Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission_Special Projects Grant Fudning FY 15City of Dubuque
Arts & Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission
July 2, 2014
The Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Dubuque
50 W.13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
Re: Arts and Culture Grant Program for Special Projects
FY 2015 Funding Requests and Commission Recommendations
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
Introduction
The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission has reviewed 12 applications from
Dubuque organizations requesting $61,325.25 in funds from the FY 2015 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 grant program was designed to "encourage the development of new or expanded
arts and cultural programs in the Dubuque community." This is the eleventh round of
competitive grants for this program. Six years ago, the City Council approved the
commission's recommendation to limit funding 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.
In 2013, the Council accepted recommendations of the Arts and Cultural Advisory
Commission to revamp the program. The purpose of the grant now is, "The City
envisions that Dubuque will be an inclusive community, remarkable for its social and
cultural vibrancy. The City of Dubuque seeks to fund artistic, creative projects that utilize
community engagement at their core. Engagement describes an active, two-way
process in which one party motivates another to get involved or take action—and both
parties experience change and growth. It promotes consistent community interaction
that is a step beyond the conventional." Other major changes include six newly stated
goals, establishing clear criteria for rating applications, extending eligibility to organized
groups who may not have 501 c3 status, suspending the minimum point requirement of
75 out of 100, lowering the minimum grant amount to $1500 from $2500, establishing a
maximum amount of $8,500 per year, and adjusting matching requirements.
Discussion
The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission solicited applications for the grant
program in February. 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 by staff. Staff has also met
with a number of grant applications to provide technical assistance. This year the
commission received grant requests from five new organizations — Downtown Dubuque
Christian Outreach, The Children of Abraham, St. Mary's Church Corporation,
Trainwreck Productions and St. Elias the Prophet Orthodox Church. The number of
applications was in line with the number from previous years.
On May 27, the commission reviewed and ranked the applications based on the
established criteria.
• Special Project Description: How well the project is explained. (10 points)
Mission and Goals: How well the project addresses the organization's mission
and the purpose and goals of the grant program. (15 points)
• Artistic Merit: The potential of the project to advance the caliber of the arts in the
community. (10 points)
• Quality: How your project's concepts, leaders, artists, and collaborators
demonstrate quality and best practices. (15 points)
• Importance: The value to target audiences, the organization, the City of Dubuque
and its residents and visitors. (10 points)
• Access: The potential of the project to reach new and underserved audiences
and increase availability to diverse groups. (15 points)
• Evaluation: How the project will be evaluated. (10 points)
• Feasibility: The likelihood the project will be successful based on careful event
and financial planning. (15 points)
Recommendation
The Commission is recommending that the top five ranked applicants be funded at their
full grant request and to partially fund the two projects tied for sixth place at 70.65%.
This funding scenario would utilize the entire grant budget of $35,000.00. We
recommended grant awards to:
• Dubuque Museum of Art, Iowa Public Art Network Conference, $4,100.00
• Bell Tower Productions, Free Summer Musical Program, $5,000
• Dubuque County Historical Society, Engaging Enactors!, 8,438
• Downtown Dubuque Christian Outreach, Ghost People Seeing all the people in
our community, $2800
• The Children of Abraham, Laughing Together $3,500
• The Downtown Dubuque Cultural Corridor, A Year of Creative Place making
Campaign Video, $5,157 (Funded at 70.65%)
• St. Mary Church Corporation, Creativity Program Development, $6,005 (Funded
at 70.65%)
Eligible Grant requests were also received from the Trainwreck Productions, Rising Star
Theater Company, St. Elias the Prophet Orthodox Church and Voices Productions,
There were not adequate funds to award grants to all of these organizations.
An executive summary of each project recommended for funding is attached.
Action
The Council is requested to approve the seven FY 2015 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
enjoy working closely with the City of Dubuque in promoting arts and cultural activities in
our community as well as utilizing the arts to promote community engagement.
Sincerely,
Ellen Henkels, Chairperson
Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission
Encl: Executive Summary of Grant
FY2015 ARTS AND CULTURE GRANT PROGRAM FOR
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Executive Summary of Projects Recommended for Funding
Dubuque Museum of Art, Iowa Public Art Network Conference, $4,100.00
The Iowa Public Arts Network (IPAN) is a state-wide advocacy group under the
auspices of the Iowa Arts Council and Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The group
seeks to promote and address contemporary issues of public art and strives to bring
together artists, arts administrators, public officials and the general public to foster
dialogue on all aspects of public art as well as to inspire the creation of more public
works of art. In October 2014, IPAN plans to bring their state-wide conference to
Dubuque and due to Dubuque's geographic location, IPAN also expects that this
conference will draw artists and other attendees from Wisconsin, Illinois, and
Minnesota as well as Iowa. The goals of the conference will be three fold: to showcase
the incredible successes that Dubuque has accomplished with its various art programs,
to inspire and educate artists and art administrators on the creation of public art, and to
foster dialogue about and advocate for the importance of public art as a means of
individual and community creativity, economic development and cultural vibrancy.
Bell Tower Productions, Free Summer Musical Program, $5,000
In 2015, 225 kids will participate in the creation of "Snow White, a New Musical," for
performers ages 7-16, and "The Addams Family," for high schoolers. This program is
unique in that it allows kids to work on all aspects of the production. In addition to
performing, kids build costumes, sets and props, run lights, write commercials, sell
tickets, usher and more, all to build teamwork and reinforce that theater is a
collaborative art and everyone is vital to the success of the show.
"The Addams Family" will perform 8 times and "Snow White" 14 times, serving over
3000 audience members, including kids and families from St. Mark Youth Enrichment.
All children involved in the program participate 100% free of charge. Grant funds will be
used for scripts; Snow White books for elementary school participants including
attendees from St. Mark Youth Enrichment; costumes, props and sets; and advertising
and marketing to participants and audiences.
Dubuque County Historical Society, Engaging Enactors!, $8,438
Engaging Enactors! is a new museum program engaging audiences with dramatic
portrayals of Dubuque and the Mississippi River through character actors and living
history demonstrators. Guided by contracted local theater professionals, the Dubuque
County Historical Society will develop a corps of energized and energizing actors as
well as volunteers of all ages. Engaging Enactors! will present dramatic portrayals of
people of Dubuque and Mississippi River history at the River Museum and Ham
House, providing programming for over 30,000 people during the project period. This
project will also initiate a long term character portrayal program as a key way to
connect with our audiences for years to come.
The Children of Abraham, Laughing Together $3,500
The Children of Abraham program, a cutting-edge diversity collaboration in Dubuque,
will host a special event that will engage the local community in reflecting on religious
pluralism and humanitarian solidarity through the humor of stand-up comedian Azhar
Usman. The project will involve Usman's unique stand-up comedy act, question and
answer, and group conversation. A conversation will be linked to the event in which
Jews, Muslims, and Christians talk about the role of humor in those traditions. The
event will be held at Loras College during the 2014/15 academic year, open to the
public and marketed throughout the Dubuque community, especially to high schools,
colleges, churches and other religious organizations. Admission, transportation from
downtown, and childcare will be free in order to encourage participation from a broad
spectrum of Dubuque's community.
Downtown Dubuque Christian Outreach, Ghost People: Seeing all the people in
our community, $2800
HAAG plans to produce a dramatized film intended to open minds and hearts of local
audiences and motivate them to compassion and action on behalf of the homeless.
Upon completion of the film, we plan to print 100 DVDs and make them available to all
of the local agencies working with homeless people. In addition speakers will be made
available to present the video and lead discussions for religious, civic, school, and
business groups.
Ghost People: Seeing All the People in Our Community is a short (approximately 20-30
minutes), dramatic film, which will be produced under the direction of Suzanne May
Wright of PSY-5 Productions, Dream Catcher Productions, and Brick Road
Productions, all in Dubuque.
The Downtown Dubuque Cultural Corridor, A Year of Creative Place making
Campaign Video, $5,157
Dubuque Main Street and the Downtown Dubuque Cultural Corridor will create a
scripted, promotional video production highlighting Dubuque as a cultural hub of the
Midwest. The video's premise will include casual tourists on the Riverwalk, who
suddenly experience local musicians streaming out from the amphitheater, with a
dramatic scene performed by actors emerging from the Rivers Edge Plaza. The
potential exists for additional artists from more varied art genres to be involved, to
expand the scope of the concept and production.
The completed video will showcase a variety of art "vehicles" and cultural partners, and
will be shown on YouTube, at the JDIFF, at Travel Dubuque.com, and as part of a TV
advertising campaign to promote Dubuque as an arts destination. A tentative premier
for the video is at America's River Festival 2015.
St. Mary Church Corporation, Creativity Program Development, $6,005
A committed faction of Dubuque area leaders have united to restore St. Mary's Church
campus and preserve its cultural and community legacy. This project will restore and
preserve St. Mary's 144 -year old pipe organ and host a community cultural celebration
in partnership with Loras College Intercultural Student Organization, Peace and
Justice, and art/music students and professors; and the Washington Neighborhood
Development Corp. The free event aims to honor the legacy of St. Mary's while
welcoming the entire community to the re -imagined arts/cultural space and outdoor
campus to celebrate its new, exciting era, with the following activities: unveiling/re-
dedication of restored organ; live salsa music; student spoken word; community
storytelling; and family art activities.