Brown Recommended for N. Main Group
At its May 23, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor public art commission (AAPAC) unanimously recommended that Connie Rizzolo Brown be nominated for a position on a task force to study the corridor along North Main Street and the Huron River. That recommendation will be forwarded to mayor John Hieftje.
The task force was established by the city council at its May 7, 2012 meeting, with membership to include the following: one member of the park advisory commission, one member of the planning commission, one resident representing the Water Hill neighborhood, one resident representing the North Central neighborhood, one resident from the Old Fourth Ward, one resident representing the Broadway/Pontiac neighborhood, two business and property owners from the affected area, and one member of the Huron River Watershed Council.
At its May 21 meeting, the two sponsors of the resolution that created the task force – Ward 1 councilmembers Sabra Briere and Sandi Smith – proposed adding three additional representatives: a member of the city council, someone from the boating/fishing community of river users, a representative from the Huron River Citizens Association. Tony Derezinski (Ward 2), who also serves on AAPAC, then proposed an amendment to add an AAPAC member to the task force. The AAPAC addition was passed by council on a 6-5 vote. [See Chronicle coverage: "Positions Added to North Main Task Force"] Appointments are expected to be made at the council’s June 4 meeting.
At AAPAC’s May 23 meeting, Derezinski told commissioners that “basically, we need someone at the table.”
The task force is charged with delivering a report to the city council more than a year from now – by July 31, 2013 – that describes “a vision to create/complete/enhance pedestrian and bike connection from downtown to Bandemer and Huron River Drive, increase public access to the river-side amenities of existing parks in the North Main-Huron River corridor, ease traffic congestion at Main and Depot at certain times of a day and recommend use of MichCon property at Broadway; …”
Earlier than that – by the end of 2012 – the task force is to make recommendations on the use of the city-owned 721 N. Main parcel.
Brown has served on AAPAC since early 2009, and has chaired the commission’s projects committee. She is a principal of Rizzolo Brown Studio, an Ann Arbor architecture firm.
This brief was filed from the basement conference room of city hall at 301 E. Huron, where AAPAC held its meeting. A more detailed report will follow.
That better wash off, otherwise it’s graffiti!
I believe it’s blue chalk, not paint.
Was downtown just a few minutes ago and discretely dabbed at a corner of one of the rectangles — based on how it smudged, it appears to be chalk.
Seems to me to be the perfect medium for collaborative, community-based artwork and mashups. A few extra colors of spray-chalk, a few well-designed stencils to go along with it, and I bet we could start a lovely public collage representing the state of media in the region, the social dynamics of walkability, all kinds of stuff.
I wonder if chalk marks are copyright… and if they are, how that might affect their role as graffiti. The law is a wonderful thing, honestly. Full of complexity.
Central Michigan University changed their policy on chalking after one group started using spray chalk. Spray chalk is technically water soluble, but is designed to stay around longer than regular chalk.
Here’s the CMU stories:
April 2007 “Aside from the notable aesthetic detriment, it shows a great deal about the work ethic of the people who use it. It takes time, energy and thought to get on your knees and use regular sidewalk chalk to cover the campus,” Potter said. “The use of spray chalk is just a lazy man’s way of cutting corners.” Link
July 2007 A committee looking into chalking policy at the university will meet Thursday. “The biggest change is to discontinue the spray chalk policy,” Voisin said. “We’ve seen it’s not a temporary product. We don’t want to create a situation where we have graffiti all over the sidewalks.” Link
August 2007 CMU this week adopted a policy which prohibits anyone from using anything other than water-soluble chalk to leave messages on campus sidewalks. Link
I’m collecting sidewalk chalk details at annarbor.com here under the title “Sidewalk chalk is not a crime”.