Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission Funding for 2018 Special Project-Operating Support Copyrighted
August 7, 2017
City of Dubuque Action Items # 2.
ITEM TITLE: Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission Funding
Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2018 Operating Support
and Special Projects.
SUMMARY: Arts and Cultural Advisory Affairs Advisory Commission
recommending approval of the Fiscal Year 2018 funding
requests for operating support and special projects.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Approve
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Arts Commission Recommendation Supporting Documentation
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Date: July 25,2017
The Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Dubuque
50 W.13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
Re: Arts and Culture Funding Program for Operating Support and Special Projects
FY 2017 Funding Requests and Commission Recommendations
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
Introduction
The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission has reviewed Operating Support funding requests
from sixteen mainstay Dubuque arts and culture organizations with total operating budgets of
$10,641,829. Of that amount, the commission funds from the FY 2018 budget a cap of$30,000 or 6% of the
request through the Operating Support Grant. The commission has also reviewed the funding requests
from six organizations vying for the competitive Special Projects grant funding stream that total
$37973.00. This memo conveys the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commissions funding
recommendations and requests that the Council approve the recommendations and associated funding
schemes.
Background
In March 2005,the City Council approved a$200,000 budget decision package providing resources for the
Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission to make recommendations to City Council for the best
investment in the community for arts and culture.
In May 2005,the City Council approved the Commissions recommendation to establish an Arts and
Culture Funding Program for Operating Support. The Commission recommended that operating support
be provided to established 501(c)(3)arts and culture organizations located in the City of Dubuque that
primarily serve Dubuque residents with year-round arts and culture events,programs and services, that
can demonstrate a record of programmatic and administrative stability and artistic merit. Local arts and
culture advocates worked for many years to rally the support of the community regarding the value of
arts and cultural organizations, the reasons for the City funding and how this financial investment is
improving the cultural vibrancy and livability of Dubuque. The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory
Commission believes that city support is imperative to both sustain and ensure long-term viability for
existing arts and cultural organizations as well as to create a model and a welcoming environment for
new organizations. During the FY 2013 budget process,the Arts Commission recommended that the
Operating Support program be increased by 10%, to $220,000 but was granted a 5% ($10,000)increase.
Past funding has been awarded to:
12 organizations for FY 2006 totaling$200,000
9 organizations for FY 2007 totaling$200,000
11 organizations in FY 2008 totaling$200,000
12 organizations for FY 2009 totaling$200,000
11 organizations in FY 2010 totaling$200,000
13 organizations in FY 2011 totaling$200,000
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14 organizations in FY 2012 totaling$200,000
10 organizations in FY 2013 totaling$210,000
16 organizations in FY 2014 totaling$210,000
16 organizations in FY 2015 totaling$210,000
16 organizations in FY 2016 totaling$210,000
13 organizations in FY 2017 totaling$210,000
Both funding streams,Operating Support and Special Projects,for FY 18 were announced and arts and
culture organizations were notified of opening of the applications online via,media releases, "notify me"
notifications, social media and posting on the City's web site.Staff also conducted three grant workshops
per grant for potential applicants. Staff was also available to provide assistance to applicant
organizations on an individual basis throughout the application period.
Total funding available in the FY 2018 budget is$210,000. Budget constraints have limited the
Commissions ability to fully fund the eligible organizations at the predetermined 6% or$30,000 cap.
Over the history of this funding program,the Commission has never been able to fully fund all eligible
organizations. The program guidelines state"It is unlikely that qualified organizations will be funded at
this level. Funding levels over the past few years have ranged from 2-6% and depending upon the
number of eligible applicants,caps have fallen in an attempt to fund all applicants. This year the cap has
dropped even further to $30,000. In recent years,resources have been severely strained and there has
been an increased challenge due to the number of eligible applicants.
Discussion
In accordance with the Arts and Cultural Master Plan(Priority B-section b-part ii) "Establish and follow
guidelines and procedures in accordance with best practice, eliminating potential for conflicts of interest", the
commission began reviewing and updating their granting processes. As such, staff once again sought
guidance from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs,specifically,the Iowa Arts Council. This state
organization is the source from which the original format of both Operating Support and Special Projects
grants were derived in 2005.
After an in-person consultation with the Iowa Arts Council grant manager,recommendations for updates
in keeping with best practices were outlined and presented to the commission. These recommendations
were adopted in October 2016 and the commission began the task of revising and creating materials as
per the recommendations. Included in these recommendations was the assembly of an independent,
unaffiliated jury to review and score applications. The esteemed,experienced jury panel was assembled
from Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa. On each panel was one local,unaffiliated juror. Each grant also
went through a rigorous financial review by the city's finance director to further refine the process and
ensure that city funds were being accurately awarded. All members of the jury were appraised of the
process and provided with granting materials by staff as requested by the commission. Staff was also
present at the time of adjudication to ensure that guidelines were followed and equitably applied. The
jury was not appraised of the financial implications of their scores or ranking to ensure an objective
result.
In addition to the best practice updates from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs,staff informed the
commission of the city's renewed commitment to diversity,equity and inclusion(DEI). This was an
optimal time to include these elements as the grants were already in the process of reformation. The Arts
50 W. 13th Street, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 1 www.cityofdubuque.org/artsandculture
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and Cultural Affairs Commission then became the first to include elements of DEI in the body of their
granting application,and scoring rubric. These updates were presented to the city council in conjunction
with the Human Rights department.
The Commission also updated the scoring in keeping with the recommendations of the Iowa Arts
Council. It utilizes a 1,2 or 3-point value system(or 1,3,5-point value system for more weighted
questions)associated with a rubric for a clear yet rigorous grading directive. Applicants are awarded
points for the various rating criteria to determine the ranking of the funding requests.Selection criteria
for the Operating Support program are:
Operating Support rating criteria Points Special Projects rating criteria Points
Dubuque arts and culture organizations whose 3 Project description: How well the 3
mission is primarily arts and culture and the project is explained.
degree to which their programs and services
support that mission and the city's cultural arts
goals
Organization's demonstrated management 3 Uniqueness: How is the project 5
abilities(financial position or condition,fiscal interesting and different from the
responsibility, and management) ongoing,traditional programing of
the organizations involved.
Organization's demonstrated artistic or 3 Diversity,Equity and Inclusion: 3
cultural excellence and leadership How does the project demonstrate
inclusiveness in the planning and
marketing?
Impact of the organization on the Dubuque 3 Diversity,Equity and Inclusion: 3
community How does the project demonstrate
inclusiveness in the execution
Planning and timeline 3 Partnership: How has your 3
organization made meaningful and
unique partnerships
Workshop attendance 1 Artistic merit: How does your 3
project's concepts,leaders, artists,
and collaborators demonstrate
quality and best practices.
Evaluation: How the project will be 3
evaluated?
Budget and Timeline: The likelihood 5
the project will be successful based
on careful event and financial
planning
Workshop: Attending one of the 1
available workshops provided
Total points possible 16 29
The Commission then unanimously recommends the following to the City Council:
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Operating Support grants were scored ranked and staff created options that follow the commission
recommendation of 6% or$30,000 cap. In descending order of rank the organizations are funded at
different levels. Commission blindly reviewed 6 possible funding formulas settling on Option 5 as it most
fairly distributed the funds based on total scores and maximized the budget to its fullest.
100% = 6% or cap$30,000
98% =5.5% or cap$30,000
96% =5% or cap$30,000
94% =4.7% or cap$25,000
92% =4.2% or cap$25,000
88% =3.7% or cap$20,000
85%-81% =3.5% or cap$20,000
75% &below=3% or cap$15,000
Operating Support recommended funding levels in ranked order are:
FY 2018 Arts Operating % Total OP Funding Recommendation
Support Score expenses
DUMA
100% $517,651 $30,000.00
DSO 98% $957,892 $30,000.00
Dubuque County Historical
Society 96% $5,855,955 $30,000.00
The Grand Opera House
96% $633,579.39 $30,000.00
Dubuque Arboretum&
Botanical Gardens 94% $234,504.59 $11,021.72
Bell Tower Productions 92%
$322,918.34 $13,885.49
Dubuque County Fine Arts
Society 92% $107,701.75 $4,631.18
Leigon-Aires Drum& Bugle
Corps 92% $1,063,438 $25,000.00
NISOM
92% $293,640.16 $12,626.53
DDCC-Downtown Dubuque
Cultural Corridor 88% $156,129.22 $5,776.78
Dubuque Chorale
88% $61,612.00 $2,279.64
Fly-By-Night Productions 85%
$6,731 $249.05
Matter 81%
$250,120 $9,004.32
Dubuque Arts Council 73% 1 $75,581 1 $2,267.43
Rising Star Theater Company
67% $88,821.04 $2,664.63
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Ecru )FCity of Dubuque
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Dubuque Barbershop 63%
$15,554.81 $466.64
$209,873.40
The Special Projects grants are fully funded in descending order of rank till the budget of$35,000 is
exhausted.Special Projects funding recommendation in order of rank are:
Organization Project Total Grant Granted
request Amt.
Dreaming
The Grand Opera House Allegiance Hip
Hop Revolution 29 $8,000.00 $8,000.00
'Herstory'
Dubuque Museum of Art Community
Public Art Project 28.5 $5,000.00 $5,000.00
Dubuque County
Historical Society Rivers to the Seas
Mural Project 23.6 $4,408.00 $4,408.00
Downtown Dubuque
Cultural Corridor G.O.A.T.
Downtown 22.3 $4,565.00 $4,565.00
Music Crawl
Dubuque Arts Council, Vienna Boys 22.3 $8,000.00 $8,000.00
Inc Choir
Dubuque Chorale Choral Country 21 $8000.00 $5027
Music concert
Recommendation/Action
The Arts and Cultural Affairs Coordinator and the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission
recommends that the City Council accepts the recommendations for the Special Projects and Operating
Support for FY2018. Our funded arts organizations often convey to us the critical positive impact this
funding has on their organizations and their ability to provide quality cultural opportunities to the
citizens of Dubuque. As such,we would like to reiterate the need for expanded funding to offer more
significant support to these organizations that contribute so heavily to social and cultural vibrancy of the
city and$47 million in economic impact.
50 W. 13th Street, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 1 www.cityofdubuque.org/artsandculture
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In conclusion,the Commission is extremely appreciative of the City Council's continued support of arts
and culture in Dubuque. As we move to incrementally adopt the recommendations of the Arts and
Cultural Master Plan,we will continue to look to the city council for guidance and support for the
changes to come. It is both our mission and passion to support the artistic and cultural development of
the City of Dubuque.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Riedel
Chair of Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission
Attachment
50 W. 13th Street, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 1 www.cityofdubuque.org/artsandculture