The temporary art installation will be displayed throughout downtown Warsaw this summer.
On Friday, the Board of Public Works and Safety accepted two grants to sponsor the exhibit, which will be displayed from mid-June through September, as requested by City Planner Justin Taylor. One grant is for $1,000 from the Be A Light Upon My Path Fund, a component fund of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation; and the other grant is for $8,000, representing a distribution from the ArtFULLY Warsaw Fund, also a component fund of the Foundation.
Suzie Light, president of the Warsaw Public Art Commission (WPAC), said WPAC was created to “develop Warsaw as an engaging place to live, work and play through increasing awareness of the arts for all ages. We accomplish this through temporary and permanent art installations, as well as promoting the diverse arts in our community.”
She said they have successfully completed Walk-N-Wander, a temporary art display of 16 Seward Johnson sculptures; a permanent art installation, “Lifting Up,” in the Warsaw City Hall parking lot; a permanent sculpture installation, “Radiance,” by Osman Akan; and collaboration with Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) and the Visitors Bureau in the creation of an all-things art Kosciusko County asset map.
“You can actually see art in our county on a Google map,” Light said. “Pretty exciting stuff.”
This summer, the WPAC will host a temporary art display downtown Warsaw featuring three area artists. Two of them are current college students, Light said.
“Grant funds from the ArtFULLY Warsaw Fund are supporting this project. We are seeking additional financial support and encourage donors to donate to the ArtFULLY Warsaw Fund at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation,” she said.
Paulette Davis, WPAC, thanked the Board of Works for “considering this, doing this and everybody who supports the ArtFULLY Warsaw Fund at the Foundation and supports the public art in this community. It truly does bring a lot of people to the downtown area, to our community, so we look forward to providing more and thank everybody.”
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said Light was a big part of getting the ArtFULLY Warsaw Fund established.
“When we started the Warsaw Public Arts Commission, after the first Seward Johnson, in 2012, we saw a definite need for public art and willingness for locals to support that effort. So, Suzie, being the head of the Foundation at the time, felt it was important to set that fund up and we’ve had a significant amount of funds come through that.”
He said the ArtFULLY Warsaw Fund is continuing to pay off and donations are welcome to support and build that fund because art isn’t cheap but the community has been enamored with the art every time a display goes up.
After the Board of Works approved the acceptance of both grants, Davis said the installation of the temporary art exhibit is the week of June 14 with the actual art exhibited beginning June 15. There will be plaques with information on the artists who provided the art.
Taylor said, “These art projects were done by student-level artists and we’re real excited to give those young, emerging artists an opportunity like this to display their work and to enhance the quality of life of residents in the community. So, just really excited to have this artwork displayed in our community.”
Davis said the artwork will be displayed in central downtown Warsaw.
As for the type of art, Light said there will be “all kinds of interesting things. So, some sculptures, metal sculptures, some banners that look like – I call moveable murals that will be mounted on buildings.”
Thallemer said a majority of them will be in the downtown flower beds along Center and Buffalo streets.
In other business:
• The Board of Works approved the event cancellation insurance for this summer’s rock and country concerts from Affinity Nonprofits for $1,591.31. It is $193.06 more than the premium paid in 2018, according to Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer. The policy will offer $29,000 of coverage for the rock concert and $40,000 of coverage for the country concert.
The Parks Department had a claim in 2011 for the country concert because of bad weather. Plummer said, “We got $26,480 without any difficulties. It covered everything.”
Jefferson Starship will perform June 17 at the Glover Pavilion in Central Park for the rock concert, while Tyler Farr will perform July 22. Opening acts for both concerts start at 6:30 p.m. with headliners starting at 8 p.m.
• The Board approved pay application No. 26 for $500 for administrative work by The Troyer Group to rebid the Lincoln Neighborhood sidewalk project. The money will come from the Economic Development Income Tax fund.
Taylor reminded the Board that they had received the first bids for the project but they weren’t “awardable” for the Indiana Department of Transportation project so it will go to bid again in July. INDOT is paying 80% of the project. Taylor said they extended the construction window, in hopes of getting competitive bids, to October/November of 2023.
• The Board approved Warsaw Police Department Chief Scott Whitaker’s request to apply for the fiscal year 2022 Patrick Leahy Bullet Proof Vest Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. The grant will support the purchase of 14 vests at an approximate cost of $16,100. The reimburseable grant will provide for approximately 50% of the cost. Whitaker said the WPD has received the grant whenever it applied for it.
• The Board approved pay application No. 4 for $81,862.65 to Insight Pipe Contracting LLC for work on sanitary sewer rehabilitation, as requested by Utility Superintendent Brian Davison. He said they are nearing the end of the project.
• The Board approved pay application No. 124 for $317,227 to Kokosing Industrial Inc. Davison said the funds went toward putting all the lift stations on a monitoring system. There are 10 more to go, down from 50. The work was scheduled to be completed in December but there was a delay in getting supplies and material.
• The Board approved a license agreement with DITO Inc. for the city’s Google Workspace account.
“Currently, if we have an employee leave, we are paying full price for their suspended account in order for record retention to take place, and Google offers a Archived User license instead that is only $4 per month per user that we can reduce that cost for maintaining those records over the three years that we need to keep them,” explained Staci Young, assistant to the mayor. “This is a Flex account so we aren’t committing to a specific number of licenses.”
When the city assigns an Archived User license to a person, the billing will kick in for that person.
• Dave Baumgartner was given the oath of office to serve on the Oakwood Cemetery Board of Regents, replacing Art Brown who had served since 2014 and resigned due to his work commitments. Baumgartner previously served on the Board of Regents in 2016, as well as the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, but moved away and could no longer serve on the boards. Thallemer said Baumgartner has moved back to the city.
