CASE Committee Minutes 9-17-20CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2020
VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 - CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES PAGE 1 | 3
1. ROLL CALL
Present:
Committee Members – Chair Lisa Mattis, Kathy Ryan, Chris Cofelice, Pedro Campos, Jason Denhart, Timothy
Haley, and Ruth Stanley
Town Staff – Eric Heil, Danita Dempsey, Charise Bishop and Ineke de Jong
Absent:
Councilor Amy Phillips
Late Arrival:
Avon Town Council - Jake Wolf
Committee Chair Lisa Mattis called the meeting to order at 12:04 p.m.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Pedro Campos commented that on the August minutes he was marked absent even though he had arrived early.
CASE Manager Danita Dempsey explained that this had been discussed with General Government Intern Charise
Bishop and in the future late arrivals will be noted at the top of the minutes as present. Danita would also like the
minutes to reflect that there was a regional update provided in written format.
Kathy Ryan moved to approve the August meeting minutes with the corrections discussed. Pedro Campos seconded
the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comments were made.
Jake entered the meeting at 12:08
4. STAFF UPDATE
A. AVON
Danita Dempsey presented the Staff Update to the Committee about what is happening in Avon as the 2020 events
season wraps up. Things she noted included:
1. Man of the Cliff officially cancelled, but she foresees them returning in future years.
2. SunsetLIVE! is a wrap aside from the upcoming Special Edition on a Saturday featuring the Frisco Funk
Collective.
3. The Avon Art Festival was held over Labor Day weekend and went well.
4. The Avon Arts Celebration was this past weekend and Danita is still working with the event producer on
the post-event brief.
5. The Virtual Scavenger Hunt is ongoing. Because it is a new project, it has been a little challenging figuring
out the best way for participants to include pictures.
6. The Faces on the Trees and park benches are complete.
7. There is a pending project that Danita plans to pick back up, which is “Avon in the time of COVID.” She
has found a photographer who would be perfect for this project.
CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2020
VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 - CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES PAGE 2 | 3
The Committee commented/inquired:
A. Jake suggested allowing people to submit their own content to the Discover Avon page.
B. Lisa asked Danita how much time was spent working on the scavenger hunt.
C. Kathy asked where the faces on the trees are located.
D. Jake thinks we should repeat the scavenger hunt since staff invested so much time into it.
E. Jason thought the two art festivals brought a lot of people out to the park.
F. Ruth thought Avon Art Celebration should have been spaced out more between booths.
G. Lisa commented it seemed like we are just learning how to execute these new events with new producers,
during COVID.
5. CURRENT ACTIVITY
Town Manager Eric Heil opened the conversation about current activity discussing the formation of the CASE
Committee. Him and Danita have been brainstorming how Avon can make culture and arts a priority for staff and
the Committee. He believes that while everyone likes the Bronze statues, to him they are more décor. Art should
generate conversation. Staff has generated a few ideas for the Committee to consider beginning the process of
focusing on the culture and arts component of CASE.
Lisa began the conversation about how she felt challenged with bringing provocative art to Avon. For her
personally, she struggles with mixing art and politics. The big question for her is: what is the approach to art that the
Town wants to take? Eric suggested that the approach we take should be reflective of the community.
Jake believes that art and politics should mix because otherwise it stifles creativity. Art should be powerful. He
believes during this time, children are lacking creative education and the Town could make a difference by
embracing a vibrant, artistic vision. Jake also mentioned how art can come in many forms, including culinary arts.
Kathy asked Eric to clarify what he meant by art reflecting the community. Eric stated that while we have a lot of art
that reflects the Town’s affinity for nature, one demographic that is lacking representation is the Latino community
that accounts for half of the Town’s population. He also brought up towns such as Salida, Taos, and Santa Fe.
When you visit, you can immediately tell that it is a community that welcomes artists.
6. PLANNING
A. 2021 ART IN AVON
The Committee began discussing the mural project options Danita included in the packet. Pedro began the
conversation stating he believes it is best to set some guidelines for the artist. Jason expressed he is very supportive
of public art, but also agrees it would be best to provide guidelines and review multiple iterations of the project. Jake
says too many guard rails could stifle creativity and something provocative could raise the consciousness of the
community. He thinks we should strike a balance between providing guidelines without becoming too restrictive. Kathy
is wrestling with the idea of trying to start a conversation. Who decides what conversation should be started? She
also receives a lot of complaints about the bronze statues. Comments include that they are gauche and not artistic.
She does not believe the mural should be an illustration of Avon’s legacy and history.
Danita asked if she could take a moment to let Laurie Lindberg from Carbondale discuss their public art program and
then return to the conversation after she has had a chance to present.
CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2020
VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 - CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES PAGE 3 | 3
Laurie Lindberg presented to the Committee Carbondale’s Art Around Town project. They are able to run this program
for around $21,000 per year. This includes installation costs and paying each of the 15 artists a $900 stipend. The art
is for sale, and the Town receives 25% of each sale that is used for the program. The Town puts out a call on the
Café platform for sculptures that fit the various sized marble slab platforms they have around town.
Eric made a suggestion that roundabout four (the roundabout right in the center of town) could be a perfect place to
host a new piece of art every year.
The next project is the trash can project. Carbondale was able to obtain about 65 trash cans from Aspen at a discount.
The Town repainted them and then wrapped them with art from a local middle school class and teacher.
The Committee continued the conversation about art in Avon for 2021 after Laurie’s presentation. Chris also agrees
there should be some guidelines but does not want too many iterations or to be too restrictive. Art should be
interpretive and should create discussion. Ruth also agrees with Chris. She does not want to be too restrictive but
emphasized this is our Town and does not want to jeopardize our reputation. She loves what is being done in
Carbondale.
Danita then described the Community Goals of these art projects to the Committee and showed the three walls that
are planned for the murals. The Danita posed the idea of pausing the sponsorship of the Colorado Mountain News
Media (CMNM) projects to fund the murals in Avon. The Committee was favorable to try something new with those
funds for temporary/permanent art installations.
The Committee will next meet in a joint session with Council on October 6th, 2020 around 5:30 p.m. The meeting after
will be either November 12th or 19th.
7. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Charise Bishop
General Government Intern