The Town of Watertown provided the following announcement:
Town Manager Michael J. Driscoll is seeking eight (8) Watertown citizens interested in serving
on the Public Arts and Culture Committee. The Town of Watertown has established a Public Arts Master Plan that was created through the efforts of a steering committee that included a number of representatives of stakeholder organizations in the community that deal with arts and culture, as well as Town departments and the Town’s consultant, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The Honorable Town Council adopted the Watertown Public Arts Master Plan at its meeting on February 23, 2021.
The Watertown Public Arts Master Plan includes a number of implementation strategies, including Implementation Item 1A, a recommendation for the creation of an appointed Public Arts and Culture Committee (PACC) that acts as a permanent, standing advisory body to the Town of Watertown, to make recommendations over two core program areas:
1) Art in Public Places: Permanent, semi-permanent, temporary, and ephemeral artworks and activations that create a vibrant, welcoming, inclusive, and connected public realm. This may include semi-permanent projects as well as temporary artworks and installations funded through a variety of funding sources.
2) Cultural and Community Life: Programming that enhances the public realm, engages Watertown’s community life and cultural diversity, and fosters social cohesion. The PACC will make final recommendations regarding various forms of public art and culture to the Town Manager and Town Council for final approval; and may convene working groups to attend to business such as evaluation, fundraising, and community partnerships and outreach as needed.
The Public Arts and Culture Committee will consist of nine members:
a) Six members at-large who will serve staggered three-year terms, with two expiring each year, who shall live in Watertown, to be appointed by the Town Manager and confirmed by the Town Council.
b) One member of the Watertown Cultural Council, to be selected annually by the Cultural Council, to serve a one-year term on the Public Arts and Culture Committee.
c) Two members who shall live in Watertown and be under the age of 21 at the date of appointment, to be appointed by the Town Manager to one-year terms.
Qualifications: Member-at-Large Qualifications should include, if possible:
a) Experience in the visual arts, performing arts, arts education, curation, architecture, design, or landscape architecture. Members may include staff and board members of arts and cultural organizations.
b) At least two members should be working artists, arts administrators, or cultural historians. At least one member will have direct experience with or knowledge of public art installation and maintenance.
c) Membership should reflect a diversity of ages, incomes, ethnicities, racial identities, cultures, and abilities.
Applicants should submit a letter of interest accompanied by a resume or other information concerning background or experience by Thursday, August 12, 2021: by email to townmgr@watertown-ma.gov or Town Manager’s Office, 149 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts 02472.