Arts and Culture Commission - May 19, 2021 Minutes

The Regular Meeting of the Arts and Culture Commission of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held in the Commission Chambers at City Hall at 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 19, 2021.

The Arts and Culture Commissioners present or absent were as follows:

Present: Deb Williams, Tracy Jordre, Jon Offutt, Tracy Walvatne, Joe Williams, Ann Arbor Miller, Brad Bachmeier

Absent: Denise Kolpack, Monika Browne-Ecker

Chair D. Williams called the meeting to order and welcomed Members to the meeting.

Item 1: Order of Agenda
Member Offutt moved to approve the Order of Agenda. Second by Member Bachmeier. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Item 2: Minutes: Regular Meeting of April 21, 2021
Member Jordre moved the Minutes of the April 21, 2021 Arts and Culture Commission meeting be approved. Second by Member Bachmeier. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Item 3: Subcommittee Updates and Reports
a. Neighborhood Art Grant
Chair D. Williams re-introduced the Neighborhood Art Grant, which would provide funding for neighborhoods that are interested in participating in the Public Art Beyond Downtown wrap program. Members Bachmeier and Arbor Miller expressed interest in expanding this program to involve local schools. Discussion was held regarding how many grants each neighborhood could receive and how funding would be distributed.

Member Walvatne moved to dedicate $10,000 for the creation of a neighborhood art grant that would provide funding for neighborhood art projects, such as the Public Art Beyond Downtown program. Second by Member Arbor Miller. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Item 4: Staff Updates
a. Call for Artists grant round discussion
Ms. Crutchfield asked the Capacity Building subcommittee to audit the existing Call for Artists process. Discussion was held regarding current grant round practices, ways to survey previous applicants, and selection committee volunteers.

Item 5: Public Comment
Christopher Cohen asked how members of the public could receive feedback from Arts and Culture Commission members. Ms. Crutchfield stated the Arts and Culture Commission members are volunteers who do not have City of Fargo email addresses.

Item 6: Other Business
a. The next regularly scheduled meeting is June 16, 2021.

The time at adjournment was 5:38 p.m.