Minutes_Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission 4 26 11MINUTES
ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMISSION
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Lacy Board Room
Camegie -Stout Public Library
360 W. 11th St., Dubuque, IA
Meeting was called to order at 4:32 p.m. following staff assurance of compliance
with the Iowa Open Meeting Law.
Commissioners present: Ellen Henkels, Louise Kames, Paul Hemmer, Julie Steffen,
Marina O'Rourke, and Geri Shafer.
Absent: Sue Riedel.
Staff Present: Jerelyn O'Connor, Jessica Kurt
Approval of Minutes of March 22, 2011. Motion by Steffen, seconded by Hemmer to
approve the minutes. Motion carried 6 -0.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Determine Funding Requests for Arts and Cultural Operating Support
Grants.
In response to commissioners' questions from the previous meeting,
O'Connor addressed the supplemental materials she provided the commission
regarding the sale of the Dubuque County Arts Society building,
the deficit reflected in the Dubuque Art Museums' financials, and the
commission's history on funding the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. Shafer
thanked O'Connor for her findings.
O'Connor noted that there was $260,836 in requests and only $200,000
available for the operating grants. Since the funding requested exceeded the
amount available, Commission had directed staff to prepare various funding
scenarios to be drawn up reflecting the scores and within the established
guidelines. O'Connor presented several scenarios and Commissioners
discussed options.
Hemmer presented an option that the organizations scoring below 80 points not
be funded. Henkels stated that the guidelines the Commission has set is that
only scores above 75 were grantable. O'Connor clarified that only the Special
Projects grant guidelines requires that an application must score a minimum of
75 points to be funded. Steffen asked O'Connor if there was ever an
organization that was not funded. O'Connor said that the Commission has not
denied funding to any organization organization which met the eligibility criteria.
In one instance the Commission did not review an application which was
received after the deadline and they determined that another organization's
application had significant deficiencies so funding was not recommended.
Kames added she felt the Commission could not change the guidelines at this
point in the process. O'Rourke questioned the Commission and asked if there
was no policy to not fund an organization, then is the Commission required to
fund them? Shafer replied that the Commission is because the guidelines state
that organizations are funded by their scores. Shafer recommended the
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commission review the grant policies prior to next year's grant cycle in January
2011.
Hemmer stated he felt that the Dubuque County Historical Society should not
receive funding through this program. Steffen then posed the idea of in the
future, the eligibility of the grants move to a need based system. Shafer stated
she understood the feelings of the Commission but that those issues would need
to be addressed in a special meeting in the future.
Steffen noted a small calculation error on the spreadsheet provided by staff and
the pointed out that there is $1,792 remaining after each organization has
received the percentage of funds based on their score. O'Connor asked the
Commission how they wanted to allocate the remaining funds. Steffen stated
that previously, the highest score received the remainder of the funding.
Commissioners discussed dividing the money to other organizations whose
funding had not been capped. Shafer asked that O'Connor work the percentage
points until a smaller amount of money is left over. Steffen suggested $250 or
Tess. Steffen made a motion for O'Connor to change the percent allocations until
$250 or less was remaining. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed 6 -0.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Review and approve Iowa Community Cultural Grant Application
The Iowa Community Cultural Grant application for 10 hours for the part time Arts
and Cultural Affairs Coordinator was reviewed. Motion by Shafer and seconded
by Henkels to approve and submit the grant. Motion carried 6 -0.
INFORMATION SHARING
1. NEA Our Town Grant Application
The City was approached by Dubuque Main Street and several local arts
organizations regarding submitting a Letter of Intent for the National Endowment
for the Arts (NEA) Our Town Grant. The maximum grant is $250,000 and it's
expected that approximately 35 grants will be awarded across the country to
further arts initiatives. Several organizations came together in order to submit
the grant for the April 25, 2011, deadline. The focus of the grant is to fund new
and existing arts activities and events in the Historic Millwork District. Steffen
thanked Shafer and O'Connor for their work on the grant.
2. 2011 Art on the River Exhibit
Kurt shared with the Commission that Jennifer Hecker, artist of Martyr Dress #1,
wrote to inform staff that she would not be able to participate in the 2011 Art on
the River exhibit as previously planned. Kurt then contacted Jaak Kindberg, the
first alternate that the jury had chosen. That particular sculpture was unavailable
and therefore, the second alternate had to be called. Andrew Arvanetes was
happy to take part in the show and photos of his sculpture titled, "Twist and
Shout," were shown to the Commission.
3. Other Items
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O'Connor reminded the Commission that Special Project Grants are due May 3,
2011. Shafer recommended the Commission meet earlier at 4 p.m. to allow time
for discussion on the grants.
ADJOURNMENT
Henkel's moved and O'Rourke seconded to adjourn the meeting at 5:35 p.m. The next
meeting will be held on May 24 at 4:00 p.m. in the Lacy Board Room at the Carnegie -
Stout Public Library. 360 W. 11th St., Dubuque, Iowa.
Respectfully submitted,
° r Jessica Kurt
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These minutes were passed and approved on
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