Three volunteer to study possible city arts commission

Three city council members – Dex Ellison, Yvonne Flores Cale and Robert Rizo — sorta, kinda volunteered themselves and/or each other Tuesday to serve on a task force with City Manager Scott Sellers and Library Director Paul Phelan to study the idea of creating a city “Arts Commission.”

Originally, city staff envisioned the creation of a seven-member Arts Commission that would include six artists or arts patrons, each representing a separate artistic category, and one council member. When council members couldn’t agree on, among other things, whether commission members should be Kyle residents (questioning, for instance, whether there were enough experts in the field of “plastic arts” living in Kyle to complete the commission) or whether more than one council person should be on the commission, the idea came up for this task force that will be “tasked” with addressing those concerns. It should be noted, however, all seven city council members seemed to enthusiastically embrace the need for more “art in the city.”

The six categories staff proposed to be represented on the commission were literature, visual arts, graphic arts, plastic arts, decorative arts and performing arts.