Stelco site development
Public Art Committee - Nov 28

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Windermere By-The-Lake Public Art Committee

Minutes from the Public Art Committee Meeting
November 28th, 2001
Sheraton Four Points, 12 - 2 pm

Present:
Jamie Bell, Norm McLeod, Lynn Donoghue, Maureen Lynett, Don Richardson, Bob Willes, John Davies.

Minutes:
Don Richardson chaired and provided Committee members with a binder of information related to the City of Toronto Public Art Program and the current site plan. He explained that David Miller and his staff will be kept up-to-date on the Committee's work and will be invited to attend as necessary.

Terms of Reference and Committee Functions were agreed to as:

The Windermere-By-The-Lake Public Art Committee is constituted as a forum to enable detailed and on-going community input, advice and comment, on a public art program that enhances and humanizes the site.

Committee Functions - The Windermere Public Art Committee will:

• Provide input, advice and comment on a public art program
• Help insure that the site includes high-quality art in publicly accessible locations
• Help insure that there are harmonious relationships between public open spaces, streets and the Windermere-By-The-Lake development
• Assist REON in selecting a public art consultant
• Meet periodically with the public art consultant to provide input, advice and comment
• Assist REON and the public art consultant to in communicating to the wider community about the public art program
• Provide guidance on the initiation and fulfillment of the public art plan

Action Items:

1. Committee members recommended that Barry Brooks, City Planning, be invited as an ex-officio member of the committee to insure linkages to the City's plans for the Queensway and to provide other input. Action: Barry Brooks will receive these minutes and Don Richardson will get in touch with him about attending future committee meetings as necessary, when he is available.
2. Lynn Donoghue circulated a copy of Toronto Culture's "Canada's Urban Waterfront: Part I Central Waterfront". Action: Don Richardson will arrange to obtain copies for committee members. He will also obtain copies of the City's "Public Art Master Plan".
3. Don Richardson described the next steps for selecting a public art consultant. Action: Don Richardson will speak with 5 public art consultants from the list provided by Jane Purdue (Karen Mills, Rina Greer, Heather Hatch, Jennifer Rudder and Catherine Williams) and will obtain examples of requests for proposals (RFPs) that they have responded to in the past. Richardson will work with these RFPs to draft an RFP for a public art consultant, circulate that draft to committee members for comment, and then send the RFP to a shortlist of public art consultants. Public art consultants will be invited to submit proposals for providing public art consulting services before the end of January, 2002.
4. Lynn Donoghue circulated a memo on the role of public art managers: * Work on establishing appropriate sites * Develop budgets for each site * Work with the City in moving forward a Public Art Plan for development * Set up appropriate committees for finding artists (call for artists, etc.) * Work with lawyers in working out reasonable contracts for artists * Work as a liaison between contractors, the developer and artists once artists have been selected. The Committee discussed the need for the public art consultant to be someone who would be comfortable working with a committee. Action: Don Richardson will insure that this is mentioned in the RFP and consultants will be asked to comment on their experience in working with a committee and their approach.
5. The Committee discussed issues and elements for the Committee and the public art consultant to address. These include: long-term maintenance of public art in the context of condominium boards; linkages to the history of the site and the community; key pedestrian corridors and adjacent site space on Windermere; Queensway revitalization; TTC streetcar route and stops; park on Ellis Avenue; technical building requirements and liaison with the builder and the landscape architect; possibilities and challenges related to water fountains; use of the High Park Garden of Hope (Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation site dedicated to cancer research and survival) as a reference point; possibilities for the landscaped berm adjacent to the railway line, and; possibilities for upgrading of the CN underpass. Action: Don Richardson will insure that these issues and elements are addressed in the RFP for public art consultants, asking them to provide comment on these items in their proposals.
6. Lynn Donoghue recommended that the Committee take part in a guided tour of public art in downtown Toronto, including Margaret Priest's work on Adelaide Street. She recommended Anne O'Calaghan as someone who could conduct the tour. Action: Don Richardson will contact Anne and arrange for a tour for the morning of December 14, 2001.
7. Next meeting. No date was scheduled, however during the public art tour on December 14, we will try to arrange a meeting date for late January to coincide with the receipt of proposals from public art consultants. Action: Don Richardson will work with Committee members to set a next meeting date in late January.