modify number 10 that I had proposed because my happy place, my happy place in Cupertino.

Um, three puzzles spins on the bonus. One is a moment of peace. Two is taking care of me. And then three is shoot. Um, Remembering in puberty.

Yes. Memory.

Sorry, I'm distracting you now. Wellness in Cupertino. Okay.

How many of them? 20? And it's expanding.

Well, I mean, Commissioner Chen, Commissioner Ponda, any words that you'd like to bring up before we go into voting?

There's too many.

I'm just making it one.

Make it simple, just one.

Okay.

Yeah, I believe good personal is default. It's understood like the theme applies to a city. So something like what I would suggest, peace, health, wellness. I don't have exactly the order or the style, but if you can incorporate these three things, peace, health, wellness. I was thinking of making it more rhythmic. Let me think more. But I want to say something which very empathetically does health and wellness by all means. Like it's not just health, mind, spiritual, society, financial, social, everything inclusive. How do we make it holistic?

Wellness by all means. Yeah, sometimes it has to be easily understood for everyone. Sometimes it's true. of the case, especially for the young countries.

But when you have a general topic, it gets more school. If you define it very word-wise, then you're limiting. In some ways, let's think a little bit more.

In the interest of time, I'd like to propose why don't we all pick maybe our two favorite things, like the specific lines, and then we can go around in a circle and nominate them, and then that can help us down select. And I think once we down select the first round, then we can do a final voting round if it's still not clear. So, yeah, maybe let's give everyone a couple of minutes to decide which two they want to vote for. Yeah, can you, just for ease of viewing, can you maybe copy the bottom half and post it in, like, column C? Yeah.

Because I was watching.

Some topics are very similar, yes.

Okay, maybe show fans who's ready to, who's picked their two.

Can I ask what this is? One more topic, just one simple word. Healthy me. Just like, if you can, a healthy me. Healthy me.

You said two or three? Let's try to do two. You said it in a suggestive way.

Yes, yes.

So if I can make a suggestion, what Jess and I think might help with picking your two is like naming, you know, number seven and number nine, for instance, right? And then we will delete column C for the time being, and then we will tally stroke, and then that way we can see. And, you know, hopefully from there, just continue to get a little bit narrower scope. Does that work for everybody? Sure. Okay, test. So if you want to, I want to see if you're attending.

Are you guys ready? Who still needs time to select your two?

No, I can't. I guess nobody needs to.

Okay, cool. Let's go ahead then.

So it must be in a slightly different spot just because I've seen it in one list versus two.

Let's go reverse order this time. It's going to be Nipanda.

For me?

Okay. Can you just zoom? Yeah, yeah. I didn't get my glasses. We need an alarm for the environment. We need a warning. Can you just go down?

There are a couple of nice trucks in the end. Okay.

I'll have to name a moment of peace. That's number one. And just a suggestion, the number 51, if I can make it a little shorter, art of healthy communities. Together is understood. I feel the little word art of healthy communities is very, very impressive. Art of healthy community. So the we together, we thrive. No, no, I don't believe that. I don't know who suggested, but for me, just a suggestion. If you want to choose that, Together we have, if we can remove it out of healthy communities, that will be better. May I say this?

Because I... I see, I see. For now, let's just give the vote. We can still do the vote.

Sure, sure, sure. It's just not cast in stone.

Sure.

So, yeah, a moment of peace.

And then 15. And 15, yes, 15, yes. Okay, Commissioner Chan.

Number six, number 10. And then I forgot the numbers, but I'd like to vote a moment of peace. And then also, oh my gosh, what did I, I can't read my own handwriting.

Oh, a day in Cupertino, 12.

For me, it's the 15. And number 19, taking care of me.

Number 10 and number 18.

A moment of peace here. That is a good one. Okay.

So why don't we filter and just remove anything that didn't get any votes, and then maybe we can do one more round. I mean, it already sounds like Number eight has the most. 18, number 18.

You changed?

No, no, in fact, the pretty cheap number. Okay, yes.

Yeah, we're going to. Oh, change. I see now. I see. I was thinking 18.

Just works fast. Okay, but I guess just to not bias us, can we just, can we do one more column of voting now that we've done selected?

Sort of.

And this time, let's select one. Let's do one. Okay.

Let's give everyone a minute to select your one. Okay. Does anyone need more time? Okay. Why don't we vote?

Number eight.

Number six.

Number eight.

I'll go with seven. Although I do like some of the others. Especially all the wellness ones for me are all very similar. Very similar. They're very similar.

Number eight. I have to say. Peaceful, easy feeling by the Eagles can be the theme song for this.

I mean, I think all of these are fantastic things. I think it's a great one. Great job. Great job to the organization brainstorming. Technically, we already do have a majority for one of them. It does seem like the group is leaning towards number eight. I guess, do we feel comfortable, I guess, having that as our official theme for the year.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. My only comment is, I mean, as I said, for me, all of them were very similar, the happiness, the sense together, the moment of peace. Do we want to describe it anything more, any other word, or we are happy with it?

I don't know that. I just want to make sure.

Yeah, just wanted to connect the way we are all thinking about wellness rather than peace in the world or something.

Also, we have the new ones also. So we'll also have to go to the new ones. This is a part one of it, right? There's another new one section also. We have to select from that also. I thought we have a part two of selection. Why did you remove the new words? Sorry, I might have missed that one. There was another section, right?

No. This is what we selected from all the 20. Oh, really? This is what we were trying to do. Did you miss something?

I do want to see your point, though. A moment of peace could totally be interpreted as spiritual peace, right? Instead of wellness peace. Correct.

That's the reason why I was a little bit hesitating to move to it.

It sounds so good, but the message is lost.

Yes, correct. Or it could be interpreted in different ways.

Many different ways. On the positive, you can interpret it in any way, but if people have been watching CNN too much, then it's like, well, it might get a lot of... Maybe we can add something to make it more comprehensive.

That's my little bit of thought.

Something there, whatever. That's one of the suggestions. That was my concern.

Anybody want to fight a clock?

Something like healthy body, peaceful soul. Or health and body, peace and soul. Something like, you know, when you're healthy, you become peaceful.

Don't look up from 60s themes here. Love, peace, and more.

And may I just say, that's why taking care of me was very clear to me. That's why I had voted for the initial one. And it was coming to the whole wellness, either me or helping myself in the community. Yeah.

Well, it has to be authentic. We will take inputs. Well, okay. So, I mean, what option could literally be wellness colon? Yes.

The scale or nurture can be shown that in some.

Sorry, what was that?

No, I just said some words. Is care. Then you put it in something to do with. didn't care of me in that stage.

Here's one, a moment of peace and renewal. Sounds a little too formal, but yeah. A moment to breathe.

Or a moment to be. That's a moment to be more. That's a moment more to act, right? Yes, yeah.

Can I make a proposal? Yes, sure. Can we take a vote on taking care of me? It's called...

I thought we were thinking about the same thing.

This is one that resonates, the healing pause.

Anyway, some of these are almost cheesy, but a healing pause. Is there a peace? Could be. There's also a moment of calm. Peace, calm. I'm telling you, we need to hate Asbury and talk to people there.

But in my mind, these are all sub-lines from that one. From my 8, I don't actually do that. That's like, it is.

Oh, yeah. Definitely.

So, what I hear you saying is wellness and my call in. A moment of and then you have 3 different options right now.

No, sorry. What I meant was. I view 8, 10, 11, 12 as all basically the same thing, just like different ways of working the same thing.

Something, some part is missing. Everything is like almost perfect, but nothing is like complete. It seems like that.

Oh, can I copy something? So it's a moment of peace where wellness grows. That's called where wellness grows.

Didn't you try it?

Grows, right?

Grows, right. Sorry. There's a dash or something after peace. Dash or goal. In number 30. It is like putting the wellness board back in the title. That's something that sounds nice.

Okay. Sorry.

We kind of messed up our flow, but let's just go with it.

I think purely from voting, I think we were ready for a moment of peace, but I think Commissioner Varma did bring up a very, very good point. that it could have easily been interpreted in like a totally different direction from what we as a commission had intended. So even though this process hasn't been as smooth, I do think it's a valid discussion. That being said, can we go through with this list again and again, vote for one each?

Okay, yeah. May I ask that do we need the number nine and below or are these nine, 10, 11, 12? I would propose we don't need them. They're too close. I mean, we just threw them out.

I am okay removing. I mean, they are a little bit different, but I'm personally okay removing it. What do the others think?

We'll keep them separate.

Keep number 13.

Yeah, but 13 I would like to keep all this. Okay, here. Yeah.

The 9 through 12, maybe let's just hide that.

Yeah, those are the repetitives.

Okay, sorry.

Where's the list? Okay.

One last time. One for each, please.

One each, right?

Yes, one each, please. Can we start again with you, Commissioner Padma?

Can I say one? If it doesn't worsen, that's fine. I vote peace and health. Peacefully healthy. Peacefully healthy. Last one. Peaceful healthy. Or healthy. Peaceful healthy. Okay. Fine. Peacefully healthy. Healthy.

Yes. Okay. Okay, and that's your vote?

Yes.

All right, Commissioner Chen.

Still number six. Simple, straightforward.

Number eight for me.

I also vote eight.

I'm going to throw a wrench in this.

Seven.

Oh, I'm doing good. Six now. Which one is that? Oh, nice. Yeah. Okay. There's a reason. Wellness is a moment of peace. It's a little bit of wellness is this, and then a moment is a peace. Right? So, wellness is more holistic. Maybe a little bit of wordsmithing there. Or we are struggling, I suppose. Because it's in the top two, right? So, Let's see if we can do a little wordsmithing and then think between these two. Yeah, can we try the ones that didn't get any votes? Yeah. It seems like we have three.

We're struggling with the wordsmithing, I guess.

Sure.

We can, yeah, fine-tune the words.

Fine-tune some wording and see whether we can. Right.

And we had number eight until we didn't.

Yeah. We did. Which one is the first?

Now it's changing.

Now it's changing.

Now it's changing.

And then we try to change it.

Jessica, you're doing a great job.

Thank you, Jessica, so much. I know. You did a great job. You girls are very patient. You are, like, you are confused.

You can find them in the notes.

Yes.

I imagine this is how a teacher feels in, like, elementary school.

I know.

Turning cats. Okay.

I think wellness. The last one you can remove because I think it's not like, well, yeah, peacefully healthy. If it's only nine, let's, let's do it. All right. Perfect.

So, I don't want to give any negative, but the happy place in Coupignon kind of caught me thinking they might just draw a place. Is that what we look for?

That concerns me too.

A playground?

You could argue. That is... that's okay yeah like that is reflective of what they view as like okay yeah okay but yes i mean the submissions probably wouldn't be as diverse right or it could be something like that

So we have two votes for two different items and you volunteered to take yours out.

So if you were voting, you're kind of all tired. I just got all the right. Time break.

Well, that's so enchanting. Like what that says.

But if given, like what we were discussing in wellness, I'll go with wellness then. Wellness, a moment of peace. That's the end.

Okay. I think we have a decision.

I think we have a decision.

Again.

But I request a little bit of change, if we can do a little bit of some edits. Let's focus on that one. Yes, that one, yes. If we can edit a little bit, because there's something like slight flavor missing. If we can select it, but we can make a little bit of update somewhere, that would be perfect.

Okay. Any suggested edits? Okay, I'm just writing that in my notebook.

Yeah, I guess, for the record, I am talking with the work as is.

But please, if you have a post, slight edit,

Let's think. I mean, I'm not objecting, but I think if we can make it a little better somehow. Let's think.

Let's think.

I tried to erase the full discussion and just read that now. And it looks pretty good. It does convey what we were thinking.

Right, right. I agree. The message is conveyed very well. I was trying to be more perfect. Sure. Sure. But I was just connecting, how is moment of peace with wellness? It has to make sense. Wellness, peace, joy, a little bit of sense together. How is wellness a moment of peace? That's what I was thinking.

It's wellness through a moment of peace. The idea of that time.

Yes.

There are a few suggestions that I'm reading here. Wellness, finding peace in the moment. No, that does not align with the theme.

I think that's good then. I think we should. No, no, through is a little extra. She was just explaining it. I support it. Can we get a motion? Yes. I make the motion. I second it. We'll state the motion.

I have a motion for the Harvest Awards program team for 2026 as wellness colon a moment of peace.

I happen to second it.

The motion, I mean. Yes, yes.

All right.

Oh, sorry. Commissioner Chen? Uh-huh. Commissioner O'Rourke?

Aye.

Commissioner Panda? Yes, ma'am. Vice Chair Lamba?

Yes.

Chair Wang?

Yes.

Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you for your hard work. I love that it fits in with the mayor's initiatives, and it's a little true and due. We really tried to stay quiet over here, but it is true to really the initiatives that Parks and Recreation Department does every year in wellness and quality of life. So it's a little extra special for us this year. So thank you. Great job, Tim.

Great job, Jessica. Thank you. Thank you for patience. All of us really just facilitating. So wonderful.

Yes, I think we're done with this. And then so the next time that we'll see you both will be at our, um, is it the October meeting?

Uh, August September.

Okay. So you will not be coming back for September. But the submissions will be, the application will be open then, and then you'll come back in November for us to select the winner.

Correct. So you're ready to close the slide, right? So just to clarify, the Artist Awards will open on Tuesday, September 1st. and they'll close on October 1st at 4 30. staff will then organize and compile everything so that way it gets to a point where it's you know manageable for you to go ahead and start to evaluate and select your recommended winners we will be back at your November meeting to facilitate a similar discussion based on the number of entries that are received and then as you know we're planning for a January ceremony, and that gives us time over that period to reach out to all of the winners, you know, to coordinate all the logistics that go with that and to get everybody there in January after the holidays.

And you have a question? Oh, please. On this topic, please, before we move on. So in terms of next steps and operations, so I saw the draft of the flyer. That's excellent. When can we have the flyer with the edits made there?

So our coordinator that does all of our marketing and stuff is off this week, so it will not be this week. But he knows that this is coming, that it's going to be one of his first orders of business when he returns to work. So I'm hopeful by the end of that first week, full week of August, that we will have something that is ready to start to go to print and stuff. We can start to make edits to the website. and get that prepared, but for the flyer and stuff will need to be done by our graphic artists. So we can let you know when everything's available and send you a copy as well. But as you know, we'll have the flyers at all of our public facilities. And if you need a handful or whatever, just let us know. And when they're ready, we can print you a few and you can swing by and pick them up, et cetera. So I'm thinking a couple of weeks out at most.

Please send us an email when the website is updated and when the physical materials are ready. Once we get the materials, please publicize the event to your networks. We want to make sure as many different groups and artists are represented as possible.

Chair Wang, we have a list of all studios in Cupertino and organizations. So, you know, I'm going to personally walk a couple of places through this, especially ceramic studios, because they are not represented at all in submissions. So one is Wilson Park. I've already talked with Lisa Molero, who does the teaching out there. And also there's a private commercial studio here, a ceramic studio. But is there a way we can send emails to each other together? That's why it's the Brown Act. But is there a way we can share that list of studios with this commission so that each person can go target them, our commissioners? Any thoughts on that?

Yes.

Wait, has the list not been shared with the whole commission? I guess we've shared it on screen, but it hasn't been sent. So after this, why don't we send the list over to John and Shelby, and then you can help disseminate without us getting in trouble, right?

But if we disseminate the list of organizations and then all of us can

by some means if you can allocate each other that you don't you know do this duplicate of sending and connecting so we can share and it's like division of labor as well yeah i mean i think coordination gets a little answering with brown but why don't we just say um john and shelby will help disseminate the list i mean it can even just be an email and even if it's duplicate yeah and then maybe go ahead if there's a couple that you want to just reach out to them and maybe send john and shelby a note And then, yeah, I mean, you can decide if it seems like literally everyone's reaching out to the same people, maybe just let us know.

Yeah. And one more, which is schools. Yes. Okay, are teachers in schools?

Do you have a list of that? No, we don't have that.

Okay, so if anybody has direct communication with any Cupertino-based schools, schools, right? We can't go to Cupertino High, for example. I think that would be good.

Okay. Please leverage your networks.

Just remember, the zip code has to be 95014. Got it. Thank you, everybody, for being patient with us.

Thank you, Jessica.

We will try to get John an update of numbers for your September meeting. And I'll give you an update as the program comes to a close. We'll let you all know.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Oh, we're not done. But yes, we have a couple quick items for the rest of us to go through. First is staff reports. Shelby, staff reports.

So for those of you who haven't met me, I'm Shelby Maples. I'm another planner. I'm just subbing in for John this week. Uh, he's very fortunately in Italy right now. Um, I do not have anything to report, um, but I will work with John to get you guys that list. Um, and yeah, I was not provided with anything to share as far as updates for reports.

Okay. Um, in terms of commissioner reports, um, Quick update from my side. So, we've had two mayor meetings since our last Arts and Culture Commission meeting. So, we had a mayor's meeting on May 20th, which was two days after our May Commission meeting, and then we had another one July 15th. On the May 20th meeting, As a reminder, this is a meeting that's attended by the chairs of each commission. If the chair is not available, then the vice chair can attend in their stead. And the purpose of this is for the commissions to give an update to the mayor on what's the latest on commission business, and also for the mayor to give an update to the commissioners on what are some hot topics within the city. So the updates that I shared were one, the arts assets and inventory initiative that we conducted, that was done and sent over to staff. um the second is i shared that we had two public art pieces approved um blossom as well as uh arabesque bebring and then the third is that we had discussed a student-led utility box project so that was the main meeting um and then for the july meeting We spent the entire duration of focus around selecting the winners for the best award so we didn't get into updates Those winners are finalized. I think they should have been notified And then the award ceremony which we are all invited to Is going to be on October 28th if you remember from last year and the year prior this will simultaneously be a crest and awards and also commissioner recognition dinner. So please attend. It's a great opportunity for us to get together and spend time with all of the other commissioners as well. Awesome. Any other? Nope. That's it from my side.

So we had three meetings for consecutive months, September, October, November. We have September and November, our meetings, and October, the CREST meeting. Correct.

I mean, it's not a meeting, but yes, we will see each other in October.

And no field trips, no more?

No, not currently planned. May I ask?

Please.

For the CREST award, do they already have a venue?

Usually it's in the city hall, right? Oh, no. Okay, sorry.

Last time it was in the hotel.

Two years ago it was at the hotel on Main Street. Last year it was in that room. I don't know. But staff will let us know. Just block off that for now.

Thanks for meeting, Bill.

That's correct.

I just remembered that.

Very cool.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

I came before time today. I changed. I was so happy.

Do we have any other commissioner reports?

Real quick one, please. So I presented to the India Community Center seniors in Cupertino. There's a group that meets here in the church right outside Whole Foods. They have a group called FOSWL, friends of similar wavelength. Okay, go for it. And they get a speaker once a month. So somebody asked me to present, and my topic was from bots to pots, from robots to pottery, the journey of a left-brain Silicon Valley techie to the wonderful world of art. Well, the relevant part of what I was going to say is, so I talked about ceramics part three and left brain, right brain and empathy and all that art is important. But I put in a couple of slides on outdoor art and Cupertino. Okay. And I'm serious. People see these all the time. but they don't realize. I show pictures and I ask them, okay, who recognizes this one? Oh yeah, that's at Stevens Creek intersection. And some of the outdoor art is beautiful, right? So FII, there were 60 people in the group and we talked about outdoor art. And also I think John is updating the map, the Cuclino map. with all the inventory that David and I put together. And hopefully that's out soon.

Yeah, the latest that I've heard from John, well, I mean, he already has a draft website prepared for publishing the art assets onto like the crescendo.gov, I believe. I checked last night, I don't think it was published yet. Do you know when that would be published?

He and I haven't discussed it since we talked to you, but I imagine he'll be able to get to it when he returns.

Yeah, let us know if there's anything gating that. I think we would like that as an installment. Absolutely. David, any idea on that bike date? Oh, yes. Is he going to incorporate this? That's the other announcement that I wanted to share. Oh, good. I'm glad I asked. Thanks, I forgot. Yeah.

Josh, just to fill in while you're looking, there's a bike day in Cupertino organized by Mayor Moore. And there was some shock conversation I had with her at some event on... but we can incorporate some of the outdoor art into the bike day where when folks are biking, they can actually go visit some of the outdoor art locations. Okay. Sorry. Yes.

Thank you. Thank you. So this will be before our next meeting. So thanks for the reminder. The event is on. Gosh, sorry, my internet. Sometime in September, right? I'm not in. Well, it's September 28th. Do you remember when our next commission meeting is?

September last Sunday.

Okay, 28th. Okay, yes, yes, yes. So basically the Saturday before our next commission meeting is Cooper Channel Fall Bike Fest. September 26th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Yeah, so I mean, please attend if you're able to. I think, according to the website, the event will feature bike rides, on-bike and off-bike games, arts and crafts, food and beverages for sale, and much more. You can find more on the city website. We have been in conversation with the mayor about incorporating an art tour, like a pamphlet as part of this. Because, I mean, if people are going to be biking around the city anyways, might as well give them a couple of destinations to enjoy while they're there. I think the action was on us to put together, like, a mock-up of what that could look like. So I think there was pushback from staff of, like, hey, like... So, sorry. I think... One interpretation of how this could be executed is that it would be done through like the art tour app. So I think that's how it was executed several years ago, where basically a QR code was given. at Bike Fest, and then it leads people to download the Art Tour app, and then people can just use their phone to like, okay, figure out where to go. But I think the only limitation is I'm not sure that the Art Tour app will do it. We can guarantee that the Art Tour app will be updated in time. Do you think it can be a little bit more scattered, that approach, because you're not literally telling them where to go. It's just like, hey, here's everything. So I think a recommendation, at least my recommendation, is if we want to make this happen, why don't we put together a mock-up? I mean, it can be like a simple one-pager. I mean, yeah, Mountain View has done this, right? Just, hey, like, these are five art pieces along a single corridor that we think would be fun, and then I would recommend sending that over to Steph, and then

Can I suggest something? Yeah. So they might have a path already set, right, for the tour, for the bike ride, everything, from point A to point B. I don't know.

Right.

What I was suggesting is near the artwork, if you put up water stand, every art stand, so there is spores there. They will have water. They will have something. so if we can coordinate with the doers the administration of this path and the path goes it goes around city if they can have the they can they have random water spots right if they can put it near the art spot they will stop there and they will look and everybody who goes there you know can take a picture or something so if we have an interesting spot near the art point it will work both ways it will be advantage to us and they'll also take a look at it absolutely yeah yeah so think so basically a mock-up of a flyer

That's the base. I think if we can deliver a mock-up, it's more likely to happen. Let me think about that.

Okay. Okay. Future agenda signing. Sorry, everyone wants to go home. Upcoming draft agenda items. There's an attachment. Were we supposed to talk about the attachment?

I was not given anything to discuss on this.

we normally don't have an attachment that's why i was wondering yeah yeah there was but it doesn't really okay it said staff will provide a presentation on any item yeah the staff keep the commission informed of any council directed work yes items that are still pending or complete

I do not have any information to share. That's fine.

Any other, from the commission, any other items that you'd like to nominate for a future agenda?

I want to suggest something, but I don't know if it will work out. We have a lot of fall events. Can we have the city permission, request, whatever, ask commissioners to go? Like last year, they said you can go like that. That is like normal citizens. But if we can go as commissioners in a prestigious position in all these events, Cherry Festival, Diwali Festival, we want the city to invite us as Art and Culture Commissioner in those festivals.

I know in the past, commissioners have literally just like shown up with their badge. And I think at some place, at some events, I think we've even had a booth.

I have not seen, so I don't, I haven't, last year I suggested, but the answer Jan had given was, you just go and show, and I know it's like confusing. Yeah.

I think at this point of time, it is making a note of that agenda item. That's something to discuss.

Commissioner participation in city events.

Yeah, but I guess my point is if there's an event that you really want to go to, just talk to staff.

Does anyone want to second that or do we want to make it for future agenda setting?

I'll second that. Okay. Any others? All right. Thank you so much for your time.