Leesburg Public Arts Commission Meeting - May 5, 2026
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Leesburg Public Arts Commission Meeting - May 5, 2026
The Leesburg Public Arts Commission met on May 5, 2026, at 4:00 PM. The meeting opened with approval of the agenda and the minutes from the April 2026 meeting (Kira abstained). The commission then heard a presentation from Mike May of the Airport Commission regarding the proposed airport mural and observation area. A formal request for a $500 donation to Crossroads was voted on and approved. Updates were provided on several ongoing projects including the Paint the Plow initiative, Art Sparks sculptures, the Hearts Project, and plans for the VMFA visit and Love Your Mother event.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the agenda: Motion and second, all in favor.
- Approval of the April 2026 meeting minutes: Motion and second, all in favor, with Kira abstaining.
Discussion Items
- Airport Mural and Observation Area: Mike May presented plans for a mural on the maintenance shed at the north side of the airport, along with a proposed observation area and playground. The call for artists had closed with no submissions because it was not widely promoted. The commission agreed to reissue the call with a new deadline of May 29, 2026, and to promote it broadly. Discussion included logistics for artists needing workspace, insurance, and potential donation sheets with QR codes. The project will also go to the Planning Commission for endorsement.
- Crossroads Partnership: The commission received a formal request from Crossroads for a $500 donation to support their print marketing, as well as a partnership to promote a call for artists T-shirt contest. The $500 was already in the FY26 budget and needed to be spent before June 30. A motion was made and seconded to donate $500 and partner in promoting the call for artists. All members voted in favor.
- Paint the Plow Update: Four plows have been delivered and are being painted. They will be collected the last week of May and stored until the Halloween parade. Voting will take place online the first week of June, with winners announced June 5 or 8. A concern was raised about the placement of plows at schools (facing the school rather than the street) and follow-up actions were discussed.
- Art Sparks Sculpture Installation: Sculptures have been approved, and deinstallation/installation will take place the first two to three weeks of June. A ribbon cutting was discussed; due to heat in July, it may be postponed to September. The commission will revisit in June.
- Hearts Project Update: The hearts have been installed and are receiving positive feedback. Some minor damage and plaque issues were discussed. The Love Your Mother event dates were uncertain, but dates around June 15-16 were mentioned.
- VMFA Visit: The VMFA will be at the fireworks event on July 4 from 6-9 PM. The commission will have a presence there with information and possibly hearts.
- Pollinator Sculpture: Initial steps discussed; need to present to Parks and Recreation Committee. Suggested location at Fox Ridge butterfly garden. A call for artists will be issued.
- Budget Remaining: The commission needs to spend remaining FY26 funds before June 30. Ideas include supporting the pollinator sculpture if a grant is obtained, or reprinting posters for a display at Visit Loudoun.
Key Outcomes
- The call for artists for the airport mural was extended to May 29, 2026, with a plan to review submissions on June 1, 2026.
- The commission voted unanimously to donate $500 to Crossroads and partner in promoting their call for artists T-shirt contest.
- The commission will work on reprinting heart maps and posters for display at Town Hall and Visit Loudoun.
- The pollinator sculpture project will move forward with a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Committee.
- The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? And then do I have a second? Second. All in favor. Aye. Opposed. And then we need to approve the April 2026 meeting minutes. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes? When? Second. All right. All in favor. Aye. Opposed. And then Kira abstains, right? Yeah. Okay. All right. Great. All right. So we have a guest here today, Mike May from the Airport Commission to talk about presume the airport mural. So um why don't you start it off and then we can kind of go from there. Ah I want to check what Travis has told you guys before I go into it, but otherwise I can show what we did, what we took to Parks and Rec, we have a presentation, and then he has a slick sheet. Um about what went out for collecting. I think I think you helped with it. The call to artists. Yeah, yeah. So um and then there's a donation sheet that he's also made in the different levels that with the QR code that you have. Um so the call to artist closed on whatever day that commission thing was. I mean, we didn't get any, I think people were so ramped up about the hearts. I don't think we got it out to our regular people, and it was not on our COPA website where people checked for calls. Oh so I think we need to just re-extend it. Do it up. And then because I've already had two artists text me today about it. So um, so we'll uh we should just do another cycle of it, and then this time we just need because like now the hearts are done, we can you know put it out to everywhere that needs to go. So we uh we can do let's depending on when it goes out. We've got a we've got a few, we know a few different communities that we'll push it out to simultaneously as well. We've actually started with like that kind of this the donation sheet. Um maybe uh maybe maybe I think we should do another version of that now that probably puts a direct link to whatever website you guys want it to point to, but like, hey, here's the call to artist as well if they want to forward that on to other people. Okay, and then so you guys, how are you guys handling the donations? Uh so they have uh they gotta help we gotta help set up with a QR code under the 501c3 that was previously done under like uh one of the other least from public arts. So I I gave them a QR code that goes straight to our square. Okay, and then they can donate depending on the levels. And I worked with, I guess it was Travis, as far as changing a couple little things on that sheet. So the only thing is we do have a couple of little questions. I think he was asking about our website. I know we pushed it out, the donations. We pushed it out on our social media, but I've asked them to do something on the website as well on the FOLPA website. Well, thank you very much for that too. And then I need to still talk to you about something else.
openpublica.com