HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.3 Appt Historian & Poet Laureate
STAFF REPORT CITY CLERK
File #110-30
CITY COUNCIL
DATE:June 19, 2012
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM:
Joni Pattillo, City Manager
SUBJECT:
Appointment of City Historian and Proposed Suspension
of the Poet Laureate Program
Prepared by Ann Mottola, Heritage and Cultural Arts Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
In March 2012, the City began recruitments for the City Historian and Poet Laureate positions.
One application was received for City Historian and none for Poet Laureate. The City Council
will consider confirming the Mayor’s re-appointment of Georgean Vonheeder-Leopold as City
Historian, as well as the temporary suspension of the City’s Poet Laureate Program to create a
literary arts program in its place.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council confirm the Mayor’s re-appointment of Georgean
Vonheeder-Leopold as City Historian and temporarily suspend the Poet Laureate Program to
create a literary arts program in its place.
Submitted By Reviewed By
Director of Parks and Assistant City Manager
Community Services
DESCRIPTION:
The two-year terms of the City Historian and Poet Laureate have ended. Staff conducted
recruitments for each position. One application was received for the City Historian. The Mayor is
recommending the re-appointment of Georgean Vonheeder-Leopold as the City Historian to a
two-year term that will end on June 30, 2014.
The City Historian is a resource to Staff, the Commission and the City Council, and assists
researchers, students, librarians, members of the public, the press and directs them to
ITEM NO. 3.3
Page 1 of 3
resources for historical information. Ms. Vonheeder-Leopold has served the City in the past four
years as the City Historian. Being a Dublin resident since 1971, Georgean has seen the City
evolve over the past 40 years and with her many years serving on the Board of the Dublin
Historical Preservation Association, has been instrumental in preserving and documenting the
City’s heritage.
In the past two years, Ms. Vonheeder-Leopold has accomplished a great deal as City Historian.
Some of her accomplishments on behalf of the City include:
Participating in the initial planning of “Heritage Happenings” a collaborative event with the
Tri-Valley History Council
Providing a history talk at the 2011 Black History Celebration
Assisting with planning and coordination of the preview party for the Kolb House opening
Assisting with production of the DHPA coloring book based on photos from the Kolb farm
Advocating for the placement of the Lincoln Highway signs
Providing a presentation at the Kolb House Grand Opening
Editing and writing the preface for the Kolb’s of Dublin book
Responding to questions from the website
Collecting information formerly on the Heritage Center website for preservation and inclusion
on the DHPA website
Advocacy for City to take stewardship of the Camp Parks collection
Ms. Vonheeder-Leopold will give a brief presentation to the City Council at the meeting
regarding her accomplishments in the past two years.
Proposed Alternative to Poet Laureate Program
A new application process was initiated in March of 2012 to refill the Poet Laureate position.
Through the recruitment process, no applications were received for the Poet Laureate position.
The past two recruitments drew only one applicant each.
In light of the poor response to the recruitment for the Poet Laureate position, Staff
recommended to the Mayor that, rather than extend the deadline for the recruitment, a program
be developed to engage the community in the literary arts until such a time that the
advancement of the literary arts in the community generates enough interest to reestablish the
Poet Laureate program.
The Mayor asked that a proposal be brought to City Council for consideration.
The three primary goals of this proposed program are to:
Develop appreciation and advancement for the literary and visual arts in the City of Dublin.
Create a vehicle to engage the community in the literary and visual arts
.
Use the literary and visual arts as a bridge between Dublin’s historic past and dynamic
present.
The program would be introduced to the public through a variety of media outlets and
community facilities as a “call for entries” for inclusion in a culminating exhibit. In the “call for
entries,” several pairings of photos would be presented juxtaposing images of historic Dublin
and relevant contemporary culture of the City. These photos would be published online and in
Page 2 of 3
the Parks and Recreation Activity Guide. The photos would be presented without explanation or
context. The challenge would be to “reCREATE…HISTORY” (this is a potential title for the
program).
Residents would be invited to artistically recreate one of the images presented through one of
two methods (the method can be limited to one form of expression in the pilot year):
Create a work of literary art (prose or poetry) telling the story (factually or fictitiously) of what
they observe in the image.
Create a visual artwork (of a specified limited format/size) that recreates or re-interprets the
image.
Fact or fiction; poetry or prose; or, re-sited photograph or work of visual art; there would be no
limit to the imagination or expression – only the size of the entry. All entries would be submitted
in the same size format for efficiency of installation and optimal impact of the exhibit. An exhibit
would be prepared with all entries. This could potentially be a juried competition with separate
best of show awards for literary and visual arts, and could encourage participation by Middle
School and High School students by creating a youth division for entries.
The City Historian would be invited to provide an accurate historic summary of the photos that
would be revealed at the time of the exhibit’s opening reception.
The benefits of this program are to not only stimulate the creative culture of the community, but
the program also presents a highly accessible and non-intimidating vehicle for residents to
participate in the arts.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
A copy of the Staff Report was distributed to the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission and
Georgean Vonheeder-Leopold.
ATTACHMENTS:
None
Page 3 of 3