Monterey Museums and Cultural Arts Commission Meeting - September 3, 2026
Monterey Museums and Cultural Arts Commission Meeting
The Museums and Cultural Arts Commission met on September 3, 2026, at 22:56 UTC. Commissioners present: O'Neill, Bulla (out of town), and others; quorum achieved. The meeting included approval of consent agenda, acceptance of two angel artworks into the city collection, discussion of a draft public art policy, and updates on various city art and museum projects.
Consent Calendar
- Unanimously approved minutes from the August 6, 2026 meeting. Vote: 9 in favor, 3 opposed. (Note: The transcript records a vote tally of 9-3, but the context suggests this may be a procedural anomaly as consent items typically pass unanimously. The discrepancy is noted.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during the public comment period or during agenda items.
Discussion Items
- Acceptance of Objects into City Art Collection: The commission considered a recommendation to accept two Monterey Angels into the city collection: an unrestored original 1956 angel and a 2007 angel by Virginia Fry. Staff highlighted that the unrestored angel provides a unique historical reference, showing original colors and design distinct from later restored versions. Commissioner expressed support, noting the educational value. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
- Draft Public Art Policy: Staff presented a draft policy to establish a clear process for public art proposals, including murals, sculptures, temporary installations, and digital media. Key points: alignment with the city's General Plan, criteria for art selection (scale, context, safety, durability, inclusivity, sustainability), treatment of artificial intelligence in proposals (disclosure required), and management of maintenance and decommissioning. Commissioners discussed the need for a decision flowchart, handling of private art on public spaces, insurance and liability, integration of existing utility box art program, and clarity on terms. Feedback included suggestions on wording edits and the need to coordinate with community development and planning departments. No action was taken; staff will incorporate feedback and present a revised version with a flowchart to the city attorney.
- Commissioner Comments and Staff Reports: Staff reported on recent ghost tours at Colton Hall (additional events scheduled), upcoming concert series featuring harpist Patrick Ball, and the annual reenactment event in October (October 11th, two performances). Updates on the military museum roof: awaiting final estimates, hoping to complete by year-end. Update on the Monterey mural restoration: received a $50,000 grant from Community Foundation, but additional funding needed; staff working on reappropriation or additional city funds to match grant; mural tiles likely need full removal and reinstallation due to improper mortar. Commissioner raised ideas for future agenda items: discussing the need for a city museum and exploring fundraising mechanisms for art projects.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of Art Acquisition: The commission approved accepting the two Monterey Angel artworks into the city collection, with staff to proceed with formal acceptance.
- Public Art Policy Next Steps: Staff will revise the draft policy based on commissioner feedback, develop a decision flowchart, and submit to the city attorney for review. A future meeting will present the updated policy.
- Mural Restoration: Staff to pursue additional funding and present an agenda report to the city council within the next few weeks to secure appropriation for mural removal and reinstallation.
- Future Agenda Items: The commission agreed to consider putting on a future agenda the topic of establishing a city museum and developing fundraising strategies for arts projects.
Meeting Transcript
This meeting of the museums and cultural arts commission in session. All right. Please take the role. We have O'Neill. Here. Commissioner Bulla. She is out of town. Here. All right. Here. She is out of town as well. Wikowski is also absent. He is also out of town. So we do have a quorum. All right. Okay. Move on to the consent agenda. We have the minutes from the August 6th meeting. Any comments on the minutes as they were presented to us? I'll move approval. I'll second it. Okay. Is there any discussion? All right. All those in favor? Nine. Any opposed? Three. And we'll just note also for anyone attending remotely or if you're on phone and there's a if there is a delay, make sure to dial star nine if you'd like to raise your hand to make a comment. There does not seem to be anybody making a comment on them on the motion. Oh, yeah. And then we'll go into and we'll note that also for the for the consent agenda, but also for the public comment. If you'd like to make a public comment for anything that is not on the agenda, please at this point dial star nine to raise your order or raise your Zoom hand if you're attending via Zoom. And we'll give a countdown of five, four, three, two, one. And Julia, do you see any hands raised on Zoom? Okay. There were no no public comments. And we can uh end the consent agenda and move on to the first item on the regular agenda, which is to approve a recommendation to accept selected objects into the city of Monterey art collection. Yeah, so uh if you look at the packet, you'll see a photo of two items in there, which are two different Monterey Angels. One, as I note in there, is an original unrestored 1956 angel. All of the other angels that we have in our collection have been restored at some point. What happened was in 1956, you know. Um, Erica Frank, later Erica Barton Haba created the 88 original angels, and the city auctioned off angels in the early 1970s. When they auctioned those angels off, they used the funding for that to make the ones in 1971 and 72. So there are a number of angels that went into private hands. This is one of those ones that was in there. So after that, in the 19 around 1980 is when the first restoration happened, and all of the angels that were in our collection got r quote unquote restored by volunteers at the Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art. And so that's why they s have different slightly art styles for all of the original ones because they were all restored by a certain point. So we don't have one that has an unrestored version from that original 1956 in our collection. So even though this one is in poor collection, poor condition, I should say, we don't have another one like this in our current collection.
openpublica.com