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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.26.26 BAC PresentationBoulder Arts Commission Meeting Wednesday, August 26, 2026 Public Participation Guidelines •The city has engaged with community members to co-create a vision for productive, meaningful, and inclusive civic conversations. •This vision supports the physical and emotional safety for community members, staff, and council as well as democracy for people of all ages, identities, lived experiences, and political perspectives. •For more information about this vision and the community engagement processes, please visit: bouldercolorado.gov/services/productive-atmospheres Public Participation Guidelines The following are examples of rules of decorum found in the Boulder Revised Code and other guidelines that support this vision. These will be upheld during the meetings. •All remarks and testimony shall be limited to matters related to city business and to a 3-minute time limit. •No participant shall make threats or use other forms of intimidation against any person. •Obscenity, racial epithets, and other speech and behavior that disrupts or otherwise impedes the ability to conduct the meeting are prohibited. •In-person participants are asked to refrain from expressing support or disagreement verbally or with applause. Traditionally, support is shown silently through American Sign Language ‘applause’ signal. Grant Program Matters ACTION: Reports Commissioners have the options to: a)Approve the report, b)Approve the while submitting specific questions, c)Postpone the report pending the answers to specific questions, or d)Not approve the report and cancel the final 20% payment. Arts Education Project Grant Reports •Boulder Ballet, Bilingual Ballet Program: Increasing Cultural Access Through Inclusive Ballet Education $3,000 ACTION: Arts Education Reports Motion “I move that we approve the report by the Boulder Ballet.“ Cultural Grant Program Step 2 2027 Grants Program Steps July Staff proposes a scope of topics to be addressed that would affect the 2027 grant program August Staff provides pros, cons, and recommendations about the agreed upon topics September Staff compiles draft grant materials based on the feedback received about the recommendations October Final versions of the grant materials are voted upon November Grant materials are translated, updated, and advertised Staff analyzed responses to the applicant survey, notes from panel and Commission meetings, and a running list of feedback when interacting with community members. This information, combined with the finalized version of the Boulder Arts Blueprint, informs the following process: 2027 Budget—Staff -Recommended GOS Option 2027 Budget— Alternative GOS Option 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Definitions Professional development fund: To help offset the costs associated with conferences or courses with arts and culture implications, with the aim of strengthening the long-term health of the arts and culture sector in Boulder. Some examples of opportunities may include the Colorado Creative Industries Summit, Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability, Americans for the Arts Conference, or genre-specific training courses (i.e. illustration, dance, writing, and music learning with a specific curriculum). Eligibility: The funded opportunity must be an accredited course or conference with arts and culture as the primary discipline. 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Definitions Contemplative arts: Contemplative arts are creative practices in which the artistic process itself serves as a form of meditation. Examples include calligraphy, ikebana, ensō painting, contemplative photography, and improvisational movement rooted in an artistic discipline. The defining feature is that participants are engaged in making or performing art. Activities in which contemplation, mindfulness, or wellness is the primary purpose and art is absent or incidental are not eligible. This includes meditation instruction, yoga, breathwork, sound baths intended primarily for relaxation, and therapeutic or clinical services (including art therapy delivered as a mental health treatment), even when these activities take place in artistic settings or use creative materials. 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Definitions Project grant: Funds temporary activities that are not included in an organization or artist’s normal programming. A project grant is typically responsive to a need that has arisen, that an organization or artist can address using their existing mission, but outside of their current scope or roster of work.(Suggested definition from review panel). Option 1: Use the above definition as part of the eligibility requirements. Option 2: Keep the existing definition (“projects have a measurable goal and clear start and end date”) and encourage new projects using encouragement points. Option 3: Cap the number of subsequent years a program can receive project funding at five years. No staff recommendation. 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Definitions Bedrock grant options: No additional awards in 2027, one additional award, or two additional awards 1.Add 'Boulder Focus' to rubric Example language: How does your work depend on being located in Boulder as opposed to another municipality? Example language: What would be lost, not only to audiences or constituents, but to Boulder’s overall cultural ecosystem if your organization ceased to operate? 2. Change name: Community Pulse GOS Ecosystem GOS Local Heartbeat GOS Future Thinking GOS Community Alignment GOS Blueprint Alignment GOS Visionary GOS Boulder Vibe Check Organization Community Aspiration Organization Boulder Inspiration Organization The Grant Formally Known as Bedrock 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Definitions Bedrock grant: Other options: •Organizations could demonstrate the breadth and depth of their community impact through one of three distinct pathways: economic impact, support for artists and cultural participation, or arts education and development of future artists, audiences and creatives •Proportional award amounts, i.e. an additional 33.3% to 50% of the GOS award 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Process Changes Scoring: In order to eliminate potential reviewer bias, the possibility of eliminating highest and lowest scores arose. Staff recommendation: Staff does not recommend eliminating highest/lowest scores. Other options or additions: •Send Commission initial scores so there can be oversight mid-process •Eliminate the highest and lowest score per reviewer, rather than per application 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Process Changes Mid-review feedback: Currently the panel can collectively ask up to two clarifying questions. In most cases, the panel chose not to ask questions. Many applicants, used to the previous process, were expecting more of a back and forth. Staff recommendation:No process change this year Other options/additions: •Require the panel to ask one question per application •Return to the in-depth back and forth 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Process Changes Boulder Vision (Individuals) evaluation strategy question, currently:Describe your evaluation strategy for this project and how you will collect qualitative and quantitative data. Please also include your goals for this project and how the benefit to the community will be measured” Staff recommendation:For individual applicants, “Describe what success will look like for this project. What are your goals and how will you know if you’ve accomplished them?” 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Grant Changes or Additions Boulder Vision Topics: In 2026, Community Project Grants tied to the expiring Cultural Plan were replaced by Boulder Vision Grants tied to broader City goals. Many of these goals were misinterpreted or rejected by applicants. Staff recommendation:Keep the existing categories, but rename them. The new names would be aimed at the intended audience (the arts community), while containing parenthetical nods to the City’s language. i.e. Transportation (Accessible and Connected) 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Grant Changes or Additions Lifelong Learning Grant:The theme of the grant is showing young people there is a path to be involved in the arts across their lifespan. Staff recommendation:For clarity, the applicant chooses a track (intergenerational programming or safe third spaces). The grant guidelines state that the target participants should include the generation aged 18-25. Other options/additions: •Simplify the grant by making it about intergenerational programming (taking out safe third spaces) 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Eligibility First Time Applicants Option 1: Neither the person/organization filling out the grant application nor the person/organization receiving the funding have previously received the specific grant for which they are applying Option 2: The person/organization receiving the funding has not previously received the specific grant for which they are applying. Option 3: The person/organization filling out the application has not previously received the specific grant for which they are applying 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Eligibility Blackouts Staff Recommendation: Staff does not recommend blackouts (with the exception of Bedrock awardees). Other options: •Limit organizations to one competitive funding category •Prevent organizations who win a competitive grant from applying for first come, first serve grants •Prevent GOS awardees from applying for first come, first serve grants for one year 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Eligibility Arts and Culture as a primary theme Example Language:To be eligible, the proposed activity must have arts and culture as its primary theme. While the activity can be interdisciplinary, this means the creation, presentation, teaching, or preservation of artistic and cultural work is the central purpose of the activity, not a secondary feature, backdrop, or enhancement to a program with a different primary purpose (such as wellness, recreation, therapy, or spiritual practice). 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Grant Changes or Additions Reporting: What is important to learn from a report? Staff recommendation:Staff recommends that grant reports be tied more directly to what was asked of the applicant in the application. 2027 Grants Program Step 2: Miscellaneous Word Count Limitations Two Commissioners per Panel Meeting AI Use Audio/Video Submissions Financial Documents Policy Experimentation Grant Commission Working Group Updates AI Working Group Accessibility Working Group Sustainability Cultural Organizations Summit: Sustainability Rescheduled to October 26, 2026 Fin