Chestertown Arts and Entertainment Coordinator Kay MacIntosh and Kent Cultural Alliance Director John Schratwieser have called on the Chestertown Council to create an arts committee that would eventually evolve into a commission established by ordinance.
“Right now we were thinking of getting something a little more temporary…to help chart a course for a permanent standing committee,” MacIntosh said at the Feb. 3 Town Council meeting.
She said the committee could begin to carry out the goals established in the Chestertown Public Arts Master Plan.
The Master Plan was created after a series of public meetings and charrettes in 2014–with the goal to “identify types of and locations for public art projects.”
“Establish a Commission on Public Arts, comprised of seven to nine Art and Design professionals to be appointed by the Mayor & Town Council,” the master plan says, page 8.
MacIntosh and Schratwieser said there is currently a possibility of getting a significant donation for public art from a potential donor. They said discussions were underway.
“There are some discussions that might lead to the donations of some public art in the next year or two and we’d like to be ready to work on that project,” she said.
Schratwieser said the Kent Cultural Alliance was working on public arts projects in other parts of the county, like Rock Hall and Betterton, and Chestertown could lead the way by establishing an art committee.
“If we can get a commission or committee moving in Chestertown than that’s going to lead the way for us to work with committees and commissions in the other towns in the county,” he said. “If Chestertown can lead with this then we’ve set an example for the rest of the towns to follow.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Meghan Efland motioned to begin the creation of a committee and it was carried unanimously by the council.
In the video below MacIntosh and Schratwieser pitch for a new art committee.
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