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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.