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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Public Art Selection Committee - 03/06/2016 South Burlington Public Art Commiee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/CityCenterSouthBurlington Thursday, March 6, 2016 5:30 pm Champlain Room, 575 Dorset Street Meeng Minutes Approved 4/6/2017 In Attendance: Trice Stratmann (Chair), Jennifer Kochman, Jean Sebastien Chaulot, Amanda Holland, Michele Bailey (Vermont Council on the Arts) Ilona Blanchard (Staff) Herb Ferris, Elizabeth Billings/Andrea Wasserman, Tyler Vendituoli, Michael Mittag, Penny Mittag, Coralee Holm 1. Call to order The meeting was called to order at 5:35. No minutes were reviewed. 2. Public Comments There were no public comments. 3. Public Art Selection – Market Street Reconstruction Project – Presentations. Trice Stratmann welcomed the arsts and the public and invited Herb Ferris to present. Herb Ferris: He began as a painter and worked in Asian art with ceramics from the Song Dynasty. In that art, a tree is atree, a stone is a stone. The piece focuses a on a sense of place and a gesture. Much of his experience was in gardensand set making. For the piece he would use eastern pine. Queson: What is the longevity of gold? Answer: It is very long lived as it is inert (think of fillings). The first layer in theapplicaon is an epoxy, then paint (red), then sieze – a slow drying varnish and then gold. Gold is forever. Queson: What about the wood? Answer: 50 years for wood is hard to achieve, however he has one piece that isalready successfully 18 years old. He would inject Boron into the wood and put boron outside, use a resistor oil to treatthe wood, and would have a maintenance program to treat wood regularly. Queson: Does wood change color? Yes. It can be varnished, but then the finish would only last 2 years. Queson: what about cleaning for graffi or bird droppings? Answer: it will be placed in the stormwater pond in thewater, I don’t’ think people would try to climb it – is about 7 feet up from the ground. Granite can be treated for graffi. The most vulnerable is the gold leaf, but a ladder would be needed to get to it. Queson: Why this gesture for this place? Answer: The City needs a strong identy piece – the tree is a (yachng term)not symmetrical, the store can look light or heavy; where it is, it is heavy but it looks light. Comment from Jennifer Kochman – I like how the stone is not in the center. Herb Ferris on construction: I’m leaning towards using a rack to fasten the stone, but maybe will use a pin to hold it in place. If a rack is used then I will use a strong form. There is 600 lbs of wood and 700 lbs of stone. This creates a ‘live load’ of 9000 lbs pushing on the steel, which gives the piece life. Question from the public (Michael Mittag) What wood will you use. Answer: A logger called me and let me know that he had a piece of wood for me – since the curved pieces are not good for them, they call me now as they know that I can use them an appreciate them. Question: Where will the gold go? Answer: It will go in indentations at either end. Elizabeth Billings & Andrea Wasserman – Elizabeth Billings and Andrea Wasserman played a video of a mockup of their proposal - Echo. They explained their concept and read a poem by Major Jackson, the proposed poet for the piece and a South Burlington resident, about Mount Philo. The material would be stainless steel and etched stainless steel. Question: So this is not the first location? Answer: it is the first location and an original piece. The movie is us hanging up mirrors trying to see what the concept would look like. Question: How can the piece be attached to trees? Answer: We are still working on a final method, but there are a variety of possibilities we are considering including bolting to the tree. Question: So these are mirrors? Answer: No, they are stainless steel and very durable. Question: what level will this be at? Answer: Eye level. Question: Will they create a hazard? Answer: They will be placed in areas that are landscaped so that people will not be walking in them. How often do they need to be cleaned? Answer: Rainwater should do most of the cleaning. These are used in subway stations and do not need maintenance beyond very occasional cleaning (less than once a year). Tyler Vendituoli: This is a watershed community park, he pictures the community that will use the space. Thinks about different groups of people, mass public appeal, what will bring people to the area – people can take pictures with a thing, and have a thing to do. If you go on the path there is a Mother goose with goslings, look another way and there is a goose with wings outspread, and another goose browsing. These are made with silicon bronze over a steel structure, so it is all smoothable. 1 inch rods will be anchored in the ground. Neither the stainless steel nor the bronze will deteriorate. Question: How thick is the metal? Answer: 1/16 inch. The rod will go down below the frost line. No sculpture will be higher than five feet in height. Goslings would be twice the size of the model (30”). People love animals and connect with them – in general the public appreciates animals. Muskrats are a bit creepy; water fowl have a more flowing line. Silicon bronze is one of the most durable, is structurally sound. The interface between stainless steel and the bronze will be (?). Wax coating is initial and will wear off in a few years, and is not meant to be there. Question: What about bird droppings? Most things on bronze just makes it darker, people touching it will make it shiny & lighter. Trice Stratmann thanked the artists for their presentations. Ilona Blanchard mentioned that there are multiple projects in City Center and that as only one artist can be selected for this project, all are encouraged to submit for future projects. The Committee members provided their initial reactions but decided to defer substantive discussion until obtaining comments from the public on the pieces. Request – would it be possible to get a sketch of the geese? More explanation of the attachment of Echo to the trees would be useful. The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM.