Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment Committee Meeting – June 11, 2026
Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment Committee Meeting – June 11, 2026
The Arts, Cultural, and Entertainment (ACE) Committee met on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at 6:30 PM at 11360 Lakefield Drive, Johns Creek, GA. Chair Zach Hahn called the meeting to order. Roll call showed members Cynthia Green, Dan Fellerman, Kaaryn Walker, Azure Duan, Matthew Wroten, Zach Hahn, and Scott Braynard present. Staff present included City Manager Kimberly Greer, Special Projects Coordinator Amanda Bock, and City Clerk Allison Tarpley. No public comments were offered.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes from April 9, 2026: Motion by Matthew Wroten, seconded by Scott Braynard, to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously.
Reports & Presentations
- City Update: Amanda Bock reported that the second set of dog statues had been installed at the new fire station. The city is in its summer event season, having hosted the International Festival and two summer concerts, with Juneteenth and America 250 upcoming. Johns Creek will also host two soccer watch parties for the World Cup. Sponsorships for America 250 are open until June 26, and sponsorship/participant applications for Trunk or Treat in October are now open.
Discussion Items
- America 250 Final Discussion:
- ACE Role at Event: Staff proposed that interested committee members assist at the Parade of Stars booth, helping children decorate star signs. Several members expressed interest; staff will send a follow-up email to coordinate. The volunteer sign-up link via Rec1 was noted as having navigation issues.
- Time Capsule: Due to limited school response (four schools, two outside Johns Creek), staff asked the committee whether to proceed. The committee recommended announcing the time capsule at the July 3 America 250 event but burying it at the city’s 20th anniversary celebration in December 2026. Suggested additions included a letter from the mayor, stories from local veterans, family photos, a restaurant menu, and a postage stamp. Feedback on the draft fact sheet included removing a song entry by Drake due to vulgarity and correcting a typo for “Super Mario Galaxy.” The committee was in consensus to continue with the revised plan.
- Newtown Amphitheater Renaming:
- Monetization Vote: A motion to recommend against monetizing the naming rights of the amphitheater was made and seconded. After discussion, the motion passed 5-2, with Kaaryn Walker and Matthew Wroten dissenting. The committee generally preferred a non-commercial name.
- Name Brainstorming: Members proposed names including Founders, Heroes, Town Green, Freedom, and Liberty Landing. After multiple rounds of voting, the committee narrowed the field to three finalists to recommend to City Council: Town Green Amphitheater at Newtown Park, Freedom Amphitheater at Newtown Park, and Liberty Landing Amphitheater at Newtown Park.
Key Outcomes
- Approved April 9, 2026, meeting minutes unanimously.
- Recommended against monetizing amphitheater naming rights (5-2 vote).
- Selected three name recommendations for the Newtown Park Amphitheater: Town Green, Freedom, and Liberty Landing.
- Time capsule project will proceed with a revised timeline targeting December 2026 and expanded outreach.
- ACE members may volunteer at the America 250 Parade of Stars booth; coordination via email.
- Meeting adjourned at 7:11 PM.
Meeting Transcript
You want to call us to order? Calling the meeting to order at 6 30. Okay. I'll do a quick roll call. Cindy. Dan? Karen? Azure? Here. Matthew. Here. Zach. Here. And Scott. Here. All right. We were got everyone we're expecting. Thank you. No one present for public comment. So moving on to reports and presentation. All right. So I will do the city updates tonight, and I've prepared this lovely blue handout for you all with information about our upcoming events. So first I want to highlight that the second set of dog statues have been installed at the new fire station. And don't worry, I put pictures in there so you guys can all see the event. And our chairs featured on the second picture. So very cool. The mayor's in there too. Yes, but the city's really excited to finally have this adorable public art installation that the community can enjoy at our fire station. So shout out to each of you and all of our partner organizations for helping to make that possible. Besides that, we are officially in our summer event season. So far, the city has already hosted the International Festival, two summer concerts, and with more events like Juneteenth, and as you know, America 250 coming on the horizon. So also, if anyone is excited about the World Cup, uh Johns Creek is hosting two soccer watch parties this this summer. Finally, the city is always looking for sponsors and volunteers for our events. Sponsorships for America 250 are open until June 26th. And I know this is a little far out, but sponsorship and participant applications have already opened for trunk retreat in October. Thought I'd include that. So that is all I have for city updates. Awesome. Um moving on to old business. All right. So this will be our last time talking about America 250 together. Since we are just three weeks away from the event, it's coming up soon. Since our last ACE meeting, our event staff have finalized the location of the food trucks and firework launch site. Uh we've purchased misting machines to help the guests stay cool and added the Johns Creek Corral to the concert lineup. So it should be some exciting stuff. Um in the final weeks, the team will continue to make final edits to the run of show and the event layout and other logistical things, but overall we're looking for forward to a spectacular America 250 celebration here. Um we did have a few final things we wanted to consult you all about, particularly the time capsule and Ace's role in the event. But before we get to that, um, did anyone have any questions about the event itself? I I just had uh comment and I was kind of talking to Allison before uh we all arrived. Um just that um curious when we're gonna start promoting the event a little bit more on like social media and stuff.
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