Costa Mesa Arts Commission names inaugural poet laureate, approves most utility-box designs and elects new leadership

The Costa Mesa Arts Commission voted 6-0 on Thursday to appoint Danielle Hanson as the city’s inaugural poet laureate, approved 11 of 12 recommended utility-box art designs for vinyl wraps, and elected Alyssa Ochoa as chair and Commissioner Derrarian as vice chair.

The poet laureate appointment followed a review panel that included Commissioners Derrarian and Mann, Kelly Ann Brown of the Parks and Community Services Commission and Jan Osborne of Chapman University. Hanson told the commission she is “a working poet” who writes, edits and teaches and intends to use the post to bring poetry into public settings. The commission discussed a draft scope of work and asked staff to return with more detailed contract language, including a proposed reporting/check-in schedule and a time-limited license clause for city use of the laureate’s work.

Why it matters: The new position creates a city-appointed role to produce public poetry programming and to represent the city’s “City of the…