Monday, September 8, 2014

Public Art Plan Public Meeting Set

The Downtown Management Board (DMB) contracted with Crooked Tree Art Center to develop a proposed Public Art Plan for Downtown Petoskey.  Their proposed plan is scheduled to be submitted to the DMB in December, 2014 for approval.


Crooked Tree Art Center is in the process of developing the plan.  At the direction of the DMB they are supposed to hold public meetings to gather input.  The first meeting was held in June.  Crooked Tree Art Center has scheduled a second public meeting for Tuesday, September 23 at 5:30 in the Carnegie Building.  If you want to make any input concerning the development of the Downtown Petoskey Public Art Plan, please attend!

To announce the public meeting, Crooked Tree Art Center has issued the following press release:


The Crooked Tree Arts Center has been contracted by the Petoskey Downtown Management Board to develop a plan to manage the future of public art in the downtown district. In order to obtain a clear understanding of the concepts and concerns of the citizens of Petoskey there will be a public forum held on Tuesday, September 23 starting at 5:30 pm in the Carnegie Library Building on upper Mitchell Street adjacent to the Crooked Tree Arts Center. Everyone who is interested in the public art project is encouraged to attend.

Some of the goals set forward in the public art plan are to create a definition of public art relative to downtown Petoskey, identify opportunities for art in the public realm as a way to enhance downtown Petoskey and establish guidelines for setting up a downtown Public Art Commission that will approve future public art projects as they relate to the finished plan.

The process used to create the plan will include the formation of an oversight committee made up of appropriate city staff members, a DMB member, a member of the DMB Design Committee, a planning commission member, downtown arts advocates, and downtown cultural leaders. 
Spearheading this work on this project for CTAC is Gail DeMeyere, Visual Arts Director and Curator “I would strongly encourage people that have any interest in public art to mark their calendars and attend the public forum on September 23rd. We are not being asked to define the content or design of the public art as it pertains to the city, we are only being asked to define the guidelines for implementing the art. The content and creative component of this project will come from the citizens at this meeting and the later public art commission.”

Information gathered from the public forum will be noted in the final report due to the Downtown Management Board before the end of the year. For more information please contact Gail DeMeyere at gail@crookedtree.org. The Crooked Tree Arts Center located in downtown Petoskey at 461 E. Mitchell Street, (231) 347-4337.