Applications Welcome for Arts Commission
At the May 12th, 2022, regular meeting of City Council, the Governing Body approved a resolution outlining the establishment of a public arts commission to help develop and implement public art and arts-and-culture activities and programming within the City of Osawatomie.
City staff will be accepting applications for the seven-member Commission from interested residents until June 13th, 2022, and conducting brief interviews if the number of applicants necessitates additional review. The City’s Public Service Application is available for download below, or paper copies can be made available at City Offices at 439 Main Street. Completed applications should be returned via email to [email protected] or paper applications can be returned to City Offices.
For the purposes of the Commission’s studies and recommendations, public art and arts and culture shall mean:
Public Art: “Public art can express community values, enhance our environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions. Placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression. Public art is a reflection of how we see the world – the artist’s response to our time and place combined with our own sense of who we are.” (Association for Public Art)
Arts: A vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts.
Culture: A set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that define a group of people, such as the people of a particular region. Culture includes the elements that characterize a particular peoples’ way of life.
The goal of the Commission is to focus primarily on the introduction and implementation of public art projects and arts-and-culture projects within and around the City limits, and to develop public art projects that may also integrate with other public art projects, installations, or objectives in the region including the Kansas City metropolitan area and other urban, suburban, or rural centers.
Formational documents will be presented at an upcoming Council meeting for review, followed by applicant consideration and appointment of commission members.
Please contact the City’s Public Information Officer with questions or feedback regarding this new commission.