Why Volunteer?

These boards are an incredibly valuable resource for the Town. And, as a council member, I have personally found great value in the recommendations provided by our citizen volunteers.  From feedback received from the Planning and Zoning Board, to the incredible report put out by the Environmental Advisory Board’s Shale Gas Task Force, and also input from folks on the Public Arts Board and Parks and Rec. They are all key to what makes Cary such a great place to live.

But, it’s not just about your feedback – it’s about getting involved and truly making a difference. If you have a passion around any of these areas, please apply. Not only will you get an opportunity to help the town by providing your insights and thoughts, but also you will meet like-minded folks, interested in these topics and maybe even have FUN!  

And, volunteering is good for you.  More and more research shows that volunteering improves your health, happiness and well-being among those folks who do it.

Details, I Need details

Each of the board and commissions are unique in size, meeting schedule, and their specific functions. Some of the boards also have subcommittees, such as the “Greenway Committee” as part of the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Advisory Board, that you may also want to investigate.

• Environmental Advisory Board

• Information Services Advisory Board

• Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Advisory Board

• Public Art Advisory Board

• Planning and Zoning Board

• Zoning Board of Adjustment

• Economic Development Committee

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time does it take?
It depends on the board and commission. Some of them have monthly meetings of just an hour or two, with some pre-work required (reading or research), others can require more time and effort, perhaps a visit to a potential development location, etc.

Do I need any special skills?
Nope. What we need is your passion, experience, knowledge and love of Cary.

What opportunities are available for teens?
Ahhh, that’s a great question. We have an organization that is specifically geared for teens – the Cary Teen Council. It is a volunteer organization made up of teens from a variety of schools in Cary and surrounding areas! The mission of the Cary Teen Council is to empower teens with the core values of leadership, accountability, and a heart for service. They provide volunteer and leadership opportunities, establish high standards for behavior, and promote teens to effectively communicate while managing their time and volunteer profiles.  We even have some teens from the Teen Council serving on our regular boards and commissions!

Teens participating in this organization have the opportunity to get involved in programs and events that focus on social/recreational, community awareness/service, educational, leadership/teamwork and 
fundraising/recruitment.  This last year we had more than 730+ teens participating!

Teen Council Presidential Award Winners

Membership applications for rising 6th-11th graders are being accepted NOW through the end of June. For more information call Korey Sullivan at (919) 460-4965 or e-mail him at korey.sullivan@townofcary.org

How to Apply

Just go online and apply. Applications will be accepted through close of business on June 30, 2014. You can apply from your desktop/laptop or your Mobile device.

I look forward to seeing your application, and thanks for helping to keep Cary great!

It seems fitting that the title is A Life’s Work. Now that both of my children are in High School, contemplating what THEIR future will be, I find myself wondering what my impact on this world will be.  Certainly, like all mothers out there, I hope that my children are happy, healthy and kind, and contribute to society.  And I imagine that that is part of my contribution.  But I sometimes wonder, what legacy will I have left, after I am gone?

Winnie at Easel (from her website)

I bring that up because after returning home from our family vacation, we learned that our dear friend and teacher, Winnie Ferguson had passed away from complications due to lung cancer.  If you didn’t know Winnie, you missed out.  She was a truly accomplished artist and a phenomenal and patient art teacher, as well.  With a doctorate in art education, she taught high school and later was a university professor of art education and art therapy.  What she loved most, though, was painting.  Painting in oil and acrylics, and sharing that love of art with everyone around her.

She loved the way light played on a canvas and was particularly found of painting landscapes, nature and gardens.  What she could do with a paintbrush!  Her greatest joy was bringing that joy of art to people – whether it was teaching students in her private studio (my daughter was one of her students) to teaching classes at the Cary Senior Center (where my mother took a class.)

Plen aire palette knife painting

What Cary will miss most, though, is her commitment to this great community that we all call home.  Winnie was one of the founders of the Cary Gallery of Artists, and you may have seen her work around town.  (The gallery is located in Ashworth Village – and she has had many of her paintings displayed.)

Our family will miss her even more. She was instrumental in creating a “love of painting” for my daughter, supported me in my quest to be a public servant, and was always there with the presence to listen, the soul of an artist, the heart of a proud and strong advocate, and the will and fortitude of a community warrior.  She never took “no” for an answer – and said to me once… “Life is like a painting, if you don’t like what you have, just paint over it and begin again.”

Her legacy will live on in all that she has touched – and we will never forget the impact that she has made.

Our hearts and prayers go out to her family through this tough time, and know that our community is saddened by her loss as well.  Her “life’s work” will keep her memory alive in all of the people that she has touched in Cary.

Winnie, you will be greatly missed.

—————————————————————
UPDATE (6/27/12) : Winnie’s obit is posted in the N&O today.

Her memorial service is on Sunday, July 1st, 3pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh (www.uufr.org)

In honor of Winnie’s love of color and texture, she requested that those attending her memorial service wear bright colors.

(Pictures from Winnie’s Website)
Featured picture is a small painting she made for me during “Lazy Daze”, trying to teach me how to paint.

Why travel to another city?

Although I took vacation from my “day job” to attend this Intercity trip, it was definitely a “work trip.” Every minute was filled with meeting our host city representatives and learning about their environment.  Many of these municipalities are dealing with the same challenges and opportunities that we face in Cary. Whether it was issues surrounding growth, planning, transit, or sports or public art – we got a chance to hear about their solutions. Our trip to the “Texas Hill Country” included time in Austin, Round Rock and a lesson on transit challenges from the folks in Leander.

Our goal and objective was to gather ideas, hear from our various speakers about their lessons learned and to hopefully come back with a slate of actionable items and thoughts to move forward and to continue to create and support the best place to live, work, do business, and raise a family.

Trip Report

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN:  We started in Austin, meeting the Honorable Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Representative Mark Strama; both are extremely passionate about their city.  Our lunch was on the Mayor’s Balcony – I have the distinct feeling that Mayor Weinbrecht would love one of those.

Austin has a population of more than 750,000 people and is the 4th largest city in Texas.  They are home to the University of Texas in Austin, the music and film festival – South by Southwest (SXSW), and known for their slogan, “Keeping Austin Weird.” We were treated to a historical overview of Austin’s past, the public private partnerships that have shaped Austin, along with a wonderful walking tour of downtown.  Their downtown has undergone a revitalization – and they are continuing to make progress.

MetroRail

TRANSIT: Austin has been making strides in the area of Transit – and they MUST as they have the third worst traffic in the country.  They are limited by their current road structure – so the only way out of that pain is to embrace multi-modal transportation and mass transit.  We rode the new Metro Rail which was a real treat. These rail cars are Swiss designed, diesel/electric, quiet and energy efficient with places for cyclist to hang or hold their bikes.  Transit is gaining traction, and more and more people are starting to take advantage of it.

SPORTS: We were lucky to get a tour of the University of Texas at Austin – Texas Memorial Stadium. Standing on the field was amazing – it’s a state of the art facility from the field turf to player workout area, they were gracious hosts to our large group.

Dell Diamond, Round Rock

We also got a chance to visit Dell Diamand, the home of the Round Rock Express, a triple A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Texas Rangers, and baseball hall of famer Nolan Ryan.  The City of Round Rock owns the Dell Diamond, and they were wonderful hosts to us at the field (or as they like to call it, their convention center.)

Round Rock: This is a city very similar to Cary in many respects – with close to 100,000 people (Cary has 140,000+), with a 63.4% population increase in the last 10 years.  (Cary had a 43% increase from 2000-2010.) Our tour consisted of their downtown area, several communities and a drive through areas where new hospitals and community colleges were locating.

Old Control Tower onsite

Mueller – Greenfield Development: One of the most interesting tours was of a new mixed use area near Austin, built on the site of the old Robert Mueller Municipal airport. The 700 acre site became available when the airport relocated in 1999, and it will eventually be home to almost 10,000 people.  Built with a master plan, significant innovative investment methodologies, it’s a unique design, home to families, businesses, a town center, senior community, school, parks and greenways.

ImagineAustin: An overview of the process and comprehensive plan that Austin put together in their efforts to move forward.  Creating ImagineAustin was truly an effort that included citizens from all over Austin. The city put together a well thought out plan for citizen engagement to create the vision for their future.  From their “meeting in a box”, to Town Halls and reaching out to church groups and through online methods, the staff used any and all mechanism to connect. The Comprehensive Plan took 2 years, and is just going to CIty Council now.

Lessons Learned

1. A walkable downtown really brings folks out and about. The Austin streetscape project is comfortable, at a human scale, and I can absolutely see something like that in Downtown Cary. Their street trees were planted in a way that protects the trees, and offers a lovely canopy while protecting the root systems.
   

   New streetscape

2. Revitalization can be done in a sustainable way – their City Hall used native plantings that are watered from runoff from the air-conditioning units.
3. Public Art is important to Austin – seen in their bridges, within City Hall, it’s part of who they are, and what defines them.
4. They embrace what’s unique about them.  Whether it’s their “Bat Bridge,” their motto of being the “Live Music Capital of the World” – they highlight and market the heck out of it.  We should do the same for our Amateur Sports leadership.
5. Surprises were everywhere! From the swings that were located throughout the city, to a sculpture of bottle caps in City Hall.
   

   Mayor Pro Tem Adcock found a swing

6. Quote that I loved – “Done beats perfect every time!”
7. Round Rock has some great marketing for their youth sports called “Game On” – with a marketing, branding and media campaign that has caught the attention of teams across the country.
8. Technology is in use all over Austin – from QR codes on coasters, to streaming a city meeting, twitter feeds and blogs. It was great to see technology all over the place.
9. ImagineAustin is a great model for what will will need to do for our new Comprehensive Planning process.  Maybe we can call it “CreateCary!”  
10. Public private partnerships can really accelerate all types of activities – whether transit, development or sustainability.

 Glad to be Home

It’s always nice to travel to see new places.  But, as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz – there’s no place like home.

–Featured picture by Knowsphotos

But, as they say, “art is in the eye of the beholder.”  And THIS beholder is no true critic.  I also know that what you might understand is “art,” I might think of as…well, *not* art.

So, when I heard that we were going to get an update on the Cary Public Art Master Plan, I was inquisitive and a bit nervous.  (“Lord,” I thought, “please don’t let them ask me what I think of any sculptures or paintings.  It’s a test I’m sure to fail.”)

But, as it turned out, I was in for a real lesson in “Public Art.”  First, a definition.

What is Public Art?

Public art refers to artwork, sculpture, murals and other media that has been planed and executed with the specific intention of being displayed in the public domain.  It can be anything from special facades on buildings, to manhole covers, to landscaped areas.

Cary has been a leader in Public Art – from the creation of a Master Plan in 2001, to the early beginnings of art that can be seen all around Cary.  You see it in the “Railroad man” (pictured to the left) at the Cary Depot, around town at corners and parks, to the custom artwork on the Cary Bus Shelters. (Ok, I didn’t realize that the prints on the back of the shelters were historic wallpaper designs. Did you?)

Cary Public Art Objectives

The objectives are pretty lofty, but ideals we can all get behind, I think.

– Enhance the quality of life for every citizen of Cary
– Develop the identity of Cary through public art
– Support economic development goals
– Engage citizens of Cary in public art opportunities
– Promote a greater appreciation of public art

Master Plan 2012

So, the work session goals were to get feedback and direction from Council on the Cary Public Art Master Plan, while also getting an update on opportunities and ideas for incorporating public art into all types of projects.

Since I’m a visual kind of person, my favorite sections of these presentations are when we get real examples of art installations.  In fact, at one point during the presentation, I noticed that one of the bronze statues on the presentation was made by the same artist that created our bronze statues outside of town hall.  (Yes, I also like “Where’s Waldo… )

The idea was that public art can enhance Cary – whether it’s whimsical park benches, art to create a sense of community or share our history, or that can create a sense of “place.”  The pictures were a great way for us to see this in action, and it was nice to see many of Cary’s installations used as examples of this.

Here are some of the examples used: 

Community Identity (Cary)

Parks & Greenways (Cary)

Interesting and Innovative

I especially loved the section they called “Diversity in Public Art” where we got a chance to see Art that was functional, playful and innovative.

Blue Bike - Bike Rack

Fun dance steps

Downtown

Another great section in the presentation was talking about how public art could be used in our downtown revitalization to complement the great pieces already there.  Using art to create social gathering places and to visually mark the entrances were just some of the ideas.

Next Steps

Council agreed with most of the suggested recommendations put forward by staff and the consultants. (They all did a great job in this presentation, by the way.)  The areas where we deviated with some of the recommendations surrounded funding and potential changes to the Public Art Advisory Board (PAAB).

1. PAAB: Most folks on council felt we didn’t need to be prescriptive when it came to the advisory board – that we had great representation on the board and will continue to keep the criteria and board membership somewhat fluid, rather than determining the EXACT skills/experience needed by board members  Having a more open board gives us great feedback and insight from citizens from all walks of life.

2. FUNDING: One funding suggestion was a program called a “percent for art” – which is identifying a fixed percentage for public art for specific capital  projects. Many cities do this today; Chapel Hil (1%), Durham (1%), Raleigh (0.5%), etc.  Based on calculations made by staff, we are doing something like that already – but not as formal as that process.  Again, most of the Council members were reticient to go that far, given that our program seems to be working well so far.