Loading...
FY 2012 Special Project Arts and Cultural Affiars ProgramCity of Dubuque .Arts & CuCturaC Affairs Advisory Commission June 28, 2011 The Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Dubuque 50 W. 13 Street Dubuque, IA 52001 Re: Arts and Culture Grant Program for Special Projects FY 2012 Funding Competition -- Applications and Recommendations Dear Mayor and City Council Members: Introduction The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission has reviewed nine applications from Dubuque organizations requesting $65,685 in funds from the FY 2012 Arts and Culture Grant Program for Special Projects. This memo transmits the Commission's funding recommendations. Background There is $35,000 budgeted for the Arts and Culture Grant Program for Special Projects. This is the eighth round of competitive grants for this program. Three years ago, the City Council approved the commission's recommendation to limit funding in this program to no more than two consecutive years per organization and that applications had to score at least 75 points out of 100 to be considered for funding. The Commission established a minimum point threshold to ensure that only high quality projects are recommended for funding. Discussion The Special Projects grant program was designed to encourage the development of new or expanded arts and cultural programs in the Dubuque community. The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission solicited applications for the grant program in January. Media releases were issued, applications were available on the City of Dubuque's website, all known arts and cultural organizations were notified of the grant opportunity, and two grant workshops were conducted. The Commission reviewed and ranked the applications based on the established criteria. • Priority funding will be given to new or expanded programming • Degree to which proposed project furthers the cultural arts goals of the City of Dubuque's Comprehensive Plan • Degree to which proposed project reflects careful planning and can be implemented in a timely manner • Impact of project on broader Dubuque Community • Organizational experience and capacity of applicant The Commission reviewed the applications at their May 24 meeting and determined funding recommendations at their June 28 meeting. Recommendation Grant applications which met all eligibility requirements and received a 75 point or above average score in rank order are: Fly -By -Night Productions 97.3 Bell Tower Productions 92 Dubuque Museum of Art 89.1 Grand Opera House 87.4 Rising Star Theatre Company 86.8 Multicultural Family Center 82.6 The Commission is recommending that the top 6 ranked applicants be funded at their full grant request. Recommended grant awards are: Fly-By-Night Productions, Crowns $7,025 Bell Tower Productions, Behold My Shorts $3,545 Dubuque Museum of Art, Edward Curtis $7,445 Grand Opera House, Pops Orchestra $2,500 Rising Star Theatre Company, It's a Family Affair $3,900 Multicultural Family Center, Hispanic Heritage Festival and $5,175 Native American Heritage Month Celebration An executive summary of each project recommended for funding is attached. The Commission also received applications totaling $36,095 from the Dubuque County Historical Society, Dubuque Initiatives and the Julien Film Festival. Although these projects all had merit, they did not rate over the 75 point threshold required for funding. The Commission feels that its strategy undertaken three years ago to require those organizations that had applied two years in a row to sit out for a year and to formalize scoring of the applications to require 75 points to be funded had been successful. This strategy was undertaken to encourage a wide range of creative projects from varied non - profits, including first -time applicants, and to keep the quality and artistic merit of those projects high. Action The Council is requested to approve the six FY 2012 Arts and Culture Grants for Special Projects and authorize the City Manager to sign the grant agreements. The Commission is very appreciative of the City Council's support of this grant program. We are extremely pleased with the quality of the grant applications and the multitude of quality arts and culture projects that have been funded through this program. We are very pleased to be working closely with the City of Dubuque in promoting arts and cultural activities in our community. Sinc-rely, Geri Shafe Chairperson Encl. Executive Summary of Projects FY 2012 ARTS AND CULTURE GRANT PROGRAM FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS Executive Summary of Projects Recommended for Funding Fly -by -Night Productions $7,025 Crowns Fly-By -Night Productions will present the fully- staged African - American play, CROWNS by Regina Taylor for two performances February 3 -4, 2012, at Five Flags Theater in celebration of Black History Month. The cast will be comprised of 7 local African - American actors. CROWNS is a celebratory play with song, in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of black history and identity as seen through the eyes of a young African - American girl sent down South to live with her grandmother after her brother is killed in Brooklyn. Bell Tower Productions $3,545 Behold My Shorts Bell Tower Productions will produce the world premier of "Behold My Shorts," the play version of Dubuque author Robert Byrne's highly successful book. The show will be presented as a special event, part of the Bell Tower's 10 Anniversary, for three performances on March 2, 3, & 4, 2012. Dubuque Museum of Art $7,445 Edward Curtis Dubuque Museum of Art plans a unique exhibition which combines historic images of Native American children from the renowned Edward S. Curtis collection, The North American Indian, with an emerging technology- 3D printing. In partnership with local artist Scott Hendron, the Museum will highlight their outstanding collection of rare photogravure images from Curtis' work which captures numerous Native American tribes at the beginning of the last century. Focusing of Curtis' images of children, the Museum will host an exhibit of 30 original photos, and Hendron will render four of the images into 3D forms using the emerging technology of 3D printing. Grand Opera House $2,500 Pops Orchestra The Grand Opera House will establish a resident pops orchestra that draws its personnel from the area's most experienced, talented and dedicated professional musicians with experience in the field of standard popular music, to perform repertoire drawn from the musical theater and popular American songs of the 20 century. A series of 4 concerts will be performed annually. Rising Star Theatre Company $3,900 It's a Family Affair Rising Star Theatre Company (RSTC) is introducing a new family show, Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, into their season, allowing people of all ages to participate in and enjoy an RSTC experience. The new "It's a Family Affair" production will be presented at The Five Flags Theater July 15 -17 and July 21 -23. This new offering will be added to the RSTC season each July and will involve participants from age 2 -102 in all production aspects. Multicultural Family Center $5,175 Hispanic Heritage Festival and Native American The Multicultural Family Center plans to partner with regionally local performers (dancers, musicians, storytellers, etc.) to host two educational and interactive cultural festivals in Dubuque. The first event, Dia de la Raza, will be a Hispanic Heritage Festival held in the Colts building on Saturday, October 8 from 5 -10 p.m. The second event will be a Native American Heritage Month Celebration held in November at either the Five Flags Theater or the Colts Building.