TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
ARTS COUNCIL
MAY 12, 2020

Members Present:
Tam Zollinger, Co-Chairman
Kathryn Ellis, Arts Councilmember
Leisl Sorensen, Arts Councilmember
Lyle Holmgren, City Councilmember
Bret Rohde, City Councilmember
Zach LeFevre, Parks and Recreation Coordinator
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Coordinator LeFevre called the Arts Council Meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. The meeting was held March 12, 2020 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah and via Zoom. Those in attendance were Coordinator LeFevre, Co-Chairman Zollinger, Arts Councilmembers Ellis and Sorensen, City Councilmembers Holmgren and Rohde, and Deputy Recorder Nelson.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Sorensen to approve the May 12, 2020 agenda. Motion seconded by Councilmember Ellis. Vote: Co-Chairman Zollinger – aye, Arts Councilmember Ellis – aye, Arts Councilmember Sorensen – aye, City Councilmember Holmgren – aye, City Councilmember Rohde – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes—April 27, 2020

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to approve the April 27, 2020 minutes. Motion seconded by Councilmembers Sorensen and Holmgren. Vote: Co-Chairman Zollinger – aye, Arts Councilmember Ellis – aye, Arts Councilmember Sorensen – aye, City Councilmember Holmgren – aye, City Councilmember Rohde – aye. Motion approved.

3. Business:

a. Discussion of public arts – 5 year plan

Coordinator LeFevre said last meeting we talked about using Artist Erik Burke for the mural by Midland Square. He is on board and will help come up with a mural and composition. We asked him about both walls, explaining that the Council’s first choice is the red wall. Mr. Burke said the other wall would be more ideal, but he is going to come up with a plan for each, as well as one that includes them together for one large mural. He would do the third one for free. We will give him $500 for the other two. In his experience, brick throws off the texture and how you view it. The windows make it so you cannot place ideally what you want, but he will get back to us by the end of this month so we can review those. We will then vote on what we think the best option is and take that to City Council, who has the ultimate decision. Arts Councilmember Sorensen said I have been in contact with Gail Halvorsen’s daughter, Denise. (He is the Candy Bomber and focus of this mural). She is excited about the project. He lives in Provo, Utah. Coordinator LeFevre said the plan is to get Denise and Mr. Burke communicating. His concerns were copyright issues on photographs we may not have access to. Since Mr. Halvorsen is a high profile figure images might be copyrighted. Now that his family is on board, it will be much easier. That is this year’s project in a nutshell.

Coordinator LeFevre provided the Council with a list of potential walls for future projects. They discussed those and what could work there. They were emailed to the members for further review. Coordinator LeFevre said we can get started in the right direction and plan in advance. Councilmember Rohde has mentioned he would like something on the back of his business and the Sunflower shop. We have discussed a metal mural with the bird refuge. There is a lot of talk about visibly, but there is a lot of value in hidden pieces. It helps get people out in the community if they have to explore and find things.

Coordinator LeFevre brought up the Gunnison Dragon and how their community leaders created a mosaic under an overpass by using tiles. When cars drive over it, it sounds like a dragon breathing. They got the community involved to help place things. We could do something similar. What would you like to see in the next couple of years? Councilmember Rohde said I would like to see us stay within a walking distance. I have no preference on buildings. Councilmember Holmgren said I like the idea of the Shoshone mural, something to recognize them. I also like the bird refuge mural idea. Coordinator LeFevre said we also have the Marion Shirley mural for the world’s fastest amputee. There is also an artist that connects with agriculture and all his paintings surround bees and beehives. Arts Councilmember Ellis said a mural could be citizen driven. They could create a piece before hand to get ideas. People could do some renditions and we could pick from those. Some cities have done fire hydrant paintings. It would be fun to have more citizens involved. Coordinator LeFevre said 10 or so years ago people adopted a fire hydrant to take care of and were allowed to paint it any color. We would just have to check with Manager Warnke about the City code. A mural mosaic was done in South Jordan and people completed their own picture with certain guidelines from an artist who put it together. We have talked about Artist Dave Lasley doing something similar with this and the temple. We could also paint on utility boxes for businesses. We would have an art contest and the winner would get their picture put on one of those. I would like to see some sculptures on Main Street. In Moab they did an art walk with 15 sculptures to be voted on. They bought the one with the most votes from the artist and placed it in their community. Councilmember Holmgren said the memorial at Midland Square recognizes the Borgstrom Brothers, but if you were to go to the cemetery, it is a hard to find them. I think people would appreciate knowing where they are. The cemetery is a reflection on our community and I would like to see something recognizing those who have done something for this community and our nation. Arts Councilmember Sorensen said I am always up for starting a community theater. The one at the museum was run by Judine Parkinson, but she moved away. My husband is the drama teacher at the high school and we could work with them to have access to costumes and everything else.

Coordinator LeFevre said what do we want to do for next year? Do we want to continue with murals? Arts Councilmember Sorensen said I think we should do a mural each year or some type of outdoor public art. Councilmember Rohde said we could involve the public by getting a few concepts and then let them vote on what they would like. Arts Councilmember Sorensen said they could vote on ideas and come up with their own designs, too. Arts Councilmember Ellis said in Provo they have a monthly concert series that is free to the public—a rooftop concert. Local artist open and then the main attraction comes in. They eventually brought in food trucks. Coordinator LeFevre said my goal this year was to start something like that, but the pandemic threw a wrench in it. We have budgeted funds. It was called Taste of Tremonton and would have a concert series/farmers market with different vendors. This is something I would like to do next year to help bring the community together. It would take a lot of coordination, but we could all take our parts.

b. Discussion of chalk art contest

Coordinator LeFevre said we started this event two years ago. Last year we made it a free event to encourage the public to join in and share their creativity. It would be on June 20. We would need volunteers to judge it. Last year we did not have many locals enter, the majority was from out of town. I would like to push this and get more local people involved. The theme is 2020/hope and we will run on that. We will advertise through Facebook, signs around town, art schools, and word of mouth.

4. Reports & Comments: none

5. Adjournment

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 4:04 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 June, 2020.

______________________________
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.