Consultants outline fast-tracked public art master plan and ask Apex board to help drive community survey

Consultants from Cultural Planning Group (CPG) presented Apex’s first public art master plan at a special Cultural Advisory Board meeting, asking board members to help promote outreach and a community survey as the firm proceeds on a compressed schedule.

“Again, my name is Linda Flynn. I’m a partner with CPG,” Linda Flynn said as she and Sorrell Phillips described the project’s goals: a clear vision, siting priorities, recommended funding structures and administrative guidelines to sustain public art in Apex. Flynn said the plan will be aligned with existing town and county plans and will serve as a roadmap for commissioning and maintaining public art.

Sorrell Phillips said engagement will be central. “Engagement is at the heart of every public art plan and every cultural plan that we do,” Phillips said, describing two types of outreach: stakeholder interviews (town staff, elected officials, CAB, the United Arts Council and local artists) and broader creative community engagement via virtual and on-site activities. The consultants asked CAB to promote a QR-linked community survey and to help publicize CPG’s on-site visits.

CPG laid out a tight schedule: kickoff in March, internal stakeholder work through spring, a first site visit in June or early July, community-survey collection through June, draft review with CAB and town leadership in July and August, and a target to wrap plan development by Aug. 31. Flynn said United Arts Council and town staff will support on-the-ground engagement.

Board members asked practical questions about outreach at Peak Fest and artist recruitment. Flynn said CPG had drafted the community survey and would provide a QR code the board can use at events. “We just want to drive as many people to that survey and, obviously, to the town’s social media as possible,” Flynn said.

The presentation described the plan’s six primary sections: an executive summary with engagement findings, a public-art framework and curatorial themes, priority siting maps, an administrative framework including ordinance recommendations and funding guidance, artist-selection and conservation procedures, and programmatic guidelines to support diversity of artists and work.

The board did not take any formal vote on the plan itself during the meeting; the session was held as a special meeting to permit remote participation and excluded public comment and new business, per the meeting notice.

Next steps: CPG will proceed with stakeholder interviews and the first site assessment visit in June or early July. CAB members are expected to help promote the community survey and participate in follow-up engagement and draft reviews.