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Home My WebLink About2025-02-18 ACAC Minutes Arts and Culture Advisory Committee February 18, 2025, 4:00 p.m. Conestoga Room City of Kitchener 200 King Street W, Kitchener, ON N2G 407 Present: M. Lam, Member Councillor D. Schnider, Member J. Hall, Chair R. Labrie, Member A. Mehta, Member N. Stretch, Member S. Florence, Member W. Rahimi, Member Staff: K. Varin, Committee Administrator E. Rumble, Coordinator, Arts & Creative Industry A. Hallam, Manager, Arts & Creative Industries Jeremy Dueck, Director, Culture and Entertainment _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Commencement The Arts and Culture Advisory Committee held a meeting this date commencing at 4:00 p.m. 1.1 Acceptance of agenda Accepted on motion by N. Stretch, seconded by A. Mehta. 1.2Acceptance of January minutes Accepted on motion by W. Rahimi, seconded by N. Stretch. 2.Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof None. 3.Delegations 1 None. 4. Information Items 4.1Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts updates: Jeremy Dueck, Director, Culture & Entertainment J. Dueck reviewed the highlights of the Conrad Centre operating model report and presentation, made to Council in October 2024. Key takeaways from community presenters included the importance of equity in the booking and scheduling process, equipment upgrades, capacity for education and mentorship, and the need for marketing strategies for the venue. He shared the vision, mission and values behind operating the venue that included an expanded definition of equity. One of the key operational goals is to make the customer pathway of booking the venue easier. Three requests for hire will be issued to support staffing for the CCPA. J. Dueck invited ACAC members to reflect on the proposed booking intake process and rental fees. To provide a better understanding of how booking costs will be established, he outlined the costs to be covered by the city as venue owner and event organizer costs. He also shared comparison data on other venues. He presented the weekly, daily and hourly proposed base rental rates for performing arts disciplines and corporate or commercial clients while defining community vs. corporate clients, and the booking timeline and process. The key considerations for this year as the calendar opens for booking is to: - aim to have a clear booking path - offset the prioritized rentals with corporate rentals A. Mehti raised questions around the booking calendar, others about ease of parking, but overall members felt that the rates were very reasonable. J. Dueck agreed that access to booking is something that will be paid close attention to, and staff should review and adjust as the operation of the CCPA continues. 4.2 Introduction to the Public Art portfolio & 44 Gaukel Creative Hub: Eric Rumble, Coordinator, Arts & Creative Industries E. Rumble gave a brief history of 44 Gaukel (a former post office building) owned by the city. Based on community consultations around the need for space for art practitioners, and with consideration of operations costs in relation to recuperating costs, staff proposed a design renovation of the first floor to section into artist spaces. In 2019, Council approved a five year pilot project for the city to run a creative hub in partnership with an operating partner, originally the Accelerator Centre, currently Arts Build Ontario. Although the pandemic impacted 2 the rental of the spaces, subsequent activation of the space, plus the creation of the Gaukel Block (pedestrianization of Gaukel Street) managed by the Downtown Team, created impetus for the hub to thrive. The five year period allowed to resolve questions, troubleshoot, see if the current operational model works, experiment with ideas such as a skills trade exchange for rent reduction. In 2023, A&CI staff shared with Council the learning outcomes: - local artists will create a community in a space and find ways to use it to realize their entrepreneurial or engagement goals, thereby enhancing the arts sector - staff proposed an operating budget for sustaining the facility (previously funds were drawn from the sale of another city owned facility) Most of the budget that Council approved is spent on the upkeep of the building and property taxes. Those funds are supplemented with rental income which supports programming such as The Beasting and recently launched Mentorship Matchup, in addition to other essential facility costs such as on-site property management, internet services and minor operating expenses. There is currently no capital budget for improvements of the space, and although Council sees the value in the existence of a creative hub project, they are not necessarily interested in renovations of this particular facility itself. Most recently, A&CI staff had several group and one-on-one conversations with tenants to gain feedback on the future of the hub. One of the key suggestions that emerged was to create the ability for the space to be more accessible for public events. Staff is also looking at streamlining tenant transactions around collecting rent payments and licensing agreements. E. Rumble continued with information about the public art acquisitions by the city to build the Public Art Collection. City of Kitchener has a Public Art Policy where 1% from the cost of constructing, renovating or expanding a civic facility or public space, is allocated for acquiring a public artwork for that site. Over the past 25 years the city has commissioned about two dozen artworks for its collection. In addition, some artworks in the collection have also been created through the Artist in Residence program now in it's 30th year. A small number of works were acquired by other means such as donations. Council allocates a maintenance budget for these artworks that the A&CI team manages. Currently, there is one public artwork acquisition in progress, two competitions being facilitated and one recently completed project: the KPL southwest new built. Artwork by two Indigenous artists has been added to the collection and installed at this new branch. In addition to the artwork, the artist team produced a short film about the artwork and an audio description of it for a more accessible experience. 3 5.Discussion Items 5.1 Mill Courtland Community Centre public art installation: Eric Rumble, Coordinator, Arts & Creative Industries The Mill Courtland Community Centre will see an expansion to their facility with an added music room to facilitate expanded programming as well as other facility and property improvements. An open call for submissions included standard submission criteria. Centre staff identified two goals that the artwork should fill: reflect the theme of "togetherness" and to serve as inspiration for future programming at the centre. The jury - composed of a member of the Public Art Working Group, two local visual arts professionals, one representative of the project architect, one city staff member representing the centre, one member from the neighbourhood association and a ward councillor - narrowed 11 submitted proposals to four, then to two. The two finalists' proposals were shared with the public and centre users through an Engage Kitchener survey page to receive community feedback. Through 90 responses, a clear preference emerged for the installation entitled "Swoop" by Agnes Niewiadomski and Michelle Purchase. The proposed artwork consists of a murmur of birds woven out of willow branches with the artists planning to facilitate community workshops to produce most of the birds. E. Rumble shared the jury statement which included citizen input. The work would be installed as a hanging piece in the main lobby of the existing centre, additionally occupying some of the wall space. Committee members were supportive of the design, endorsing the proposal to present to Council for approval. On motion: That ACAC endorse the jury selection of the artist team, Agnes Niewiadomski and Michelle Purchase, and their proposed artwork, Swoop, for the Mill- Courtland Community Centre. Carried unanimously. 5.2 Vice-chair election The committee selected unanimously, Ryan Labrie as the committee vice chair. 6. Adjournment On motion, this meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Karoline Varin Committee Administrator 4