Fiscal Year 2024 Arts & Culture Special Projects Grant Funding RecommendationCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Action Items # 04.
Copyrighted
July 5, 2023
ITEM TITLE: Fiscal Year 2024 Arts & Culture Special Projects Grant Funding
Recommendation
SUMMARY: City Manager recommending City Council concurrence with the Arts &
Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission recommendation to fund the
FY2024 Special Projects grant applications.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Approve
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Memo to MVM re FY 2024 Arts & Culture Special
Projects Grant Funding Recommendation
Scoring and Funding Scenarios for FY 2024 Arts &
Culture Special Projects Grant Program
Staff Memo
Supporting Documentation
THE CITY OF
Dubuque
DUB TEE1.
All -America City
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
� pp
zoo�•*o 13
zoi720zoi9
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: FY 2024 Arts & Culture Special Projects Grant Funding Recommendation
DATE: June 28, 2023
Economic Development Director Jill Connors is recommending City Council
concurrence with the Arts & Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission recommendation to
fund the FY2024 Special Projects grant applications as follows:
• $8,000 to Dubuque County Historical Society for "We Are Where We Live:
How Our Environments Shape Community (20th Anniversary Exhibit)" project.
• $6,940 to Dubuque Symphony Orchestra for "A Patriotic Celebration: A
Veteran's Day Concert" project.
• $6,740 to Dubuque Arts Council for the "Gareth Johnson and the Evolution
Band" project.
• $6,340 to Voices Productions for "Voices Studios Artist in Residence Program"
project.
• $940 to The Masterpiece Literary Center for "Prescott Elementary School
Writing Program 2023 - 2024" project.
• $6,040 to Dubuque Museum of Art for "Arts Trek Middle School Expansion
Pilot" project.
The above outlines a total of $35,000 in recommended funding. The FY 2024 Special
Projects funding cycle runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Projects will be
implemented prior to June 30, 2024, with final reports due by August 31, 2024.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM-sv
Attachment
CC' Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Jill Connors, Economic Development Director
Dubuque
THE CITF
UjB_E
All-Ameriea M
rvn�xaw�i rvx: i i-;u a a:
' I®'
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
2017*2019
TO: Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Jill Connors, Economic Development Director
Economic Development Department
1300 Main St
Dubuque, IA 52001
Office (563) 589-4393
TTY (563) 690-6678
http://www.cityofdubuque.org
SUBJECT: FY 2024 Arts & Culture Special Projects Grant Funding Recommendation
DATE: June 27, 2023
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum requests City Council concurrence with the recommended recipients and
funding levels of the FY2024 Arts & Culture Special Projects grant applicants.
BACKGROUND
Through the Arts & Culture Special Projects Grant program, the City of Dubuque provides
grant funds to cultivate unique and innovative creative arts and culture experiences that
prioritize community engagement and active partnership in which all parties may experience
change and growth. The Arts & Culture Special Projects Grant program has been in place
since FY2005 when $30,000 was disbursed to five arts organizations for their work. This
amount was increased to $35,000 annually in FY2006.
Per standard operating procedure, this funding is awarded annually through a competitive
application process with applicants responding to program guidelines and application
questions previously reviewed and approved by the Arts Commission and transmitted to City
Council.
Applications were reviewed and scored by a three -person panel independent of the Arts
Commission. Scoring was then considered by and a recommendation supported by the Arts
& Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission (Arts Commission). Staff for the City's Arts
Commission has overseen the process throughout.
DISCUSSION
Special Projects grant applications were accepted between March 10, 2023 and May 12,
2023. Thirteen (13) applications were submitted and considered eligible for funding per the
program guidelines. The collective request for funding across eligible applications in FY 2024
was $83,437.
All eligible applications were reviewed and scored by volunteer reviewers with knowledge of
the arts, actively participating in the arts, and possessing professional experience in fields
such as nonprofit, business, or government. The following volunteers served as the review
panel, independently reading and scoring all applications against the previously approved 15-
point rubric:
• Michaela Freiburger, Executive Director, North East Iowa Council / Boy Scouts of
America
• Mia Scott, Leave of Absence Coordinator
• Pam McCarron, Permit Clerk, City of Dubuque
Said rubric ensured that imperatives of proposed projects included:
• Uniqueness / Relevance = Projects should create unique and innovative arts and
cultural experiences or arts and cultural learning opportunities that stand out from the
applicant's previous offerings in significant ways. Activities may be produced within an
established series of programming.
• Partnership = Active and collaborative partnership with one or more entities,
supported by the submission of at least one letter of commitment that demonstrates
active engagement in the project development or implementation.
• DEI = Planning efforts and stated outcomes integrate practices that engage and/or
represent diverse populations, advance equity, and create inclusive access to project
activities.
Scoring was received and compiled for Commissioner consideration by staff. The
accompanying scoring and funding scenarios document, listing applicants anonymously by
competitive ranking, was reviewed by the Arts Commission during a Regular Meeting on
Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
If all applications were funded at the maximum possible award based on the max percentage
of the score received, for example, if an application receives an average score of 14, or
93.3%, an award would be 93.3% of the request, a program budget of $60,431.67 would be
needed and was not considered as a viable option. Staff provided funding scenarios as
outlined in the attached worksheet for the Arts Commission's consideration. Three (3) funding
scenarios based on the results of the competitive scoring and attempting to utilize the
program budget fully, were calculated as follows-
1 ) Option A: Funding allocations based on top ranking application receiving its full
request, as has been the Commission's standard practice, and subsequent requests
receiving an award reduced proportionately to their scoring and rounded to the nearest
100. The seven (7) lowest scoring applications, or those with an average score of
below 11, or 73.3%, were not awarded funds. This option totaled $34,300.
2) Option B: Based on Option A, Option B takes the $700 balance from Option A and
equally applies an additional $140 in funds to applications ranked 2 — 6. This option
totaled $35,000.
3) Option C: Funding allocations are assigned based on the top ranking applications
receiving their full ask until the funds are depleted or insufficient funds remain to fund
the next ranking application fully. This option totaled $33,060.
Following discussion, the Arts Commission voted unanimously to support Option B, which
funds the following projects at the levels noted:
• $8,000 to Dubuque County Historical Society in partnership with Andonia
Giannakouros, Artist, Temwa Phiri, Community Engagement Coordinator of the Office
of Shared Prosperity & Neighborhood Support at City of Dubuque, and Mark Wagner,
former Director of Education, River Museum (retired) for "We Are Where We Live: How
Our Environments Shape Community (20th Anniversary Exhibit)" project.
• $6,940 to Dubuque Symphony Orchestra in partnership with the Dubuque Chorale,
Five Flags Theatre, SMG Global, and local veteran's organizations for "A Patriotic
Celebration: A Veteran's Day Concert" project.
• $6,740 to Dubuque Arts Council in partnership with Dubuque elementary schools,
the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Dubuque Heritage Center for
the "Gareth Johnson and the Evolution Band" project.
• $6,340 to Voices Productions in partnership with Heritage Works, Briana Thompson
of BriXStudios, the City of Dubuque Office of Shared Prosperity, the City of Dubuque
Arts and Cultural Affairs Office, and the Dubuque Museum of Art for "Voices Studios
Artist in Residence Program" project.
• $940 to The Masterpiece Literary Center in partnership with Prescott Elementary
School for "Prescott Elementary School Writing Program 2023 - 2024" project.
• $6,040 to Dubuque Museum of Art in partnership with the Dubuque Community
School District for "Arts Trek Middle School Expansion Pilot" project.
The above outlines a total of $35,000 in recommended funding. The FY 2024 Special
Projects funding cycle runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. Projects will be
implemented prior to June 30, 2024, with final reports due by August 31, 2024.
BUDGETIMPACT
There are no new budget impacts. The FY2024 approved budget includes $35,000 for Arts &
Culture Special Projects Grants.
RECOMMENDATION/ ACTION STEP
I respectfully request concurrence with the Arts & Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission
recommendation to fund the aforementioned FY2024 Special Projects grant applications for
approval by City Council.
CC: Laura Merrick, Communications and Grants Administration Assistant
Jenny Larson, Finance Director
FY24 SPECIAL PROJECTS GRANT PROGRAM FUNDING STRATEGIES
1
13.67
91.11
$
8,000.00
$
7,288.89
2
12.67
84.44
$
8,000.00
$
6,755.56
3
12.33
82.22
$
8,000.00
$
6,577.78
4
11.67
77.78
$
8,000.00
$
6,222.22
5
11.33
75.56
$
1,060.00
$
800.89
6
11.00
73.33
$
8,000.00
$
5,866.67
7
10.67
71.11
$
5,425.00
$
3,857.78
8
10.67
71.11
$
8,000.00
$
5,688.89
9
10.33
68.89
$
4,125.00
$
2,841.67
10
10.00
66.67
$
5,177.00
$
3,451.33
11
9.00
60.00
$
3,700.00
$
2,220.00
12
8.67
57.78
$
7,950.00
$
4,593.33
13
8.00
53.33
$
8,000.00
$
4,266.67
$ 8,000.00
$
8,000.00
$ 8,000.00
$ 6,800.00
$
6,940.00
$ 8,000.00
$ 6,600.00
$
6,740.00
$ 8,000.00
$ 6,200.00
$
6,340.00
$ 8,000.00
$ 800.00
$
940.00
$ 1,060.00
$ 5,900.00
$
6,040.00
$ 83,437.00 $ 60,431.67 $ 34,300.00 $ 35,000.00 $ 33,060.00