He must be with Jordan, I'm taking it.
He wrote this up from the Golden Gate account.
Okay, we're going to call the Public Art Advisory Committee meeting to order for today, Monday, March 23rd. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
...of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Next up is the approval of the minutes from the January 26th meeting. We've all got copies. We've all read them. Anybody have any comments or concerns?
Move to approve the minutes. I second it.
Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor of approval, say aye.
Aye.
No one opposed. Public comment section, anyone wish to comment publicly? No. Then we'll move on to the presentations. Arts Fest 2026 recap. Yep.
Susan Cora's Office of Community Development. We are bringing you the Arts Fest 2026 recap.
It was great.
It was great. It was well attended. The weather was gorgeous. Yeah, it was... Yeah, I was out of town. Now you each have something from Arts Fest, right? Yes. It was left for you. That was the art project that we did this year, and they could pick one out of three different... Three? Four different mosaics. And those are the mosaics that you see in Hal Patiochi, the wildlife mosaics that we had redone a few years ago. Sponsorship summary, as always, we give $10,000 each year, and that gives us a huge booth with good space, signage, banners, the art project. So we get a lot out of that. There was about 8,000 attendees over the two-day festival, which is kind of fantastic. We got to do lots of public engagement. So we did another survey, and people had to do the survey to get a bag. So we didn't have to beg anybody this year. It was really nice. Did you have enough bags? We did. We distributed 300 of them. So we were busy. Actually, we even had people that were there. There's a company that does it, so they were manning the booth as well. And the first day, we had this cute family whose little kids were helping all the other kids make their bags. Yeah, it was just fun. It really was. And then we had some nice giveaways. We did adult coloring books, clay for hands-on stuff for the kids, and then, of course, our own brochures and information and that kind of thing. So, yeah, meaningful interaction with thousands of Martin County residents. A successful weekend. And there you can see us. There we are. A couple of pictures. It was a little chilly, as you can see, but lovely.
Better that than the sporting event.
Oh, absolutely. Better not. He said it. So here's our booth. Some of our new projects. We had some boards made for that. You can see how they made the bags with this little machine. And survey results. So these were the questions we asked. What do you hope public art does for the community? And they could select any that apply. So it looks like supporting local artists and creative careers and beautifying public spaces were the big ones. How important is public art to the quality of life in Martin County? Extremely important, just in case you were wondering. Now you know the answer. Extremely important. What types of public art should we prioritize? Murals. Functional art. Functional art means things like benches, for example. Bike racks. Those kinds of things. Those were the biggies. And sculpture came in third. Where do you think it would have the greatest impact? And it's pretty much where we're doing things now. So parks and recreational spaces, downtowns and commercial areas. Which is really what most of the time we focus on. How would you rate your overall experience? And we got a majority of excellent. I don't know who said fair. 2.3%. I don't know how many people that is. Maybe two. I don't know. I don't know how many people. I don't know how many did this. How many did it. Yeah. So that's our ArtsFest update. Any questions on that? Enjoy your bags and your clay and coloring books.
Fun night.
Can I ask a question? Please do. Of course. Are they okay with what we give them, I mean, every year? Or they want more? I'm just being curious.
No, they seem to be fine with that. Yeah. I think it's a good sponsorship for us, certainly. Yeah. We do get a lot out of it. And I know it helps them defray some of the costs that they have in advertising and that kind of thing. You know, Martin Arts does a great job with volunteers. They have tons of volunteers that pretty much take care of everything. I mean, I think they have three staff people there. Of course, I think they only have four staff people total, but I don't know. It's a small staff, but they really do a great job. And the new pavilion area was open this year. So they had like a VIP area with wine and restaurant pairings, which was very nice. That was in that new pavilion area where they had some music. So it was nice to see that get utilized for the first time. Any other questions?
Moving right along.
Moving right along.
Do you want a motion to we move on?
I'll second it. He's still fresh.
AIPP program and project updates. Okay.
I've got updates for you. So at our last Board of County Commissioners meeting, February 24th, we brought Art in Public Places to them, gave them a nice update, and they did approve the new manual that Elise did and also our budget. So that was success. A windy day that would, it was a windy day that they would never forget has been successfully installed at the patio. And I'm going to show you kind of how that looked. It was really interesting. And I'd like to give you a little synopsis of how it went. It was freezing and it was windy. So it was the perfect day for us to do that. And I'd just like to give Field Ops a shout out. They are our partners in crime in this. They had the equipment and the manpower and the know-how to get this done, and they did it, and it was fantastic. So thank you, Field Ops, and the crew for doing that for us. So I'm going to show you a little video. This was us at about 8.30 that morning.
And you can hear the wind.
It's great that they brought a motor that was big enough to handle that thing.
Yep. No, they'd never done art installation before, but they really knew what they were doing. They figured it out. They used plywood. That's great.
That concrete pad that was behind it was where they installed it. Yeah.
Do you have a picture of it unveiled?
Uh, we had some friends join us that day.
I'm like, was this added to the sculpture?
Well, there were dogs.
We had some friends that visited us, and we asked them if we could take their picture, and they sat very nicely. They sat very nicely, and we took their picture.
Uh, I know.
That's funny. Is that so cute? We really had a lot of fun that day. Hey, can you put that one back? Oh, that was nice.
Can I make some comments, Liz?
I suppose. The dogs.
Okay. We got a little bit of a problem with this.
No.
All right. See the rabbit and the dog hanging on the trunk?
Yes.
Well, kids are getting up there and playing on them, and when they're doing that, you can see them bending. It's not going to be long before they break, and I even witnessed on Saturday night, we had a party over there, Commissioner Campy, and mothers were bringing their kids over there to play on the statue.
So we have a sign that we're going to put up telling them not to climb on it or do anything.
I think the sign might have been there.
There's also, and I don't have it with me today, but the artist, because we talked to them about it, so the artist showed us the interior of that, and then they had a guy, regular man, stand on it and jump. So it can take some. So it can take some. Okay. But I would also say to you, if you are there and you see kids and parents, please let them know that this is not a jungle gym. Yeah. You know, this is public art, and they need to respect that. I have found, generally, I've done public art programs before in other places, that people are generally really respectful. So if they're not being respectful, then we need to remind them. Well, these are kids. Yeah. But if the parents take them there, that's not right. Yeah. No. But I think, I mean, we had the same thoughts, Chuck. Good. So that's why we kind of went back to the artist and said, how does that work? And they showed us the whole interior, sort of how it's put together. So it can take a little bit of, a little bit. I mean, yeah.
Well, that was one thing. The next thing is, if you see in between the dogs, they have solar lights.
Yes.
They're all gone. Yeah, they don't work.
They didn't work anyway.
Right. It wasn't good. And this is caused by teenagers on e-bikes have decided to take over that park. Every night, there's at least 20 of them in this park now. And they definitely did the damage to the lights. So I'm working with Jordan on, you know, doing the lights right. Yes.
Thank you very much for that. We really appreciate you. Okay.
So I think that's all I had to say about that.
Yeah. No, we appreciate, we appreciate, we appreciate that you're stepping in to help us with that because we need somebody that kind of knows what they're doing and knows how to install it. We need to work on it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that will help. You know, the better it's lit up, the more people generally tend to stay away as well if they're doing something nefarious. You know, they don't like lights.
I know Commissioner Campy, he does know about the problem with the kids on the e-bikes. So, you know, I'm sure he's working on that.
Yeah. I'm not, I'm not exactly sure what we do about that, but, uh, might have to get the sheriff involved.
Did they say police patrols? Yeah. Yeah. You know, the e-bikes, they've been such a problem. And there's cameras everywhere nowadays. What's that? Cameras everywhere nowadays as well. Yeah. Because I'm, I think there's a clear shot from a business across the street.
Yeah. And we got Rex and Tell right next door. Yeah. Um, you know, like stupid things like ice cream cones. They eat half their ice cream cone and they mush the rest into the turf in the pavers. I mean, it just, it's ridiculous what these kids are doing, but they're, they're kids.
Yep.
So anyways, this was also just a picture of us. Finally, hours and hours later, we were done.
They got quite a bit of people there to help you, huh?
Yes. Wow. Well, we had, you know, you had to block off the sidewalk and then you had those people that had to hold it. I know. In the truck. And then, you know.
And, and the windswept hair is very suitable for this picture, Susan. I love it. I know.
It is beautiful. I love it.
It's absolutely beautiful. The spot they picked is beautiful.
It's glowing. It does. It looks amazing. Especially when the fountain is on and it's nighttime. You can see the light. The fountain is incredible. The fountain behind it. Yeah. Has everybody seen that fountain?
It's incredible. It's absolutely, it's beautiful.
Next, I want to show you our newest completed project. I love it. Which we will have a little opening for. We're kind of working with the library to get that done. And so this is the mural called The Reading Post by Nate D. And I don't know if you've had a chance to go on any of our, on our website. I think it's up there. I think Elise posted it. We did a little interview with him while he was painting. It was really interesting. I know, Bert, you spoke to him as well. Went down there when he was doing the mural. It looks awesome.
He did a great job.
Yeah. I was looking at that turtle thinking it was a car.
I was like, what's a car doing in the middle of that?
That's a mini Fiat.
And then to complement our new mural, we have our new book benches done by Printera, Justin D'Angelo, who is behind me. Justin, stand up. Yay. That was not very good standing up. Designed and manufactured by Printera. Is this the one in Palm City? That's Hope Sound. Oh, that's Hope Sound. This is in Hope Sound. Okay. Yeah. And I just want to give a little shout out to the Hope Sound NAC, because after we installed the benches, we realized that it's going to be very difficult for people to sit there because they're going to be in the direct sun. So the Hope Sound NAC has stepped up and is going to provide some landscaping. So we'll have some trees on the sides, which will be quite nice. So thank you to them.
Isn't it a library? It's at the library.
It's at the Hope Sound library.
That's next door to our church. And I didn't pay attention.
Yeah. So they built this pavilion just like they did at, they did it at Hope Library. They did it at Cummings Library. And it works out really, really nicely. They can do all kinds of programs in there. The community can use it. So this is the second art project we did at a pavilion. And we're looking at Hope next.
Well, you know, the one behind the Golden Gate building has been really helpful for the people there.
Yeah.
You see them there sitting, you know, doing their own things, which is nice. Yeah.
So we love our book benches. He even, Justin even had the tops. If you go there, you can see the tops are engraved with the name of two of the books that this, there'll be a plaque there. It's in honor of one of the librarians who passed away. She was the librarian there for, I don't know, 20 or 30 years. And so her favorite books they put on the edges up here. So they look fantastic. We're so pleased. Okay. That's all the pictures I have, apparently. Some other just quick project updates. We've been working on the refresh at Selfish Splash. So Shannon Wiley, who's one of the artists that did some of the murals there, is there. And he is working on it. So it's probably going to be a fun opportunity for people to see him do that because he's going to be there on the weekend. So they'll see, you know, visitors will see him working on those murals. Brenda Lee continues to repair our beautiful serendipity, serenity, sorry. And we're hoping she'll be done by May. She had an accident where she broke both her wrists. Wow. Yeah. So it's been hard for her to. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that got put off a little bit. But she's back in business, and we're hoping we'll see Serenity back up at the Blake Library in May. And we are, meaning Elise and I, going to attend an art conference because it's going to be held in West Palm Beach, which is so fabulous. And we belong to this organization. It's called the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals. So we're going to check it out, see what we learn and what connections we can make to bring back to all of you. Last but not least, our Yap Money Stones has been on auction. No bites. I don't know. I guess you guys haven't been on that website. You haven't been trying to get, you know, people excited and do some bidding. No? What's that Facebook marketplace? It's the county auction site.
I didn't even know.
Maybe we should put it on Facebook marketplace. Some would probably buy it for a bunch of money.
Was it a display that you showed us that had to be moved? Big round stones. Okay, gotcha.
Yeah, that was one of the decommissions that we did.
So it's a bidding. It's not a set price.
It's a bid. If you're interested in them. You know, Chuck, honestly.
That's in front of my office.
It might be, and you could just use the big stones. I mean, maybe you can use it in a landscape project. I don't know. They're huge. And they're kind of cool. If I could pick one up or had something to pick it up, I would put it in my backyard.
Drop it off at her front door. That's the machines.
But anyway, if you're interested, county bid. County auction.
Is this called county auction?
I don't know. Diane can find out and let you know how to get on there. Just send me the information. Okay. Yep, we can do that. And I think that that is all I have.
Okay. Thank you. Any questions?
The last thing we are working on as well is moving Silent Sounds of Service to Palm City Firehouse number 21. So we'll be getting that cement pad poured, and then we'll be moving that one from Gazebo Park there for its permanent home. And then three of the other pieces will go to Golden Gate for El Camino.
What do you call them?
The three that you're getting? One is called Tumbling Toward the Sun. One is called Red Angle. And one is called, I don't remember.
And what are they exactly?
They're large steel, I guess. I think they're made of steel. Sculptures that are in, they're in Gazebo Park right now. I think they'll look great on the trail. So we're going to move them over there. Field Ops, again, assist by Field Ops. They'll be pouring the pads for us. So you should see that happening, Chuck, soon. Yep. Yeah.
Great.
Cool.
Yeah.
Any other questions, comments? Then we'll move back into the comments section. Any public wishing to speak yet? Any? No, nothing. What are we, board members? Member comments?
I just want to say I love the 3D benches. They're great. And I know that they had mentioned that they were cool to touch, like they wouldn't heat up too, too much, but it's nice that they're going to add shade just so that it's comfortable.
And I think it'll look great, too. Yeah. I mean, it kind of needs a little something. So we may be calling on you pretty soon.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too, to say. Except if, with her name, she's still on the Doom Mosaic benches. I'm not going to object to it.
We are doing, also with Printera, some larger planters. So we got some messages from the community in Port Salerno and Manatee Pocket that they, for some reason, don't really like the different color, what are they called? No. Window boxes?
Security barricades.
Security barricades. In front of our beautiful new mosaic. I can't figure it out, but they didn't really care for the barriers. And could we do something else? So, of course, I got on the phone to Justin and said, what can we do? So he made us these gorgeous sort of nautical-looking planters that are cement. And we're going to put those right in front of the mosaic until the street is finished. And then we'll just move them off to the side a little bit to sit in front of the mooring field facility. And we'll have some plantings in that. So they do look much, much, will look much, much nicer. So that's another project that we just, anytime we have anything, we just call Justin and ask
him what to do. Who's going to decide what goes in those planters?
Field ops, probably, or parks.
County horticulture.
Yeah. Did you have a suggestion?
I don't know the situation.
Yeah. We're just looking at something low. So it doesn't cover the artwork? Yeah. So it doesn't cover the whole thing that-
You're going to add irrigation to those planters?
I don't think so. Well, the parks person that's, that are the people that are in the facility can probably make sure that, yeah, parks is going to take care of that for us. So we thank them. Keeper. So it'll look a little nicer for the community. We didn't think the barriers would be there that long.
Come on, it's Port Salerno.
We didn't think so. You talk about the people.
Everything takes longer in Port Salerno. Not really. No. Try Golden Gate. Yeah.
That's true. Any other member comments? I don't even remember where we were at. No, no, no, no. No, sir. Staff comments? Or should I say continued staff comments? No, thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, then we will adjourn.