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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Los Alamos Art in Public Places Advisory Board Meeting - September 24, 2026

County Council & Boards — Thursday, September 24, 2026

BodyLos Alamos County, New Mexico

SessionCounty Council & Boards

DateThursday, September 24, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:15:51

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

This meeting to order.

0:04

Okay.

0:05

The first order of business tonight is uh public comment.

0:10

Nobody on the uh okay.

0:15

So you know no one is online and probably not likely to come online.

0:19

We will move to the next order of business, which is the approval of the minutes from August 2027.

0:25

Or August 27th.

0:27

Uh I I move to approve the minutes from the August 27th meeting.

0:33

Second.

0:34

I second.

0:35

Whatever.

0:36

Yeah.

0:38

All in favor?

0:39

Aye.

0:40

Aye.

0:41

Okay.

0:43

Motion carries.

0:46

Okay.

0:47

Next is the fire station for uh artwork acquisition process discussion.

0:57

Have any discussion on this?

0:59

Well, I only have I only have one question.

1:03

And and otherwise I think I'm good with it.

1:06

Um, and that is um where is okay.

1:13

So this has a project director.

1:16

Who's the project director?

1:19

Um when I talked to Meredith, she said I can be the project director.

1:23

So I'll be part of the meetings.

1:25

I won't be voting, and then I can coordinate with Meredith at the state level to do all of the administrative work.

1:36

Okay.

1:36

Just to make sure, because I'm remote, that's Chelsea, right?

1:40

Sorry, that's me, Chelsea.

1:42

Yes.

1:42

Okay.

1:43

Okay, thank you.

1:45

Okay, I'm fine with that.

1:46

Yeah.

1:48

Uh I'll bring in the discussion of um, I had the chance to meet with the um with someone who's worked with the um Gallup's uh uh public art program as well as the UNM uh hospital systems uh public arts.

2:03

Uh they both uh recommended that we move forward with the um with this process, had nothing but positive things to say about Meredith.

2:12

Um they did both note our concerns about you know it is uh you do need to have people there in the room during the meetings.

2:20

That is still something that we knew about though.

2:23

Um they mentioned that is like one thing to um like potentially disrupt the process down the line, but they didn't they didn't think that would be a major issue for us.

2:35

I will say that both of them don't primarily or go ahead.

2:39

Sorry, if you um my question like um the and that's where we would have to have a quorum, right?

2:49

Again.

2:50

It's not just a quorum, it's that we need to have um five the uh five people representing the necessary roles.

2:59

So it's a uh and we can have like a total of 11 people on the panel or something like that.

3:04

Uh we need to have at least one person representing each role show up at each meeting or else reschedule, I guess.

3:13

But what is a slightly different for us is that we were thinking it would be good to run it through as an APP meeting, which means you do need to have not only all five roles represented for the requirement of a state, but at least three APP members present at those meetings.

3:36

Yeah, I think and to make core.

3:38

Do you know would I guess that'd be a question for Meredith that we can figure out is if we can build those meetings into the agenda of uh APP meeting or if it needs to be like a special meeting.

3:49

I asked her when she was here, and I said we could the f at least the first two meetings.

3:56

So there's those three main meetings.

3:57

That last one is the doozy, where it could be eight hours depending on how many artists make the proposal.

4:05

But at least for the first two, it could be embedded into our agenda, and that could just be the only agenda item besides approving the minutes or whatever.

4:16

So we're allowed to do that, yes.

4:19

I'll say the other things uh I'd like to bring up from those meetings.

4:24

Um first that uh they did because you mentioned that um long meeting.

4:30

They did both mention it is a long meeting that seems pretty unavoidable.

4:35

The initial um it's a couple of long meetings, but it seems like the uh things we can gain from the process is still, to my view, uh outweighs the any issues with the um not issues, but like complications with the state's program.

4:54

They as well as the other person that I reached out to that Meredith recommended, all highly recommended working with Meredith.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Art Management█████████████████████████████████████████████75%

Budget Equity Analysis██████10%

Procedural███5%

Capital Improvement Planning██3%

Staffing██3%

Public Engagement█2%

Legal Review█2%

Summary of Proceedings

Los Alamos Art in Public Places Advisory Board Meeting - September 24, 2026

The Art in Public Places Advisory Board (APP) met on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 5:30 PM in Los Alamos, NM. The board discussed and voted on several key items, including the artist selection process for Fire Station #4 artwork, an updated deaccession policy, and a 4-H banner request. The meeting adjourned at 7:48 PM.

Consent Calendar

Approval of August 27, 2026 Minutes: Unanimously approved (motion carried).

Discussion Items

Fire Station #4 Artwork Acquisition Process: The board considered whether to use the State of New Mexico’s artist-selection process, which requires a minimum combined budget of $100,000 (state and county funds) and a multi-step selection committee with required roles. Board members expressed concerns about the length of the process (up to an 8-hour final meeting), quorum requirements, and the need to delegate artist-selection authority from the County Council. Chelsea Ashcraft (staff) reported positive feedback from Gallup and UNM hospital systems about the state process and its coordinator, Meredith. The board debated whether to ask council for early delegation of authority or to retain the usual final council approval. Ultimately, they voted to proceed without the early delegation, meaning council will review the final selection. They set a county contribution not to exceed $80,001 plus Gross Receipts Tax, supplemented by a minimum $20,000 in state funds. The motion also allows the board to adjust the budget later if needed. A first meeting of the selection committee will be scheduled to test the process before presenting to council.
Deaccession Policy Update: The board reviewed a comprehensive update to the deaccession policy, developed by the strategic plan working group. Key changes include: adding three new criteria for deaccession (fraudulent/inauthentic work, written artist request, site development necessity), clarifying the process for contacting artists (including a 60-day response window and community outreach if unreachable), requiring a legal review, and providing specific disposition options (retain, relocate, store, or dispose). The policy emphasizes that removal should be rare and carefully documented. The board voted unanimously to approve the updated policy, subject to minor edits discussed (e.g., clarifying that requests from non-county residents should go through a board member, and adding federal law to legal review). Staff requested holding the policy from council until an ordinance update is ready, which the board agreed to.
Community Services Year-End Update: Tabled to the next meeting.
Working Group Updates: Tabled; brief mention that Bryan Fearey volunteered to join the Fire Station #4 working group.
Staff Liaison Report: Chelsea Ashcraft reported a request from the 4-H club to hang a 24-by-24-inch banner on the Oppenheimer and Groves statue for National 4-H Week (October 4-7). The board unanimously opposed the banner, citing precedent concerns, but had no objection to green lights being shone on the statue or to 4-H members taking photos holding the banner. Ashcraft also announced the resignation of board member Anna Buckthorpe and that two previous applicants remain interested; interviews will be scheduled, and the board agreed to re-advertise for additional members.
Chairman's Report: Tim Foley reported no APP-related council communications since the last meeting.

Key Outcomes

Approved: Minutes from August 27, 2026 (unanimous).
Approved (amended): Motion for Fire Station #4 artwork acquisition using the state’s artist-selection process with a county budget not to exceed $80,001 + GRT, supplemented by $20,000 in state funds; no delegation of authority to the selection committee requested from council at this stage (unanimous).
Approved (with edits): Updated Deaccession Policy, to be held for packaging with an upcoming ordinance amendment (unanimous).
Rejected: 4-H banner request; green lighting allowed.
Next Steps: Staff to gather selection committee for Fire Station #4 first meeting; board to interview new applicants and re-advertise; ordinance update to be presented at the October 22, 2026 meeting.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting to order. Okay. The first order of business tonight is uh public comment. Nobody on the uh okay. So you know no one is online and probably not likely to come online. We will move to the next order of business, which is the approval of the minutes from August 2027. Or August 27th. Uh I I move to approve the minutes from the August 27th meeting. Second. I second. Whatever. Yeah. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay. Motion carries. Okay. Next is the fire station for uh artwork acquisition process discussion. Have any discussion on this? Well, I only have I only have one question. And and otherwise I think I'm good with it. Um, and that is um where is okay. So this has a project director. Who's the project director? Um when I talked to Meredith, she said I can be the project director. So I'll be part of the meetings. I won't be voting, and then I can coordinate with Meredith at the state level to do all of the administrative work. Okay. Just to make sure, because I'm remote, that's Chelsea, right? Sorry, that's me, Chelsea. Yes. Okay. Okay, thank you. Okay, I'm fine with that. Yeah. Uh I'll bring in the discussion of um, I had the chance to meet with the um with someone who's worked with the um Gallup's uh uh public art program as well as the UNM uh hospital systems uh public arts. Uh they both uh recommended that we move forward with the um with this process, had nothing but positive things to say about Meredith. Um they did both note our concerns about you know it is uh you do need to have people there in the room during the meetings. That is still something that we knew about though. Um they mentioned that is like one thing to um like potentially disrupt the process down the line, but they didn't they didn't think that would be a major issue for us. I will say that both of them don't primarily or go ahead. Sorry, if you um my question like um the and that's where we would have to have a quorum, right? Again. It's not just a quorum, it's that we need to have um five the uh five people representing the necessary roles. So it's a uh and we can have like a total of 11 people on the panel or something like that. Uh we need to have at least one person representing each role show up at each meeting or else reschedule, I guess. But what is a slightly different for us is that we were thinking it would be good to run it through as an APP meeting, which means you do need to have not only all five roles represented for the requirement of a state, but at least three APP members present at those meetings. Yeah, I think and to make core. Do you know would I guess that'd be a question for Meredith that we can figure out is if we can build those meetings into the agenda of uh APP meeting or if it needs to be like a special meeting.

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