North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Commission Project Updates
City Staffing Changes
Community Center Renovations and Partnerships
Local Infrastructure and Services
Votes (6)
Project Snowy Update
Purchasers have made artist selections, and painting is scheduled for May 15-28 at the Community Center. Jean Coke was selected for the city's snowy, featuring a St Paul Winter Carnival theme. Volunteers are needed for artist supervision, particularly in weekday evenings and weekends. Logistical arrangements for access and key management are in place, with Amanda Black serving as key master. Information was provided on the intended placement of donated and city-owned snowies, and the reveal event planning is in transition due to staff changes.
Mural Project Update
The subgroup is developing an RFP for businesses interested in having a mural on their privately owned buildings. The city plans to partially fund these projects, expecting significant financial contribution from the businesses themselves. Parameters for project selection will include a bias towards community involvement and relevance to city history. Sharon Clark Williams has joined this subgroup.
Utility Boxes Project Update
The high school project for utility box wraps is being facilitated by Lexi from ISD 622, who is connecting with North High. Due to a lack of submissions since the notice went out, the deadline for student submissions has been extended to April 22nd. Lexi will conduct additional in-person promotion at North High, and the commission plans to provide physical flyers.
Art Cart Project Update
Raquel SoDo has joined Amanda Black on the Art Cart team. Confirmed dates for Art Cart appearances include the Car Show (June 14th) and Music in the Parks (July 18th, August 19th), in addition to the Autumn Arts Festival. The team discussed potential activities like rock painting, stamp making, and mosaics. There is an ongoing need for volunteers, and the commission noted that integrating Art Cart activities with existing city events yields better attendance.
Paint Night Project Update
Four Paint Night dates have been confirmed for the year: June 17th, July 11th, August 29th, and October 24th at Casey Lake, with guest artists already secured. Carrie Neto has committed to being the commission liaison for these events. The maximum capacity for each event is 16 participants. Carrie also expressed a desire for additional input or help for future Paint Night planning.
Autumn Arts Festival Update
The Autumn Arts Festival is moving forward, with Sarah Lang taking on increased responsibility for event planning due to the Communications Coordinator's departure. Vendor applications are being accepted, with five vendors already paid and secured, and seven others approved. Most participating vendors are repeat attendees from the previous year.
Notable Quotes (9)
purchasers have made their selections of artists this last month and oh really yep great and so we have connected artists to purchasers.
we chose Jean and remind me of his last name do you remember Coke okay... his snowy theme was very based off of winter and relating to the St Paul Winter Carnival.
I remember my very first arts and culture commission meeting the very first project we talked about with mayor furong at the time was Project snowy so huge congratulations to you three for bringing it across the Finish Line.
the intention I think would be to see if there are businesses who are interested and that the city would partially fund... it would not be Our intention to fully fund a project for a private business.
we are extending the deadline to April 22... and Lexi has graciously agreed to go to North High to do additional promotion and connection with the art teachers and the folks over there in admin.
since dates have been selected I am I have a couple of projects in mind but haven't solidified anything because I'm waiting for a second commissioner to join me.
Our intention was to really have it a lot more days throughout the summer and we tried to do that but we just didn't get any attendance so if if we had it in the in a city park... kids just don't show up like that anymore.
I think we're pretty set with our uh paint nights set with our guest artists we've got four coming up I have committed to being the staff liaison commission liazon whatever um to host those artists for those events.
I have um started accepting vendors good that's good okay um so far we've got I think five that have paid so they're all secured and ready to go um I've got another like seven that I've approved so we're moving along good with that too.
Ordinances & Resolutions (5)
A single-page document used by the commission to track progress on all ongoing projects.
Request for Proposal to be developed for businesses interested in hosting and partially funding murals on private property.
Funding received to construct a new sidewalk from Aerial to McKnight on 11th Avenue.
Request for Information being developed to solicit interest from community organizations and businesses for partnerships at the Community Center.
Funding secured by the city's Forester for tree-related efforts, including Emerald Ash Borer mitigation and replacement trees.