Welcome to the October 20th 2025 Arts Commission regular meeting.

Effective October 17th, 2023.

Public comments may be made in person or in writing.

If you would like to view the meeting remotely, you may do so in one of our following ways.

YouTube Live, Comcast Cable Channel 28, Rossmore Channel 26, Astown Channel 31, and ATT Uverse, Channel 99, or live stream online at the city's website.

Okay, we'll do the role.

Commissioner Perrolman here.

Commissioner Dresser.

Present.

Commissioner Clobber.

Here.

Commissioner Tessray.

Here.

Vice Chair Bangnani.

Here.

And Chair Baltazar.

Presente.

Next on the agenda is public communications.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda.

Under the Brown Act, the Commission cannot act on items raised during public communications, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer the item to staff.

Are there any?

Great.

The next next on the agenda is the consent calendar.

Does any commissioner have questions on any item on the consent calendar?

We do not.

Someone needs to call for a motion, right?

Oh great.

Is there any public comment?

I move that we approve everything on our consent calendar.

Second.

Okay.

Commissioner Perlman.

Aye.

Commissioner Dresser.

Aye.

Commissioner Quabbert?

Aye.

Commissioner Tessway.

Aye.

Vice Chair Magnani.

Aye.

And Chair Balkazar.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Great.

Next on the agenda is an item for commission consideration.

It's item 4A, consideration of the proposed mural sites, concept illustrations, and budget allocations for four mural renderings submitted for the mural grants program.

At this time, I'm going to invite staff, right?

Here we go.

All right.

Good evening, Commissioners.

My name is Mariah Nelson, public art manager for the city.

And first agenda item is to review a mural proposal from Trent Thompson of ABG Arts Group, submitted as part of his grant application.

I'm just going to do a quick refresher.

If you'll recall, the grant was first launched in 2023.

And in the two years that it was open and available, we realized no murals with it.

So at the January 2025 meeting, the Arts Commission approved a restructuring of the grant.

So this took effect in January.

The revised program eliminates the match requirement and instead offers a more accessible grant of up to 30,000 per fiscal year.

And that is to be distributed at the discretion of the commission.

So tonight, we are pleased to welcome Trent Thomson of ABG Art Group.

He's here to present his concept for all of you.

He has a series of mural installations across several buildings or walls.

And I just want to mention that in addition to being a very talented artist himself, he has actually already realized several large scale mural projects with other cities and organizations, including one right here in Walnut Creek that you're probably familiar with, the Trinity Center.

He partnered with the youth, and that's the mural up at Honda.

So with that, I'll hand it over to Trent.

Let me just familiarize myself with this.

Okay, we're good.

Hello, Commissioners.

Um, thank you for having me.

Um just to add a bit of context here.

We're aiming um to do four different locations.

This is a result of a collaboration between building owners, artists, hopefully you all, and really came from interest from a handful of building owners that I've done some work with in the past, and then also I don't know how long ago it was that Mariah and I had sat down and she had told me about the matching fund program.

And I think the the proof is in the pudding that being that that sat there for two years, I'm excited at the way that it was restructured, because in order to make these murals happen, it does take a lot.

Someone has to go do the legwork to you know to get the building owners on board and get those designs and make all the cooks in the kitchen agree to what we're doing.

So more than an artist on a project, I've just that's that's more of what my role has been just trying to put the pieces together for this project.

Um so I'll just read through this.

We're aiming to create a Walnut Creek mural program by creating collaborations between local artists, building owners, and the city of Walnut Creek, produced by ABG Art Group, which is my company.

We do large scale art installation all over the Bay Area, and we'd love to do more and more here in Walnut Creek.

Um currently engaged collaborators include the Walnut Creek Downtown Association, uh BH development, which is Brian Harihara, Comerica, and Zebra Tattoo.

Um, there's all of those kind of entities have multiple excited participants within them.

Um we have Sean here who's with uh Zebra Tattoo.

Um, here if you guys have questions on that specific project, and just to go towards like some of the legwork of the challenges of making these projects happen.

We I want you to kind of see, I want to just call attention to the legwork that's been put into this because we do already have four signed approvals for mural locations with building owners signed permissions.

We do have four approved artists and teams where we presented a group of local artists to the building owners, they um deliberated amongst their teams, selected which artists they wanted to work with, then have also already put um compensated those artists to do back and forth with design, and so what you guys are getting here today is already all of the work has been done as far as getting the permissions and getting sign-off from the building ownership tenants of the buildings, all of the necessary parties, and finally, beyond just that, we don't um we are requesting more than what we have, so I'm I'm happy that the the one-to-one match is not requirement, but we're also coming with financial contributions committed from these building owners.

Um, and we have five different financial sponsors who have agreed to be a part of this in different amounts.

Um I should have just showed you that instead of doing that whole this whole long ramble, but essentially, like we these are the steps that we have passed, and now we're at the submit for city approval, so just want you guys to recognize that um yeah, this feels like maybe we're graduating onto the part where we actually get to put paint on the walls.

Um, I'll read through this.

Um, based on market square footage, the career stage of the artists and comparable programs we're producing in other cities.

The market rate for these four murals could justify a higher budget.

That being said, given our conversations with artists, the management support required, and our shared desire to see this project off the ground.

We hope that with the city's partnership, we can at least fund these projects within the lower end of industry standards, which is actually um I want to commend the city of Walnut Creek.

Oftentimes the city when we come with proposals, it's very rare that the city is like you need to pay more to these.

So we had kind of come out of like this is what it will take to get off the ground, and we just want to make sure that we um to your credit that we are at least um getting within the industry standards of so these artists can make some money on the projects.

Um we have independently fundraiser committed 16,000 contingent on at least at least a one-to-one match from the building owners.

Um we hope you recognize the legwork initiative and community investment it's taken to get to this point.

We invite the city of Walnut Creek and Art Committee to join in the building on the momentum.

By producing all four walls simultaneously.

We hope to create some organic energy around the program, foster goodwill within the community, and highlight the walnut creek Art program through community building around the packaged initiative.

Um I think if we're able to do all four, I I do understand that you all have the discretion to say we want to do one and three or two and four.

We're proposing all four because we think that if we get the train moving, people will jump on.

People will be, it'll be a bit of a mural festival.

People will there'll be a food element, and someone will want to come play music, and we're just hoping to like create some of that momentum by doing all of them.

However, partial funding of the program through contributions towards individual walls would also be helpful.

Um, and that's I know what you guys will be deliberating on tonight.

Um this is just like ugly wall, pretty well.

Let's do it.

Wait, this is about me and my um my business and some of the large scale and community operations that we do throughout the Bay Area.

Um, I'll gloss through this because I know you guys want to see pictures and walls.

Um here's some other like large-scale murals, just kind of um adding to our portfolio and expertise.

Um, some more, some tall ones, some long ones, the pretty ones, some bright ones.

This is just you know, a few slides about who we're prioritizing working with.

Large-scale public art has is an industry uh traditionally dominated by people that look like me.

So we're doing um our part to spread spread the love, and this is not something we're doing in response to just recent things, but is very much something that's shown in our portfolio from way before 2020 when that was the thing when people started doing that.

So this is just kind of more about some of our our history.

I'm gonna slide through all this.

The game plan, this is the fun part.

Um, the walls, the artists, and the designs.

Uh, we'll start with wall number one.

Um, this is the address is 1419 North Broadway.

Um, I think it's a great wall, has some minor challenges uh with the piping and things.

Um, my personal opinion is the great spots for the murals are the walls that aren't beautiful unless you paint them.

I think like sometimes you'll see like beautiful brick, and then people want to paint the mural over it.

To me, though, those aren't the walls that need the attention, it's it's walls like these that are a great canvas but have some character.

Um general dimensions, uh it's about 12 feet tall by about 70 feet wall.

Um what I did here is I put in kind of our like a high-end budget, and then what we're requesting from the city to get this off the ground.

Um, and you'll see that as we slide through all of these.

Um, and like I like I mentioned, we will happily accept any portion of these amount that you guys are able to allocate, but this is what we're requesting.

Um, because of the challenges, we felt like Steve Anderson was an amazing artist.

Um, the tenant building ownership wanted to do something celebrating local flora and fauna.

Steve has a large portfolio doing just that um with local connections here in Walnut Creek, and also his mixed media between using traditional bucket paints and then spray paints.

So I think this would be that style lens to him being able to easily get around some of these tough objects and incorporate those into the wall.

Um so we felt like he's a great fit, and um the stakeholders agreed.

Um here's some more like floral and the approved design is native florals.

Essentially, you know, you can you can kind of see some of the level of detail here that you'll actually have rendered.

Um, but this is the layout as Steve proposed.

Um, I don't know if you guys want to stop and ask questions or make comments wall by wall, or if you want me to just kind of get through this and then you guys want to assess what do you think works best?

Just cruise through it.

Okay.

Um so that is wall number one.

Uh wall number two.

So this is adjacent to that, this is the same building.

Um, so the first three walls are actually right all in this area.

Um, as you you might there's some some perks and some downfalls to each of the each of the walls, but I think by creating this like mural destination by being able to do all three.

We're really excited about like there's a there's a mural hotspot over here.

Um, this tunnel is an awesome opportunity for a bit more of an immersive experience.

Um it's they're pretty much all the same length, but different heights.

Um similar budget.

The the windows and doors kind of create some challenges here, and the artists here, Walnut Creek residents, they might have just moved, but they were there.

They have ties.

So we're gonna I'm just gonna claim it for now.

Um this is a husband and wife duo, Joey and Alexandra.

Um they both have unique styles but work together often.

Um here's Alex is on the right, one of Joey's pieces here on the left.

Um, very vibrant, always kind of has something to do with nature.

Um, this one we also wanted to do something that ties a little bit without it being like um definitively signage, but we we do want um this there's a tattoo shop right here, it kind of fits the vibe of what's happening here in this tunnel, which we're excited about.

So they took the time to put this design together.

Another completely different style, but kind of local floor and fauna theme around the doors, just adding some color to this tunnel here, and you can see kind of how it would interact around the windows and doors.

Um, this is the third wall, so this is also right in that same um area.

This is just the other side.

So you have wall one, a tunnel, and then wall uh three, which is on the other side of that building.

Um, this one is probably traditionally the like the flattest location.

Um, I think foot traffic-wise, all three of these locations get incredible traffic.

Um, the first one probably gets the best, I think, driving traffic.

Um, this one gets a ton of eyeballs as well.

Um, I will say on the first two walls, because I think this is something for you all to keep in consideration.

Some of that sixteen thousand dollars that we have um committed is wall specific.

So, you know, this building owner says, like, I would I would be happy to fund a portion on wall one, I would be happy to portion, you know.

So the first two walls, we do have I'll say a higher buy-in from stakeholders than this wall.

Um, but this wall we're also very excited about, and we do have the permissions, but I just want to kind of there will be some engineering we need to do as far as if we just want to fund this one that has effect on what contributions we have from the building owner.

So if you guys have a questions about that, I'm happy to explain.

On this one, um, we wanted to do a bit of a uh it's a it's a cultural mashup.

So this is the one where I am putting on um my artist hat and working collaborating with another artist.

Um he's a mixed race uh Chinese person is kind of like the characters the characteristics and culture he's pulling from for this uh design, and here's uh his work on the right one on the left.

Um we've done many projects together, and we're excited about this one.

Um, this is essentially the project where we're going kind of these patterns are essentially fusing through different different styles where you kind of have this dichotomy of what you see on the right versus the left matching, but also you know having this unique play as you go through it.

Um I do think that we'll probably go a little less saturated in in real life than this one when we see it in the on the wall.

Some of these colors are like really coming through because of the rendering.

Um it'll be a little bit more smacking in the face a little bit less, I think, in when you're seeing it in real life.

Um our fourth wall, which is just a street over, um, is a bit smaller, uh, maybe even higher traffic area.

Um, this one's really cool.

There's a new um shop here in 1372 North Main.

This one we have uh they're excited about it.

The building owner on on who actually owns the wall is excited about it.

Then the tenant inside is excited about it, and then Brian, who's uh local developer, sister owned, like there's so many people that want to make this one happen.

Um, so the artist here is Zoe Adia Boston.

Um, they really wanted to do something that kind of also I think in a lot of ways ties all these together.

Um, where there is some like flora and fauna, but also some cultural pattern work.

Um, this piece is contemporary plan, traditional idea, something playful and fun while still seamlessly fitting into the Walnut Creek art collection.

Uh and then this is some um that's oh yeah, well, it's the back of her head, but um, this is Zoe and some of her work.

I think this one on the left is kind of a good um stylistic interpretation of just how we're she's doing this surreal scene um where it's something not purely traditional but still lends to something you know, something that's a bit like I'll say safer um in style choice.

Um and so this is essentially the the proposal she's making, like painting this kind of faux archway with uh the scene happening uh behind it, and you have up of course like the the rolling hills and local four and fauna here, and this I'm just throwing out there.

There's I'm excited to um have been able to put some of this legwork together, hoping that we can make these walls happen.

And also, here's lots of other boring blank walls around Walnut Creek that maybe next uh next year when there's more funds, we'll go knock on more doors and continue some of this momentum.

So just food for thought.

Wanted to end it there.

Um I think that's it.

Yeah, thank you.

And yeah.

Thank you.

We'll open it up for commissioner questions, right?

Yep.

Like I have a few.

Who wants to go first?

Go ahead.

Yes.

I I've got uh some sort of process questions and then questions about some of the actual sites.

Um these are intended to be permanent murals, is that right?

Yes.

Okay.

I I only asked that because one time somebody told me, well, murals are just considered temporary.

So we're not thinking I think it depends more on your definition of temporary than I think generally you're you can expect 20 to 30 year lives um out of paint on a wall.

So if it's more than temporary.

Um, and I don't know if I'm reading the report right or not, but it looked to me as if the public arts uh committee recommended all three, and the staff is recommending all four.

Did I read that right?

No, no, no.

He's he's presenting.

I know you're presenting all four, but so staff met with the public art committee, and at the time there was discussion, strong agreement that wall number three and rendering number three was um something that they all liked.

And then later, staff received an email saying one said all of them, the other said just still one of them.

So if that makes sense.

Did that answer your question?

I guess.

Okay.

Um okay.

Well, I you know, I could stop there and go come back and do the walls where I could do my whole list.

Up to you.

Okay, I'll just keep going.

Um, can we take it wall by wall?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll do wall one and then.

Do we have any just broader questions about the proposal itself before we go down each wall?

Or maybe just maybe like general program questions, so we can as I mentioned there's there's some there might be some like strategy or something that you guys want to talk about.

I just have a question because it's it's um seems to be a secret who the building owners are, and I know that the building owners have to be on the application.

Who are the building owners for 1419 Broadway and 13?

Um, not a secret at all.

I have to North Maine.

We have I have like specific names.

I think so for the you can talk more to the first three walls is all one building owner, um, but then different tenants involved.

I don't actually care about the tenants because tenants come and go with the building owner owns the building.

Who is it?

What's the building owner?

Terry Ring.

Is a is uh 1419, and how about the 1372 north on on Main Street?

Let me pull I can pull up all of the agreements that I'll have in graphics.

Um I can pop on a Wi-Fi.

So we're just share from here, right?

Okay.

Is it a number of owners?

Is that why it's hard?

You guys want to maybe ask for uh question or library?

I have a I have a question about the budget.

So on one slide in your deck, you made a note of 16k fundraised.

Yes, then during your presentation you talked about wanting to match the 16 from your uh building owners or your tenants, plus a request from the city.

So you are you operating with ideally in a perfect world, you'd have 62k for all four murals.

Uh that sounds great.

I was asking for less, but you can if you if you got it, we'll take it.

Essentially, the when I started the lag work of putting this program together, there was the assumption that we were looking for a one-to-one match.

So the what I presented to the building owners and anyone that funded was if you give me five bucks, the city, I'm gonna go ask for five bucks from the city.

Okay.

So that's where the 16 I I fundraised 16,000, which 32,000 would not be enough to to completely fund these, but then uh Mariah had told me that the program was restructured, no longer limited your contribution to one-to-one.

So I'm still coming to you with that sixteen thousand, but inviting you to contribute more, and then we can make this happen.

It's lower.

Okay.

Um got it.

I think ideally um bluntly.

I know I think you guys have thirty thousand to spend.

Right, right.

That would be the ask.

Understood.

Okay.

Um should we go mural for mural?

Oh, he's looking up who the building owner is for 1372 North Miller.

And then just to make sure we're today, look the our decision as commissioners is around granting them something.

We can't necessarily get into if I'm and correct me if I'm wrong, the actual mural changes.

So you can provide feedback, but our focus today is your decision, which is on whether or not grant funding will be awarded to any of the proposals in front of you.

Um so just in kind of efficiency of time, keep in mind we're looking for consensus around funding, and then you can also provide other feedback, but we need to get to a decision around any grant award.

I have a question about the grant.

I know that we have 30,000 to spend, but it's per fiscal year, so uh, so once we spend this 30,000 this year, the next fiscal year w what do we have allotted for that and how would that work so that we can plan ahead for more murals?

I don't know that if this is uh that's an Emily question.

Oh, this is musical chairs tonight.

Good evening, Commissioners.

Emily Enders curator, Bedford Gallery.

Oh no, I don't actually want to see the individual.

I want to say who owns 1372 in the street.

So now I have a tenants up to and bring on to both buildings.

He owns wall one, two, and three.

How about wall four?

Wall four is um, okay, while Trent looks that up, I'm gonna answer your question about budget.

Um so um, not to bore you, but fiscal years for the city run from July through June.

So our fiscal year, we're in the like the first quarter of our fiscal year.

So if we award if the arts commission chooses to award all thirty thousand dollars tonight, um, for instance, that would max out your budget for this year.

The next fiscal year starts in July of 2026, and so your budget would then be um $30,000 again to allocate.

So it's $30,000 per fiscal year for the next two budget years, which is what the arts commission recommended to council and council approved.

Um, and then of course, when we are doing budgeting for the next two cycles or for the next cycle, you can as a commission decide to increase that amount, decrease that amount, and then we would bring that to council as well for approval.

Um, so does that mean that once we've made the decision on these um that we would have to wait till July of next year to have funding for anybody else that comes along?

If you um award all thirty thousand dollars this evening, yes.

Um was it thirty thousand dollars it got into the budget back in July of this year?

Um so we came to the commission in um October with a budget development conversation, and then based on that meeting, we developed a budget and brought um the final draft to you in January, which you recommended to council, and that budget is what went to council, council approved it in June of this year, and then our um fiscal year started July one.

Yeah, the reason why I ask is because uh I know we've been we've had this program now.

I thought it was three years, but two years.

Um, so I thought that we would have um oh, like um it amasses year over year.

Right.

So what generally what happens, and this is what the arts commission decided when we did do our original budget, is that that money does not carry forward.

Every year is a brand new budget.

So if money is not used in a fiscal year, it doesn't necessarily roll over unless that request is made to finance.

Um and that was a conversation that the arts commission had, but we just as a commission you decided that you just wanted to allocate $30,000 per fiscal year and not roll that over.

Um so how do we because I I believe a project like this is gonna be successful, but I'd I I want us to carry forward the momentum and not have uh because I and not have zero dollars, so like would the staff then come back to the commission if somebody else should show up after these projects may be done um and then ask for more money before like because it's seems like July so far away from now.

Sure.

So you're saying if someone comes to us in January with a um application, we would come to the commission.

Yeah, um, that's for the commission to decide.

Um so we would present the mural most likely, and then the commission would decide whether or not to allocate new funds to that.

But as far as our budget stands now, there's only 30, not only there are $30,000 um allocated to this particular mural project.

Thank you.

Um I have a question.

So I understand we are going with this your business um as a whole to get the momentum going and we need murals happening in town.

I understand that, but piggybacking on not being able to have funds in case someone, you know, another business come up.

Are we deciding on these buildings right now because there are no other mural opportunities that come up in our town?

Are there not other um things that we are there any other future um mural opportunities that we as commissioners have the opportunity to sort of see and decide if these are actually you know getting all our funds to own for, which are they're great.

So I'm not minding that part, but I just wonder if there were any other opportunities had come up.

There were um a couple of applications received prior, however, they did not go through because the building owners could not reach an agreement with the artists, and so none of those were pushed forward for review for the commission.

Um we have no indication that they would come back to us.

It's been a long time.

Um that said, we see walls in the city where definitely we would love to see more mural work.

However, no one at this point has come and applied for the mural grant.

Um so I don't see, I mean, if somebody does come and apply in January, that would be wonderful, and we hope that more people do apply, but at this point, no, we don't have anybody in line that I know of.

Can we give Trent a list of addresses?

Yes, yes.

Okay.

Um I do um I'm gonna go back to Jill's question here.

So the owner on the other one is La Merinda Development and Investment, and the principal that I have the agreement here is Laura Odom.

Let's just walk through wall one.

So you're requesting 10k.

Can you show us um one more time?

This is the if I'm facing zebra, this is the left wall with the little baby parking lot.

Correct, it's got the little kind of circular built-out sculptural bench kind of thing as you turn in.

Okay.

Um, so 10 for this one.

They're all, I think, I think this one's 12 and all the other ones are 10.

Okay.

And it's just the complexity.

Yeah.

Which does, which uh to your point, it adds um, we're requesting more than more than you have allocated, assuming it's just the $30,000.

Um, we we added that request here because I was told that there was some inclination that not all four would be funded, in which case I wanted to like this is what we would actually like to make it happen.

That being said, if you need to, if you want to do eight, eight, and or we can I don't know how the math will got it.

You're flexible.

I'm flexible.

I'm here saying we have the the train is moving.

Okay.

Please jump on.

Um, and these would be like good target numbers, but we'll take what you what you want to get.

Would you go back to wall one on your screen?

Yes.

And I'm also still unclear on what we're actually doing today, besides maybe allocating $30,000.

Are we not?

We're doing it wall by wall, but we're not discussing the art on the wall at all.

In other words, if we vote yes for a wall, it means we're we're good with the art that Trent's showing us.

These these murals from my understanding have been approved by the artist and the building tenants.

But they haven't been approved by the artist commission.

But it there's at least two players in.

So we I guess you we would determine our grant allocation could be based on the art we do or don't like.

So if you are awarding a grant, right?

That would be a good opportunity to provide any additional feedback, or if there's feedback that you feel your commissioners would fellow commissioners should hear as part of the discussion of whether or not to award a grant, that's great.

Um if we're trending in the direction of not wanting as a collective, a consensus, not wanting to award a grant for a particular wall or concept, then we want to limit the amount of time we're spending on that discussion.

Okay, understand.

Okay, I'm my question's on wall one.

I have a lot on wall one.

First of all, um, this wall to me has the one of the lowest visibilities for both vehicular traffic and pedestrians.

Partly because there is a very large and old heritage valley oak sitting right next to the wall with a call the Joe Bologna, or who's an artist bench in front of it.

This wall is only 12 feet high, and the times that I have both driven by this wall and walked by, believe me, Trent, I have been walking by these locations many times since I've known about this, and there's typically cars parked there, often not always as high as this box truck here, but often SUVs.

So fully a half half of the wall is obscured by cars, so it becomes to me a wall that's and it's more complicated because of the utilities that are there.

So it's a wall, and it's also a place that people don't typically walk through.

When they're next to SASA, you can walk through this wall through this area and see a wall mural cross from SASA and walk through.

I don't typically people drive through here because that's a direction of traffic.

People, if they're gonna walk through, typically walk through the zebra little arcade, if you will.

And the other thing is, I guess, I'm just undone by is that this is supposed to be native leaves, and these are tropical leaves, and none of these plants exist anywhere in Northern California, and they're under a Heritage Valley Oak, and it has to me, the mural has no relation to the place it sits.

It's a beautiful piece of art that to me doesn't sit underneath a native valley oak.

So that's my problem with this wall.

It in your presentation I saw another rendition for this wall, and it did not include Hawaii type plants.

Uh did you remember that?

Because that might address what commissioner dresser is talking about.

I would feel really silly if I put the wrong one in there, but it's it's possible.

Oh, I did put the wrong one in there.

Oh, okay.

Like one of these, you're saying, and now would you go to the rendering?

So this is tropical leaves from the yeah.

No, I I get it, but when he was presenting, so I want you to confirm to us what is the chosen art for this.

Is it this one or is it up in the air still?

It it is this one as of now.

Like I said, I think that there's um there's at the end of the day, it's like the the building officer, but building owner, tenant, artist all have to be in alignment before we come to you.

So this they all are in alignment on this.

And we're coming here.

I'm sure if if it was approved contingent on adding, you know, this flower, this flower, and this flower, everyone would be happy to do so.

For me, it'd be contingent on having none of these leaves and having all native leaves of some sort.

Um I wanna go back to one more thing, Trent.

Yeah, I love your mural that you did for Trinity.

I have taken so many people by the Trinity mural, and every time I go, there are freaking trucks parked in front of it, and fully a third of your mural is obscured, and there's actually important information and art on the bottom of your mural.

I do not like murals that are on pretty short walls like this being so obscured by vehicles, you just can't see the art, and part of your Trinity mural is lost every time people see it because there's part of cars parked in front of it.

Do we have thank you?

Do we have additional folks on wall one?

Additional questions.

Okay, so questions.

Um I think the question has been addressed by uh commissioner dresser.

I'll wait for statements about this.

Yeah.

Should we go into wall two?

Do we have questions about each one we need to discuss, or should we go into statements?

I had a question about wall one.

I feel like that's a pretty dark area, especially in the evening, that wall specifically.

Would the mural be illuminated somehow, or what do you plan to do with that?

Um we don't have a plan currently to illuminate it.

I think adding some lights to it would be a great idea, definitely something I'd be happy to to suggest to building ownership.

Or tenant.

What do you think about lights?

I mine is not a question.

I want to know why um the the building owners or why everybody's excited about the specific space, because I shared um commissioner dresser's perspective.

I went to see it in person.

Um I do think anything we do there will get lost.

I do appreciate being able to drive and be surprised by it, um, but I want to know why it is it's exciting for everyone.

What is it that we're missing?

Um so I think on on this one, truly this wall is the catalyst for all four of these walls, um, because the of the multitude of stakeholders that want it done.

So it's uh the the parking lot owner wants it done.

The tenant uh zebra wants it done.

The building owner is excited about improving the somewhat blighted wall, and then SASA, the restaurant owner, um, adjacent on the other side is also contributing to this wall.

So I think as far as the which one actually has the most momentum, um, outside of this commission, it would it would be this wall, and it ultimately, this was kind of the foot in the door to be like, what about what about this Comerica wall?

What about this uh which is wall number three?

Um, that's how I was referring to it.

So I think ultimately this this is the one that um I think helped get the ball rolling, and there's yeah, four different parties that have all been excited about making an improvement to the city.

Even if I think um I want to just make a presentation and not be hard selling, but to your question, I think about the opportunity cost of funding these murals.

I think that the two years were where the funds was sitting idly and then also not rolling over to um I think is testament to the the opportunity cost of of funding these is very little um unless it takes somebody like myself to go make these things happen, and so um not that somebody else might not, but I think that the yeah, I'll just that would be kind of the the one sell I would make is like if there are other walls that you think are better opportunities.

I think there's no better way than to build momentum through murals and make more people want murals, so that when this funds are available again next time, we have more excited artists and more excited building owners and more excited commission.

So um this is more of a general question, but is um um I'm big on diversity and you mentioned diversity.

Um what what does diversity mean to you and how do you bring artists diversity into your group?

Um so it's I think um be delicate about my answer.

I don't I don't think we do it in a way um where it's explicit, um, unless obviously sometimes it it calls for that.

Um we we don't we're not in the business of saying like we want a black woman for this wall, we want a like it obviously there are situations where that makes sense, we when you're doing anything that has native anything or things like that, but I think my point is more about like organically that is what our network is, organically, those are the artists that we work with, organically.

We are working with artists um that traditionally are not looking like me.

Um so I think in this, in I mean, if you want to get kind of um specific demographics on this project, um, I think it's a pretty good split.

You got uh uh a white dude, a Chinese dude, uh uh white woman and a black woman.

I think it's like we and that's not something that we're intentionally saying.

Like we want her for this because of that, it's just more about that's organically what the business that you're contributing towards is doing.

Um thank you for that answer.

I appreciate it.

Um, I'll leave it at that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have a general question also now that you've brought that up.

So does this start first with Trent you saying, look, there's there's this cool building, it's got some interesting walls.

And then do you start the process of saying, hey, this wall number I'll call this number one.

I'm gonna call Steve Anderson because I know he can deal with pipes and blah blah blah pretty well.

And I mean, and then you can like how are the artists selected?

You get do you select them and then you go to the owners or do you like to the owners like, hey, I'm thinking about this wall one, like what do you guys want to see here, and then you go find the artist?

I mean, I just say I figure you know Wallet Creek pretty well.

You would have seen this oak tree, so you would have known what you're looking for as an artist underneath it.

What I've found works best is to give each each kind of cook in the kitchen uh a decision that they're making or that they're heavily involved in.

So typically what I'll do is I'll engage a building owner in this position and say, Okay, what do you guys want?

Okay, they want XYZ, and then I'll say, you know, they'll lean on me as a curator.

I will go and put together a proposal for that building owner of here's let's say eight artists that we could work with for this, this.

This one's great because they're local, this one's great because they can get around these edges, this one's great because they want to do it for less.

This one's great because they have a big name, whatever it is, and then I like to have the building owner very heavily involved in who they're selecting, what style they like, because I find that that then allows for the artists to to feel more like themselves, like so.

Like so naturally, I'm like, you guys pick the artists that you like their body of work, and then I think generally it's more it works better that way then the artist isn't like trying to be somebody else.

And then at that point I connect the I reach out to the artist and say hey I you know I have relationships with a lot of artists.

I've you know this building owner is interested in in creating proposal I'll get a um a design fee from the building owner to then engage that artist with the building owner then I do my best to step out of the middle and let them figure out what they where they want to land as far as design and then we come here with once they kind of get there.

That answer question okay do you think that the folks that are um your collaborators I'll say your artists like do you um think that they could you could possibly add like indigenous groups um of artists that could be selected to provide a you know different spin on art versus the I don't want to say typical but you know Asian black or that is um there's more than that right for sure.

I think for um well yes I'd be very excited to we have some c collaborators uh that we've been intentionally building and doing things with um who are specifically a Loney or Mi Walk um we're doing a project actually right now creating a a monument to a burial ground in San Ramon where we're collaborating with um with a handful with the tribe that land was desecrated and then artists that are like directly tied to that land um and then pulling in a whole bunch of natural anyway yes we would love to do that.

I it was probably in a handful of these presentations to the building owner and ultimately wasn't the route that they chose to go but it would be something that I'd be very excited about bringing to Wanna Creek um in the future and we definitely have um some collaborators who would fit them all.

Sorry I have another question.

So let's say we decided as a commission not to approve wall one is the building owner and the tenants are and you and the rest of the collaborators strong enough to say you know what we're doing this wall we don't don't need the arch commission's permission and we'll get the money together to put it in do you think that that will happen with this wall?

It depends what you say to wall two.

I think would be the answer because I think it's similar it's similar stakeholders on those two.

So I can't I can't speak to all of them.

But yeah.

Okay.

Commissioner Dresser um maybe addressed the two questions I had um but raised another issue in in the process and that is you presented this artist as uh doing native uh flora and of it is native everything's native to something this just doesn't happen to be native to Walnut Creek.

I'm just wondering whether there was any discussion uh when you're talking about this this artist who specializes in native things at your level or at the uh committee level about the the fact that this is not native.

Sean do you want to weigh in on the back and forth with you and Steve and the flowers we have um Sean is the tenant of that building who is um heavily involved in that process.

If you could come up to the mic for wall one.

Yeah.

And also introduce yourself at the mic.

My name is Sean Delfani I'm a part owner of Zebra tattoo and body piercing we've been here since 2008.

So your question was why those flowers for wall one essentially yeah what would what what was the nature of the discussion about the that ended up with you presenting this as a native fauna or flora.

Right.

Um well I mean in terms of you know our brand um I mean it's obviously we're M zebra and I know we don't own the building um we've been there since 2008 and we have a long lease established um and we wanted to go with something not straight, some sort of zebra wall or zebra print or very branded um but we wanted to kinda go in that direction of kind of that jungle theme.

But you know we are we're not one hundred percent set on anything.

We're obviously we have an open mind.

We wanna we want to get it done.

Um so we're open to any and all feedback.

So yeah, I know he's already spent some time on that, but um I'm sure Trent, you've it's not your first rodeo, so if there's any other you know feedback down the line, we're happy to hear it and make whatever adjustments.

Well, I'm happy to hear that, but also want to say that uh you guys did a great job with my granddaughter last week.

Nice, nice.

Happy to hear that.

Happy to hear.

Cool.

Yeah, Sean, I know you're long-time.

I I know I know your name from Las Lamas.

Yes, um, you guys are long time Walnut Creek family.

I know you know what Walnut Creek native plants are.

I know that your lobby is tropical plants, so I'm having to wonder if the artist kind of rift on the tropical plants lining the walkway, and that's how this ended up tropical plants out here.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm gonna speak for Trent, but I think it was a word salad moment when you said native plants, it was not native to Walnut Creek, it was tropical plants.

So I think we're getting a little hung up on that.

I just want to clarify, not native to Walnut Creek plants.

Should we is there additional public comment?

So we should finish any questions on remaining walls and then open for public comment comments.

Thank you.

Do you want should we move to the next one or you guys okay?

Um, make statements about wall one or two questions, questions.

We'll do questions, then public comment, and then your statements.

Let's go to wall two.

Wall two, I've got a question.

I was gonna ask how the artists why they collaborated, um, because I really like their art separately, but they're a married couple.

Is this a tr uh pretty new thing for them that they're doing all the collaborations?

I saw they did a huge collaboration for the Emoryville um the seawall project, which is fascinating.

Um so when you approached them, was it in your intention to get both of them?

It was so um you you spoke of the Emoryville project, so that's the city of Emoryville is a is a client we're working with at the moment, they're doing um a cultural district founding initiative, so we've been working with them and worked with uh Joey and Alex on that.

And they actually they got married like a little less than a year ago, and that was like one of their uh in conversation with them.

They were like, we want to start doing stuff like together more.

So that is I presented them together and separately to um the building owner, and this is the route that made sense.

I think I will say I think it seems like the this design leans a little more Joey than Alex, I'll I'll say, but um I don't know exactly how their process works.

So, interesting.

But yeah, that's how I I presented it, the two of them.

And can you tell me, can you go to the art that they've proposed, please?

Um I wanted to know what kind of the floor and fauna on here.

They do native floor and fauna, and I'm in understanding I think that this is a mountain line which is native, and we got the snake, but I wanna could you tell me what snakes we have on here?

I see one of them's a two-headed snake.

It's probably in my text somewhere.

Um, Joey could tell you, Alex can tell you if they were here.

Um I I feel like the conversation might go similarly to wall one where we're trying to trying to um to walk the line between go doing something that's like explicitly branded, um, and doing something that is like a direct ode to like Walnut Creek native.

I think that um I don't know if I'm getting anyone in trouble.

I think that there's um in conversation um also with with you both, um you had expressed a desire to not they didn't say it like this, these are my words, but to just do a little less like cow on the hill, like basic.

We've seen we've seen this before type of artwork and push the envelope a little bit.

Um so in me uh relaying that to the artists, you know, this is where we this is where we landed.

And any idea what kind of flower this is?

I'd have to I'd have to look it up.

Okay, yeah.

I guess I assume we'd have the artists kind of on the phone or whatever zoomed in, we could have some questions about the specifics of their murals.

I have a question about the breezeway.

Um are you doing the entire breezeway all the way to Main Street or just that first half?

The whole the whole thing both sides.

So all the way to Elyo.

Well, to the stairs.

The stairs.

Yeah.

First half.

First half.

Yeah.

Okay.

Before like that stuff.

Okay.

So that's the thing that's your arm.

Um that's him standing on the stairs there.

So it'd be everything from there down.

And and it's not you're not gonna erase that piercing sign.

I like that sign.

I mean, uh, you know, we are talking about doing it.

You could come to the mic.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, this this space here, um, we we are planning on doing some of uh the ceiling as well.

Uh just with you know the whole mural being this you know beautiful art on the walls, and we can't we just really don't want this kind of plain white ugly ceiling.

Um so there's some incredible skylights there that we were uh gonna be you know continuing the artwork up on the ceiling as well to make it a whole immersive experience.

Cool.

Do you have that artwork here?

Or is this is it a continuous of the snakes or do I miss it?

For the ceiling, uh we don't have any renderings yet, or um, but it's you have an idea what kind of artists are.

Not as of yet.

Um we've only discussed the size of the walls, but um it probably wouldn't be something like super intricate up on the ceiling, um, but at least something to kind of uh tie everything together.

And you're gonna keep the plants.

Plants, yes.

So uh we've talked about you see where the uh kind of the the red part of the wall, um the plants kind of go up to that level.

Um so same kind of idea as a ceiling is we want to have something more kind of simple on the lower half of that wall, because we do plan on keeping the the plants uh in the alleyway, but then most you know majority of the artwork being uh on the upper upper two-thirds of that wall.

Would the art extend all the way to the ceiling or just to the tops of the doors and the windows?

Uh top all the way to the ceiling.

Yeah.

Anything else on wall two?

Questions?

Okay, well, should we move on to wall three?

The plants are blackberries.

For all the ones that grow along the creeks, the snakes are garter snakes and the birds are a crow from Joey.

Maybe that was a earlier iteration.

Garter snakes, though, for sure.

Great.

Do you want to take us to wall three?

Sure.

Wall three.

How did you choose to collaborate with the other artist?

Um he is uh my business partner, and we do lots of things together.

So it was uh an opportunity for us to do something that we felt like was cool.

We had this idea of weaving these designs together, and this was like a unique opportunity we felt like to do that.

Um yeah.

Um the other question is just I guess to make sure you know, ask, do you know that we're trying to only have representation from one piece of art and one artist at a time in the city, so we can spread the art around to different artists.

And so this will be your second piece of art, although I know the Trinity Center art may be a little bit more um temporary if that building gets torn down.

So this would be your permanent piece.

I just want you to know that that you you were aware of this, correct?

Um I had heard it alluded to.

Okay, yeah.

I think um the other I think speaking candidly to the commissioners, um, taking the initiative of this, like my option is like charge somebody or try to get paid as an artist, so and then that kind of works for us to to build this legwork.

And so truthfully, this is the wall that doesn't have um external funders.

Um, and so yeah, uh truth like truthfully that we're we're that's we're trying to make the program work, and like one of the ways that I can engineer it is where I I can put myself in the artist budget, and then I don't need to charge additionally for um the legwork.

So that's part of the why we're here, and um, yeah, I hope that you you would see that as a yeah.

Thank you.

Questions on wall three?

No.

Let's look at wall four.

This is our walnut creek wall.

I have more questions.

When we first saw the rendering for this wall, although it may have been a different wall.

There was an awning that was gonna get put up.

Is this wall, because there is a courtyard in front of this, going to have an awning put up?

I can't definitively say yes or no.

I can say that they're looking to make improvements to that front area.

There's a bit of a I'll call it a parklet that is designed.

They have renderings in one of the renderings, there is an awning.

That being said, the people that are contributing to this mural are excited about the mural and I'm sure would make an informed decision about whether or not they put an awning, what type of awning they put.

It's it's the same, it's the same people who own the wall, uh, who own 1372 who are also um invested in making the mural happen.

So I'm sure um, yeah, I can't definitively say like this is what they will be constructing, but I know they'll be constructing with the mural intentionally.

Okay.

And I as I said earlier, tenants don't matter, but do we know what tenant might be going to this empty space?

And there's a a new coffee shop in the space across from it, but any idea who the tenant is might be going to this empty space that's that we see the windows of.

Um I don't I don't believe so.

This one is Walnut Creek's a big little place.

The the person that owns the parking lot, sister owns this building.

She was excited, they both are excited about contributing to this, and the new coffee shop is also excited because they're the ones who are gonna be doing the parklet there.

Um I don't know who the tenant of the actual building that is being painted on is prospected to be.

Okay.

Can you show the artwork?

Sure.

And then my question about the artist, do you know what the significance of Zoe's I'm calling like smoke rings are?

I've seen that a couple other art.

Um, they're they're African patterns.

I don't want to call them traditional African patterns.

I don't know specifically, but I think it's um directly tied to her culture and identity and just kind of her artistic expression.

You see them I think often throughout her work.

Yeah, maybe not in these references, but I think I read somewhere online it was about like futurism and kind of looking toward the future.

And what about those hieroglyphs on top?

I think it's all kind of in the same, we call it language as the kind of like smoke ring patterns.

And is there any reason that you know of that she did not design the mural to cover the entire wall?

Yes, because um they want to eventually paint the full building, and um they felt like they wanted to be able to to uh they they're I think they wanted to be able to paint around it later if they were doing it and they might be doing adding something to the top side of the wall and they didn't want to have to remove it.

They didn't want to cover up the mural.

It'd be great if they could paint before the mural goes up.

I agree.

And looking at this, just I'm trying to imagine that awning that we saw in one of the original pictures.

It's about the height of the bottom, like the top of the black awnings in the in that rendering.

Oh yeah, okay.

Okay.

So you you the arch might you kind of like maybe lose the top of the arch kind of thing, but it would you wouldn't lose the vast majority of the mural.

Okay, thank you.

So earlier you said you pick artists based on what you feel like their work is fitting for the mirror for the for the space.

Why do you feel like this artist's work fits this area best?

This is such a busy area, it is my kids practically live there.

It's all kinds of stuff.

So how does this excite the area?

Yeah, I think um they also flowers are popular.

I think that the style that the that the stakeholders could agree on as we were going through things.

They wanted like something that was bright color.

Um, one person wanted something that was that was more of the how do I uh almost like the faux window, like you look through the window and see the the vineyard kind of thing.

Um and then another another kind of stakeholder was imagining something that was a bit uh had a bit more oomph to it, and so then as I was going through artists that I felt like could walk that line, um Zoe's work spoke to to that group and they decided to move forward with her.

Thank you.

Additional questions on wall four.

I feel for you.

It's okay.

It's fun.

I like what I do.

Okay, do we have any additional public comments?

Great.

Should we move into commissioner statements?

I really like wall four.

It's really pretty.

I think it's my favorite.

Especially the poppies.

I think it's like exactly a scene from Walnut Creek.

I think it really adds to that area of the city.

Thank you.

Well, I I'm of um two minds here.

I I really like uh two, three and four, and I like one.

I I think it it I think it has high impact.

Um, but uh I I am troubled by the whether that impacts gonna exist with you know with all those trucks and cars parked in front of it.

Um and I I really appreciate your willingness to kind of come to terms, but like I guess my question is, you know, uh is there is there an opportunity here to not spend the full amount uh and and save some for later uh or is that even important because um you know these opportunities take a long time to develop and I'm I'm not personally concerned that we're gonna we're gonna miss an opportunity if we if we spend the money now, but I you know I'm I'm I'm definitely comfortable with uh two, three and four.

Um also see what what what the uh overall feeling is on wall one.

Commissioner Tespay, did you want to go next?

Um I just want to say I'm especially excited about the Zebra Breezeway project.

Um I would love to see what the ceiling would look like because I'm an artist and it's just my nature.

Um, but I am excited for the opportunity.

Um I am concerned to in case you know I feel like July is far for other opportunities, but in we can't wait for what potentially you know people are gonna do.

So I am excited to get something going.

Um so thank you for being here and um I'm just excited, that's all.

Thank you.

Okay.

I wrote an email and I'm gonna put it on the record.

I think it's appropriate.

Um so um I wrote I wrote these things down because I had the chance to be part of the um public art um panel committee and we discussed this and uh I had a lot of time to think through.

So um I I want to vote for all of them.

Um the person who I thought I was gonna go three, and then I decided this is um a time that we must seize the opportunity.

Um I've been uh a proponent of our program.

I was really happy when we came up with the partnership, the private and public uh program.

Uh we put it together.

It took a long time to get there, and then I thought it was three years, but I guess two years uh of really nothing happening.

So I um I am very appreciative of all of your effort uh to get to this point.

And I'm super happy about it.

Anyway, so it for all practical purposes.

The first programs, first offering since this program's inception.

So I think we need to recognize this opportunity when it arrives.

The ABG Art Group has invested significant effort into submitting a comprehensive professional application with four fully rendered concepts by established artists, rejecting most of it risks discouraging future applicants and uh underutilizing the $30,000 fund which could lapse or be reallocated away from murals.

Our goal is not only to fund perfect murals, but to catalyze a culture of public art participation.

Approving one wall while rejecting others may signal that the bar is so high as to be unattainable, especially for private owners who are volunteering their walls at no cost to the city.

So for wall one, we've heard that parked cars may partially obscure the base.

Not in isolation but in conversation with its surroundings.

I approve the mural at that location, but its thematic focus on lush tropical Hawaiian flora feels culturally and ecologically disconnected from Walnut Creek's local identity, which we discussed, especially given the proximity to the heritage oak.

And a native, this is just a suggestion, a native and symbolically significant tree, that that is the valley oak should be, you know, this is not decorative art, but it should be something that doesn't completely clash with that.

And yeah, I feel it's important to say that it's not about limiting your artistic expression, right?

Which just said, and it's just for contextual relevance.

Um so that's what I have to say about one.

Um for wall number two, it's a lot shorter.

Um, it I um the uh I don't feel that the murals that are or the rendition that's being proposed overwhelms anything, that they complement the existing tropical decor that's there.

Uh I don't think that they're allowed graphics, but subtle organic patterns that extend through the ambiance there, and the in fact such enclosed spaces benefit from artistic treatment.

I think of the alleyway murals in Denver and Seattle, where confined areas become immersive experiences, proper lighting and maintenance will then ensure the openness of that.

And then I'll move on to three.

Number three, I think it's um a super sound choice because of its visibility.

Um, and um even if it were less visible, I think mural programs thrive when they create district-level transformation, not isolated highlights in cities like Philadelphia, Santa Fe, they prioritize clusters of murals that turn neighborhoods into destinations.

And I think that's really important for our town, to create this buzz about Walnut Creek where it um excites people to come here, and it's best for our commercial businesses.

And for living purposes, you know, for those of us who who reside here, it'd be much more exciting.

And then for wall number four, um the this this dialogue between art and permanent structure, to me, it isn't a flaw, it's an opportunity, and it just makes everything much more exciting.

Uh the rendering shows the full composition pre-awning if there's an awning in the future.

Um, I feel that public art is not meant to exist as a pristine controlled gallery environment, and so forth and so on.

I've seen this done in cities, uh, all the big cities, Chicago, LA, um, and the most beloved murals are partially covered by fire escapes, you know, signage, scaffolding, or awnings, and they're really cool to look at, and you know, I appreciate it.

Um, so I would like to thank you again, and I would like to express my full approval to move on with this.

Okay.

Um so we'll make a motion later.

Yeah, thank you.

Trent, your package was um amazing.

I want a Heather Day mural here.

First, I thought you were proposing a Heather Day mural and how you showed some of the slides, but nope.

We need another $60,000, probably.

But I know she's gotten really good.

You let me know and we'll make it happen.

Yeah.

Okay, so wall number one, we've we've we've talked about it.

I feel that it's the least good wall because of how obscure the um mural can be.

And I think the um tropical the theme doesn't fit with the uh heritage oak, and the heritage oak takes up a prominent position at the sidewalk with Joe Bologna's art around bench and art on it.

And the tropical pine leaves just don't fit.

So I'm I'm a no-on putting city money towards wall one.

Wall two, I feel like it's a really crowded uh breezeway with the plants and the tables and all the windows and the skylights.

And well, I'm not up for putting city money up for it.

I think if zebra and your other collaborators want to do it, that'd be fine.

I'm just don't want to allocate city money for that.

Um, because I I feel like it's just too crowded.

I think it's gonna be claustrophobic.

I'd like to be proven wrong on that.

Wall three, the most perfect wall, one of the most perfect walls in the city you could put a mural on.

No parking in front of it, kind of unobstructed by everything.

You can see it really well, both walking and driving southbound on um Broadway.

And it's perfect, perfect wall, and I like your combination with your partner.

Almost looks like broken pottery put together.

And I do not want you to dump turn the saturation down on that wall.

I want you to keep that saturation of color up.

This is this mural that that you guys have proposed is what we want.

Unusual, impactful, different, bright, stands out.

This is what I want to see more of in murals in Walnut Creek, so good job on that one.

Wall four, I um originally did did, I think voted no on, I think because first we thought it was a different wall, and then I was a little bit undone by the potential awning.

But this is a very high visibility wall, especially for pedestrians, and it's a wall that would I think do well to have a mural on it.

That said, I really like the mural to go to the top of the building if possible.

And here's where I think I feel for you the most is in a in having to do a collaboration with building owners and tenants, it's almost dumbed down what the final product is.

And I think if you could have just gone an artist and said, Hey, I got a wall for you, do your thing here.

It would have been a better product.

And I think I had a hard time finding other work by Zoe, but if you would please put up as one of the Zoe um murals that she did as an example, can you can you get back to it?

Restart the presentation.

Was it the one with the puppies that are big and the hummingbird and the butterfly?

Sure.

That's what I want to see on this floor.

I don't want to see this Trump Lloyd window with a bow on it.

It looks too contrived to me.

No.

That one.

Okay.

Like, yeah, like I want the whole wall there, maybe not palm trees, maybe not tree.

But that's like, oh wow, I stopped in my tractone.

Look at that.

But it just sounds like all these collaborators that had to agree to give their dollars to do this brings the product that you get less good than what the artist may have wanted to deliver and you may have asked for if you could have just said, hey artists, I got you, and I want this wall.

So that's my feeling.

Um I want big, I want the whole wall there, I want it bright, I want all her images to be bigger.

Yeah.

I think I don't know if I'm good to respond.

Sure.

Yes, okay.

Um I do think I think well, one to your point about loving this one.

I think this is very much stylistically in Zoe's body of work.

This is the one that this will end up the most similar to.

Um there's no way around the fact that like the actual magic of making the design happens on the wall.

Um and so, you know, some artists are incredible painters, some artists are incredible at rendering what their paintings will look like.

Um Zoe probably leans more in the first um basket.

So I would just say I would be really confident about what she puts up on the wall is going to be incredible.

I've never seen her do something that I felt like she mailed in or dumbed down.

Is there is there a chance it can be covered the whole wall, or is that out?

Like is that you know that for a fact that it's only gonna be this high?

Um I want to be working on on behalf of everybody, but if you said we will find a contingent on it going higher, I'm sure we can make it go higher.

I think that if if I um go back to building owners with with some some stipulations, that's they can say yes or no, right?

So I think um I don't see why that wouldn't work.

But if you go higher and it's larger, you would need more funding because that require her to do more time, right?

Um, that would change.

There's a couple different um ways we could look at it.

One, we could talk about having the like the background of the painting go higher, that doesn't take so much rendering happening.

Um the other yes or no, it depends how much you guys do.

You know, I think if if we have a decent budget, I can call her and be like, should she's she's a gamer, she'll want to do it.

So if if it calls for a little bit higher, we can go a little bit higher.

Um yeah, but also certainly if you want to justify a higher cost.

Um I think all of these are like within if typically we'll if if it's a like a well-paying client and they ask us how much a mural goes, we're always basing things based on square footage.

It's real estate, you buy more, you save more, you do bigger walls, the square footage price goes down, depending on on the level of detail and things like that.

So um certainly these all could justify much higher budgets, but I think we want to make them happen.

I believe artists should get paid for their work, so that's what I stand.

Okay, uh I'll make my final statement and then we'll move on.

Um I just want to say, Trent, the only murals I've seen uh in Walnut Creek are yours of Trinity and this.

So thank you for finding the opening and helping with capacity that the city doesn't have to scout these relationships.

I think the legwork you keep talking about is the work of a creative director and a curator and a producer, and unfortunately we don't have that on staff here, so it's really what we need.

Um, overall, I just want to underscore the area of Zebra.

Um thank you for attending tonight.

It's been here for multiple decades.

It is a hangout spot for youth.

It is a place where young people congregate to either get pierced to talk about getting tattoos to hang out in the hallways to get their nails done, to go to their 12th birthday party to get the second ear pierced.

It is a place where young people connect in our city, which we have very few places like that for them, outside of consumerism and very expensive shopping.

Uh that said, I also really like that it is small business that we can support, that you are taking an initiative to beautify the space.

I do think it's a subtle and nice way to do branding around Zebra without it being zebra print.

So I'm less hung up on Walnut Creek fauna for this particular piece, but I do hear all of our other commissioners' feedback.

Um I think what's really important about this mural project is that we have a moment where people can walk through something or see the top portion in their drive home, and there is that subtle shift in consciousness that we want kind of artists to wake up inside of folks as they're commuting through our city, walking through our city, meeting for coffee.

Um I'm really great with walls being obstructed even though they're painted on, it's just a part of public art, and I think we could all name five better walls that are taller, higher, and more visible, but those people are not coming to us, and they are not applying to this grant program.

So I'm in favor of funding all of these walls tonight and um really upping the budget for this program because these are under market value.

We just did a Wilshire corridor, the work that I do, and this is a very small budget in a city with the socioeconomics that Walnut Creek has.

Thank you.

So we are looking for a motion and a second.

There are some recommended language in your agenda packet, and I think given the depth of conversation, you might want to do each motion if there is a nomination for a motion one at a time.

We're at the bottom of page three, right?

Yeah, yes, the commission action recommended section, bottom of page three.

Someone who is a commissioner would need to make a motion.

Um I can make a um a motion.

Um I make a motion to move to approve the recommended site location, the artist, design, concept direction, and funding request for proposed four walls.

One, two A, two B.

You want them separately?

You can make the motion as you wish, and we'll see if you receive enough support for it to pass.

Yeah.

Um, request for proposals for wall one.

I'll rephrase it.

Move to approve recommended site location, artist design and concept, design concept, direction, and funding request for the following walls.

Wall one, wall two A, to B, wall three, and wall four.

I second the motion.

We'll call the roll.

Commissioner Perelman.

Aye.

Commissioner Dresser.

No.

Commissioner Clobber.

Aye.

Commissioner Tessway.

Aye.

Vice Chair Magnani.

Aye.

And Chair Balthasar.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Thank you.

I'm all set.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ready for the next item or take a break, whatever your preference.

Do we need all right?

Okay, we'll take a quick five-minute break and be back at what would that be?

Okay, Commissioners.

In our enthusiasm to make the previous motion, we exceeded our authorized budget for the mural grant program.

So we are going to revisit with a new motion, and looking for a commissioner to make a motion.

Thank you.

I was hoping we award higher a higher value for my murals.

Um right.

Um I move to approve recommended site location, artist design concept direction, and funding of a total of thirty thousand dollars for the proposed wall one, wall to A, wall to B, wall three, and wall four.

And we'll do roll call.

Commissioner Perlman.

415,000 from the public art fund to be spent to make it a bigger budget.

At its January 2025 meeting, Arts Commission approved three public art concepts and artist teams for the project.

Currently, one of the projects will be moving forward.

That is HOTASUSE.

And staff is now seeking the commission's input on how to allocate the remaining 716,000 in budgeted public art funds allocated for this project at Heather Farm.

So the recommended action is to return to the top semifinalists to invite them to submit a new concept proposal for the remaining budget of 716,000.

So we can go over as a reminder.

This is the space that we are discussing.

The project that is moving forward is titled Poppy by HODASUSA.

These are the renderings.

Yeah, got a little ahead of myself.

So yes, so we've been thrown a loop.

So up tonight for discussion basically is how to proceed.

And so you'll see in your agenda report, our focus tonight is on artists in the RFP process to submit new concepts.

Tonight is not for discussion about site locations.

Any discussion on that will return to the commission and be an agendized item.

So no commentary, please tonight on site locations focusing on next steps for artist selection and concepts.

And then what happens if they aren't?

It would be standard industry practice to go then to the top 10 candidates that we interviewed initially and invite the five remaining ones that were not invited initially to invite to submit proposals.

Five we did not.

How do SUSE to submit again since we've already we've already accepted one of their pieces?

And the commission voted to only go forward with one of their proposals.

But they're not disqualified.

So it sounds like what you're saying, the next steps are that you are going to reach out to those three semifinalists and see if they're interested in submitting a proposal for the remaining 700 plus thousand.

Am I correct?

Correct.

And if they if they do say yes and you get proposals, will the two of you be the ones looking at their proposals to present for us, or will it go back to the artist selection committee?

It'll go back to the artist selection panel, provided all of those people are still available and would like to participate in the artist selection panel.

At the time that we assembled the panel, there were alternates also indicated and approved.

So if the original artist selection panel members are not available or do not wish to participate, we would try to assemble a new panel based on the other people that were approved.

And as far as spending that money for the first round, two of those that are no longer interested divided up that 700,000.

Are we going to specify in any way that those submissions that come in spend the they do one piece or whatever one piece that spends a whole amount, so we're not breaking it up into smaller amounts like we did the first time.

Not we didn't break it up, but the 900,000 basically got split up in three.

I mean, I just see the 700,000 go to one artist to do one bigger piece.

Staff would recommend that it would be one artist or artist team for the entire budget, whether they and however they choose to, you know, it's possible they have one main piece and then a couple of smaller pieces, but yes.

And and on the location thing, I understand that that's not in order for tonight, but at what point uh do we or anyone else get to weigh in on on location?

Because I know some of us have some opinions about that.

I think that definitely since the initial call for artists came out, there have been some changes um in the landscaping and the signage, and we've heard people express opinions, so we would probably be bringing that to January.

Is that correct?

To the January meeting, prior to uh requesting proposals.

Correct.

So that we could have the artists make informed decisions.

Is it possible to also have public works and or anyone involved in the city who has jurisdiction over Heather Farms to take a look at any locations before those locations are proposed?

So we know that if location is proposed, it's actually feasible from all sorts of different directions.

Yes, we could certainly take it back to them.

I thought that was already done.

It has been done, but I think that based on the new locations, we could definitely take it back again.

What about um going back to the artists that applied, like a much larger pool of artists?

How what would that look like?

Um more yeah, more work.

Um so it would be I think that given we've already spent so much time and we had these top contenders and we did take the time to interview them, it would be number one the right thing to do to invite the artists that have already taken the time and submitted and spent time interviewing and showed strong interest.

If we arrive at a place where we realize that all of the seven parties who, you know, it would be the ten or sorry, right, minus the other people that are not participating, so eight.

Um if none of them expressed any interest, then we would have to open it up again.

Um we would have to consult with an artist selection panel and go back to everybody, but at this point, it's been so long since so many of those people applied.

I think that we would probably have to do a whole new RFQ.

So what I think I'm hearing you say, Mariah is you're now talking about eight possible um artists being invited to submit, not just three.

First, I think we need to go to three.

Go to the three.

Okay.

Right.

What's the um budget for the artist to resubmit to the 715K?

Because they were previously invited with stipends, right?

And it was five correctly.

It was five thousand dollars each.

So if we invite th let's say we invite three back and three are very interested, we would have to compensate them five thousand dollars each for for submitting a new proposal.

What if they submitted the same proposal?

We will tell them that is not permitted.

It has to be new and new concept.

Okay.

And um in hindsight, I always it, what are the learnings from this?

Because we're spending a lot of time and money.

So it could we do something different so that we don't have you know um uh contracts that can't be signed or it I mean I understand personal situations, something happens, but uh other than that, like can't we?

What have we learned?

Well, I think every opportunity presents learning moments, and it's tricky with public art because every project will be different.

We have um definitely taken notes on maybe we need to be more explicit in certain things and others, but like you said, sometimes things arise that are unpredictable, the unknowns.

Um yeah.

I don't know if you have anything you want to add to that.

Yeah.

Um I think one of the major things that we've learned is that um when we have a large budget like this, lots of times it's um behooves, you know, ourselves as um public art professionals and also the arts commission to look at that budget holistically and to make sure that really um if that budget were to be split into two, three, four, however many projects that it does make financial sense, um, and that maybe on these smaller project budgets that the the remain the amount needs to be remained intact so that we can kind of um get proposals and concepts that really fulfill a million dollar project so that it feels very impactful and successful in that way.

Can I drill down just a little bit on that?

I uh I mean the the Stephen Galloway thing is perfectly understandable things happen.

Um but the um the provo one can we pull back the veil a little bit?

It seems like six months of negotiations is a lot considering how closely we drew the parameters in the first place.

What were you guys talking about for six months?

And I'd also like to know if you're willing to share who pulled the plug out to them.

So the artist arrived at um saying she could not do this project for the amount that we had initially discussed.

Um I think that she has not realized any municipal projects before.

So when we've asked her to um show records of how much materials and fabrication would cost, um she um I asked her, I said, you know, as a government agency, we really need to be able to justify our costs.

So we need to be super transparent with the public this is being paid for with uh taxpayer dollars, and I don't it doesn't seem that that has been asked of her before, so she was quite shocked, and I think that it created a um tension in the relationship, and it I think she perceived that as mistrust on our part rather than that's just how municipal projects work.

Um I think that having the work fabricated abroad may have been a stressor.

I'm not sure.

Um, but she did ask for a deposit of seventy-five percent, which in industry practice is just that's really unheard of.

So it just got to a point where after so many negotiations and back and forth that it felt like um, you know, we just had arrived at an impasse.

My sympathies, that's not a pretty picture.

Appreciate all the work.

Yeah, and and also I think with the cost of things and the tariffs on foreign goods and foreign made goods, um, I think that would that like um make us m select artists based on where they um produce their art, and because I remember that she was talking about how she had a um a relationship with the manufacturer and uh and she wanted to keep that, which I s understood.

Um, but um going forward, do we want to do that again?

I mean, in light of everything happening in the world with you know, I think we can't um state a preference on where we want the artists' work to be made, and we're trying to be inclusive by opening up these calls to anyone, and many artists have their fabricators.

Um it's hard to predict that the tariffs were gonna go up and you know that that people were going to be impacted this way.

So it was just kind of this recipe that led to those considerations.

Um, so that is why we're really adamant on keeping that contingency in the budget to allow for the unknowns and setting aside the funding so that in case things in case costs do go up.

Um does that answer your question?

It does, but in terms of our budget or budgets is not going to go up.

In fact, we're, you know, eating through the budget because of this.

So now we're going to be negotiating again with artists.

Um if they're going to be uh uh bringing goods from wherever to their fabricator is, we know that's gonna be a hurdle, so wouldn't we be better off with um artists who are able to have their art fabricated in the USA?

I think to be um clear, the artist did not state that the tariffs were specifically the reason why they could not proceed with the project.

Um it was their understanding of budget and contingency that did not align with our understanding, um, and then they stated they could not move forward with the budget that had been approved.

Additional questions before we move to public comment.

Is there any public comment?

Yeah, on these artists, the three, um other than I know that they arrived at the table and they became part of 10, and then we was whittled down to five semi-finalists, but can you explain who decided that they were going to be part of the 10 that started or the 20?

Because we had a list that I think was at least 50 or 80 people on there.

The artist selection panel had the opportunity to look through and um we I'm trying to recall now.

We um I've got a few numbers from Do you?

Yeah, okay, that would be helpful.

Thank you.

Um, so in round one, I I I believe we had a hundred and sixty-one total applicants to the process.

Um the first time the artist uh selection group came together, seventy-seven percent of that pool had been disqualified.

So we looked at 36 artists.

Um from those 36, it went down to 10 and then went down to five, and we used a rubric voting system across everyone.

Um, I mean, that there's a lot of lessons learned that I'm at an impasse with in terms of what we need to decide here today.

Um because of the breaking up of spaces because of the site selection, right?

And also a lot of people's I think the way in which the RFP was written, we got a lot of corporate structural things that were not that were not in my opinion, not maybe the whole group, like public art, right?

Fringe on the building, things like this.

Um that said I I think going back to to just these three of the top five feels really small.

Uming what we know about the sites, and so how do we work within an RFP process that has been closed?

I I hear the sentiment of like we have a candidate pool to go back to.

Um, but knowing what we know, is there some sort of revision around how we actually want to play with these sites?

You know, I think the tension that the artist group kept seeing was like give the artist free will to do the da da da and then the full budget because you might get a better end product, but what we found was like actually if we had a curator that was involved with this process and had like a community lead on vision that worked across city parks and works and arts and rec, maybe we would be like not 16 spaces, three spaces, and we actually don't want to work with more than two artists and we want to funnel our money this way, right?

So I think because we had so many different decisions on the scale of this project, here we are, right?

Um, and we thought it would be a better way to move forward with diversity of artwork and collection by having three different players and breaking up a million dollars.

Um, but even in our top 10, we had someone drop out that was sick that is still battling with illness.

So of that group of ten, I don't even know if if they would even be able to come back around.

Um, and just thinking about the budget.

If we go beyond the three, is are we what do we have to offer five?

Could we say, hey, we know this is crazy in a long shot, we don't have five.

We open the pool up to seven or eight of the top ten, and it's smaller budget to be able to accommodate more people in potentially resubmitting.

Uh for consistency and process, uh, we should offer an equal amount to what was previously offered for the same work.

Okay.

So it's 15k for three people to participate, and then how of the top ten, we would take out Matthew and Al Alexandra.

We would it um not Matthew, Stephen Galloway.

Oh, sorry, Steven.

Stephen, so then there's only in the top 10.

So I can I can count.

I can show you the slide.

These are the top.

So they're separated their group, so the first top five were the ones that were invited to submit proposals, and the the grouping on the bottom.

They were in the top five or top ten that were not invited to move to the next step.

But all ten were interviewed.

Is there any way to get it so you and Emily can also have some sort of weigh in on the art before it comes to us?

And Eric, wherever is that's why we have a selection panel, because staff um is here to carry out the wishes of the arts commission.

Um, and we are in the room, of course, with the uh selection panel and provide, you know, logistical information and um structural and procedural information, but we do not vote on whether or not we would like an artist to move forward.

And that's that's to keep the process fair and to make sure that our um public art program isn't the Mariah and Emily show, it's actually um, you know a group of community members who are coming together and making these decisions collectively so that we have a very robust and diverse um public art program and that lots of different artists and different voices are are being um heard and shared in our community for the sake of clarity Sarah if you could just call clearly for public comment and then we can close that and move towards oh I thought we had moved sorry kind of we kind of okay is there any public comment there's no public comment no public comment uh should we move to commissioner statements remind you you have two minutes to comment please um well I I'm I'm not hugely optimistic about it I I think you've got the right process um uh an alternative would would cost more but most more worse than that it would take a lot more time and it I think everybody community is anxious to move this project forward.

So I think that's good that said I'm not optimistic about the results because as you recall I wasn't a hundred percent crazy about the three that came to the commission and so I asked you if we could see the other two and you were kind enough to share them with us and when I saw the other two my conclusion was that the committee had made the right choice.

So I I don't know I don't know how you know I don't know what what we're gonna end up with but personally I'm not optimistic but I think it's the right thing to do.

I am uh against this because it feels like we're um not fully with a choice it's the choice that we didn't choose and now we are have our hands tied.

I also um as the world has progressed and things have happened I think that we should do a whole lot more um vetting of like the the type of art and artists and and you know back to the diverse background kind of thing.

I think Walnut Creek deserves more than um just established artists who tend to be privileged and I feel like we didn't we're we're not going to get a fair shake out of this.

Um and um fairness doesn't mean equitable and so I don't see that going down the ones that are left is what Walnut Creek deserves so I would vote for us to start this over and do it properly I don't I think that we're going to spend more money more of our um the the amount that we have trying to go for this next step and then be back here and I I'm really unhappy with the choices of the artists that we are having to select now which is not right.

We didn't select them for a reason.

For me, I trust the process in the community of people that it takes to make these decisions.

So I respectfully appreciate not having to start over and moving forward the way that you have been working on this.

That being said um I do wish to I understand the how DOSA team is going forward and we are happy with them.

And just because they can doesn't mean I feel like they should get another opportunity for this project, especially because it costs money to get these ideas coming forward to us.

So with that being said, I do wish that we would look into the other artist that it maybe below and perhaps give them another chance and see what that looks like, just because this other group already is allocated and I you know we we love their work and I think there's no doubt they will probably give us another thing that they seem to understand what is expected.

But I think it's such a huge opportunity, and diversity does matter.

Um, so we'd love to see that going to someone else that opportunity and see why not give them a chance.

Um, and that's sort of my two cents about that.

I agree with all of that.

I think that it's a good idea to start like with these three and then the 10 artists because we already have these names, and then if something doesn't work out, we can always start the whole thing over again.

But if we already have these, why not?

Yeah, I think we kind of have no choice but to go back to some of these this 10, whatever you've got other 10 that might submit again.

Um, but I'd like there to be such clarity in the message that goes out to them of what we're looking for.

So I guess that's my thing.

I'd like to be clarity in what they're asked to do and give us and for how much to charge and good luck.

I have a question based on what commissioner Balthazar said.

Um, is there a chance for the city to hire a curator and spend some of the money on that and then create the specs for these artists based on this versus just what we've had done before?

Like, can we use that as a learning?

Do you want to answer that?

No, she's not for this project.

So if we were to hire a consultant, that's the correct term, um, it would come have to come out of the budget, um, which would drastically uh reduce the budget of the funds that would go to an artist.

Um if you wanted to increase the budget, decrease the budget, any of that, all of that has to go to the city council.

Um you would recommend the change in budget to city council, it would go to city council for approval or not.

Um so any consultants hired, either it would be an additional budget that would have to go to council, or it would come out of the 716,000 that's been allocated to this project.

And then there would be a process for hiring the consultant and decide what type and except all of that, right?

Yes.

Um, no pointing fingers, but why was that not done to begin with?

Um budget is a big consideration for whether or not a consultant is hired.

Um also this is a municipal project versus a private project.

So private projects that have you know million dollar plus budgets generally have a consultant that they hire.

Um, and you know it's up to them where that funding comes from, but it generally comes from outside of the public requirement.

Um municipal projects are different, and that of course the money is coming from the city.

Thank you.

Um, let's see.

I have a few comments.

Uh, of the $716,000 budget that's left.

I don't feel great about it, but I actually do think we should offer it to the eight.

Um, and that means we'd have to spend 40K uh up to 40K, leaving the budget at more like 700 and 676 um to propose artwork for.

Um, I don't think I can in good conscience just be down with Hoda Souza Matthew and the other artist.

Um, I think there was a lot that we learned and a lot of time already spent in this process.

Um that are you know it it just does not again going back to the fair and equitable, doesn't feel like an equitable group looking just at the top five.

Well, there's a hubstone choice for you.

We either take a lot of money, forty grand out of our budget for art, or we go with the top five, or which is now top what three.

Um I think I agree with you.

Attempt at a motion.

All right, I can try.

I let's see.

I move to return to the top eight of the top 10 semi-finalists from the RFP selection process to invite them to submit a concept for a new project for consideration using 40k of the budget of 716K to finalize this next round and move forward with 676 K of artist budget for the Heather Farms Park.

Would you entertain taking who does it out just to leave a little more money in?

That's a great question.

It hits me as like this question of like, is it fair, is it unfair?

I don't know.

I think as a reminder, the artists would need to say they are interested before we would offer a $5,000 um stipend towards the concept.

So it's possible that not all of the ones you wish to move forward with would even choose to submit, and then there is still a process, right?

With the artist selection panel, reviewing concepts, recommending concepts to the commission.

So there's many levels here still in process.

So we do have a motion on the table.

Oh, second.

Okay, yeah, uh, what about the motion and second?

Okay, roll call.

Uh Commissioner Perlman.

Aye.

Commissioner Dresser.

Aye.

Commissioner Clauber.

No, Commissioner Tessway.

Aye.

Vice Chair Magnani.

Aye.

And Chair Balthasar.

I motion passes.

All right, thank you all very much for your consideration and your discussion.

We appreciate it.

Great.

At this time, I invite staff to provide presentations, reports on projects.

Hey there again.

Hello.

All right.

Okay, so this is brief.

Um, just some updates on things that have happened since the last time we met.

So public art walking tours have really um seen an increase in attendance, which is fantastic.

Um it could be attributed to some of the marketing efforts that have taken place, but it's been great to see more people.

Um we have a dog-friendly public art walking tour coming up.

It's actually all sold out.

Pause on pot.

We call it like pot.

Um so there's a cute little dogs, so we shall see how that goes.

Um just this fiscal year, so that would be July of this year.

We changed the structure to we move to a pay what you can model to kind of copy what the gallery is doing, and with that it's been really interesting to see.

Um, and a lot of people have been super generous and paid even more, and um, we also moved to an online pre-ticket sale formula.

Um you're also welcome to buy tickets day of still as uh previously, but um we shall see next year at the report next year what what the final numbers are, but so far it's been really great, and these are just some of the tours recently that we've had um so many people on the tours.

In fact, that we definitely have had a need for two docent and splitting it up as Jill will attest to.

Um also finally, if you'll recall last year we had a call put out.

We collaborated, so the city collaborated with um uh public works and walnut creek downtown and recycle smart to realize this project of the big belly refresh of these cans.

Here we have an artist posing with his work, um, and then our own Carrie Letterer had her artwork selected.

So that's that's right across the street.

This is right near here.

So there have been 10 that have been done downtown so far, and they're um they're planning to do more.

So this has been nice to see downtown a refresh of of these bins, and there are two sets that also have a compost um component to it, so they're like triple triple bins.

Yeah.

Yeah, they came out really really nice.

Um we have a new a new postcard, so it sounds like maybe luckily it's an evergreen postcard.

Um we just changed the wording a little bit to um reflect the different rather than having the words matching, it's now just the mural grant.

And coming up next, we have this piece at Heather Farm Park.

Speaking of Heather Farm Park, this is a work that was um acquired to commemorate the city of Walnut Creek's 75th anniversary.

So that was um I have the year, I think it was 19 1989, or it was 1989.

I was just checking to see if that was, yeah.

So it was in 1989.

This is a work by Bruce Johnson, and it's titled Strata, and it's definitely in need of some maintenance and care.

So we have that set um set up with previously approved funds for maintenance of artwork in our permanent collection.

That'll be taking place this month.

And that is it.

Does anybody have any questions?

Will Bruce Johnson stay in this location?

For now, it is we have no no plans to move it.

Um, that might be something we consider down the line.

And is Bruce Johnson looks like wood below?

Is it bronze above?

So it's copper.

Copper, it's copper and wood.

Okay, cool.

Very cool.

And the big belly free fresh, just to be clear, 10 were we done.

10 were done already, and then there are plans to do an additional 10.

Um, I think they're just going to try to keep rolling them out in groups of 10.

Thank you.

Walnut Creek downtown is heading that project.

Okay.

So an observation and a question.

I see in your report that we got eighty-three thousand dollars plus out of pinstripes.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

The year they spent here was very remunerative.

I know.

Yes, rest and use pinstripes.

Oh, yeah.

And then uh you say in the report somewhere.

So staff is preparing to implement a new public art walking tour app platform with the intention of updating the self-guided public art tours.

Can you say a little more about that?

Sure.

Currently we have a walking tour that's set up through a program that is maybe a little antiquated.

It's um a dial-in, so you call to dial up.

Um our analytics are showing that we don't think a lot of people are taking the time to dial up.

And this new platform that we're looking at would put eyes on us all over the world.

And it's a free program.

It's just a matter of having staff time to get together and join a cohort for training and implementing it.

Um, but they it's a platform that will the gallery can utilize it, which would be great to have all of our exhibits online so that people all over the world can see our shows and also the public art.

Um, so that's a goal for this coming year.

Any other questions, comments?

Um Water Light Plaza, is it working yet?

No.

So I've been in contact with the building manager, and apparently the um nozzles that the artist had initially put into that work are no longer made, and so they are having to have them handmade overseas, they're very specialized nozzles, and it's taking a very long time.

And um, once they're in, he has assured us that they do have a life expectancy of seven years.

Um, but yes.

We've also noticed that there appears to be like bullet holes in some of the tiles.

I think we have a treasure trove of extra tiles from our artist.

Can we get some of the tiles repaired as well?

The ones that are broken.

We can contact the building owner, that would be under their purview.

Great, thank you.

Okay.

No further questions, and with the uh chair's approval, I'll roll together my strategic plan and other Lecture Center Center rep updates all in one.

So I have come to you before to share our new ticketing system Spectrics, which we implemented in March, which has been very exciting.

Um that was one of the initial top priorities from our strategic plan, but government procurement processes are long.

And so we are still in the process of fully integrating Dablo Regional Arts Association into that system, so we have a full picture of our patrons and our donors.

Uh, we did successfully move center rep into launching world premiers as well as uh developing new co-production partnerships.

We expanded the Lecture Center in your neighborhood program and continue to further the commitment at the gallery of sharing artists who have diverse backgrounds, and we increased our pay what you can offerings, uh, which started with center rep preview performances, then more than a year ago we moved the Bedford Gallery to that model, and now the headliner series this past season also had pay which you can options.

And as we go into our next year, I shall share with you a copy of our season brochure that's inclusive of all of our internal programming, so headliners, the gallery exhibitions, and center rep productions, as well as our cornerstone producers, who are our professional nonprofit organizations that present seasons at the center.

We just this past weekend completed our Duali celebration, first ever, which was uh a combination of uh Hari Kondabalu as the um headlining comedian, followed by a drone light show above the Leisher Center, which was thrilling.

Uh, and then a street fair with local artists and organizations uh from 12 to 4 on Saturday.

And the fair was uh really packed.

I know the gallery was overwhelmed with interest in the workshop, which was great.

So we had a lot of synergy between what was going on indoors and out, and we're looking forward to planning for a return of that celebration next year.

This coming weekend, uh another of our new festivals for this season.

We have an improv festival in collaboration with a number of local improv organizations.

Um we're hosting uh workshops, jams, performances, and then we have a headlining performance by the Groundlings out of LA.

They're uh an improv school and troupe that has launched many many uh comedians that have gone on to SNL and other stardom.

So we're looking forward to that.

Uh from Center Rep.

Coming up next is Woman in Black in November.

Um we're here for all the spooky vibes, it's a thriller, uh, and uh it is the West End production of uh that work.

Um so we're bringing that here to Walnut Creek, and then we follow that up with the brand new Christmas Carol, which is the West Coast premiere of this adaptation of a Christmas Carol.

We will still be in Victorian England.

There will still be ghosts.

Uh it's still holiday magic, but it is a different lens of the story, looking more from Tim's perspective, um, and looking more at how our community can be more inclusive of all different types of people.

Um so we hope that you will all join us for the inaugural year of a Christmas carol.

And that's my updates.

I think it's so smart that you're doing the collaborations for Center Rep to bring costs down a bit.

And um, yay to whoever got SF jazz um to Walnut Creek.

We went to the show, I can't remember his name right now.

I'm so sorry.

Last spring were you announced?

Terrence Blanche.

We went to Terrence Blanchard, and was shocked to see that the attendance wasn't full, and then we went to Brantford Marcel.

It was so great to see a full theater.

So that was a wonderful collaboration, and I think it's gonna bring lots more people into Walnut Creek.

Um, be able to hear jails here and not have to go to the city.

So thank you.

Welcome.

Okay, should we move into commissioners' announcements and brief reports on activities?

Does Emily have any other staff?

Oh, sorry.

Sorry, staff.

Emily, Emily, and then I've got a couple things from Miley.

Here I am for the 50th tent this evening.

Um, but from a gallery perspective, uh, observations of a still life opened uh at the end of last month.

Um so that show has been doing very, very well.

I think we're pretty much spooked up with school tours, if not completely full.

So that's pretty exciting for us.

Um, if you want to see my face again and hear again from me, um, I'm doing the cocktails and conversation event for this exhibition, so I'm gonna do a two uh curator tour on November 6th at 5 30 to 7, and you'll get to learn kind of about how myself and my staff developed the exhibition, how we chose the artists, and then learn a little bit about the artists in the show as well.

Um, and also treats from Monte Sacro and drinks, too, if you're 21.

Um, and moving into the rest of November, we have our annual Craft Fest.

It's its 16th year on November 22nd from 10 to 5.

Um, vendors are already selected, and um we are advertising that pretty um heavily, so please attend Craft Fest if you're around.

It's really, really wonderful.

We have over 30 vendors every year, um, and it's you know, kind of that holiday magic that happens in the gallery.

We'll close observations of a still life in mid-December, and then we are very, very excited to open Viola Fry Foundations, um, in early January.

So Viola Fry is a legendary ceramic artist in the Bay Area.

Um, and she has a book that just was published a monograph, and so we developed an exhibition based on that to focus on her early career.

Um, lots of focuses uh placed on her later career and her monumental works, but we're really showing um kind of her journey to how she got to these monumental works.

Uh so we're very excited for that.

And that opens January 10th, and it opens at four from four to seven.

And if you're interested, arts commissioners get to come for preview from four to five questions.

I have a question for the um, will someone send us an email about the November 6th um gathering to discuss?

I can't.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Sure.

It's the first time we see the Viola Fry is gonna be the subject.

Is that uh the first time you've done a one person uh gallery exhibiting?

No.

Um we try to space out our solo shows a little bit um just to kind of provide variety for the people coming to the gallery, but we're actually doing two solo shows this year, so Viola is the first, and then we're hosting uh Yumenez um, sorry, in essential human as Chino's first ever retrospective, and that is a gallery first.

Um we've never done a retrospective for an Earth's before.

So that is coming out of um the Bedford's curatorial staff, and that show will then travel all over the US.

Oh, sorry, one more update.

Um Rediscovering Native America, which was our traveling show from last year, just opened at the Mills building in San Francisco for its first travel venue.

Um so if you didn't get a chance to see it here or you want to see it again, um, now's your chance.

It's open through January, and then it heads out to um Pennsylvania after that.

Where's the Mills bowl?

Uh the Mills building is in San Francisco.

Okay.

Is this an info we can find on the website?

Like, gallery.

Okay, yep.

Thank you.

Okay.

I'll just share a few things from Miley at Center for Community Arts.

Uh also on November 22nd, it's their annual Chili Bowl fundraiser alongside the Clay Arts Guild.

Um, so guild members uh have made lovely ceramic bowls, which you can eat chili from.

And there will be over 200 handmade bowls to choose from, and the proceeds 100% of the proceeds go towards student scholarships for ceramics.

And then uh December 6th through 7th is the handcrafted holiday sale at the Shadowlands Art Center, um, local artwork from over 60 student artists and teaching artists, uh, wide range of offerings, ceramics, paintings, prints, jewelry, fiber arts, a little bit of everything.

Uh, and a portion of the proceeds from that event also benefit scholarships now for commissioner announcements and brief reports on activities.

Should we go down the line?

Um what have I done?

Uh I haven't seen the Bedford Gallery New Exhibit yet, but I really want to.

I'm definitely gonna go to it really soon.

And then I don't know if this counts as city art, but I got here from rehearsal at Northgate High School for the fall show.

It's Carrie, and it opens tomorrow.

So I need to mark it for that.

Everyone, come see Carrie.

Thank you.

How long's it playing till?

It's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Okay, now or never.

I also attended the Bedford show and it was amazing.

So please go see it before he closes.

It's remarkable as always.

Um I had the opportunity to be on a panel today to speak a group of uh BSU students from the district about art and then what art career looks like, and I tapped into some of our staff here for some volunteer opportunities, what that looks like from our city.

So I learned we have so much to offer for young folks and also learned that they're very interested in art and several questions.

So it was a really artistic empowering day overall for the community.

So I was grateful to share that.

Um I'll put a plug in for the California Symphony because uh I am married to an audio file.

And um, so it's been uh our second season uh with the director Donato Cabrera, who's um really um creative in the way that he um uh conducts and invites uh young conductors.

So it's inviting a lot of like uh a younger crowd to come.

And it's a really cool um symphony because you can drink, you can raise your hands you can do like different things that in the past you couldn't do um so I highly recommend it um and they um they're getting booked and booked but I think you can still find like solo tickets so um yeah come to the Leisher Center for the California Symphony season I've been doing public art walking tours I typically do tour number four and I am doing that on the third Wednesday in November third Saturday November at 10 o'clock and the mayor will be joining me along with one other docent Carol Fowler who's amazing and I also did tour number two recently which is not my normal tour and it was great to have some very long term Walnut Creek residents on the tour who had never stopped to notice some of the art I was showing them they were like shocked like this has been here for this long so I highly recommend that all commissioners and any future commissioners especially if they're watching this meeting make it a point to go on all four tours so they can learn the collection and know where everything is so nothing is a surprise when they hear about it from somebody else.

Well I've done one of the tours now the second one I think so we have three more to go um the last quarter's been busy uh I've had the really awesome opportunity to work with Sister June Hamamoto who's a master origami um and Zen Buddhist monk out of Plum Village International she has folding for justice which is a project at San Quentin Penitentiary and on September 6th we held a full scale day of peace that involved um all of the men that reside there at the facility showing their artwork um having origami uh music dance and kind of the power of the arts in transformative healing spaces um after that been supporting another local artist uh Aaron Yoshi she was commissioned um to with grants from the Little Tokyo Business Association the Neighborhood Council and Arts District Business Improvement District in Los Angeles where she completed a 200 foot uh around full wrap 15-foot tall walls um in Los Angeles in little Tokyo um if you're ever around the Mary Knoll area you should check out her art piece um and then most recently in Denver at the Denver art museum um working with a national network of Latinx therapists that really kind of center healing and the Latinx migrant um people's experience and servicing that community um and kind of the power of this particular art exhibition that they were supporting and kind of human migration as a whole and kind of this notion uh that what we're going through today in the current political climate with ice with um immigrant blaming um just the the larger historical context in not only this country but in the world of how people have moved um and I highly recommend the Denver Art Museum I had not spent a lot of time there and we did uh quite a few different events inside the space and they have incredible galleries.

Thank you do you know if that's a permanent collection my folks live there so I'll be visited in some extra no I think the the the particular one that we were collaborating on them with is only until the end of this year.

But I think they're a permanent collection on the fourth floor is worth seeing supposed to can we adjourn?

Is that what I say?

Oh my god.