gmhTODAY 23 gmhTODAY Dec Jan 2018 | Page 18

Leadership Morgan Hill Beautification and Inspiration Go Hand in Hand Submitted By Leadership Class of 2018 O ur class took some time deciding on a project that would make a positive impact on our community. After several brainstorming sessions, we combined two themes that had emerged: city beautification and positive social impact. Our initial aim was to beautify downtown Morgan Hill by transforming its stationary garbage receptacles into canvases for public art and inspirational messages. When we spoke to the City, we were told of a utility box art project under the Library, Culture and Arts Commission (LCAC) that was in need of resources. We decided to combine that community need with our idea, and the LMH Class of 2018 “Art and Inspiration” project was launched.       We selected class members Melissa Scatena as our project manager, Suman Ganapathy as our LCAC and LMH board liaison, and Michael Ramoneda as our finance manager. Once the project was approved by the LMH board, LCAC, and the City Council, we segmented it into five “workstreams.”  Each class member signed up for the workstream that best matched their interest and skill set. Then we selected workstream leaders. Poonam Chabra took on Sponsorships; 18 GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN Daniel Sanidad tackled Publicity; Suman Ganapathy led efforts related to Artists/Artwork; the Submission Process was handled by Denise Chorley; and Michael Ozuna took on Prep/Materials. To fund the project, the sponsor workstream solicited local restaurants, businesses, schools, individuals, and nonprofits for location-based sponsorships of each box. We received overwhelming support and the project was quickly funded.    Fliers and social media were our primary methods of publicity, directing local artists to the LMH website to apply. At first, the recruitment of artists was a challenge, but once we tapped into the right community network, we received applications from enough high-quality candidates to have 11 utility boxes painted.   The artist selection for each box was made by choosing artwork that best expressed the social message. According to artist Danielle DeRome, who was given the message ‘Inspire Change,’ her art depicted nature’s changing seasons and was “designed to inspire viewers’ hopes and dreams in positive, playful ways.” Both the artist and sponsor(s) are named on the placard affixed to each box). december 2018-january 2019 gmhtoday.com