OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Los Alamos APP Board Meeting - May 28, 2026

County Council & Boards — Thursday, May 28, 2026
BodyLos Alamos County, New Mexico
SessionCounty Council & Boards
DateThursday, May 28, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:01:43

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

So I will call this meeting to order.

0:09

So the first order of business public comments.

0:13

Do we have anybody else online besides Jasmine?

0:17

Just Jasmine.

0:18

Okay.

0:20

Absence of any public comments, we'll move on to regular business.

0:24

First item is approval of the minutes from April 23rd meeting.

0:34

Second.

0:35

Should we put this a vote?

0:37

All in favor?

0:38

Aye, I.

0:39

Jasmine?

0:42

I'm gonna abstain because I wasn't here, nor did I look at the previous minutes.

0:47

As you may recall, we cannot abstain on votes anymore.

0:52

Sorry.

0:54

Fine, I'll say nay then.

0:56

Okay.

0:57

We have a nay.

0:59

All right.

1:00

No.

1:01

All right.

1:01

Uh moving on to the next order of business, which is the working group updates.

1:07

That's on page nine.

1:09

Angel labeled the packet pages this way.

1:14

Very good.

1:15

Thank you, Angel.

1:17

And so it looks like the first update will be the homesteaders R project.

1:21

Jasmine or Anna, would you like to take the lead?

1:24

We are still waiting because she um Leslie will be back in June.

1:27

Okay.

1:28

And so she said that by June she should have an update on the language.

1:32

Okay.

1:32

Outstanding.

1:34

Uh next is the police station R Project working group.

1:38

Jasmine, I have to apologize for missing the meeting today.

1:40

I was delayed at work.

1:42

Uh so if you would if you wouldn't mind giving us up the update.

1:48

Yeah, the meeting went really well, I think.

1:51

Well personally, I think it went great.

1:54

We have two new sketches from Daniel Burr up.

1:59

Um there's well, there's three sketches.

2:02

There's one of like a mountain line seated, an African line seated, and then an African line and a sphinx pose.

2:09

So like laying down.

2:11

Um we kind of like the one that was laying down, but James will consult with PD, like everyone at PD, see what they liked better.

2:22

He is going to talk to facilities because they will be doing the memorial part.

2:28

So they need to build the wall.

2:31

Oh, Chelsea's holding up the wall in the benches.

2:35

Okay.

2:35

And we had a discussion on the platform and on which the uh lion will sit.

2:41

And who's going to be responsible for that?

2:45

So, yeah, we're Chelsea's kind of circling.

2:48

We discussed that originally we thought stone from Santa Fe Stone, but then as we kind of talked through it, we thought it would be easier if facilities or PD were able to cover the uh platform part of it.

3:02

Okay.

3:03

And then since we don't have anything up for a vote this meeting, we hope to get everything like tied up together.

3:11

So next meeting we can vote, and then it goes to council in July, and then we can get a contract to Daniel in August.

3:19

Okay.

3:19

Hopefully.

3:20

Okay.

3:21

So I guess one question is so for the for the Sphinx pose lion.

3:29

That do we have an estimate?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Arts And Culture████████████████████████████████32%
Public Art Management███████████████████19%
Procedural███████████████15%
Public Engagement█████████████13%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████6%
Community Engagement██████6%
Strategic Planning█████5%
Legal Review██2%
Grant Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Los Alamos Arts in Public Places Advisory Board Meeting

The APP Board (Chair Tim Foley, Vice-Chair Jasmine Stephens, Members Anna Buckthorpe and Andy Wright, with Staff Liaison Chelsea Ashcraft) met on May 28, 2026, to discuss deaccessions of public artworks, working group updates, and an upcoming community workshop. Key actions included recommendations to County Council for deaccessioning two artworks and approval of a mosaic workshop.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

Approval of Minutes from April 23, 2026

  • The board attempted to approve the minutes. Member Jasmine initially abstained but was reminded that abstentions are no longer permitted; she then voted nay. The motion failed due to the nay vote (other members voted aye). Minutes were not approved.

Working Group Updates

  • Homesteaders Project: Update pending from Leslie, expected in June.
  • Police Station Lion Sculpture: Two new sketches from Daniel Burr presented; preferred a laying-down lion. The installation location was moved to the existing memorial site to avoid relocating the scale of justice. A vote is planned for the next meeting, with council consideration in July and contract in August.
  • Strategic Plan Working Group: Not met; will begin after new board member joins.
  • Fire Station 4 Working Group: Community survey on the proposed theme will open June 2nd.
  • Contacting Artists / VARA: Board discussed Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) requirements. Chelsea is learning from attorneys; Albuquerque uses VARA waivers for outdoor pieces. Legal review is now part of the decommission report process.

Deaccession of "Split Infinity" and Replacement with "Blooming Lily 3 Medium"

  • The wind sculpture "Split Infinity" (by Mark White) broke due to wind issues. The provider offers a one-time exchange for "Blooming Lily 3 Medium" at no cost to the county. Board reviewed the decommission report. Motion: Recommend that County Council approve deaccession and accept the replacement. Motion passed unanimously (all ayes).

Deaccession of "Aquatic Figures" Mural at the Aquatic Center

  • The mural (by Richard Lange, 1988) needs removal due to pool renovation. Contact efforts failed. Cost to paint over: not-to-exceed $45,000 plus applicable Gross Receipts Tax. The paint is specialized for pool conditions (epoxy, water-based). Motion: Recommend deaccession and authorize funds. Motion passed with one nay (Jasmine) due to cost; others aye.

Mosaic Assembly Workshop

  • Workshop scheduled for the week of June 4, 2026. 129 of 150 grids reserved; drop-ins welcome. Ribbon cutting on June 13. Artist will manage overflow with coaster kits funded by library and recreation department. Stickers and fire station survey QR code will be available.

Staff Liaison Report

  • Senior center gate installed and acknowledged.
  • Chair Tim Foley will present APP annual update to County Council on June 23 (work session).
  • New board member application received; interview next week.
  • State legislative appropriations: Fire Station 4 and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) grants include 1% for public art (approximately $7,500 for EOC). Chelsea is exploring combining state funds with the board's Fire Station 4 project.

Council Communications

  • Councilor Rieger asked about the $45,000 cost for aquatic figures painting. Chelsea explained the specialized paint, prep, and protection requirements. No maintenance cost history is available.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes not approved: Motion failed due to one nay vote.
  • Deaccession of Split Infinity: Unanimously recommended to County Council for approval and replacement at no cost to the county.
  • Deaccession of Aquatic Figures: Recommended to County Council with funding not-to-exceed $45,000 plus GRT (passed 3-1).
  • Mosaic Workshop: Proceeding as planned; no action needed.
  • Next Meeting: June 25, 2026, with possible action on police station lion sculpture, fire station survey results, and Dino World deaccession.

Meeting adjourned at 6:32 PM.

Meeting Transcript

So I will call this meeting to order. So the first order of business public comments. Do we have anybody else online besides Jasmine? Just Jasmine. Okay. Absence of any public comments, we'll move on to regular business. First item is approval of the minutes from April 23rd meeting. Second. Should we put this a vote? All in favor? Aye, I. Jasmine? I'm gonna abstain because I wasn't here, nor did I look at the previous minutes. As you may recall, we cannot abstain on votes anymore. Sorry. Fine, I'll say nay then. Okay. We have a nay. All right. No. All right. Uh moving on to the next order of business, which is the working group updates. That's on page nine. Angel labeled the packet pages this way. Very good. Thank you, Angel. And so it looks like the first update will be the homesteaders R project. Jasmine or Anna, would you like to take the lead? We are still waiting because she um Leslie will be back in June. Okay. And so she said that by June she should have an update on the language. Okay. Outstanding. Uh next is the police station R Project working group. Jasmine, I have to apologize for missing the meeting today. I was delayed at work. Uh so if you would if you wouldn't mind giving us up the update. Yeah, the meeting went really well, I think. Well personally, I think it went great. We have two new sketches from Daniel Burr up. Um there's well, there's three sketches. There's one of like a mountain line seated, an African line seated, and then an African line and a sphinx pose. So like laying down. Um we kind of like the one that was laying down, but James will consult with PD, like everyone at PD, see what they liked better. He is going to talk to facilities because they will be doing the memorial part. So they need to build the wall. Oh, Chelsea's holding up the wall in the benches. Okay. And we had a discussion on the platform and on which the uh lion will sit. And who's going to be responsible for that?

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