TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
ARTS COUNCIL
JANUARY 12, 2021

Members Present:
Leisl Sorensen, Chairman
Kathryn Ellis, Arts Councilmember
Tam Zollinger, Arts Councilmember
Lyle Holmgren, City Councilmember
Bret Rohde, City Councilmember
Zach LeFevre, Recreation and Community Events Manager
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Chairman Sorensen called the Arts Council Meeting to order at 3:34 p.m. The meeting was held January 12, 2021 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah and via Zoom. Those in attendance were Chairman Sorensen, Arts Councilmembers Ellis and Zollinger, City Councilmembers Holmgren and Rohde (arrived at 3:37 p.m., and left at 4:15 p.m.), Coordinator LeFevre, and Deputy Recorder Nelson.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to approve the January 12, 2021 agenda. Motion seconded by Councilmember Zollinger. Vote: Chairman Sorensen – aye, Arts Councilmember Ellis – aye, Arts Councilmember Zollinger – aye, City Councilmember Holmgren – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes—December 8, 2020

Motion by Councilmember Ellis to approve the December 8, 2020 minutes. Motion seconded by Councilmember Holmgren. Vote: Chairman Sorensen – aye, Arts Councilmember Ellis – aye, Arts Councilmember Zollinger – aye, City Councilmember Holmgren – aye. Motion approved.

3. Business:

a. Discussion of finalizing art piece for 2021

The Council discussed potential sculptures from local artist Doug Adams. Coordinator LeFevre said we have talked about doing a gold star memorial piece. We could use the wall to the south of the candy bomber to do a 3D art piece there. Arts Councilmember Zollinger said since Mr. Adams is familiar with the valley I think something from him would be really nice. Chairman Sorensen said I love the idea of branching out and doing a sculpture this year—that would be really cool. Councilmember Rohde said Mr. Adams would love to have a piece of his art in town and would do a sculpture for $2,000, which is a steal for a big piece of art. We could let him know what we are thinking about and have him come up with concepts. Councilmember Holmgren said it would be nice if he could create something that had a connection to Tremonton. We need to come up with a theme. The Council discussed possible locations for a sculpture, which included the library, Main Street, and Midland Square. Councilmember Holmgren said the gold star memorial would be nondescript—not including any names just honoring all those with the sculpture. Arts Councilmember Zollinger said if that is the theme we are going to have, it would be nice to have someone find the names of those families and put them in the museum. Councilmember Holmgren said having the gold star sculpture at Midland Square would be really neat. I could see Mr. Adams incorporating that into his designs. Councilmember Rohde said if we stick with this theme, I agree on that location, otherwise the library is a good place. The Council talked about the landscape to the south of Midland Square and how they could incorporate that, as well as the idea of water conservation. Councilmember Holmgren said the university has a landscape architect that has worked with us in the past. I think they would be willing to help us out. If we redid the landscaping and had Mr. Adams’ work as a feature there, that would be special.

Chairman Sorensen said I was hoping we could unveil our art piece at the arts festival, which would be centered on the Chalk Affair event. If we want to have that done by June, we need to get in contact with Mr. Adams soon. A motion was made by Councilmember Holmgren to approach Mr. Adams with the idea, provide him with some concepts, and let him come up with an idea for the recognition of gold star families. This would be located at Midland Square on the south end with some updated landscaping.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to contact Artist Doug Adams and move forward with this idea. Motion seconded by Councilmember Zollinger. Vote: Chairman Sorensen – aye, Arts Councilmember Ellis – aye, Arts Councilmember Zollinger – aye, City Councilmember Holmgren – aye, City Councilmember Rohde – aye. Motion approved.

b. Further discussion on Arts Festival

Chairman Sorensen said we are hoping to do this in conjunction with the unveiling of a new art piece—possibly at the same time as the annual Chalk Affair on June 19, and make a weekend out of it. The Chalk Affair would be on Saturday, along with many other events that incorporate our artistic ideas. If we also did it on Friday, then it would start on the 18th. We discussed having it setup so people could wander from one thing to the next. The unveiling would be at Midland Square, as well as the chalk art. Stores could host sidewalk sales and the Museum could have a display. There could even be access to the theater with a film festival or some type of competition. At Shuman Park, there could be bands on the stage with booths selling handcrafted items or offering classes. We could have a children’s area with puppet shows, face painting, paint by numbers, or a collage mural. It could even extend to Jeanie Stevens Park with live music, a community talent show, and food trucks. There would be wagon tours of the murals and lots of competitions to get the community involved, including a t-shirt design competition for the festival.

Arts Councilmember Zollinger said there are two cream panel walls on the Northern Furniture building, which could hold an interactive mural for people to have their picture taken by. Coordinator LeFevre said he would talk to City Manager Shawn Warnke about that and they would check with the building owners. It is on the way to the arts festival so we could shut down part of Tremont Street and do things there, too. The more specific an event can be the better. We need it small enough we can accomplish a good thing and then grow as it grows. We need to do a lot of advertising to get interest locally and buy in from art teachers. There are many great ideas, but let us narrow it down a bit.

The Council suggested bringing in people with art expertise to head subcommittees. Arts Councilmember Zollinger suggested Gloria Rudd. They also discussed different avenues for advertising. The Council will continue to work on ideas through an app called Trello and meet again in February. The Council agreed to pursue an arts festival on June 18-19. They plan to utilize library park and Midland Square with some interaction between the two.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to pursue an arts festival. Motion seconded by Councilmember Zollinger. Vote: Chairman Sorensen – aye, Arts Councilmember Ellis – aye, Arts Councilmember Zollinger – aye, City Councilmember Holmgren – aye. Motion approved.

4. Reports & Comments: None.

5. Adjournment

Motion by Chairman Sorensen to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

The undersigned duly acting and appointed Recorder for Tremonton City Corporation hereby certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Arts Council held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 9th day of February, 2021.

______________________________
Linsey Nessen, CITY RECORDER

*Utah Code 52-4-202, (6) allows for a topic to be raised by the public and discussed by the public body even though it was not included in the agenda or advance public notice given; however, no final action will be taken.

Follow-up items for the Council

The Council would continue to discuss options and ideas through Trello. Councilmember Rohde would contact artist Doug Adams about a sculpture. Arts Councilmember Zollinger would contact artist Gloria Rudd to see if she would be interested in helping on a subcommittee. Coordinator LeFevre would talk to City staff to make sure they are okay with some of their ideas on updating landscaping that would require some maintenance.