20181211 Ridgewood Arts Council Meeting Minutes

RAC MINUTES

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018
 

The meeting was called to order at 7:35.

Present: Audrey Fink, Sherry Frank, Sean Flanagan, Rosie McCooe, Michael Walsh, Dana Glazer  

Absent: Frank Delvecchio, Susan Knudsen, Max Viola

Resident: Jay Friedman

Old Business:

Holiday Window Contest: Audrey reported that Facebook engagement on the RAC page is high! The contest was a big success and the feedback has been very positive. We discussed ways that we can improve the contest for next year and create an even bigger participation rate.

Audrey suggested that if we want the corporate businesses to participate, we would need to reach out to them as early as summer to get them on board. 19 storefronts participated this year and the winners were announced on stage during the tree lighting and were given a “decal” as a prize. They will also be acknowledged in the 2019 Village of Ridgewood calendar. Sherry will reach out to Zigi Putnins who offered to take more night time pictures of the windows so that we can create more content for our FB page.  The props that were borrowed from BF will need to be returned to the school by Jan. 25. Rosie will coordinate with the school and committee for the return of the props. Audrey will coordinate with the Village to return kissing balls.

Kissing Balls: RAC voted unanimously to advise the Village to reinstall the kissing balls to enliven the CBD in daytime and nighttime. RAC could coordinate the repair of the kissing balls and getting them in working order for next year. This would involve taking an inventory as well as determining restoration costs.

Vacant Storefronts: The question of how or if we can continue to decorate Rocco’s storefront after the holidays came up.  We are going on the assumption that the RAC will be allowed to continue dressing up those windows and the idea of hanging Ridgewood’s historical photos in that space was suggested. Audrey thinks we can access some photos through the library archives (those photos are part of the 2019 Village calendar) and she priced out what it would cost to make large poster prints through Vistaprint ($20 for a 3’x4’) and Audrey will keep her eyes peeled for holiday specials they may be running.  Audrey is going to ask Susan to allocate a closet in Village Hall for us to keep supplies. Michael is going to reach out to some local artist to see if they have any large scale artwork that we can hang. Rosie will reach out to Lauren Roth and ask if she still has some of the photos that hang in Whole Foods. Jay to reach out to library/Roberta Panjawi. We will continue to reach out to additional landlords.

Bike Racks: Audrey spoke with Nancy Bigos of the Parks Department and was told that the Village ordered 11-12 new bike racks and they are the utilitarian metal type. Nancy gave the ok for the RAC to spray paint the racks and Audrey looked into the cost of nameplates. Need determine timing of installation.

Adirondack Chair Project: Audrey researched the cost of chairs and found raw chairs for the cost of $120 plus shipping. This cost will be part of our proposed budget although this project will be on hold until the spring or summer of 2020.

New Business:

Budget:

The RAC can potentially be allocated money from the Village Council who will vote on a proposed budget sometime in February. Michael and Dana will work on some items to be included in a budget should we be allocated money. Included in this proposed budget will be the cost of getting prints made for the window display project, spray paint to paint the 11-12 new bike racks, and the cost of adirondack chairs. The RAC can also request money for a specific project from the RAF.

Artist Talk: We discussed having Dana give us an artist talk about the making of A Case of Blue. We talked about hosting an event at Pearl and possibly tying it into the Film Fest similar to how we did it last year with Scott Rosenfelt. More discussion to follow.

Miscellaneous: Starting in February, Dana will be unable to attend meetings on Tuesday nights due to his teaching schedule. Frank is unknown. Audrey will look into the possibility of meeting on another night based on Susan’s availability.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, January 8, 2019.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Rosie McCooe