Akron Public Art Commission
Education
Environment
Parks
Arts
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024
4:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. EST
Location unavailable
The Akron Public Art Program is dedicated to celebrating the cultural vitality of the people of Akron and promoting economic vibrancy throughout Akron through the integration of high-quality artwork into public places.
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Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Akron - OH Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Brittany Nader
Commissioners discuss public art efforts for Lock 3 which reopens Nov. 29
Hello! I’ll be live tweeting the November Akron Public Art Commission meeting for #AKRdocumenters @signalakron.
11:06 AM Nov 14, 2024 CST
The meeting was called to order at 4:12 p.m. Commissioners Jessica Travis, Stephanie Leonardi, Hillier, Megan Delong, Jon Fiume, Erik Reynolds, Roberta Rogers and Summer Hall were in attendance. Commission Vice Chair Larissa Brown was absent.
Also in attendance were Daniel Rice, President and CEO of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, and Annie Wischmeyer, the operations director of Curated Storefront.
Rice and Wischmeyer were present to discuss public art initiatives for the Lock 3 Park redevelopment project. signalakron.org/redeveloped-lo…
signalakron.org/redeveloped-lo…
Rice said one of the key components people wanted in Lock 3 is art, so a task force was put together in 2021 to determine what type of art should be displayed in the park.
The task force has met 24 times over the last two years and is made up of 13 members listed in the slide below.
Wischmeyer said Curated Storefront is in the process of expanding its scope of work to permanent art installations in Akron and was tapped to find artists for Lock 3.
They have been in talks with artist Chakaia Booker, who uses recycled tires repurposed from discarded industrial material to make large-scale sculptures. chakaiabooker.com/chakaia-booker…
chakaiabooker.com/chakaia-booker…
Booker has been to Akron several times — she had exhibitions at the Akron Art Museum and Quaker Square, and she hosted a lecture at EJ Thomas Hall. Wischmeyer said she’s excited to create a piece specific to Akron.
“Rubber workers celebrate the past… Chakai’s work speaks to the future,” Wischmeyer said. The idea is that the artist’s piece will be in conversation with the r 5-foot-tall bronze rubber worker statue, created by Alan Cottrill, that is currently downtown.
No design for Booker’s sculpture has been chosen yet, but Wischmeyer showed some examples of her work to the commission. Here is her portfolio of public work: chakaiabooker.com/portfolio/publ…
chakaiabooker.com/portfolio/publ…
When they have approval, a contract will be sent to the artist, and they will come back to the commission with design plans. Fiume asked about the plan and cost for ongoing maintenance of the piece. He said public sculptures are expensive to take care of.
Wischmeyer said Booker’s sculptures have a track record of lasting a long time, and since this piece would be made from rubber, it only needs to be sprayed down with WD-40 periodically.
Fiume also asked about insurance on the artwork. According to Wischmeyer, Curated Storefront would cover it. They received a VIA (Visionary Initiatives in Art) grant to fund this project. viaartfund.org
viaartfund.org
They are looking at various sites in Lock 3 to install this piece. Booker is excited for something street-level that would serve as a “portal” to walk through to get to the park. The design will come first, then they will pick the site.
They’ve identified about five possible sites now. Rice presented this slide at the meeting showing potential sites.
Commissioners asked if a local artist was considered and whether or not the installation would be easy to see from the street. Rice said bringing in a high-caliber artist draws people to the area, and the park has been leveled out so it’s visible from the road.
Suzie Graham Moore, Akron's director of economic development, was in attendance and said Lock 3 is navigating balancing national acts on stage with showcasing local artists, and they are “working with the current administration on that balancing act.”
She suggested engaging the community in conversation with Booker to help inform her piece and bring in local input.
The commission approved a motion to have the plan for the artwork conditionally approved.
The next agenda item involved a mural submitted for the upgraded Ed Davis community center on Perkins Park Drive. akronohiorescue.gov/ed-davis-commu…
akronohiorescue.gov/ed-davis-commu…
The commission determined the mural is actually a portrait of the late Davis painted on canvas by one of his relatives. They reviewed the submitted rendering and approved the piece for display in the new community center.
Hall also said she applied for a grant to fund public art in all 10 wards in Akron. The grant would be for $30,000 total. There was some back and forth among commissioners regarding the language of the grant.
The commission also talked about who would take minutes moving forward and if they were allowed to use AI tools for this purpose. No formal decision was made on this matter.
There were no public comments. Travis announced she will be leading a demonstration and panel at the University of Akron’s Rethinking Race event next week. The meeting was adjourned at 5:29 p.m. uakron.edu/race/
uakron.edu/race/
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