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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-11-2017 JHC Agenda PktCity of San Luis Obispo, Agenda, Jack House Committee The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to including the disabled in all of its services, programs, and activities. Please contact the Clerk or staff liaison prior to the meeting if you require assistance REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 5:30 PM Parks and Recreation Department, 1341 Nipomo Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 CALL TO ORDER: Chair Kathi Settle ROLL CALL: Vice Chair Toni Kincaid, Commissioners Chuck Crotser, Bob Gordon, Bryant Mills, Eva Ulz and Susan Updegrove Exofficio Committee Member James Papp PUBLIC COMMENT: At this time, the public is invited to address the Committee on items that are not on the agenda but are of interest to the public and within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Jack House Committee. The Committee may not discuss or take action on issues that are not on the agenda other than to briefly respond to statements made or questions raised, or to ask staff to follow up on such issues. 1. Consideration of the Minutes of Regular Meeting on November 16, 2016 (Settle) – 5 minutes 2. Consideration of November 2016 and December 2016 Financial Reports (Settle) – 5 minutes 3. Adoption of 2017-19 Advisory Body Goals (Mudgett) – 10 minutes 4. Approval of Changes in Presentation of the Nanny’s Room to a Luggage Room (Darnell) – 20 minutes 5. Presentation of Blue Star Museum program (Darnell) – 10 minutes 6. Discussion of dining room and master bedroom drapery (Kincaid) – 10 minutes 7. Staff Report for Parks and Recreation Updates (Setterlund) – 5 minutes 8. Friends of the Jack House Updates (Papp) – 10 minutes 9. Sub-Committee Reports (Settle) – 10 minutes a. Strategic Planning (Crotser, Settle, Ulz) b. Collections, Use & Handling Policy (Settle, Ulz, Darnell, Sorvetti) 10. Member Comments/Communications/Reports (Committee) – 5 minutes Adjourn to Next Regular Scheduled Meeting on February 8, 2017 at 5:30PM at Parks and Recreation (1341 Nipomo Street, San Luis Obispo, CA.). APPEALS: Administrative decisions by the Jack House Commission may be appealed to the City Council in accordance with the appeal procedure set forth in Chapter 1.20 of the San Luis Obispo Municipal Code. 1 Special Meeting- Ludwick Community Center 864 Santa Rosa Street, San Luis Obispo Wednesday, November 16, 2016 CALL TO ORDER: Chair Kathi Settle ROLL CALL: Vice Chair Toni Kincaid, Commissioners Bob Gordon, Chuck Crotser, Bryant Mills, Eva Ulz, Susan Updegrove TARDY: Exofficio Committee Member James Papp STAFF: Melissa Mudgett, Recreation Manager; Dave Setterlund, Recreation Supervisor; Liz Jacobs, Recreation Specialist Consent Agenda 1.Consideration of the Minutes of Regular Meeting on October 12, 2016 MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER KINCAID, SECOND BY COMMITTEE MEMBER UPDEGROVE, CARRIED 6-0 to approve the minutes of the Jack House Committee for the meeting of September 14, 2016 as amended. Amendments: Page 3, Public Comment #6: Section of carriage house storage shed discussion should be removed Page 4, #12: Capitalize “Sons of the Golden West” AYES:Settle, Kincaid, Crotser, Gordon, Mills, Updegrove NOES: ABSTAIN:Ulz ABSENT: 2.Consideration of September financials 2016 Financial Reports MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER KINCAID, SECOND BY COMMITTEE MEMBER GORDON, CARRIED 6-1 to approve the September 2016 financial reports as amended. AYES:Settle, Kincaid, Gordon, Mills, Updegrove, Ulz NOES:Crotser ABSTAIN: ABSENT: PUBLIC COMMENT: None Jack House Committee MINUTES 1-1 2 Public Hearings / Business Items 3.Approval of the Cancellation of the December 14, 2016 Regular Meeting of the Jack House Committee (Settle) – 5 Minutes Public Comments: None MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER UPDEGROVE, SECOND BY COMMITTEE MEMBER ULZ, CARRIED 7-0 to approve the Cancellation of the December 14, 2016 Regular Meeting of the Jack House Committee. AYES: Settle, Kincaid, Crotser Gordon, Mills, Updegrove, Ulz NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: 4.Approval to Waive Fees for the December 18, 2016 Special Tour (Papp) – 10 Minutes Member Papp: discussed the arrangement for the special Jack House tour and added that it is a good opportunity to introduce more people to the Jack House. There may be thirty people in attendance on the tour. Member Crotser: commended the action and suggested adding a donations jar to the house. Public Comments: None MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER CROTSER, SECOND BY COMMITTEE MEMBER UPDEGROVE, CARRIED 7-0 to approve to Waive Fees for the December 18, 2016 Special Tour. AYES: Settle, Kincaid, Crotser Gordon, Mills, Updegrove, Ulz NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: 5.Discussion of 2017-2019 Jack House Committee Advisory Body Goals (Settle) – 35 Minutes Recreation Manager Melissa Mudgett prefaced the discussion, detailing the nature of the Jack House Committee Advisory Body Goals. Mudgett also shared the Parks and Recreation Commission’s goals for the 17-19 fiscal years to give the committee members an outline of an acceptable proposal. After discussion, Committee Members decided that the finalized and prioritized list of objectives are as follows: 1-2 3 1. Major planning effort including: a.Historic Structures Report b.Strategic Plan c. Interpretative Plan In support of CHC’s Cost benefit analysis 2.Non-historic Facility improvements including: a.Arbor restoration/demolition b.Onsite Storage 3. Historic restoration of the Carriage House 4.Inventory and catalog collection Public Comments: None MOTION BY COMMITTEE MEMBER CROTSER, SECOND BY COMMITTEE MEMBER UPDEGROVE, CARRIED 7-0 to approve the 2017-2019 Jack House Committee Advisory Body Goals. AYES: Settle, Kincaid, Crotser Gordon, Mills, Updegrove, Ulz NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: Meeting adjourned at 5:33pm to Next Scheduled Special Meeting on January 11, 2016 at 5:30pm The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to including the disabled in all of its services, programs, and activities. Please contact the Clerk or staff liaison prior to the meeting if you require assistance APPEALS: Administrative decisions by the Jack House Commission may be appealed to the City Council in accordance with the appeal procedure set forth in Chapter 1.20 of the San Luis Obispo Municipal Code. 1-3 2016-17 Fiscal Year Reporting Date:12/1/16 Accounting Periods:5 NOVEMBER 2016 Verified By:Dave Setterlund, Community Services Supervisor Melissa C. Mudgett, Recreation Manager 14,262.69$ Acct 625-3901 BUDGET REVENUES COLLECTED TO- DATE REVENUES AVAILABLE Jack House Revenues (Fund 625) $ - $ 1,583.41 Jack House Expenditures (Fund 625) for Construction and Operating Materials $ - (550.00) BUDGET EXPENSES TO- DATE AVAILABLE BUDGET REMAINING Total Expenditures (through October 31, 2016) City Fund-100 Parks & Recreation (to be used for JH Promotions) $ 10,500 $ 552.00 9,948.00$ JACK HOUSE Accounting Monthly Account Reporting of Revenues and Expenditures JACK HOUSE FUND BALANCE Jack House Account Summary REVENUES (From July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) (Note: Dates are when posted by Finance Dept., not dates of transaction) EXPENDITURES (From July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) 1,033.41$ Parks & Recreation Promotions Account Summary 2016-17 (through to October 31, 2016) ACCOUNT SUMMARY 2-1 JACK HOUSE Accounting $ 1,583.41 $ - $ - $ 550.00 $ - Sub-Total: $ 550.00 $ - $ - $ - $ - $ - $ - Sub-Total Sales Revenue: $ - 625.58120 – JH Revenue (Tours) $ - $ 1,583.41 Sub-Total Interest Earned: $ 1,583.41 625.58100 – Food Sales Non-Taxable Sub-Total Non-Taxable Revenue: No Activity Ending Revenue Balance (October 31, 2016) (Includes Accrued Interest. Does not include Petty Cash) TOTAL JACK HOUSE FUND REVENUE 89140.7789 Cost of Materials for Resale TOTAL JACK HOUSE FUND EXPENDITURES Ending Expenditure Balance (October 31, 2016) (Matching Finance Plus) Sub-Total Tours Revenue: Sub-Total Donations: 625.58110 – Merchandise Sales Taxable (Gift Shop) No Activity 625.47010 – Other Contributions (Donations) 625.42760 – Interest on Investments BALANCE Jack House Fund REVENUES (IN) Fund 625 Revenues Collected from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 No Activity No Activity Jack House Fund EXPENDITURES (OUT) Account 625-89140 BALANCE $ 550.00 Expenditures (through July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) 89140.7227 Contract Services Spokes Jack House Account - FULL DETAIL $ 550.00 No ActivityNo Activity 2-2 JACK HOUSE Accounting STARTING BALANCE $ 10,500.00 REMAINING BALANCE $ 9,948.00 60280.7244 Promotions $ - $ - $ 552.00 (as of October 31, 2016) $ 552.00 TOTAL EXPENDED TO-DATE Account 100.60280.7244 No Activity Total Expenditures: Expenditures (from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017) Jack House Promotions City General Funds - EXPENDITURES Parks & Recreation Promotions Account - FULL DETAIL 2-3 2016-17 Fiscal Year Reporting Date:01/11/17 Accounting Periods:6 December 2016 Verified By:Dave Setterlund, Community Services Supervisor Melissa C. Mudgett, Recreation Manager 14,262.69$ Acct 625-3901 BUDGET REVENUES COLLECTED TO- DATE REVENUES AVAILABLE Jack House Revenues (Fund 625) $ - $ 1,583.43 Jack House Expenditures (Fund 625) for Construction and Operating Materials $ - (971.79) BUDGET EXPENSES TO- DATE AVAILABLE BUDGET REMAINING Total Expenditures (through Dec. 31, 2016) City Fund-100 Parks & Recreation (to be used for JH Promotions) $ 10,500 $ 2,551.42 7,948.58$ JACK HOUSE Accounting Monthly Account Reporting of Revenues and Expenditures JACK HOUSE FUND BALANCE Jack House Account Summary REVENUES (From July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) (Note: Dates are when posted by Finance Dept., not dates of transaction) EXPENDITURES (From July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) 611.64$ Parks & Recreation Promotions Account Summary 2016-17 (through to Dec. 31, 2016) ACCOUNT SUMMARY 2-4 JACK HOUSE Accounting $ 1,583.43 $ - $ - $ 421.79 $ - Sub-Total: $ 971.79 $ - $ - $ - $ - $ - $ - Sub-Total Sales Revenue: $ - 625.58120 – JH Revenue (Tours) $ - $ - Sub-Total Interest Earned: $ 1,583.43 625.58100 – Food Sales Non-Taxable Sub-Total Non-Taxable Revenue: No Activity 89140.7789 Cost of Materials for Resale TOTAL JACK HOUSE FUND EXPENDITURES Ending Expenditure Balance (October 31, 2016) (Matching Finance Plus) Sub-Total Tours Revenue: Sub-Total Donations: 625.47010 – Other Contributions (Donations) 625.42760 – Interest on Investments BALANCE Jack House Fund REVENUES (IN) Fund 625 Revenues Collected from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 625.58110 – Merchandise Sales Taxable (Gift Shop) Ending Revenue Balance (October 31, 2016) (Includes Accrued Interest. Does not include Petty Cash) No Activity TOTAL JACK HOUSE FUND REVENUE No Activity No Activity Jack House Fund EXPENDITURES (OUT) Account 625-89140 BALANCE $ 971.79 Expenditures (through July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) 89140.7227 Contract Services Docent Dinner - Food Stuffs Jack House Account - FULL DETAIL $ 971.79 No Activity 2-5 JACK HOUSE Accounting STARTING BALANCE $ 10,500.00 REMAINING BALANCE $ 7,948.58 60280.7244 Promotions New Times- $ 745.74 $ 432.00 New Times- $ 236.00 US Bank- Docent Dinner $ 19.95 US Bank-Docent Dinner $ 25.66 US Bank-Docent Dinner $ 43.15 US Bank- Docent Dinner $ 70.15 US Bank-Docent Dinner $ 85.31 US Bank-Docent Dinner $ 100.00 $ 1,757.96 $ - $ 2,551.42 (as of October 31, 2016) $ 2,551.42 TOTAL EXPENDED TO-DATE Account 100.60280.7244 James Papp (39 Reciepts) Total Expenditures: Expenditures (from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017) sub. Total New Times- Jack House Promotions City General Funds - EXPENDITURES Parks & Recreation Promotions Account - FULL DETAIL 2-6 Jack House Committee Proposed Advisory Body Goals for Council’s consideration in developing the 2017-19 Financial Plan. Goals for the 2017-19 Financial Plan 1.Provide for the historic preservation and public enjoyment of the Jack House and Garden through strategic planning efforts including: a.A Historic Structure Report (HSR) to give the City guidance in the treatment of this National Register property in accordance with Secretary of Interior Standards. An HSR serves as the primary planning document used in decision-making about preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction treatments and as a guide for budgeting future work. b.A Strategic Plan to develop an effective balance between public use and preservation of the botanical, structural, and interior collections over time. c.A Long Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) to enhance the education and understanding of visitors to the house and garden. d.A strategic cost-benefit analysis of maintenance, rehabilitation, and use for city-owned historic buildings as proposed in the Cultural Heritage Committee’s 2017-19 Advisory Body Goals. 2.Commit funding for improvements to the non-historic structures, including storage, in the Jack Garden including: a.Carriage House Pergola Restoration or Demolition b.Storage 3.Fund restoration of the Jack Carriage House, one of the three oldest wood structures in the City, to Secretary of Interior Standards in order to qualify it for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and make it accessible and educational to the public in a variety of uses. 4.Fund inventory and digital cataloging of the botanical, structural, and interior collections of the Jack House and Garden to ensure against loss and make the information available to scholars and the public, in accordance with the original grant deed and Parks and Recreation's mission of creating community through people, parks, and programs. 3-1 Nanny’s  Room  Paint  and  Wallpaper  Layers   A  small  fragment  of  efflorescent  plaster  recently  fell  from  the  Nanny’s  Room  wall,   revealing,  with  analysis,  four  layers  of  wallpaper  on  up  to  three  layers  of  paint  and/or   glaze.     •The  areas  that  appear  in  the  wallpaper  photographs  below  are  tiny,  less  than  an  inch square,  so  wallpaper  samples  may  represent  the  background  of  a  larger  pattern.   •There  appear  to  be  three  distinct  layers  of  color,  consistent  with  calcimine  in  their appearance,  texture,  and  water  solubility  but  inconsistent  in  that  calcimine  forms  a   notoriously  unstable  support  for  noncalcimine  paints  and  wallpaper.  It  is  possible  the  first   layer  is  the  calcimine  documented  in  the  initial  1881  interior  painting.     •The  multiplicity  of  finishes  suggests  the  Jacks  went  through  numerous  redecorations  both before  and  after  introducing  wallpaper.   •The  services  of  a  professional  finishes  analyst  would  be  desirable  to  define  the  content  of the  paints  and  date  the  layers  of  wallpaper,  as  well  as  date  the  ceiling  and  crown  border   papers,  which  do  not  resemble  any  of  those  on  the  lower  wall.   Accession  photographs  of  objects  in  the  Jack  House  in  the  late  1970s  or  early  1980s  suggest   that  only  three  rooms  were  wallpapered  when  the  house  was  acquired  by  the  city:  the   Nanny’s  Room,  the  Master  Bedroom,  and  the  Parlor  (the  last  shown  papered  in  the  only   interior  photographs  of  the  house  we  have  available,  from  1961).  Unfortunately,  the   wallpapers  in  the  Master  Bedroom  and  Parlor,  which  might  have  revealed  as  much   information  as  those  in  the  Nanny’s  Room,  appear  to  have  been  stripped  rather  than   covered  and  neither  preserved  nor  recorded,  leaving  us  without  a  record  of  how  many   layers  there  were  or  what  they  consisted  of.  Ideally,  professional  finish  analysis  of  those   and  other  walls  can  uncover  fragments  of  earlier  painted  layers  in  cracks  near  baseboards,   etc.,  possibly  the  original  calcimine.     It’s  worth  mentioning  in  this  context  that  by  1961  the  Jacks  had  also  covered  the  interior   woodwork  with  white  paint  (the  exterior  front  door  was  still  natural  wood  until  the   1990s).  The  door  leading  to  the  Master  Bedroom  from  the  linen  closet  area  (presumably   the  original  bathroom  before  the  circa  1887  pushout)  is  the  single  unpainted  original  door,   revealing  the  faux  black  walnut  graining  that  the  Tribune  on  10  September  1881  wrote  was   “the  finest  ever  done  in  this  county  and  can  scarcely  be  excelled  anywhere.”  The  next  time   you’re  in  the  house,  take  a  look  at  it  in  a  good  light  for  a  sense  of  the  extraordinary   nineteenth-­‐century  artistry  currently  obscured  with  paint.  Professional  finishes  analysis   for  the  woodwork  would  also  be  useful  for  conservation  or  restoration  decisions.   —James  Papp,  Jack  House  Docent  President,  11  January  2017   4-1 Fourth  wallpaper  layer,   currently  exposed.  This  is   an  interstitial   background  to  a  floral   design.   Second  wallpaper  layer   with  no  visible  pattern   Third  paint  layer   Third  wallpaper  layer   with  faint  vertical  stripes   First  wallpaper  layer   with  gilding    Second  paint  layer   Third  wallpaper  layer,   edge,  with  letters  PAT   (PATTERN?)   First  paint  layer  on   plaster 4-2 5-1 5-2 5-3 5-4 1   JACK  HOUSE  AND  GARDEN  2016  REPORT   Jack  House  Docents  and  Friends  of  the  Jack  House   The  Jack  House  embarked  on  significant  changes  in  2016,  enhancing  content  for  a  greater   variety  of  audiences  and  being  rewarded  with  a  doubling  of  visitors  over  2015.  We   1.expanded  the  house’s  public  hours  by  more  than  50  percent 2. dramatically  raised  the  house  and  garden’s  community  profile  and  diversified  their visitors  by  participating  in  Art  after  Dark   3.articulated  our  educational  message  into  exhibitions,  publications,  concerts,  talks, dramatic  performances,  and  sports  and  other  participatory  activities   4.reached  out  to  more  groups,  from  walking  tours  to  YMCA  camp,  for  special  events 5.expanded  offsite  talks  and  exhibitions 6.restored  the  house’s  19th-­‐century  profile  following  Secretary  of  Interior  Standards 7.protected  the  interior  collection  during  construction  and  began  the  first  global inventory  in  20  years  and  first  condition  reporting  in  40  years   8.took  steps  to  address  humidity  and  light  and  improve  object  handling  and  display 9.carried  out  a  global  enrichment  of  our  key  document,  the  docent  handbook 10. revolutionized  our  understanding  of  the  house  and  garden  with  new  research Jack  House  exhibit,  See  History  Here,  County  Board  of  Supervisors  Offices,  Jan.–Mar.  2016   Increase  in  Public  Hours                    In  2015,  the  Jack  House  had  87  public  hours;  in  2016,  135,   up  by  55  percent.  Art  after  Dark  added  30  hours;  a  further  18  Sunday  hours  came  from  an   earlier  opening  in  April,  later  closing  in  December,  and  opening  on  Thanksgiving  weekend,   which  turned  out  to  be  our  biggest  day  of  the  year  with  a  hundred  visitors.   Increase  in  Attendance                    The  house  added  over  a  thousand  visitors  in  2016,  with   attendance  growing  from  913  to  1,920.  There  were  600  visitors  for  Art  after  Dark,  479  on   Sundays,  33  for  Saturday  programs,  and  818  on  special  tours:  a  110  percent  overall  rise.     Art  after  Dark  attendance  varied  widely  (67,  76,  48,  30,  75,  67,  72,  78,  46,  and  41),  and   no  trend  emerged  favoring  any  type  of  event.  The  highest  attendance  was  for  an   evening  of  garden-­‐related  participatory  activities  that  few  participated  in  (a  scavenger   6-1 2   hunt);  the  second  for  an  exhibition  combining  art,  history,  and  do-­‐it-­‐yourself  craft   (Victorian  Valentines);  the  third  for  a  decorative  arts  exhibition  (The  Art  We  Eat  On);  the   fourth  for  an  exhibition  of  contemporary  cowboy  photography.     Angela  Tahti,  ARTS  Obispo  executive   director,  at  AAD  garden  scavenger  hunt   The  third  and  fourth  lowest   attendance  were  for  history   exhibitions  (the  SLO  Street  Railway   and  Portraits  of  the  Jack  House),   suggesting  a  preference  for  art,  but   the  most  poorly  attended  events  were   art  exhibitions  (Caricatures  and   Grotesques  and  The  Nineteenth-­‐ Century  Landscape).     A  significant  impetus  for  many  visitors   was  simply  seeing  the  house.   Shows  of  historic  fine  or  decorative   art  are  an  uncontested  niche  for  the   Jack  House  in  San  Luis  and  a  direct   promotion  of  the  property’s  mission   to  “enhance  and  celebrate  its  place  in   the  historical  development  of  San  Luis   Obispo”  and  serve  as  “an  example  of  a   Victorian  vintage  residence.”  Group   shows  by  contemporary  artists,   however,  are  the  stock-­‐in-­‐trade  of  Art   after  Dark,  and  a  mixture  of  them  is   likely  to  significantly  increase  our   attraction.  The  Dallidet  Adobe’’s   contemporary  plein-­‐air  show  brought AAD  attendance  of  over  300  in  a  single  evening—half  the  Jack  House’s  yearlong  AAD   numbers.  And  exhibitions,  in  contrast  to  one-­‐night  events,  bring  in  visitors  for  as  long  as   the  exhibition  is  up,  usually  three  months,  increasing  Sunday  attendance.   Sundays                    Sunday  visitors  were  up  28  percent,  from  374  to  479.   The  5  holiday  Sunday  attendance  drivers  of  Mother’s  Day,  Halloween,  and  Christmas   showed  a  29  percent  decrease  from  2015’s  257  to  2016’s  184.     Mother’s  Day  (premiering  The  Art  We  Eat  On)  was  up  by  40  percent,  from  70  to  98.   Christmas  Sundays  were  up  by  42  percent,  from  38  to  54,  but  public  Christmas  hours   were  concentrated  to  Sundays  because  of  2015’s  dismal  Saturday  attendance  of  3.6   visitors  per  hour.  Thus  public  Christmas  visitors  were  down  10  percent  overall,  though   occupying  half  the  time  and  thus  increasing  festive  density  (at  9  visitors  per  hour).     Halloween  Sundays  were  down  79  percent,  from  133  to  32.  Halloween  numbers  had,   in  recent  years,  been  driven  by  an  audience  of  children  and  their  parents  not  attracted   by  the  Jack  House  mission.  Dimly  lighting,  decorating,  and  adding  scenarios  to  the  house   6-2 3   prevented  mission-­‐attracted  visitors  (still  numerous  in  October)  from  fully   experiencing  it  and  also  caused  risk  and  damage  to  the  collection.  Unanimously,  docent   meetings  felt  there  were  better  alternatives.     The  original  plan  for  2016  was  a  Victorian  Halloween  festival  outdoors  (which  would,  in   any  event,  have  been  rained  out).  The  fallback  was  a  talk  on  witches  and  a  performance   of  authentic  Victorian  ghost  stories  on  Saturday  evenings  (attracting  21),  both  partially   reprised  Sunday  afternoons.  The  ghost  stories  brought  an  audience  of  14  but  a   subsequent  full-­‐page  review  in  the  New  Times.  Improving  Halloween  numbers  with  an   outdoor  event  attractive  to  families  yet  mission-­‐driven  remains  a  goal  for  2017.   Nonholiday  Sunday  attendance  rose  from  117  to  295,  a  252  percent  increase.  The   increase  of  open  Sundays  from  22  to  28  means  average  attendance  per  day  increased  at   a  lower  rate,  doubling  from  5.3  to  10.5.  Even  disambiguating  the  unusual  attendance  for   the  Thanksgiving  weekend  open  house   in  honor  of  Betty  Stockton,  nonholiday   Sunday  attendance  was  up  36  percent,   from  5.3  to  7.2  visitors.  In  June–July   2016,  with  articles  in  the  Tribune  and   SLO  City  News  on  the  Art  We  Eat  On,   attendance  reached  an  average  of  19  for   5  weeks,  2.6  times  the  annual  mean.   October  numbers,  outside  Halloween,   were  slightly  above  average;  May,   slightly  below;  April,  August,   September,  and  November  (apart  from   the  Stockton  open  house)  well  below.     Regular  attendance,  so  docents  are  not   idle,  is  key  to  morale.  Without  visitors,   docents  don’t  want  to  open  the  house   regularly.  Without  regular  opening,  we   lose  our  visitors.     Increasing  visitors  on  nonholiday   Sundays  has  been  an  incremental   business,  including  exhibitions  that   bring  their  own  set  of  visitors  (as  well   as  weekly  calendar  notices  in  the   press);  cross-­‐promotion  with  the   Dallidet,  which  shares  our  Sunday   hours;  and  going  out  to  the  garden  or   sidewalk  and  encouraging  people  to   come  in.   The  Art  We  Eat  On:  500  Years  of   Tableware,  May–July,  2016   Further  incremental  improvements  should  come  from   • designing  activities  specifically  for  our  weak  periods. 6-3 4   •attracting  more  people  to  the  Jack  Garden •improving  outdoor  interpretive  and  publicity  signage • more  frequent  and  regular  opening  hours Lack  of  convenient  opening  hours  is  the  most  common  explanation  for  nonattendance.   Spontaneous  admission  of  families  or  tourists  who  happen  to  be  in  the  Jack  Garden  at   the  same  time  as  the  docent  president  frequently  exceeds  Sunday  attendance  in  a  single   group.  Sunday  openings—on  a  day  when  many  vacationers  travel—may  not  be  ideal  for   visitors.  Being  open  a  majority  of  the  week  would  probably  increase  our  attendance   exponentially  rather  than  proportionately  (e.g.,  a  minimum  of  15  weekly  opening  hours   is  required  for  listing  in  Sunset  and  Westways),  but  this  would  require  professional  staff.   Saturday  evening  openings  for  Christmas  were  decreased  to  1  but  augmented  by  2   Halloween  evening  openings.  All  3  evenings  were  2-­‐hour  special  events  (1  talk  and  2   dramatic  readings  with  tours  or  refreshments).  With  the  same  hours  and  new  content,   Saturday  attendance  rose  from  22  to  33.   YMCA  Day  Camp  in  the  Jack  Garden,  July  2016   Special  Events  and  Private  Tours                    Private  attendance  rose  from  517  in  2015  to   818  in  2016,  a  58  percent  increase.  Groups  included  the  school  classes  of  previous   years,  but  we  also  reached  out  to  Las  Brisas  and  The  Villages  retirement  communities,   California  Retired  Teachers  Association,  YMCA  day  camp,  docents  at  other  museums,   church  and  social  groups,  the  countywide  History  Network  and  Docent  Network,  and   Joe  Morris’s  walking  tours.  The  number  includes  some  experimental  off-­‐calendar  tours   open  to  the  public  (e.g.,  of  the  garden  and  outbuildings),  as  well  as  spontaneous   admission  of  families  and  groups  of  tourists  at  off-­‐hours.   The  power  of  networked  attendance  is  shown  in  comparing  2016’s  Christmas   attendance  to  2015’s.  Public  2016  Christmas  attendance  was  down  10  percent—from   60  to  54—but  a  reception  for  the  History  Network  (51  visitors),  a  Christmas  Eve   6-4 5   reading  of  A  Visit  from  St.  Nicholas  and  A  Christmas  Carol  (14),  and  visits  from  a  private   group  (10),  Joe  Morris’s  walking  tour  (25),  Hearst  Castle  staff  (2),  and  a  random  family   (6)  brought  those  numbers  to  162,  a  272  percent  increase.  Reworking  the  exhibition  for   January’s  Art  after  Dark  as  Deconstructing  Christmas  is  likely  to  take  us  over  200.   Visitors  enjoy  folk  songs  and  cowboy  photography,  Art  after  Dark,  August  2016.   Development  of  On-­‐Site  Programs                    In  2016  the  Jack  House  premiered     •7  shows  of  fine,  decorative,  and  popular  art  (including  Old  Master  French  and  English Portrait  Drawings,  The  Permanent  Revolution  of  the  Nineteenth-­‐Century  Landscape,  April   Fools:  Grotesques  and  Caricatures,  The  Cowboy  Photography  of  Richard  Field  Levine,  The   Library  of  a  Ranching  Family,  The  Art  We  Eat  On:  Five  Centuries  of  Tableware,  and  The   Art  of  Love:  Victorian  Valentines)   •3  history  exhibitions  (Portraits  of  the  Jack  House,  The  Brief  Life  and  Early  Death  of  the San  Luis  Obispo  Street  Railway,  and  An  1880s  California  Christmas)   •2  parlor  concerts  (The  Wavebreakers  folk  songs  and  Christmas  songs) • 2  talks  (The  Wickedest  Little  Girl  in  the  History  of  America  and  How  the  Victorians Reinvented  Christmas)   • 4  concert  talks  (piano  history,  patriotic  songs  for  July  4  weekend,  a  Railroad  Song Singalong  for  the  Central  Coast  Railroad  Festival,  and  A  Victorian  Christmas,)   •2  dramatic  readings  (True  Ghost  Stories  from  Augustus  Hare  and  A  Christmas  Carol) •and  3  participatory  and  social  activities  (Valentine-­‐making,  a  Jack  Garden  scavenger hunt,  and  an  ice  cream  social)   We  displayed  over  300  loan  works  from  Cal  Poly  Special  Collections,  the  History  Center  of   San  Luis  Obispo  County,  the  Hearst  Corporation,  6  private  collectors,  and  1  contemporary   6-5 6   artist.  We  also  received  invaluable  technical  assistance  and  equipment  loans  from  the   History  Center  and  Cal  Poly.   As  part  of  the  exhibitions,  we  showed  and  interpreted  dozens  of  items  from  the  permanent   collection,  some  that  had  been  tucked  away  and  others  that  had  remained  on  display   without  context,  from  the  Qing  dynasty  lotus  bowl  to  the  aesthetic  movement  cupboard,  the   Port  Orford  cedar,  and  Otto  Bacher’s  tonalist  engraving  of  the  Bridge  of  Sighs.     Garden  and  Outbuilding  Tours                    Renewed  research  on  the  Jack  Garden  and  its   botanical  collection—including  the  rediscovery  and  reinterpretation  of  an  1880s   photograph—led  to  the  restoration  of  the  garden  tour.  We  plan  for  this  to  become  a   regular  feature  and  are  working  with  Joe  Morris,  Matt  Ritter,  and  others.     Publications                    For  the  Parks  and  Recreation  Volunteer  Appreciation  dinner,  we   published  a  1,000-­‐word  self-­‐guided  tour  with  3  photographs  that  can  be  dispensed   from  brochure-­‐holders  in  the  Jack  Garden.  For  An  1880s  California  Christmas  we   published  a  2,400-­‐word  booklet  with  7  illustrations  on  the  nineteenth-­‐century  history   of  Christmas  in  Europe,  America,  California,  and  San  Luis  Obispo  in  particular,  also   making  a  PDF  available  online.  As  well,  we  distributed  recipes  from  the  Jack  Family   cookbooks,  along  with  the  cookies  the  recipes  make.   Fine  as  our  volunteer  programs  this  year  have  been,  our  ideal  should  be  2015’s  Phoebe   Hearst  musicale,  which  used  volunteers  to  sell  tickets  to  a  first-­‐rate  professional  program. Monarch  Grove  students  recreate  the  circa   1900  pose  on  the  steps  in  May.   So  do  Las  Brisas  residents  in  July. Development  of  Off-­‐Site  Programs                    Jack  House  docents  in  2016  spoke  about  the   house,  family,  and  related  history  and  led  activities  at  Lifelong  Learners,  Las  Brisas  and  The   Villages  retirement  communities,  Old  Mission  School,  Monarch  Grove  Elementary,  the  San   Luis  Obispo  Railroad  Museum,  San  Luis  Obispo  Farmers’  Market,  and  the  California   Preservation  Conference,  reaching  over  300  listeners  beyond  our  1,920  on-­‐site  attendees.   As  a  result,  over  2,200  people  personally  engaged  with  nineteenth-­‐century  life  and  the   6-6 7   cowboy  capitalism  of  the  Jacks.  Several  listeners  at  retirement  communities  also  turned  out   to  be  oral  informants  of  the  Jack  Family  and  of  the  city’s  acquisition  of  the  Jack  House.   Exhibitions                    At  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors  offices,  the  Jack  House   participated  in  the  See  History  Here  exhibition  for  1  month  and  mounted  The  Jack   Ranch:  History  Doesn’t  Stop  for  6  months,  inaugurating  that  wall  for  history  displays.   The  County  Government  Office’s  main  floor  hosted  a  selection  from  The  Cowboy   Photography  of  Richard  Field  Levine  for  3  months.     Press                    Five  detailed  articles  on  an  exhibition,  program,  restoration,  and  recent   discovery  reached  the  readership  of  the  Tribune  weekday  editions  (restoration  of  the   Dining  Room  bay  and  discovery  of  the  1880s  Jack  Garden  photograph),  Sunday  edition   (The  Art  We  Eat  On),  SLO  City  News  (The  Art  We  Eat  On),  and  New  Times  (True  Ghost   Stories  from  Augustus  Hare).  Dave  Congalton  gave  us  two  hours  to  discuss  Jack  House   and  related  history  for  his  radio  audience  in  May  and  December.  The  combined   audience  of  this  outreach  was  over  150,000.   The  Jack  Garden  and  Carriage  House,  late  1880s,  a  rediscovered  and  reinterpreted  image   that  inspired  a  Photos  from  the  Vault  article  by  David  Middlecamp  in  the  Tribune   Next  year  we  hope  to  continue  our  newspaper  and  talk  radio  coverage  while  extending   outreach  to  public  radio  and  a  variety  of  magazines.   Blog  Posts                    Art  after  Dark  allowed  us  to  publish  short  illustrated  essays  on  our   exhibitions  and  events  that  stayed  on  the  web  afterwards,  giving  the  house  and  garden   another  means  of  outreach  and  education.  In  2016  we  published  nine  illustrated  blog   posts  of  a  few  hundred  words  each.   Public  Relations                    Publicizing  the  house  and  its  programs  has  been  challenging  as  a   result  of  fragmentation  of  media  and  audiences.  Toni  Kincaid’s  survey  of  public  Christmas   attendance  showed  10–20  percent  each  attracted  by  the  New  Times  ad,  New  Times  free   listing,  Tribune  free  listing,  the  internet,  drive  by,  and  word  of  mouth.  In  addition,  some   came  for  the  concerts  and  talk,  some  for  the  decorations,  and  some  simply  to  see  the  house.   6-7 8   The  days  of  a  single  ad  attracting  hundreds  of  people  to  a  single  offering  appear  to  be  over.   Our  display  ads  have  cost  as  much  as  several  hundred  dollars  per  single  visitor  produced.   In  2016  we  concentrated  on  providing   •listings  in  the  Tribune  and  New  Times  and  have  recently  added  slohappenings.com •current  and  detailed  information  on  the  city’s  Jack  House  web  page •content  that  can  be  distributed  through  other  platforms  such  as  Facebook  and Instagram.   Our  best  PR  investment  has  been  Art  after  Dark;  the  Friends’  membership  at  $170  has   brought  us  600  visitors  and  forced  a  revolution  in  programming.     Newspaper  reviews  of  current  programs  seem  to  increase  attendance  but  not  reviews  of   past  programs  or  general  news  articles,  though  these  profile-­‐raisers  may  reinforce  later   decisions  to  visit  and  are  themselves  part  of  our  education  program.  We  tried  some   unusual  outreach,  such  as  a  sandwich  board  in  the  Holiday  Parade  and  booths  at  the   Farmers’  Market  and  Expo  at  the  Expo,  which  produced  little  if  any  direct  effect.  Hotels   need  better  information,  and  we  need  a  way  (such  as  coupons)  to  tell  if  our  rack  cards  have   an  effect.  We  should  also  try  posters  for  exhibitions  and  events.     Foundationally,  however,  all  publicity  is  hampered  by  limited  volunteer  hours  for—and   expertise  in—creating  it  and  our  limited  and  irregular  opening  hours.   Successful  Restoration  and   Reconstruction                    For  the  first  time,   the  Jack  House  followed  Secretary  of   Interior  standards  for  documentation  in  a   restoration  and  reconstruction  project.   The  1972–73  elevator  shaft  was  removed   and  Master  Bedroom  and  Dining  Room   windows  restored,  relying  on   photographs  from  the  History  Center  and   Jack  House  collections  for  the  one-­‐story   height  and  decoration  of  the  bay  and   asymmetric  placement  of  the  window   above  and  basement  vent  below.  The   project,  funded  by  the  city,  Jack  House   Foundation  Family  Trust,  and  Friends  of   the  Jack  House  transformed  both  rooms   and  restored  the  house  not  to  its  original   profile  (the  bay  did  not  exist  before  1888)   but  to  its  nineteenth-­‐century  profile,  its   period  of  significance. Enhanced  Collections  Care                    Mitigation  of  the  window  restoration  project’s  effect  on   the  interior  collection  by  moving  and/or  wrapping  over  400  at-­‐risk  objects,  ranging  in  size   from  a  button  hook  to  a  two-­‐story  bannister,  led  to  a  global  analysis  of  preservation   conditions.  Inventory  and  condition  reporting  are  proceeding  by  object  category.  With   6-8 9   assistance  from  Cal  Poly  Special  Collections,  we  are  also  redigitizing  inventory  records   from  surviving  printouts  (the  electronic  files  having  been  lost).  Works  on  paper,  in  dire   condition,  were  taken  off  display  and  have  now  had  their  specifications  taken  and  been   staged  for  removal  from  their  housing,  photography,  reproduction,  and  archival  rehousing.   Books  and  textiles  also  are  in  urgent  need  of  rehousing.  The  Jack  House  itself  lacks  archival   housing,  such  as  metal  shelves  and  cabinets,  or  room  to  place  such  housing.   Humidity  monitoring  has  shown  wide   swings  into  ranges  that  encourage  mold   growth,  making  a  humidity  control  plan   necessary.  A  blind  has  been  added  to  the   stairway  window  for  light  mitigation.   The  ongoing  crisis  for  the  interior   collection  is  that  while  the  other  three   Jack  collections—botanical,  structural,   and  documentary—have  all  moved  to   care  by  paid  and  vetted  professionals,  the   interior  collection—the  most  complex,   fragile,  and  valuable  collection  of  the   four—has  not.  New  advice  on  object   handling  in  the  docent  handbook   mitigates  but  does  not  solve  this  situation.   Outside,  the  plants  are  increasingly  seen   as  a  historic  botanical  collection,  and   efforts  are  continuing  to  graft  the   garden’s  English  walnut,  which  had  a  30”   diameter  40  years  ago.     The  collection  remains  self-­‐insured  or   effectively  (in  absence  of  explicit   agreements)  uninsured,  in  contravention   of  the  grant  deed  and  best  practice.  Lack   of  insurance  also  hampers  outside  loans   to  in-­‐house  exhibitions.Grafting  the  Jack  English  walnut   Revision  of  the  Docent  Handbook    A  committee  led  by  docent  Judith  Collins,  MLIS,   who  has  had  a  prominent  career  as  a  reference  librarian  and  consultant,  has  reorganized,   corrected,  and  significantly  augmented  the  information  in  the  Jack  House  Docent  Handbook   to  allow  docents  to  choose  their  own  focused  narratives  from  an  array  of  documented  data.   Research                    This  year  has  brought  much  greater  understanding  of  the  botanical,   structural,  and  interior  collections,  through  a  focus  on  exhibitions,  collections  processing,   and  revision  work  on  the  docent  handbook.  Among  the  important  discoveries   • The  Jack  Garden  largely  retains  its  original  1880s  “gardenesque”  design,  as  well  as  a score  of  plants  from  the  Jack  era  and  at  least  4  from  its  original  period  of  creation  under   Nellie  Jack,  making  it  the  oldest  designed  landscape  in  San  Luis  Obispo.     6-9 10   • The  Carriage  House  predates  the  Jack  House,  is  present  in  the  earliest  photograph  of San  Luis  Obispo  by  noted  California  photographer  Carleton  Watkins,  and  is  one  of  the   three  earliest  surviving  wooden  structures  in  San  Luis  Obispo.   • The  windows  retained  interior  louvered  shutters  throughout  the  house’s  period  of significance  and  interpretation  and  as  late  as  1914.   • The  “Nanny’s  Room”  retains  four  distinct  layers  of  wallpaper  and  three  of  paint, suggesting  a  relatively  rapid  schedule  of  redecoration  and  revealing  early  Jack  choices   in  the  period  of  significance,  in  particular  what  appears  to  be  the  original  calcimine.   • The  Jack  art  includes  a  sophisticated  collection  from  the  Etching  Revival,  acquired  in part  from  the  historically  significant  San  Francisco  dealer  William  Kingston  Vickery.   •The  Jack  furniture  represents  an  almost  encyclopedic  collection  of  styles  from  the 1830s  through  the  1940s,  including  Grecian  plain  style,  American  Empire,  rococo   revival,  Renaissance  revival,  Eastlake,  aesthetic  movement,  Louis  Quinze  revival,   Directoire  revival,  Regency  revival,  and  Sheraton  revival.   • The  Jack  luggage  reveals  an  1877  journey  by  R.  E.  Jack  back  to  Maine  as  well  as  other information  about  the  family’s  travels  and  cultural  connections.   • R.  E.  Jack  appears  to  have  avoided  direct  action  at  Gettysburg  but  may  have  been  a witness  to  the  treating  of  the  wounded  in  the  aftermath.   Docent  Donn  Clarius  describes  the  Jack  Steinway  to  a  church  group.   New  information  on  the  Jack  Garden  and  Carriage  House  suggests  consideration  of   derestoration  to  Secretary  of  Interior  standards  (e.g.,  removal  of  plywood  cladding  from   the  Carriage  House’s  original  redwood  planks)  and  an  amendment  to  the  Jack  House’s   National  Register  nomination  to  extend  the  boundaries  to  the  edge  of  the  garden.  The   Community  Development  Department  has  already  confirmed  that  the  Garden  and  Carriage   6-10 11   House  are  included  in  the  Jack  property’s  Master  Listing  and  thus  protected  under  relevant   city  preservation  regulations  and  the  California  Environmental  Quality  Act.     Physical  data  and  documentation  on  structure,  fabric,  and  treatments  of  the  Jack  House  and   its  outbuildings,  processed  by  professionals  with  the  latest  technology,  will  contribute  to  a   historic  structure  report.  Combining  an  HSR  with  new  information  about  the  Jack  furniture,   art,  and  other  contents  of  the  house  should  form  the  foundation  of  a  furnishings  plan  that   communicates  to  our  visitors  a  complex  and  authentic  view  of  the  life  of  the  Jacks  in  the   property’s  period  of  significance.     As  Hearst  Castle  Historian  Victoria  Kastner  remarked  on  her  recent  visit  to  the  Jack  House   to  research  our  documented  Christmas  decorations,  “Our  audience  is  becoming  more   sophisticated.”  (As  visitors  to  historic/architectural  sites  decline,  the  ones  left  are   increasingly  skewing  to  higher  levels  of  education.1)  The  Jack  House  has  the  resources  to   attract  and  respond  to  a  sophisticated  audience  and  the  responsibility—as  a  historic  house   museum—to  engage  and  accurately  inform  a  less  sophisticated  one.  Enhancing  our  content   in  2016  has  not  only  made  each  visit  to  us  more  insightful  but  has  coincided  with   skyrocketing  attendance.  Whether  more  challenging  content  has  attracted  more  visitors,   but  it  certainly  has  not  driven  them  away.  It  has  also  given  us  something  to  talk  about  in  the   media  and  use  to  connect  with  a  wider  range  of  people’s  interests.   Docent  Work                    A  largely  stable  docent  corps  was  able  to  handle  a  55  percent  increase   in  hours  and  110  percent  increase  in  visitors  with  grace  and  effectiveness,  to  a  large  extent   through  the  efforts  of  Pam  Hurd,  who  volunteered  midterm  as  docent  scheduler.  Unlike   most  volunteer-­‐run  historic  houses  around  the  county,  the  Jack  House  in  2016  never  had  to   close  during  regular  hours  or  turn  down  a  private  tour.     The  570  hours  docents  spent  on  public  contact  ranged,  individually,  from  1  to  163  hours,   averaging  30  each.  (Service  of  24  hours  per  year  has  traditionally  been  considered  ideal;  12   hours,  the  minimum  for  “good  standing.”)  Of  19  docents  active  during  2016,  7  docented   above  the  30-­‐hour  average  and  12  below.     The  5  newest  docent  recruits  (Jamie  Hess,  Donn  Clarius,  Laura  Sorvetti,  James  Papp,  and   Eva  Ulz)  accounted  for  over  50  percent  of  contact  hours.  Our  longest-­‐serving  and  2  of  our   longer-­‐serving  docents  (Wendy  Stockton,  Pam  Hurd,  and  Marilyn  Darnell)  also  volunteered   above-­‐average  hours—in  the  latter  two  cases  almost  twice  the  average.  Three  longer-­‐ serving  docents  experienced  health  or  family  crises  in  the  first  half  of  the  year  and  were   back  to  full  service  in  the  second  half.  We  lost  2  core  docents  at  the  end  of  2015;  1  (Toni   Kincaid)  will  be  returning  in  2017  for  limited  availability.  As  well,  3  limited-­‐availability   docents  and  1  regular  stopped  volunteering  in  2016.   Docents  also  spent  uncounted  hours  in  researching  and  producing  material  for  exhibitions   and  talks,  rehearsing  for  concerts  and  dramatic  readings,  revising  the  handbook,  studying   for  tours,  consulting  on  best  practices,  processing  the  collection,  processing  records,   cleaning  to  archival  standards,  decorating,  and  preparing  refreshments.     1  Bohne  Silber,  Tim  Triplett,  et  al.,  A  Decade  of  Arts  Engagement:  Findings  from  the  Survey  of   Public  Participation  in  the  Arts,  2001–2012,  NEA  Research  Report  #58  (Washington,  DC:   National  Endowment  for  the  Arts,  2015),  Figure  1–16.   6-11 12   In  2016  we  trained  1  new  docent  (professional  project  manager  Jamie  Hess),  who  has  been   working  double-­‐average  hours  since  she  joined  us  in  the  middle  of  the  year.  We  also  have  2   strong  recruits  about  to  start  training,  the  second  of  whom  is  the  former  curator  of  the   1888  Doctor’s  House  Museum  in  Glendale.   A  substantial  majority  of  our  docents  have  been  able  to  use  and  develop  their  professional   and  amateur  skills  in  curating  exhibitions,  playing  concerts,  and  organizing  special  events;   speaking  and  performing;  researching;  revising  the  docent  handbook;  and  processing  and   protecting  the  interior  collection.  We  are  fortunate  to  have  among  the  docents  a   professional  curator,  archivist,  reference  librarian,  historian  and  architectural  historian,   and  musicians,  all  with  applicable  skills  and  experience,  as  well  as  2  docents  who  have   completed  their  Museum  Studies  Certificates.     Docents,  tourists,  and  housed  and  homeless  residents  gather  for  refreshments  and   conversation  in  the  Jack  Garden,  fulfilling  the  Parks  Department  mission  of  “Inspiring   happiness  by  creating  community  through  people,  parks,  programs,  and  open  space.”   Each  of  our  docents  provides  skilled  and  experienced  service.  Each  is  a  human  connection   and  source  of  understanding  for  visitors.  Without  their  work  as  a  team,  the  Jack  House   would,  in  its  current  form,  cease  to  function.  While  our  docent  program  may  continue  to   thrive  in  the  face  of  declining  volunteerism,  it  is  unsustainable  for  volunteers  to  carry  the   responsibility  of  administration,  interpretation,  education,  programming,  public  relations,   public  opening,  and  collection  management  for  a  historic  house  museum  that  is—or  has   shown  the  potential  to  be—one  of  the  county’s  significant  cultural  institutions.  It  not  only   puts  an  undue  burden  and  risk  on  the  volunteers,  it  leaves  underexploited  and  underserved   one  of  the  city’s  most  valuable  and  high-­‐profile  resources.   —James  Papp,  president,  Jack  House  Docents;  president,  Friends  of  the  Jack  House   6-12