Letter of Support for National Endowment for Arts "Our Town" Proposal Copyrighted
August 21, 2023
City of Dubuque Consent Items # 06.
City Council Meeting
IT EM T IT LE: Letter of Support for National Endowment for Arts "Our Town" Proposal
SUM MARY: City Manager recommending City Council approval to provide a letter of
support to The Dubuque Museum of Arts (DuMA) in their application for
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) "Our Town" proposal and
creative placemaking grant.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File;Approve
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
Supporting Documentation Supporting Documentation
Dubuque
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Letter of Support: National Endowment for Arts "Our Town" Proposal
DATE: August 17, 2023
Director Office of Shared Prosperity and Neighborhood Support Anderson Sainci is
recommending City Council approval to provide a letter of support to The Dubuque
Museum of Arts (DuMA) in their application for The National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) "Our Town" proposal and creative placemaking grant.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
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Mic ael C. Van Milligen
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Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Anderson Sainci, Director Office of Shared Prosperity and Neighborhood Support
Dubuque
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TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Anderson Sainci, Director, Office of Shared Prosperity and
Neighborhood Support
SUBJECT: Letter of Support: National Endowment for Arts "Our Town" Proposal
DATE: August 16, 2023
BACKGROUND
The Dubuque Museum of Arts (DuMA) is seeking a letter of support for The National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA) "Our Town" proposal and creative placemaking grant.
DISCUSSION
The Dubuque Museum of Arts (DuMA) aims to enhance their competitive grant
application by collaborating with the Office of Shared Prosperity and Neighborhood
Support (OSPNS). The "Our Town" program supports projects that integrates arts,
culture, and design into local efforts, fostering community development and long-term
growth. By engaging diverse stakeholders, these projects advance local economic,
physical, and social outcomes in communities.
DuMA seeks our partnership to authentically engage neighborhoods and communities
of color in the arts which aligns with the city's commitment to shared prosperity and
inclusivity.
Your approval to submit a letter of support will enhance DuMA grant application to
strengthen community and foster creative placemaking.
ACTION REQUIRED
I am requesting your approval for our office to provide a letter of support to The
Dubuque Museum of Arts (DuMA) in their application for The National Endowment for
the Arts (NEA) "Our Town" proposal and creative placemaking grant.
Dubuque Office of Shared Prosperity&
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Friday, August 11, 2023
National Endowment for the Arts
400 7th St SW
Washington, DC 20506
Dear Our Town Review Panel,
I write this letter in support of the Dubuque Museum of Art's Our Town proposal and creative
placemaking project. Representing the lead governmental agency, the City of Dubuque's Office
of Shared Prosperity &Neighborhood Support is honored to provide resources, leverage our
neighborhood connections, and champion the voices of underserved populations through the co-
creation of public art.
Dubuque's Office of Shared Prosperity &Neighborhood Support is charged with reducing,
alleviating, and ultimately, preventing poverty in our community. Project partners have talked
about addressing issues associated with economic insecurity,job training, institutional bias,
racism, the justice system, food insecurity, and physical and mental health. These issues directly
relate to key determinants of poverty that our office uses to organize our efforts in reducing and
eliminating poverty in Dubuque.
The co-creation of art that prioritizes the needs of our BIPOC communities—among the most
under resourced in Dubuque—will be a new model, at the heart of the City, for how Dubuque
will continue to embrace collaborative cultural interventions that make our community a safe and
prosperous home for all who wish to live here.
Our office will provide Jordan Weber with research about citizen groups that our office works to
serve and host community forums around the diversity of lived experiences in Dubuque. Our
team will attend community engagements events with Weber and co-facilitate discussion along
with him. Throughout this project, we will work to collect, analyze, and report relevant data.
I am excited to see this work take place in Dubuque in order to better serve residents from all
neighborhoods and walks of life, now and in the future. Thank you to the NEA for your support
of creative placemaking and robust systems change.
Sincerely,
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Anderson Sainci
Director, Office of Shared Prosperity and Neighborhood Support
Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork