North Cook News

City of Elgin Cultural Arts Commission met March 12.

Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:

A. Call to Order: 6:05 pm

B. Roll Call:

a. Commissioners Rehberg, Erlandson, Hulin, Richmond, Kearney, and Fox present. Chairman Vassallo present. Councilwoman Powell present. Staff Wilhelmi and Harris present.

C. Citizen’s Forum:

a. Enrique Mendoza of the Latino Film Festival, Individual Artist Grant

i. Entering the 6th year of the Latino Film Festival in Elgin, the Latino Film Festival will take place in April of 2018. The audience is expected to continue to grow in both attendance and diversity. The films will be shown at the Marcus Theater in Elgin, with Sunday’s films a little more family oriented. Audience comes from as far away as Chicago and Rockford to participate in and attend the event. Last year they sold out 5 film showings.

ii. Councilwoman Powell commented that she has attended this event in the past and noted that the films are of good quality and the attendance is good.

b. Dave Metzger and Mike Rende of Odd Ball Art Labs, Individual Artist Grant

i. “Strange Imaginations and Other Perplexing Wonders,” a visual art exhibit taking place at the Elgin Artspace Lofts in July. This event is “a celebration of the Pop Surrealism and Low Brow Art Movement.” This event will bring a wide variety of art from the Elgin and regional area and will include a brief history of the movement, an art toy collection, an art jam, performance art, and an after party at the Martini Room for themed drinks in downtown Elgin. Any additional artwork that doesn’t fit at Artspace will be put up at Martini Room. Proceeds from the exhibit opening will go to Elgin’s food bank, Greater Elgin for Food. On average, about 200-225 people attend the exhibit opening event, several of whom are coming from outside of Elgin.

ii. Chairman Vassallo asked if the art would be for sale. Dave responded that yes, and they also will have a print table to help drive the art sales.

iii. Councilwoman Powell asked if there is a ticket price. Dave responded that they ask for a $5 suggested donation to help cover expenses, and any additional funds are donated to the charity. She asked if the artists pay to participate or are paid to participate. Dave responded that they aren’t paid nor do they have to pay, and if the artist handles the sale, there is no commission. If Odd Ball handles the sale, they take a 20% commission. Several artists opt to donate a portion of their sales to the charity.

iv. Commissioner Kearney asked about the Odd Ball brand. Dave responded that they have just organized into an Illinois NFP and are working on the federal NFP status now. They will be applying for an Organizational Grant once they are eligible.

D. Staff Report:

a. Financial Report:

i. Marketing invoices have been processed.

b. Art Showcase:

i. Minor roof repairs are taking place as the spring thaw comes in.

c. Hemmens:

i. Talentfest will be in house on March 13th at 7pm.

ii. Talent competitions, ESO, and dance schools are in house

iii. Schaumburg on Stage was selected as part of the RFP for Elgin Summer Theater. They are bringing in Sister Act in August. Auditions are June 5-7.

iv. Replacement video projector is being figured out now.

v. Replacement curtains and curtain parts are being taken care of this year.

d. Approval of February Minutes:

i. Motion to approve February minutes by Commissioner Rehberg. Seconded by Commissioner Richmond. Approved by a vote of 9-0.

E. Old Business

a. Marketing

i. CAC Sponsored assignments for BRAVO, April.

1. Individual Grant recipients have been contacted to write this article.

ii. 2018 Marketing Plan:

1. Waiting to hear back from the Daily Herald and we will complete the master schedule.

b. 2018 CAC Projects:

i. Talentfest:

1. Taking place on March 13th at the Hemmens Cultural Center. Talented kids from 3 counties will participate. Tickets are $5.

ii. Elgin Fringe Festival:

1.There were a total of 56 submissions from performing groups and artists. There is a long waitlist. April 2nd is the announcement, live at the Blue Box Café, hosted by Bob and Carol.

iii. Elgin Short Film Festival:

1. Submissions will be accepted started on April 2nd. Posters are up and out for that Call for Entries. The selection committee is looking to grow. Mike is coming back to emcee the event. The new projector at the Hemmens will be in place for the event. Chamber Music on the Fox will be performing at the top of the second act with an original score to an excerpt from the film “Hugo.” Ticket prices have been raised to $10. This is the 10th year anniversary of the event.

c. 2018 Call for Art Applications and Voting

i. Motion to put the Call for Art back out until May 25th by Commissioner Hulin. Seconded by Commissioner Kearney. Approved by a vote of 9-0.

d. New Public Art Programs

i. Utility Box Wrapping Program:

1. The application has been created and is expected to go live with the launch of the new City website.

ii. Spontaneous Art Wall:

1. Signage for this project is being created. This program is expected to go live this spring.

iii. Neighborhood Public Art Grant:

1. A grant sub-committee has been created to help with this process. Commissioners Rehberg, Erlandson, and Vassallo will be a part of this subcommittee with Staff Harris.

F. Other Old Business:

G. New Business:

a. Elgin Poet Laureate Project:

i. A group of citizens are putting together a program to announce and select a Poet Laureate for Elgin. More information coming soon.

b. Enrique Mendoza and Margarita Mendoza of the Latino Film Festival, Individual Artist Grant

i. Commissioner Rehberg noted that this grant program is a good fit for this project.

ii. Motion to approve the Individual Artist Grant in the amount of $1,000 by Commissioner Rehberg. Seconded by Commissioner Erlandson. Approved by a vote of 9-0.

c. Dave Metzger and Mike Rende, Individual Artist Grant

i. Chairman Vassallo noted that the quality of Dave’s shows is always great.

ii. Motion to approve the Individual Artist Grant in the amount of $1,000 by Councilwoman Powell. Seconded by Commissioner Hulin. Approved by a vote of 9-0.

d. Independent Players’ Organizational Grant project review: Commissioner Richmond attended as their assigned commissioner and had a great time. She noted that the audience was diverse, the show was funny and well done, and the show was sold out.

e. Councilwoman Powell asked about putting a monitor into the Hemmens to offer advertising to attendees at the events. It would be ads for local businesses and upcoming events. Butch responded that it would be a matter of logistics to make it work: where it would go, how to power it, who would manage the program and the backend work to get the ads and get them onto the monitors. He mentioned that perhaps it is a program that the DNA or CVB could help with.

H. Adjournment: 8:09 pm

a. Motion to adjourn by Commissioner Erlandson. Seconded by Commissioner Fox. Approved by a vote of 9-0.

http://www.cityofelgin.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5922