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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes.WHLR.20230913.Regular1 Wheeler Advisory Board Meeting Minutes September 13, 2023, | 3:00 p.m. In Attendance: Wheeler Opera House Advisory Board Members: Chip Fuller, Chair; Amy Mountjoy, Vice-Chair; Dr. Tom Kurt, Secretary, Richard Stettner, Daniel Benavent; Nina Gabianelli; Ziska Childs; Lauren Foreman and Kate Northfield Lanich of Aspen Music Festival & School. Wheeler Opera House/City of Aspen Staff: Lisa Rigsby Peterson, Executive Director; Nicole Levesque, Marketing Manager; and Karen McConnell, Administrative & Artistic Specialist. Also present were: Bill Johnson, Aspen Public House Restaurant Sarah Roy, Executive Director Red Brick Center for the Arts and Mayor Torre *All Participants Attended via Zoom Meeting Recorder: Karen McConnell Chair, Chip Fuller, called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m. and observed presence of a quorum and introduced Kate Northfield Lanich who is replacing Jennifer White of Aspen Music Festival. Chair Fuller mentioned that August minutes had been presented to the Board and there were no edits. Nina Gabianelli moved to approve minutes from the August 9, 2023 board meeting, Richard Stettner seconded, and Board members unanimously approved adoption of same. Bill Johnson, owner/tenant of Aspen Public House Restaurant spoke of his desire to go before City Council, to amend the lunch hours of operation for the restaurant, maintaining June 1 through September 30 lunches annually with continuation of weekend lunches. Staffing issues and labor shortage are concerning in maintaining sustainability and allowing flexibility. Bill Johnson sought the Wheeler Board’s blessing to alter the restaurant’s 5-year lease which originated in 2018 with attorney True’s expertise and present before City Council. The proposal will not increase the 28- day annual window under the lease for restaurant maintenance and renovations and continue the restaurant lease through 2033. Board members recommended structured hours of operation as Bill consults with City Attorney Jim True about proposing new lease terms. Motion endorsing Mr. Johnson’s proposal was made by Chair Fuller, Nina Gabianelli seconded. Chairman Fuller invited Bill to continue to continue to come before the board for discussion and wished him continued success with the restaurant. Sarah Roy, Executive Director Red Brick Center for the Arts, appeared and shared the Aspen Public Art Plan which featured many photos and options of ‘public art’ including (i) vision and (ii) policies and guidelines. The street mural in front of the Wheeler June 25th was highlighted as was the August 9th event at the Pitkin County Library and September 20th Aspen Art Museum public 2 event, survey and registration in which the community can join in creating Aspen’s Public Art Plan. Board discussion continued. Temporary art works seem to be most desired with work and maintenance of existing artwork to be included in evolving public art plan and discussions. A map of artworks was also suggested as a means of sharing information, and Nina Gabanianelli shared that the Historical Society has some of this information already mapped. She also reiterated the need to give attention to maintenance of existing and newly-placed artwork. Encouragement was also expressed in regard to work with nearby Town of Carbondale regarding details and placement of public art. Public Comment: none. Chair Fuller requested public comment. None was offered. Wheeler Updates, Lisa Rigsby Peterson Ms. Rigsby Peterson shared the following updates with the board: Staffing update: as shared in the August board meeting, Craig Moxon, Wheeler Production Manager, left the Wheeler. Ms. Peterson was pleased to share that Michael Baca, previous Assistant Production Manager, who has a long career as audio production engineer and who does an amazing job, and who rose to the top during extensive interviews, is our new permanent Production Manager. A job description will be posted to fill that his former position with the best candidate. The RFP for Wheeler’s Tenant Space closed Thursday, September 7th, 2023 with 4 applications received including that of the current tenant, Mia Valley. The selection committee consists of Amy Mountjoy, Lisa Rigsby Peterson, Alix Feeley, Wheeler Business Manager, Sarah Roy of the Red Brick, visual arts expert, Emmy Garrigus, Downtown Core Manager, and Nick Wenthur and Tyler Stoltman of the City’s Finance team. The Review Committee will meet September 27, 2023 to determine the preferred candidate and Ms. Rigsby Peterson pledged to provide additional information in upcoming weeks. Ms. Rigsby Peterson continued the meeting with robust season planning updates including ticket sales reports. Curtain speeches are being reintroduced at the Wheeler and Ms. Rigsby Peterson is working to perfect her curtain speech in Spanish for Los Chicos Sunday, September 17 th, 2023. ‘Early bird’ 15% discounts were mentioned as was the October 5, 2023 release of upcoming Wheeler Presents shows which will also be shared with the Board. As mentioned at a previous board meeting, Aspen Film shifted all their shows to the Isis, which would normally be in our venue the third week of September, for economic and aesthetic factors which is prudent. They’ll continue to utilize the Wheeler for Shortsfest in April(s) and for large productions best suited to the Wheeler going forward. The rigging project may fill the September spot in 2024 which was historically filled by Aspen Film. 3-5 opportunities remain for holiday bookings. Ski events and the Music Festival will continue with Opera productions by AMFS in summertime(s) at the Wheeler and Kate Northfield Lanich of the Aspen Music Festival will provide the board with updates in the future. In March 2024 the Wheeler will remain ‘dark’ the first weekend of March due to anticipated audio from events at nearby Wagner Park during the World Cup. Challenges of season booking were expressed as was the Wheeler’s ongoing search to fill our venue with great artists who appeal to a variety of patrons. Aspen Sister Cities Committee and Bavarian Film Harmonic have worked with us at the Wheeler for collaboration of an abbreviated concert with a ‘tour de force’ performance by our board member Nina Gabianellii of the life of noted Aspenite Gretl Uhl , as well as Vault Lobby activation with food offerings. If successful, we’re hopeful for continued annual events highlighting different geographic locations who team up with our Sister Cities. 3 May 24th 2024 will mark the anniversary of the 40th Anniversary celebration of the re-opening of the Wheeler in 1984 with family activities, a high profile act and several elements near that date. Information was presented by Ms. Rigsby Peterson regarding the ongoing Memorandum of Understanding, which has been in place since 2017 between the City of Aspen and The Belly Up, regarding co-productions. When booking high profile artists, the Wheeler needs to do so in conjunction with Belly Up. The Wheeler partners with venues throughout the area in addition to working with Belly Up. The desire to balance performers fees with ticket costs was expressed. The referenced Memorandum of Understanding Agreement is complicated. Board members would like to see more collaboration with Belly Up in booking processes for big names with recognition that certain acts fit best in the Wheeler. Belly Up’s Palm Tree event, which began last year, will continue during 2024 and conflicts with the Wheeler’s historic Laughfest. The evolution of bookings, their agents, fees and extenuating factors have changed post-Covid. Artists are not as in charge of their bookings as previously. Many previous ‘big shows’ at the Wheeler were underwritten by other entities. Also of impact, especially for comedy, is the current Writers Guild of America strike, which is affecting the certainty of availability of many television and streaming comedians. Mayor Torre and Lisa, as Wheeler Director, will be working to find opportunities to navigate the current Memorandum of Understanding with BellyUp to work more effectively. The Year-to-date Financials, which were emailed to board members, were also featured. The board would like to hear more about the RETT collections and allocations, which they feel would be best addressed by Pete Strecker, COA Finance Director., Ms. Rigsby Peterson will see if Pete is available to attend the October board meeting. The RETT provides about 80% of Wheeler expenses and Lisa will work with Alix Feeley, Business Manager, to obtain additional clarifying reports and distribute them to board members. Ticket sales, project expenses and departmental savings were also discussed. In the last 2 years the Wheeler has underspent expenses for the line items allotted. Desire was expressed to break out labor expenses, which are now being broken out by performance, as well as goods and expenses. Ms. Rigsby Peterson noted that this break out is already included on the distributed financial reports. Nicole Levesque of marketing will be present at the November board meeting to share information on Wheeler marketing strategy. Allotted time for the board meeting drew to a close. To allow time for board discussion, Ms. Rigsby Peterson will email update of capital projects to board members regarding the RFP for structural reinforcement/rigging, which will remain open until mid-October, and Qsys. The Cultural Vibrancy Fellowships were awarded recently, and Ms. Rigsby Peterson thanked Ziska Childs for her work on the Review Committee. Board Discussion Board member Daniel Benavent suggested the board consider ways in which to commemorate the Wheeler’s 40th re-opening anniversary to share creative, tangible ideas to commemorate this milestone and include the topic in board discussion in a few months. Chair Fuller encouraged and reminded members of the importance of taking advantage of the board discussion portion of each meeting’s agenda, as this is the proper avenue to raise issues for the entire board to discuss. If desired, board members may bring ideas to him first, and board discussion will tell whether there is a majority opinion or desire to bring certain items to Council attention. While individual board member’s opinions are valued, ultimately the board’s formal recommendations will be by majority consensus. Chair Fuller asked if there were any other topics to be discussed by the Board. None was offered. 4 Nina Gabianelli moved to adjourn the meeting, Amy Mountjoy seconded the motion and Board members unanimously approved. The meeting concluded at 4:56 p.m. Future Meetings Schedule October 11, 2023 3:00 p.m. November 8, 2023 3:00 p.m. December 13, 2023 3:00 p.m.