HomeMy WebLinkAboutACC 11-17-2025 MinutesMINUTES
CUPERTINO ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION
Monday, November 17, 2025
At 6:33 p.m. Chair Kiran Rohra called the Regular Arts and Culture Commission meeting to
order at the Quinlan Conference Room, 10185 North Stelling Road and via Teleconference.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Kiran Rohra, Vice Chair David Wang, and Commissioners Susan Chen (arrived at the
meeting at 6:35 p.m.), Gurmeet S. Lamba, and Archana Panda. Absent: None.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1.Subject: Approval of the September 22, 2025 Arts and Culture Commission Minutes
Recommended Action: Approve the September 22, 2025 Arts and Culture Commission
Minutes.
Chair Rohra opened public comment, and seeing no one, closed the public comment
period.
MOTION: Rohra moved and Lamba seconded to approve the September 22, 2025 Arts
and Culture Commission Minutes. The motion carried with the following vote: Ayes:
Rohra, Wang, Lamba, Panda. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: Chen.
POSTPONEMENTS – None
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS – None
OLD BUSINESS – None
NEW BUSINESS
2.Subject: 2025 Artist Awards Program Evaluations
Recommended Action: Evaluate participant submissions for the 2025 Distinguished,
Emerging, and Young Artist Award Programs and select winners for each category.
Chair Rohra introduced the item.
Parks and Recreation Administrative Assistant Jessica Suntay gave a presentation.
Commissioners asked questions, which Parks and Recreation Administrative Assistant
Jessica Suntay answered.
Arts and Culture Commission November 17, 2025
Chair Rohra opened the public comment period, and seeing no one, closed the public
comment period.
Commissioners gave their evaluation totals for the various artist categories.
Young Artist Submission Group A (6-10 years old) –
#82 as first place (platinum)
#61 as second place (gold)
#72 as third place (silver)
Young Artist Submission Group B (11-14 years old) –
#62 as first place (platinum)
#42 as second place (gold)
#26 as third place (silver)
Emerging Artist Submission
#1 as first place (platinum)
#9 as second place (gold)
#7 as third place (silver)
Distinguished Artist Submission
#1 as first place (platinum)
#2 as second place (gold)
MOTION: Wang moved and Panda seconded to accept the winners as the selection for
each category. The motion carried with the following vote: Ayes: Rohra, Wang, Chen,
Lamba, Panda. Noes: None. Abstain: None. Absent: None.
STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS –
Senior Planner Gian Martire discussed coordinating the subcommittee members and consulting
the City Attorney to ensure their work aligns with the Commission’s duties. He noted that
updating the art catalog, which hasn’t been revised since 2018–2019, is consistent with the charter
and could be completed by summer.
Chair Rohra emphasized focusing on the Commission’s core responsibilities, encouraged
members to review the charter, and highlighted the subcommittee’s role in strengthening
engagement, outreach, and arts and culture initiatives in response to strong community interest.
Vice Chair Wang discussed his experience with SV Creates Arts Commissioner Bootcamp, and
highly recommended the bootcamp and encouraged other Commissioners to attend.
Commissioner Lamba emphasized the importance of tracking connections between funding,
projects, and impacts, reviewed the need to update the art assets inventory, and noted potential
enhancements to the Art Tour through increased marketing, to be further discussed by the
Arts and Culture Commission November 17, 2025
subcommittee.
Chair Rohra noted that the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, provided updates on the
CREST awards and recent presentations to the Planning Commission and City Council, and
reported that the subcommittee is currently evaluating approximately 184 entries, with results to
be shared at the next meeting.
Commissioner Panda shared about taking the opportunity to represent the Arts and Culture
Commission at an event, in addition to her own show. Although it was unplanned, she presented
the Commission’s activities to the community, which was well-received and helped communicate
that the Commission is active and engaged.
FUTURE AGENDA SETTING –
Commissioners added the following future agenda items.
•Art opportunities for Cupertino, Assets and inventory of art studios and galleries in
Cupertino (Wang and Lamba)
•Workshop for art exploration in Cupertino (Panda and Wang)
ADJOURNMENT
At 9:31 p.m. Chair Rohra adjourned the Regular Arts and Culture Commission Meeting.
Minutes prepared by:
Lindsay Nelson, Administrative Assistant