Iowa City advisory committee adopts formal Old Post Office gallery program, approves $2,000 for Afrofuturism community mural

The Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee on Wednesday approved a policy and procedure to formalize gallery space at the senior center and voted to fund a one-time $2,000 request for a community mural tied to an Afrofuturism exhibition.

The committee adopted the draft policy after staff described plans to formalize two main exhibition areas at the senior center, institute a rotating exhibition calendar and an artist selection committee, and create designated hours so the public can view shows. "In your agenda packet, I had a staff memo...and then the draft policy and standard operating procedure," staff said while outlining the program’s structure and staffing responsibilities.

Latasha, who is leading the Black Future Fest programming, described the launch exhibition and the proposed community mural. "The actual name of the event is Parables of the Future, Black Future Fest," Latasha said, and explained that the mural will be made from 4-by-4 canvases distributed through partner sites including PS1, the Iowa City Public Library and the Film Scene. She said partners will host distribution and return points and volunteers will help assemble canvases into a single large mural.

Staff told the committee the public art program and the senior center will share responsibilities: the public art coordinator would manage the call for artists and scheduling until artists are selected, and senior center staff would handle installation and day-to-day management. The agenda packet lists a proposed annual emerging-artist mentorship stipend currently budgeted at $350 to offset framing or materials costs for early-career artists.

On funding, staff reported the public art opportunity fund held roughly $15,000; approving the $2,000 request would leave about $13,000 in that fund for the fiscal year that ends June 30. Committee members weighed whether the public art program should seek a portion of art-sales commissions as partial revenue for administration, and staff said any change to commission splits would require written policy revisions, city attorney review and additional approvals.

The committee moved to adopt the policy as presented and then voted to approve the one-time $2,000 request to buy community supplies for the Afrofuturism mural. The catalogue of partners for the festival and the mural includes PS1/Public Space 1 and the Iowa City Public Library; staff said online application and outreach materials will follow.

Next steps: staff will finalize the call for artists and the committee will be asked to review the call and the operating procedures; the emerging-artist stipend and any change to commission policy would require further internal approvals and possible city attorney review.