05.29.24 BAC PacketBoulder Arts Commission Meeting Agenda
May 29, 2024 / 6:00 P.M.
Hybrid Meeting:
Office of Arts and Culture at 1500 Pearl Street, #300 / Online Video Meeting
1.CALL TO ORDER
Approval of agenda
2.MINUTES
Approval of the April 2024 meeting minutes
3.PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
4.COMMISSION BUSINESS (10 min) – Caroline and Georgia
A.Land Acknowledgement Committee
5.MATTERS FROM COMMISSIONERS (10 min)
A.Liaison Updates
B.Other Topics from the Community
6.GRANTS PROGRAM (60 min) – Lauren
A.Action: Community Project Grants for Individuals Decisions
B.Action: Grant Reports
C.Action: Community Project Grants for Organizations Decisions
7.NEEDS ASSESSMENT UPDATE (20 min) – ThereSquared Consulting Team
8.MATTERS FROM STAFF (10 min) – Lauren
A.Questions about the Manager’s Memo
9.ADJOURNMENT
Next meeting: Wednesday, June 26 at 6 p.m.
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TO: Members of the Boulder Arts Commission
FROM: Lauren Click, City of Boulder Office of Arts + Culture,
Community Vitality Department
DATE: May 24, 2024
SUBJECT: Manager’s Update for the Boulder Arts Commission
Meeting on May 29, 2024
>To maximize access, the May 2024 meeting of the Arts Commission will be held as a hybrid in-person / video
meeting. The Arts Commission, members of the community, and staff may attend either in person or by video.
−The in-person meeting will be held at the Office of Arts and Culture at 1500 Pearl Street, #300. Due to room
capacity, there may be a limited number of seats available for members of the community to attend in
person.
−To attend, please make a request by email to rsvp@bouldercolorado.gov by Tuesday, May 28 at 12:00 p.m.
Please indicate in your email if you are requesting to attend in person or by video.
>Notes on the May Meeting Agenda
−6A, Community Project Grants for Individuals Decisions. In Attachment One, please find the scoring
details for this grant category showing all applications organized by final score. During the meeting, staff
will ask for a decision on which applications should be funded.
STAFF RECOMMENDED MOTIONS
“I move that Creativity Alive, Chelsy Albertson, Ivan-Daniel Espinosa, and Hear Us Now, See Us Now be
awarded grants in the Community Project for Individuals category.”
“I move that Dance with Georgia be awarded a grant in the Community Project for Individuals category.”
Commissioners have the options to:
a.Approve the staff recommendation for the highest-scoring grants,
b.Approve individual grants, or
c.Postpone approval of individual grants pending the answers to specific questions.
−6B, Grant Reports. The grant reports requiring action have been distributed to Arts Commission members
by email. These are the reports being discussed:
a.2023 Arts Education Grant, T2 Dance Company, The Color Wheel Project, $3,000
b.2023 Arts Education Grant, Manhattan Middle School, Technical Theatre and Traveling Theatre at
Manhattan, $2,700
RECOMMENDED MOTION
“I move that we approve the grant reports from T2 Dance Company and Manhattan Middle School.”
At the meeting Commission members will vote on the approval of the reports. Commissioners have the
options to:
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a.Approve all reports,
b.Approve individual reports,
c.Approve individual reports while submitting specific questions,
d.Postpone approval of individual reports pending the answers to specific questions, and/or
e.Not approve individual reports and cancel the final 20% payment.
−6C, Community Project Grants for Organizations Decisions. The Arts Commission opted to postpone the
decision at the April 2024 meeting. They asked that staff propose a process to address a perceived bias in
the scoring of the Dairy Arts Center application.
Based on the questions that arose at the previous Arts Commission meeting on April 24, 2024, staff offer
that the Boulder Arts Commission Grant Program Scoring System and Rubric states, "Before the grants
awards process begins, panel members are trained in how to interpret the scoring system and rubrics, or
set of criteria, which helps reduce the possibility of subjective scores based on personal preferences.
Please keep in mind, however, that although panel decisions follow this set of criteria, scores could reflect
a small degree of subjectivity individual to each panel member. Panel members must be able to defend
their scores with observations about each application’s specific strengths or weaknesses during the
scoring and re-scoring process."
At the meeting, staff will guide the Commission through discussion beginning with the above -mentioned
guideline.
In Attachment Two, please find the scoring details for this grant category showing all applications
organized by final score. The staff recommended motion aligns to the highest scoring applications, as is
our precedent.
STAFF RECOMMENDED MOTION
“I move that Motus Theater, Empathy Theatre Project, Street Wise Arts, BaoBao Foundation, the Society
for Creative Aging, and Roots Music Project Foundation be awarded grants in the Community Project for
Organizations category.”
−7, Needs Assessment Update. In Attachment Three, please find the presentation for review.
Staff will ask the Arts Commission for feedback on the Short-Term Needs and Funding Assessment
recommendations. The ThereSquared Consulting Team will present an Assessment developed for the
Boulder Office of Arts and Culture 2025 “bridge year”. The Assessment provides recommendations for
spending the initial influx of the vote-approved 2A funding in 2025, in advance of the Community Cultural
Plan Update -- anticipated to be complete in mid-2025.
The ThereSquared Consulting Team completed an abbreviated planning process to produce key findings
and recommendations for bridge year 2025. The process included research and stakeholder engagement.
The Assessment focuses on General Operating Support Grants, public art maintenance and immediate
staffing needs. It addresses immediate needs and responsible allocation of resources, while allowing time
for more in-depth research, community engagement, visioning, and long-term recommendations expected
in the new Community Cultural Plan.
The Arts Commission will be asked to review the recommendations, make comments and offer feedback
on the Short-Term Needs and Funding Assessment. No formal vote is required on this item.
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>Commission Correspondence
No emails were received between the publication of the April 24 and May 29, 2024, meeting packets.
>Staff Updates
>Grants and Programs for Organizations
Work continues to support applicants and promote the 2024 Boulder Arts Commission Grant Program.
The following Artist Hiring Incentive Grants were approved in advance of the meeting:
-Boulder Metalsmithing Association, Sample Creation for BoMA Students, $3,000
-Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, MycoMorphesis: Dancing with Fungi (working title), $3,000
-Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Boulder Phil 2024 - 2025 Season Artist Support, $3,000
-eTown, Nick Forster's Hippy Bluegrass Church, $3,000
-Mesa Elementary, Mesa Oasis Mural, $3,000
-Rocky Mountain Chorale, Rocky Mountain Chorale Commissioned Piece, $3,000
The following Venue and Fee Waiver grant reports were approved in advance of the meeting:
-Boulder Chamber Orchestra, 2024 Season, Boulder Seventh Day Adventist Church, $1,000
-Boulder Chorale, Fiesta de las Luces, First United Methodist Church, $1,000
-Boulder Opera Company, Operatizers: North American chamber operas, Dairy Arts Center, $1,000
-Dr. Mike Barnett, CU Boulder Soundworks Songwriting Student Concert, Roots Music Project Fee
Waiver
-Duncan Coker, Album Release event, Roots Music Project, $590
-Empathy Theatre Project, We're Still Here In Concert: Original Cast and Composer Live Album, eTown
Fee Waiver and $1,000
-Frequent Flyers Productions, Enérgeia: the bright unbearable realities, Dairy Arts Center, $1,000
-Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras, Spring Concert 2024, Macky Fee Waiver
-Over the Sun Productions, InnerStellar Temple Journey, Fiske Planetarium at CU Boulder, $1,000
-Shreya Venkatesh, Tribhangi, The Spark, $950
-VIVA Theater, Talking With…, Dairy Arts Center, $1,000
The following Professional Development grant reports were approved in advance of the meeting:
-Sondra Blanchard, North American Federation of Healthcare Clowning Organization's Meeting of the
Noses (conference), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, $1,000
-Wendy Kinal, North American Federation of Healthcare Clowning Organization's Meeting of the Noses
(conference), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, $1,000
The following Artist Hiring Incentive grant reports were approved in advance of the meeting:
-Junkyard Social Club, Little Banned Book Library, $3,000
-Roots Music Project Foundation, Songwriter Series, $3,000
-Tara Performing Arts High School, Mosaic Sign, $3,000
-The Catamounts, Teacups and Tiny Dictators, $3,000
In Attachment Four, please find a current grants program budget.
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>Public Art Program
Staff are finalizing a public art tour that encompasses Civic Area and Pearl St. Mall - entitled “Downtown
Boulder Public Art Tour” - for this summer. Staff will pay docents to help with this effort. Staff are also
working to increase social media and e-newsletter presence.
The Implementation Plan was approved by the Boulder City Manager and is now publicly accessible on the
website.
Staff continue to work with the Budget Office on public art funding allocation procedures in the Capital
Improvement Program and from the Community Culture Resilience and Safety Tax (CCRS) allocations .
Staff continue to support colleagues in the Planning and Development Services division on improvements
to the public art permitting process.
Public Art Commissioning Updates:
- North Broadway (Sharon Dowell): Preliminary Design was approved and now working on
engineering documents and installation plan. Anticipated installation is August 2024.
- Experiments in Public Art, Farm to Spaceship: A final Exp. In PA project is being proposed by local
firm Berger & Fohr. They will likely have a proposal for the Standing Selection Panel to review and
approve before staff bring the project before the commission.
- The Standing Selection Panel is also considering an invitational “Artist Residency” for local,
national, and possibly even international artists to come to Boulder to share projects they are
working on that are tied to big social issues like climate change, immigration, and the unhoused
population. Staff have requested Adjustment to Base (ATB) funds from the General Fund to pay for
temporary art projects and residencies in 2024.
- NoBo Library (Daily tous les jours): Final Design and Fabrication. Installation of the art begins at
the end of May. Grand opening of library anticipated for end of June 2024.
www.dailytouslesjours.com
- Fire Station 3 (Michael Clapper): Final Design and Fabrication. Footer for sculpture has been
poured, moving into fabrication of the artwork.
- Urban Design - 19th and Upland (Anthony Garcia): Final Design. Waiting for parent project to
commence construction. The anticipated parent project construction schedule is Winter 2024 –
Spring 2026. Art will be installed in Spring 2026.
- Valmont Rain Garden: Preliminary Design has been approved and community engagement
activities were held. Working on final design (engineering). Anticipated installation is fall 2024.
- Art in Parking Garages: 11th and Spruce (David Franklin): Design Development. Engineering
assessment of the garage is complete and staff are now waiting on a revised preliminary design
from the artists.
- Western City Campus (Alpine Balsam): Orientation meeting was held March 27, 2024. RFQs will be
posted in early May 2024.
- Uni Hill Public Art: Staff are planning to research and develop a public art plan for the Uni Hill
commercial district with funds from a withdrawn 2019 project.
Community-Initiated and Donation Projects Updates:
- Los Seis de Boulder/El movimiento sigue: Footer has been installed and installation of the
sculpture and plaque should be complete by the end of April. A dedication event is being held on
Tuesday, May 28.
- Work continues on preliminary preparations for the Boulder Strong permanent memorial process.
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- Pleasant St. & Broadway Ave. Paint the Pavement: Staff are assisting with a project to install a
crosswalk mural at an intersection in the Uni Hill district. The project will employ an artist from our
Mural Artist Roster. Installation is planned for summer 2024.
- Goss Grove Street mural: community member Susan Lott is moving forward with a street mural. It
is a long-standing mural that the neighborhood has maintained and repainted over 12 years. The
community group is moving forward with traffic control measures and might apply for a Creative
Neighborhoods grant to pay the original artist.
Maintenance and Conservation:
- Accessible Signage: A consultant was hired to audit the public art collection and enter information
into a new database. Work has begun. A CU Boulder grad student is also assisting. Following the
audit, staff will hire a fabricator to begin work on new signage for all artworks.
In Attachment Five, please find a current public art program budget.
>Creative Neighborhoods
The Boulder Office of Arts and Culture’s Mural Artist Roster is available to view on the website. There are
over 80 artists included. The Roster serves as a resource to identify artists suitable for new artwork
commissions, including public projects with the city and private commissions in the community.
Work continues on the Creative Neighborhoods program. The Office’s Public Art Program Coordinator and
Arts and Venues Liaison are partnering with City of Boulder Neighborhood Connection Fund Manager,
Edgar Chavarria, on the project. The Creative Neighborhoods Mural Program application is being translated
to Spanish and will go live in late May. These projects are community initiated and will be awarded on a
first-come, first-served basis by City of Boulder subcommunity. The applicant will choose an artist from
the Office’s Mural Artist Roster for their project. Deadline for applications will be September 2024 and all
projects must be completed by the end of summer 2025.
>Venues
Staff are working with multiple departments to negotiate and complete a new lease with The Dairy Arts
Center.
Work continues to provide support on the proposal from the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
(BMoCA) to relocate their facility to a new location in the NoBo Art District.
Work continues on the 2024 Venues Study.
>Professional Artists
The Artist Census questionnaire, the first part of the Artist Census, will be open early summer. The
questionnaire will be open until there are sufficient responses to represent a statistically significant cross -
section of professional artists in the area. Staff have also engaged consultants from Qualitative Research
Centre (QRC) to conduct a series of focus groups in late summer. Information gathered from the
questionnaire and the focus groups will be compiled and presented by December 2024. The Artist Census
will help us gain a clearer picture of how our artists are surviving and thriving as workers and small
business owners in Boulder.
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The third 2024 Professional Artist Forum is scheduled for June 4, at 5:30 p.m. at the Junkyard Social Club.
We will welcome Brian Corrigan, cofounder of Farm to Spaceship, who will discuss experience economy.
>Civic Dialog, Boulder Arts Week
Work continues on a final report for the 11th annual Boulder Arts Week from April 5 to 13, 2024.
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Attachment One
Final Scores for the Community Projects for Individuals Grant Category
FINAL: COMMUNITY PROJECTS FOR INDIVIDUALS
APPLICANT NAME Quantity requested OVERALL AVERAGEComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALCreativity Alive 5,000$ 35.50 7 7 6 7 6 3 36 4 6 5 6 5 2 28 8 8 8 7 6 4 41
Dance with Georgia 5,000$ 35.20 7 7 8 7 6 3 38 N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A7 8 8 7 6 3 39
Albertson 5,000$ 34.17 4 7 7 6 6 3 33 7 7 7 6 4 2 33 6 6 8 6 6 4 36
Ivan-Daniel Espinosa 4,500$ 34.17 5 7 7 6 6 4 35 7 6 6 6 5 2 32 7 6 7 6 6 4 36
Hear Us Now See Us Now 5,000$ 33.83 7 5 7 5 6 3 33 7 7 7 7 5 2 35 8 6 8 6 6 4 38
Eheart 5,000$ 33.67 8 6 7 7 4 4 36 6 5 6 5 4 2 28 7 7 6 6 5 4 35
Misawa 5,000$ 33.67 6 6 6 6 6 3 33 6 6 6 7 5 2 32 6 8 8 6 6 4 38
Ambrosino 5,000$ 33.17 8 7 7 7 4 2 35 6 7 7 6 5 2 33 7 8 7 7 5 4 38
Emily Braucher 4,965$ 33.00 7 6 6 7 6 3 35 6 6 7 7 5 2 33 8 7 8 8 6 4 41
Longo Better 5,000$ 32.67 6 6 6 6 6 3 33 6 7 6 6 5 2 32 8 8 7 6 6 4 39
Pei Yu Wang 5,000$ 32.17 7 7 6 6 6 3 35 4 5 5 6 5 2 27 7 7 7 7 6 4 38
Keaka O Kalani Hula and Polynesian Dance School 5,000$ 32.00 6 5 5 5 5 3 29 6 7 6 6 4 2 31 7 7 8 7 6 4 39
Pedersen 5,000$ 31.67 5 6 5 7 6 3 32 6 7 6 7 5 2 33 8 8 5 6 6 4 37
Parisa Tashakori 3,000$ 31.33 7 6 7 5 6 2 33 6 7 6 6 4 2 31 6 7 7 6 5 4 35
COLORADO ART AND FASHION CHARITABLE OUTREACH NETWORK INC3,500$ 31.17 5 7 6 4 6 2 30 6 6 5 6 5 2 30 6 7 7 6 6 4 36
De Giovanni 5,000$ 31.00 5 5 5 4 5 2 26 6 6 6 5 4 2 29 6 6 7 6 6 4 35
Holmes 5,000$ 31.00 6 7 6 5 5 2 31 5 6 5 5 4 2 27 7 6 7 5 5 4 34
willow jon collamer 5,000$ 28.33 7 5 2 4 4 2 24 5 6 5 6 5 2 29 8 7 8 6 6 4 39
Rising Phoenix Reiki, LLC 5,000$ 20.67 2 2 2 4 2 1 13 3 3 3 4 3 2 18 5 5 5 5 5 4 29
Caroline Georgia Maria
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FINAL: COMMUNITY PROJECTS FOR INDIVIDUALS
APPLICANT NAME Comm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALCreativity Alive 7 7 6 6 5 2 33 7 7 7 7 5 3 36 8 7 8 7 5 4 39
Dance with Georgia 7 7 8 8 5 2 37 6 6 6 3 4 1 26 7 7 8 6 5 3 36
Albertson 6 6 6 7 5 2 32 7 6 7 6 5 3 34 7 8 7 6 6 3 37
Ivan-Daniel Espinosa 7 8 7 6 5 3 36 6 6 6 5 5 2 30 7 6 7 6 6 4 36
Hear Us Now See Us Now 6 6 6 4 5 2 29 6 7 7 5 5 3 33 6 7 7 6 5 4 35
Eheart 7 7 7 6 5 2 34 6 6 7 6 4 3 32 7 8 8 6 4 4 37
Misawa 6 7 6 8 5 2 34 6 6 6 5 3 2 28 7 8 7 7 5 3 37
Ambrosino 7 7 8 7 4 2 35 5 6 6 4 2 2 25 6 6 7 6 5 3 33
Emily Braucher 7 6 7 6 5 2 33 3 5 5 5 2 2 22 6 6 7 7 5 3 34
Longo Better 7 6 7 8 5 2 35 5 5 5 5 2 2 24 7 6 6 6 4 4 33
Pei Yu Wang 6 6 6 7 4 2 31 4 5 5 5 3 3 25 8 7 7 6 5 4 37
Keaka O Kalani Hula and Polynesian Dance School7 7 7 6 4 2 33 6 6 6 5 2 2 27 6 6 7 6 5 3 33
Pedersen 6 6 5 6 5 1 29 6 6 6 6 3 3 30 5 6 5 6 4 3 29
Parisa Tashakori 6 7 6 7 5 2 33 4 4 5 3 4 2 22 6 7 7 6 5 3 34
COLORADO ART AND FASHION CHARITABLE OUTREACH NETWORK INC7 5 6 7 5 1 31 6 5 6 4 5 2 28 6 6 6 6 5 3 32
De Giovanni 6 6 6 7 4 1 30 7 7 7 5 5 3 34 6 6 6 6 5 3 32
Holmes 7 7 7 7 5 3 36 5 6 5 5 3 3 27 6 6 7 6 3 3 31
willow jon collamer 6 5 6 3 5 1 26 3 3 5 3 4 2 20 6 6 6 6 5 3 32
Rising Phoenix Reiki, LLC 4 5 4 5 2 1 21 3 3 3 3 2 2 16 5 6 5 6 3 2 27
SherylYaelaedJeffrey
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Attachment Two
Final Scores for the Community Projects for Organizations Grant Category
FINAL: COMMUNITY PROJECTS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
APPLICANT NAME OVERALL AVERAGEComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALMotus Theater 36.57 7.00 7.00 7.71 7 7 8 8 5 3 38 7 6 7 7 5 2 34
Empathy Theatre Project 35.57 7.00 6.86 7.29 6 6 7 6 5 3 33 8 7 7 7 6 1 36
Street Wise Arts 35.29 7.29 6.57 7.14 8 5 7 8 6 3 37 6 6 6 6 5 2 31
BaoBao Foundation 35.00 6.71 7.14 7.29 7 6 8 7 6 3 37 6 7 7 4 6 1 31
Society for Creative Aging/dba Viva Theater 34.71 6.57 6.86 7.00 6 7 6 6 5 2 32 6 7 7 6 5 2 33
Roots Music Project Foundation Inc.34.57 6.71 7.14 7.00 6 7 7 6 5 2 33 7 7 7 7 5 2 35
The Catamounts, NFP 34.57 6.71 7.14 6.57 7 7 7 7 6 2 36 7 7 6 6 5 2 33
NAACP Boulder County Branch 34.57 6.71 6.86 7.57 5 7 6 6 5 3 32 8 8 8 8 5 1 38
The Cultural Caravan 34.43 7.29 7.29 7.14 7 7 7 6 4 2 33 6 7 7 8 5 2 35
Musical Ambassadors of Peace 34.14 6.43 6.86 7.14 7 6 7 7 3 2 32 8 8 8 8 5 2 39
Circle of Care Project 33.86 6.86 6.57 7.00 6 6 6 5 6 2 31 7 6 7 6 5 2 33
Boulder County Film Commission 33.83 6.67 6.50 6.50 6 6 7 7 6 3 35 7 7 7 6 6 2 35
Sundaram 33.71 6.57 6.71 7.00 6 6 7 7 4 3 33 7 7 7 7 5 2 35
Kick2Build Organization 33.57 6.14 6.29 6.86 6 7 6 6 5 3 33 8 8 8 8 6 4 42
Boulder Chorale 33.29 6.86 6.43 7.14 7 7 7 6 6 3 36 6 6 7 7 6 1 33
El Centro AMISTAD 33.29 6.43 6.71 7.00 5 6 6 5 5 3 30 6 7 6 6 5 2 32
Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet 33.14 6.71 6.43 6.43 8 6 7 7 6 2 36 6 6 6 7 2 2 29
Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras 33.00 6.43 6.43 6.43 6 7 8 7 6 2 36 6 7 6 6 6 1 32
THE NEW LOCAL 32.86 6.43 6.29 6.43 6 6 6 8 6 2 34 6 6 6 6 3 1 28
Colorado MahlerFest 32.71 6.57 6.43 6.29 7 7 6 7 6 1 34 6 6 7 7 6 1 33
Mariposa Collective 32.71 6.71 6.57 6.43 7 7 6 6 6 2 34 7 7 7 7 6 1 35
Museum of Boulder 32.71 6.86 7.00 6.29 7 8 6 7 6 3 37 6 6 1 2 1 1 17
T2 Dance Company 32.71 6.71 6.43 6.29 7 7 6 7 5 2 34 7 7 7 7 5 2 35
A Queer Endeavor -University of Colorado Boulder32.14 6.00 6.14 6.57 5 6 7 6 5 3 32 7 6 6 6 5 2 32
east window 32.14 6.29 5.86 6.86 6 6 7 6 6 1 32 6 3 7 4 5 2 27
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art 31.71 6.71 6.29 6.29 6 6 7 6 6 2 33 6 3 1 1 5 1 17
Dairy Arts Center 31.43 6.14 6.14 6.57 6 8 7 7 6 3 37 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
Resource Central 29.43 5.71 5.43 5.43 4 4 2 4 6 2 22 5 5 5 7 6 2 30
Threshold Project 29.00 5.43 5.71 5.29 6 7 5 4 4 3 29 4 4 5 6 6 2 27
Naropa University 28.71 4.71 5.29 5.57 4 4 5 7 6 3 29 4 5 5 5 5 1 25
Boulder Chamber Orchestra 28.57 6.00 6.00 5.14 6 6 5 4 6 1 28 6 6 6 5 5 1 29
"I Have A Dream" Foundation of Boulder County28.29 5.29 5.43 6.29 5 6 5 4 4 1 25 5 4 6 6 5 1 27
Caroline Georgia
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FINAL: COMMUNITY PROJECTS FORORGANIZATIONS
APPLICANT NAME Comm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALMotus Theater 7 7 7 6 5 2 34 6 7 8 7 5 3 36
Empathy Theatre Project 7 7 7 7 5 2 35 7 6 7 7 5 3 35
Street Wise Arts 7 7 7 5 5 1 32 8 6 7 6 6 2 35
BaoBao Foundation 6 7 7 5 5 2 32 6 6 6 6 5 3 32
Society for Creative Aging/dba Viva Theater 7 7 7 7 6 3 37 7 7 7 7 6 2 36
Roots Music Project Foundation Inc.7 7 6 5 5 1 31 7 7 7 6 6 2 35
The Catamounts, NFP 6 7 6 5 4 2 30 8 7 7 7 6 3 38
NAACP Boulder County Branch 4 4 7 4 2 2 23 7 6 8 6 5 2 34
The Cultural Caravan 8 8 6 5 4 3 34 7 7 8 6 4 2 34
Musical Ambassadors of Peace 5 6 4 4 4 1 24 6 6 8 7 6 2 35
Circle of Care Project 7 7 7 6 5 2 34 8 7 8 6 5 2 36
Boulder County Film Commission 7 6 6 5 5 2 31 6 6 7 7 5 1 32
Sundaram 4 6 4 5 3 1 23 7 6 8 6 4 2 33
Kick2Build Organization 4 5 6 5 3 3 26 6 6 8 6 5 3 34
Boulder Chorale 6 5 8 4 2 2 27 8 6 7 6 4 2 33
El Centro AMISTAD 5 5 6 5 4 1 26 7 7 8 6 5 3 36
Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet 6 6 6 5 5 3 31 6 6 6 6 6 1 31
Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras 6 6 6 5 5 1 29 6 6 7 7 6 2 34
THE NEW LOCAL 6 6 6 6 4 2 30 8 7 8 6 6 3 38
Colorado MahlerFest 6 5 6 6 5 1 29 7 6 6 6 6 2 33
Mariposa Collective 7 6 7 7 3 1 31 6 7 6 6 5 2 32
Museum of Boulder 6 7 6 5 4 2 30 7 6 8 6 5 3 35
T2 Dance Company 5 6 6 5 4 1 27 7 6 7 6 5 2 33
A Queer Endeavor -University of Colorado Boulder56 4 4 3 2 24 6 6 6 6 6 2 32
east window 6 6 7 6 5 1 31 6 6 7 6 5 2 32
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art 6 6 6 6 3 2 29 7 6 7 6 5 2 33
Dairy Arts Center 7 7 7 5 5 3 34 7 6 8 6 4 3 34
Resource Central 7 6 7 5 4 2 31 6 6 7 6 5 3 33
Threshold Project 4 4 4 4 3 2 21 5 5 6 5 5 2 28
Naropa University 2 4 5 6 4 2 23 6 6 6 7 5 2 32
Boulder Chamber Orchestra 5 5 4 5 3 1 23 6 6 4 5 4 1 26
"I Have A Dream" Foundation of Boulder County3 4 4 4 2 2 19 6 5 8 6 5 1 31
Jeffrey Sheryl
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FINAL: COMMUNITY PROJECTS FORORGANIZATIONS
APPLICANT NAME Comm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALComm. PrioritiesCultural OfferingsCultural EquityOutcomes and EvalBoulder FocusEncouragementTOTALMotus Theater 7 7 8 7 4 4 37 8 8 8 7 6 3 40 7 7 8 7 5 3 37
Empathy Theatre Project 6 7 7 6 3 3 32 8 8 8 7 6 3 40 7 7 8 8 6 2 38
Street Wise Arts 7 7 7 7 4 3 35 8 8 8 8 6 3 41 7 7 8 6 6 2 36
BaoBao Foundation 7 8 8 6 4 3 36 7 8 8 7 6 4 40 8 8 7 6 5 3 37
Society for Creative Aging/dba Viva Theater 7 6 7 6 4 3 33 7 8 8 7 6 3 39 6 6 7 7 6 1 33
Roots Music Project Foundation Inc.6 7 7 6 4 3 33 7 8 8 8 6 3 40 7 7 7 7 6 1 35
The Catamounts, NFP 6 7 6 6 4 3 32 6 8 7 7 6 3 37 7 7 7 7 6 2 36
NAACP Boulder County Branch 7 8 8 6 4 4 37 8 8 8 7 5 3 39 8 7 8 7 6 3 39
The Cultural Caravan 7 7 7 6 2 3 32 8 8 8 6 5 3 38 8 7 7 7 5 1 35
Musical Ambassadors of Peace 6 7 7 6 4 3 33 7 8 8 7 6 3 39 6 7 8 8 6 2 37
Circle of Care Project 6 7 6 5 4 3 31 8 7 8 7 6 3 39 6 6 7 7 6 1 33
Boulder County Film Commission N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A7 8 6 7 6 3 37 7 6 6 8 5 1 33
Sundaram 6 7 8 6 4 3 34 8 8 8 7 6 3 40 8 7 7 8 6 2 38
Kick2Build Organization 6 6 7 6 2 1 28 7 6 6 7 6 4 36 6 6 7 8 6 3 36
Boulder Chorale 6 6 7 6 3 2 30 8 8 7 8 5 3 39 7 7 7 7 6 1 35
El Centro AMISTAD 7 7 8 6 4 3 35 8 8 8 8 6 3 41 7 7 7 5 6 1 33
Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet 6 7 6 6 4 3 32 8 8 8 7 6 3 40 7 6 6 7 6 1 33
Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras 6 6 6 6 4 2 30 8 7 7 7 6 3 38 7 6 5 7 6 1 32
THE NEW LOCAL 6 6 6 6 4 3 31 6 6 7 7 6 3 35 7 7 6 7 6 1 34
Colorado MahlerFest 6 6 6 6 4 1 29 8 8 7 6 6 3 38 6 7 6 7 6 1 33
Mariposa Collective 6 6 6 6 3 3 30 7 7 6 7 5 3 35 7 6 7 6 5 1 32
Museum of Boulder 7 7 8 6 4 4 36 8 8 8 6 6 3 39 7 7 7 7 5 2 35
T2 Dance Company 6 6 5 6 3 3 29 8 7 7 8 6 3 39 7 6 6 7 5 1 32
A Queer Endeavor -University of Colorado Boulder6 6 7 6 2 2 29 6 6 8 8 6 4 38 7 7 8 6 6 4 38
east window 6 7 7 6 5 3 34 7 7 7 6 6 3 36 7 6 6 8 5 1 33
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art 7 7 8 6 4 2 34 8 8 8 7 6 3 40 7 8 7 7 6 1 36
Dairy Arts Center 7 7 8 6 3 4 35 8 8 8 8 6 3 41 7 6 7 7 5 1 33
Resource Central 6 6 6 6 3 4 31 6 6 6 5 5 4 32 6 5 5 5 5 1 27
Threshold Project 6 6 5 6 3 3 29 7 8 7 8 6 4 40 6 6 5 6 5 1 29
Naropa University 7 6 6 6 2 2 29 5 6 7 7 6 4 35 5 6 5 6 5 1 28
Boulder Chamber Orchestra 6 6 6 6 3 2 29 8 8 6 6 6 3 37 5 5 5 6 6 1 28
"I Have A Dream" Foundation of Boulder County 6 6 7 6 2 2 29 6 7 7 5 6 3 34 6 6 7 7 6 1 33
Bruce Maria Yaelaed
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City of Boulder
Arts Commission
May 29, 2024
FY 2025: BRIDGE-YEAR NEEDS
AND FUNDING ASSESSMENT
ThereSquared LLC
Attachment Three
Presentation from ThereSquared Consulting Team
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Agenda
Project Overview
○Areas of Focus
○Engagement Report
Findings
○General Operating Support Grants
○Public Art & Public Art Maintenance
○Staffing
○Cultural Plan
Recommendations
○GOS Grants
○Public Art & Public Art Maintenance
○Staffing
○Cultural Plan Update
Questions
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“Seeking feedback from the Arts Commission on
the recommendations in the Short-Term Needs
and Funding Assessment.
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Project Overview
FY 2025: BRIDGE-YEAR NEEDS AND FUNDING ASSESSMENT
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Project Overview
●2A: Majority of Boulder’s voters approved a 20-year tax dedicated to arts, culture,
and heritage purposes. The tax is a renewal of a previous General Fund tax, half of
which is now dedicated to arts, culture, and heritage.
●Additional funding begins in 2025.
●Research and prepare a Short-Term Needs and Funding Assessment for 2025
bridge year.
●Prepare for a deeper, more extensive planning process to update the current
Community Cultural Plan for the Boulder Office of Arts + Culture in the future.
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Areas of Focus
Focus on three primary areas for this Short-Term Needs and Funding Assessment:
●General Operating Support (GOS) Grants
○Current three-year GOS grants end in 2024
○Community Cultural Plan update process will assess the entire grant program and
recommend improvements and changes 2026 and beyond
○Bridge-year plan is needed for 2025
●Public Art & Public Art Maintenance
○Great progress has been made formalizing the Public Art Program since 2015
○Maintenance continues to be an area of need
●Immediate Staffing Needs
○Consider staffing needs for expanded work plan
○Review existing staffing needs
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Engagement Report
●Three facilitated listening sessions with GOS grantees, 38 people attended representing 32
organizations. Follow up via email.
●Facilitated listening session with seven organizations who either were denied General Operating
Support grant funding or had not applied in 2022.
●Focus group with six members of the Create Boulder/2A group.
●Several meetings with Arts Commission representatives.
●Interviews with eight key City staff, including Office of Arts + Culture staff, Assistant City Manager,
Community Vitality Director, and Community Vitality Business Manager.
●Presentation and discussion with the Community Connectors in Residence using the City’s Race
Equity Tool.
●Conducted research into the grants program, public art and staffing needs.
●Presentation to the City of Boulder Arts Commission for feedback on the Assessment. (tonight!)
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Findings
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Findings Summary: GOS Grants
General Operating Support (GOS) Grants for Arts Organizations
●In 2022, General Operating Support Grants were not able to support all arts and culture
organizations that applied. There are also other organizations that could qualify that did not
apply.
●The tiered system of grant amounts isn’t very nuanced compared to the varying budget
sizes of applicant organizations.
●Grant award amounts do not increase over the three-year grant term even as inflation
increases.
●GOS grantees do not provide demographic data on audiences and residents served.
●For some, a longer than three-year term might be advantageous.
●Some grantees perceive inconsistencies in the current scoring system for grants. Further
investigation is warranted during the cultural plan process.
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Findings Summary: Public Art
Public Art & Public Art Maintenance
●Currently conducting an updated inventory of the existing public art collection
owned and maintained by the City.
●A 2019 maintenance report is out of date and doesn’t prioritize maintenance
needs, nor which department is responsible for the work.
●The Office of Arts and Culture staff is negotiating with other departments to arrive
at a final number of works that will be the purview of the Office of Arts and Culture
public art program.
●Once the Office of Arts and Culture has finalized which works it is responsible for,
then a proper estimate for recommended maintenance can be made.
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Findings Summary: Staffing
Immediate Staffing Needs
●Office of Arts and Culture needs additional support with IT, invoicing, contracting
and financial tracking specifically for the public art program and granting
program, but also for general operating needs across the entire division.
●Some positions are part-time or grant funded, even though core to the Office of
Arts and Culture services.
●Arts Manager has been promoted to Senior Manager in Community Vitality, so
there is a need to fill the Arts Manager position.
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Findings Summary: Cultural Plan
Community Cultural Plan Update
●The 2015 Cultural Plan planning window is nearly over and should be viewed as
an important process for engaging the community in setting priorities for the
next ten years.
●The Cultural Plan process will help confirm how additional funds from Ballot
Initiative 2A can be leveraged to achieve long-term goals and other funding
sources for the arts.
●Grantees agreed that to implement any large-scale changes to the GOS granting
program, that a longer, more intentional community process would be needed.
They recognized that the Community Cultural Plan update process would take
the time needed to include all voices in any significant changes and
improvements to the GOS program.
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DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS
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Draft Recommendations
General Operating Support (GOS) Grants for Arts Organizations
●Extend existing GOS grant awards for an additional fourth year.
○Consider requiring a simplified application for existing grantees.
●Adjust the 2022 award amounts to account for inflation, averaging about 4% per year from 2022-2024.
●Offer abbreviated application process for non-grantees for a one-year grant opportunity, so they don’t
have to wait another year. Accept applications in Fall 2024 and make one-year awards in early 2025.
○Engage Community Connectors to advise on seeking out new arts organizations or organizations
that may have been missed and encourage them to apply.
●For organizations who may have moved up a tier, offer them the opportunity to use the abbreviated
application process to move up to the appropriate funding level.
●Keep structure the same for this bridge year but use it as a learning year for future changes.
○Begin to realign grant funding timeline to better align with budget process.
○Investigate perceived inconsistencies in the current scoring system for grants.
○Begin exploring other granting programs and best practices in preparation for potential future
renovations to the granting program.
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Draft Recommendations
Public Art & Public Art Maintenance
●Once departmental responsibility for artwork is determined, develop a public art
maintenance plan for those works the Public Art Program will manage on-going.
○Hire a contractor for one-time maintenance plan development.
○Estimate maintenance needs, costs, and priorities.
○Budget highest priority needs for 2026.
●Continue to allocate dedicated funds annually to basic maintenance, cleaning, and
emergency repair of the public art collection.
●Build a maintenance reserve over time to ensure preservation, care, and major
maintenance of the public art collection.
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Draft Recommendations
Immediate Staffing Needs
●Contract consultants to deliver Cultural Plan Update in 2025.
●Assess impacts of the dedicated fund on the office's work plan.
●While there is a clear need for additional staff to support existing and anticipated
new increases in workload, the recommendation for this bridge year is to wait on
adding additional permanent staff until after the Community Cultural Plan
update is complete and the precise needs and staffing levels are known.
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Questions?
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“Seeking feedback from the Arts Commission on
the recommendations in the Short-Term Needs
and Funding Assessment.
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Attachment Four
Current Cultural Grants Program Budget as of May 22, 2024
GRANT
CATEGORY
ASSIGNED
BUDGET
ACTUAL
BUDGET
GRANTS
AWARDED BALANCE
GOS: Extra Large Orgs1 $400,000 $426,035 $426,035 $0
GOS: Large Orgs1 $180,000 $190,414 $190,414 $0
GOS: Mid Orgs1 $80,000 $85,207 $85,207 $0
GOS: Small Orgs1 $96,000 $104,332 $104,332 $0
Community Projects: Indv. $25,000 $25,000 $0.00 $25,000
Community Projects: Orgs. $60,000 $60,000 $0.00 $60,000
Arts Education $30,000 $30,000 $0.00 $30,000
Venue and Event Affordability
Fund $16,000 $16,000 $15,445 $555
Prof. Dev. Scholarships $8,000 $8,000 $3,500 $4,500
Leadership Pipeline Fund $16,000 $16,000 $0.00 $16,000
Cultural Field Trips $10,000 $10,000 $1,160 $8,840
Assistance for Grant Writing $4,000 $4,000 $3,500 $500
TOTAL $925,000 $975,014 $829,593 $145,395
There are 8 free rentals still available for the Macky Auditorium.
There are 5 free rentals still available from eTown Hall.
1 100K was added to the budget from the general fund in May 2023. These funds were added to the four GOS
categories and the $26 remaining to the Venue Fund.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT FUNDS (2024)
GRANT
CATEGORY
ASSIGNED
BUDGET
ACTUAL
BUDGET
GRANTS
AWARDED BALANCE
Artist Hiring Incentive Grants $54,000 $54,000 $54,000 $0
Venue and Event Affordability
Fund $21,000 $21,000 $20,499 $501
TOTAL $75,000 $75,000 $74,499 $501
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Attachment Five
Current Public Art Program 5 Year Budget as of May 22, 2024
FUNDING
SOURCE PROJECT/ARTIST TOTAL
APPROPRIATED
AMOUNT
PAID TO DATE
BALANCE
REMAINING
2024
PROJECTED
SPENDING
Gen. Fund Los Seis de Boulder
Donation $3,000 $2,200 $800 $800
Multiple Art and Parking Garages $122,500 $6,125 $116,375 $85,760
CCS v1 North Broadway / Dowell $165,000 $41,250 $123,750 $123,750
Multiple NoBo Library / Daily T.L.J. $260,000 $122,500 $51,508 $51,508
CCS v2 Fire Station 3 (2021) $80,000 $47,500 $32,500 $32,500
Multiple Valmont Park Rain Garden $20,000 $3,750 $16,250 $16,250
Urban
Design 19th and Upland (2025) $51,700 $2,585 $49,115 $0
% for Art Transportation (2025) $330,000 $0 $330,000 tbd
% for Art Valmont City Park (2025) $144,000 $0 $144,000 tbd
TOTAL $864,298.00 $225,910.00 $864,298.00 $310,568.00
CCS: Community Culture and Safety Tax
CCRS: Community Culture Resiliency and Safety Tax
Additional maintenance projects are not represented.
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