Mesquite Public Arts Commission Meeting - October 20, 2025
Mesquite Public Arts Commission Meeting - October 20, 2025
The Mesquite Public Arts Commission (MPAC) met on Monday, October 20, 2025, at 10:00 AM at Mesquite City Hall. The meeting was chaired by Kerima Skimmons and covered updates on several projects including America 250, First Friday Family Art Walk, a community piano, and more. The commission took votes on the consent agenda, art walk sales tax handling, and piano relocation, and discussed upcoming events and maintenance issues.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes and Agenda: The commission unanimously approved the minutes from September 15, 2025, and the agenda for the October 20, 2025 meeting.
Discussion Items
- America 250 Project Update: Steve reported that a grant has been applied for. A meeting with Tony Manfreddy (Nevada Arts Council) is scheduled for November 6, 2025 at 8:00 AM at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center to gather community input. Up to three commissioners may attend; Bonnie volunteered to join Steve and Karen. No action taken.
- First Friday Family Art Walk Recap: Judy presented a detailed recap. The October 7 event was successful with strong attendance. Total expenses were $3,457.78; the city contributed $2,640, and sponsors (Reliance Connects $500, Mesquite Entertainment $300, Councilman Karen Felding $150) covered the rest. Issues included lack of signage (8 posts needed at ~$90 each), food truck cancellations, need for expanded kids' zone, and sales tax reporting. A motion passed to ask the art gallery to continue handling sales tax through December while Marco investigates a long-term solution with the city.
- Community Piano Update: Steve reported that a piano was donated by the Winchester Dondero Cultural Center and is currently at the Steam Center. He proposed moving it to the art gallery pavilion and appropriating up to $1,000 for moving ($400), tuning ($150), paint, and other preparations. After discussion, the motion passed. The commission noted that council approval may be needed for placement on city property.
- Dance Mesquite Project: The project was previously approved but no cost yet (expected under $500). Tabled until the next meeting to obtain a firm quote.
- MPAC Brochure Update: Karen suggested removing the "Coming Soon" text and improving the layout for First Friday. Steve will make changes and circulate a draft for approval before printing.
- Power Box Wraps Update: The wraps are discoloring from sun exposure. Clark County Printing can redo wraps without full removal using a new UV-protected material. The commission agreed to conduct an inventory of all wraps; Karen and George will collaborate to assess which need replacement. Future funding may come from a new Main Street grant.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
- First Friday Sales Tax: Motion passed to have the art gallery continue tax collection through December while Marco investigates city procedures.
- Community Piano: Motion passed to move the piano to the art gallery pavilion and allocate up to $1,000 for moving and preparation.
- Brochure: Design changes to be made by Steve and circulated for approval.
- Power Box Wraps: Inventory to be conducted by Karen and George; Clark County Printing can redo wraps with UV-protected material.
- Meeting adjourned at 10:53 AM.
Meeting Transcript
Sorry. Okay. Kerima Skimmons, Chair of the Musquite Public Arts Commission calling the Musquete Public Arts Commission meeting to order at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 20th. I open the floor up to public comment. Seeing no public, I close public comment. Number two, consent agenda. Consideration of approval of the Monday, September 15th, 2025 Musquete Public Arts Commission meeting minutes, and the Monday, October 20th, 2025 Musquete Public Arts Commission meeting agenda. And seeing none, I close public comment. Any discussion and public comment. Okay. Can I have a motion to approve? Move to approve. George, second. Okay. The motion is moved and passed. Going on to number three, administrative items. Okay. First one is discussion on America 250 project update. Open it to public comment. And being there's no public comment, discussion and pop possible action. Steve, do you want to report on where we're at with this for right now? Yeah, sure. Well, really, nobody ever came to the city or to us to talk about this. All right. Um applied for the grant. And there wasn't any specifics, it was just apply and we'll tell you what it's gonna be. So with that, I jumped ahead of things and I got hold of Tony Manfreddy, who's uh the um director of Nevada Arts Council and um told him my idea. He said great. He said, let's come, let's talk to the city and the community and see and um Karen, you've taken it from there. Okay. So I um did have a discussion with Martine and asked her um if we could um do this and you know what would be the best way to do it. Um I also had a discussion with Christine uh Pichor over at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center, um, and we decided November 6th uh at 8 a.m. Um Tony is going to be in the area. He's coming into Vegas on November 5th. He said he'd come up here in the morning on November 6th, um, and we are gonna try and have a gathering of people from Musquite um and see if he could get some input as to what the community would like to see or do so that he has a better idea as to where he can give these grant funds to for America 250. So I personally invited Martine and City Council and the mayor um and Martin put the invite out to them. Um and with Christine, we invited um the board from Musquite Fine Arts Center. I also put a call into Austin, who's the new person in charge of the Mesquite chamber, and asked him to invite his board, um, which he has done, and he said he's had one person interested. Um let's see who else did I talk to? Uh City Council. Um I sent a note to I was gonna talk to Mitzi if she was here for the Musquite Community Theater. Um anyway, um, that was about all I got to, and I can't because um Christine's gonna let us do it over at the art gallery, and there's a limited amount of space over there, so I didn't want to like put a big public notice out there and have everybody in the world show up. Um, so but I was thinking that you know some of the community leaders coming in could give him the input maybe that he needed. Um Steve and I are definitely going to be there according to Julie and the laws of the state of Nevada. We can only have three of us there. So we're looking for one more person from our commission to be there with us on November 6th at 8 a.m. Any volunteers from the commission. I I would be interested, but uh we have a scheduling conflict. I have a scheduling conflict because the tourism grant is gonna start on the 6th and 7th.
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