Arts grants

Action: Approval of the 2027 Cultural Grant Program

we're now taking applications for cultural grants panelists. Um we would like people to apply before November 9th.

Then I think we should specifically say these types of activities are eligible for Boulder Commission grants at the end of that paragraph.

So in last month's meeting we received advice from you all about changes to make to the grant program documents.

We get a lot of requests to apply for a variety of grants or opportunities. We don't do them all

we did miss a couple grants um that went to Laramie and Jefferson County and I I just want to make sure

Action: Grant Report ii. 2027 Grant Program Step 2

Um the city is a frequent uh recipient of go grant funding and it's likely that the city may benefit from the increased funding.

the state being able to retain revenue for large programs um could ease budget pressure elsewhere in the in the uh in the budget potentially increasing funding for state programs and grants that the city also uses.

Action: Arts Education Grants ii. Action: Lifelong Learning Grants iii. Action: Eligibility Question

Um and then a note that there is a $1 DOLA grant, uh which is Department of Local Affairs.

we've actually been in discussion with the Community Foundation to roll out a grant over the summer, a collaborative grant

We did sort of an an inflation increase because the amount for each grant hadn't increased since 2020 or before.

We will continue to make the grant program more accessible. For example, this year, we have expanded first come, first serve grants

It's not part of our grants program. No, not the grant program.

I was curious that general operating support only had 3 of the categories.

continue to ease access to our grants program, continue to translate the grant program.

The Grant Writing Fund Round 2 is Monday, March second, and that's a first-come, first-served grant.

We received 65 new general operating support applications.

we received every single one of the reports for general operating support, so I'm really happy about that

This would allow people who would not be eligible for general operating support to have an inroad to our grant program.

since we were not able to restrict when people submitted their grants, and we allowed first-time applicants to apply weekly

We have four grant reports. We have the Leadership Pipeline Fund, Artist Hiring Grant, and two Community Project Grants.

And then the grant program training will take place, January 15th.

We had two community project grant reports, for 2004, you know, the drill

funders to talk about how, like, different grant reports or grant grant proposals stand out.

I move to approve the 2026 Cultural Grants Program budget structure

as of now, our entire 2025 grant program is spent.

100 grants, I think, that they actually review that are competitive.

Arts and culture, which will look a lot like it does today, continuing the work to carry out, the arts blueprint, direct grants, our public arts program.

arts funding in 2026, a year-over-year increase of 27% is proposed for cultural events, operating arts grants, public art installations

Where those that were not, like, their address was not in Boulder, but they did what they felt was a significant amount of programming

they have, not been, like, their grant writing was maybe not sophisticated enough at that point to receive a competitive grant

I did change the language around eligibility for uses of general operating support funds

In the interest of funding more organizations, we are now proposing that we initially budget for 5 bedrock organizations

there's also general operating support for everybody

funding tiers for general operating support award should incentivize impact rather than just budget or growth for its own sake

This we currently offer supplemental materials for our project grants

recertification of one of the 2022 to 2025 general operating support grants

These are all organizations that would be funded this year with our general operating support grants.

Would anybody like to make a motion? The following organizations for 2025 general operating support grants

And because we received an adjustment to base, we have additional organizations that we can fund with general operating support grants.

I think it creates a lot of conflict of interest applying for a grant from the Arts Commission, and I don't think commissioners

So in terms of the community project grant applications. The Commission may approve all grants per the panel's recommendation, approve individual grants

Any discussion about this have they ever applied for gios support in the past.

So up 1st is grant decisions on general operating support grants in the extra large category.

the panelists have submitted their final scores, and it is now to the Commission to give final approval

that was kind of the whole point of my suggestion of moving the Grants from the Commissioners to just to eliminate any unconscious

they are in the 1st round of scoring for the general operating grants

If there's anything on the the general operating support grants that we approved

we have received $374,000 in requests for new general operating support

We received, I believe, 40 general operating support Grant reports as a reminder

we made the change that commissioners are not scoring grants, that we're hiring someone

I administratively approved a couple kinds of grants, and I was going through the reports.

This is very big vision and grants heavy because of our budget timing

So what we're hoping also is that we're taking all of the grant reading off of our plates.

So we have the 2025 Grant program is ready to preview, and as of now, the following grants are open

So for things on the staff's work plan supporting organizations with the Grants process.

the cultural grants program, public art our civic dialogue program, including boulder Arts week

Next? You have the 2025 Grant program as a reminder. The main changes you'll notice from the previous year's program

So the 1st action item on the agenda is the community Project grant to the outbound foundation.

we having our hands out of the the grants, we can be more of policy and cheerleading and support

thank the team for putting the um Community cultural grants on that in our list

Well, they're putting there in like, project budget, yeah, and for general operating support, they're putting in their operating budgets.

Organizations are getting all grants all around, and it makes it hard for us to grow as a community.

tonight will be the last time I present on the Grant program, because we'll take turns in the future

where we ramped out to entities who are putting on their own whatever and while we certainly encourage them and want them to.

let's look at it after we award the y'all all y'all award the general operating support grants

So maybe you divide those buckets of grants

and then we already have our grant info sessions booked. I know.

general operating Support Grant decision at the end of this year. Don't worry about it

Arts moving on to our grants program. We have 3 items this evening.

because of the expansion of the Arts Culture and Heritage program. We're asking for an additional grants specialist.

We have a main enhancement for the arts and cultures.

be award a grant in the Arts. Education project grants category.

I know that you submit for a grant, and every single dollar has to be accounted for.

allegations that the dairy has somehow misused creative nations. Grant money are completely unfounded.

open up a Grant opportunity for those who have missed out on the last round

We really do believe that extending the Gos Grant wars for an additional 4th year would be appropriate.

in 2022, I think this is this is clear that the general operating support grants.

I appreciate the interest for the quick and easy wins. But they're they're gonna be small compared to the need.

whether the 3 year Grants should just become a 4 year grant, or if there should be a one year, grant

how we can improve those for the full spectrum of the people that are applying for dinner operating support grants

the staff recommendation this evening is to postpone approval of grants, pending answers to specific questions

I really appreciated the um the grants component and the efforts to reduce the bureaucratic burden of that

So first we'll discuss project grants. We have our education, grant, motor symphony, our education grant from

I move that we approve the reports for the 2022 to 24 general operating support grants for the Colorado

So we have 3 general operating support reports for recertification today

So we're going to dive right into the Grants program in hopes of getting out of here on a reasonable.

I move that we approve the following reports, for the 2022, 2024 general operating grants

So certification of the 2224 general operating support grants. We had 38 to review this evening

every single year after that has done any everything they can to help support us whether it's through grants or sponsorships

we will be coming to you with a larger conversation about arpa and frankly other grant-funded things it's not just arpa we also get grants from a variety of other um needs

general operating support is still important. It's it's really been successful

The statement on culture, equity or Logos grants previous grant awards and all that kind of stuff

I kicked off my first grantee interview, and so we're trying to do some more storytelling about the people that are behind the grants that we give out

our cultural grants program will again be supporting expansion of arts in the community

Our team distributed over a million dollars the 158 grants in the community

part of our work work will be identifying other funding potential such as grants and um other stakeholders or Partners through the development

our recommendations is to assign 2,000 of it to be added to a community project

how much is going to budget project grants, how much those grants should be.

you know, that you get a general operating support Grant. and and also to there's nuance there

Minor edits to community project arts, education grants, including recommendations on budgeting for overhead.

Question that this is one of your artists hiring grants.

you recommend that you only use 10%, 20% of your project brand application towards general operating support

Grant that we're talking about arts and education, that they're $3,000 grants that you know, 100% of that money is going to paying the teachers

It's it's not a grant about great ways to represent that you spend every single time in a grant.

Oh, it was one of that was the arts, administration arts, administration, hiring grants.

So we are recommending, instead of it, for the general operating support grants.

the vast majority is tied up in our general operating support grants

direct and grant funding for Arts and Cultural nonprofits professional artists Arts education venues and workspaces

is there anything about that update process that you think might change the nature of how we do these grants

there was an increase in funding to fill some gaps um that uh the scoring that the Arts commission did around the grants program

um organizations that had been getting funded by these arts and culture grants did not

But if you have any kind of big picture thoughts on the project grants the strategic funds.

So I think these rehiring grants are critically important.

especially when it comes to grants and reading grants.

the criteria around the granting of grants in the last few years has shifted

for a 765 thousand dollar Grant through a congressionally directed spending Bill through the Appropriations Committee

The awarded education grants. Thank you. Is there a second.

so you will have the option to through the set recommendations that I may explore in grants to prove individual rants

I have a report for the Temple of Equality, which is the funded public for Project Grants.

So what I should say that doesn't have a if you can find some averages or some programs on like over the last 4 years.

And then they have one month following that to to their reform.

These are our top scoring over on average scores.

the importance of the Arts Education Project grants, and we know that there were some challenges

You can approve individual grants, so that would be if you're moving them around, or you post, call an approval of individual grants

So you'll review them in our Grant software. Hopefully, it's fairly easy, but feel free to tell me anytime.

the Human Relations Commission used to make funding decisions, run, recommendations for grant applications for a an amount of money that would go to supporting cultural

doing Grant making for many years. So we just need to kind of follow a process to make sure that's no longer a part of your responsibility

Thank you, Speaker, for being willing to help read and score and make decisions on Human Relations Fund, Grant, making one of the next steps

maybe through our existing HRC or Arts commission Grant mechanisms

the bottom is a breakdown which dedicates 192,000 to the general operating support.

general operating support be divided among the 5 organizations that did not receive 14, but scored well

I hope that the bulk of the funding will go to support the general operating support grants that were unable to be funded.

We're hoping to have an application in the online Grant management system launched as as soon as possible.

uniquely qualified to make decisions um to make arts grants to organizations here in town

with the purpose of supporting five general operating support grants for organizations that scored well but did not receive funding

a third round of grants for the artist hiring incentive and additional funds for the venue affordability grant program

which is essentially the agreement that they signed to whenever they signed to this Grant

the ordinance that creates a grants program, and the fact that you are actually the one who distribute the grant money

So you receive these 6 Grant reports separately from the general operating support Grants, which we'll do next.

encouraged folks from outside of all to to apply for our grants

Ladies and gentlemen, we'll start with number for the Grants program.

Staff made a proposal for additional funding to go to through the Arts grants program

we may not be able to do much funding before the summer

that they really prefer being able to apply for a grant online

So i'm gonna apply for an arts and culture, Grant.

for the venue affordability fund we've had that it's pretty long standing and um we get dozens of applications

we did hear the testimony of members of the community who were talking about some of the organizations and the need for General operating support

we provided direct Arts industry support in areas such as programs for artists and venue safety and vaccine check funds

When you look at the Arts Education Grant program, and as we get closer to those arts education opening deadlines

Thoughtfully allocating percentages of the budget to project grants versus geos grants.

the community project grants one thousand dollar grants, Or would it be individual as well as organization?

trying to bring in organizations that may not have heard of our grant before although I believe

I run our grant programs I think I've actually spoken to many of you for about grants and other things

except for like our community project grants or Arts education grants but the deadlines are after the events

our City's Arts organizations need more assistance than currently budgeted operating on insufficient funds is a reality

understandably the Arts commission enforces a rigorous vetting process through a competitive Grant application cycle

one of the fortunate Arts organizations that has received General operating support uh over a number of years

provide grants to community groups for cultural celebrations and other education informational

recently received the general operating support Grant from the boulder Arts commission thank you for supporting this program

192 000 would provide two years of General operating support grants for five Boulder Arts organizations

were not even funded for General operating support grants impacting them for three years

we're interested in trying to continue to fund some of the next level of grants with those dollars

we've spent thirty thousand dollars of our funds on on the artistry hiring Grant

If you want to allocate funding differently in the Grants, or you want to work with

330 000 per year for arpa enhanced General operating support grants

when we were taking a look at uh the cultural plan recommendations and uh what that meant for the grants program

for the original grant they were going to have to do it on a matching fun basis

to remove item 6a the update of the boulder museum contemporary arts community culture and safety tax matching grant agreement

to give grants to local organizations that put on performing arts and other events

the orange bar is included in that but that breaks out the cultural grants that go out to organizations every year

two more general operating support funding for arts organizations three consistent public art funding

thank you for restoring 157k to the cultural grants

then what you see in this budget is a full restoration of the grants program

library services arts including programs and cultural grants parks and recreation including recreation services

library services support for arts programs and cultural grants recreation services forestry park maintenance

this council has supported arts and culture through general operating support grants and other budgetary items

those sorts of um non-capital projects items would be covered um under the arts commission grant making budget

the planning grants are really really critical to um providing a more equitable approach to smaller nonprofits

several respondents noted that planning grants could help promote equity in the program

representatives Express concern that not having nonprofit organizations listed on the ballot May reduce support

our grant allows us to pay our studio assistant so when we talk about Arts funding what we really mean is

is a recipient of a three-year General operating Grant and we received funding from create older through their match

arts grants in the past two funding cycles have experienced a gap of seven hundred thousand dollars in unmet needs

for arts education grants and community project grants and that was very much appreciated by those groups

the Arts commission decided to fund the general operating support grants at 100% for 37 beloved organizations in Boulder

will receive our full $10,000 operating Grant in 2021 receiving this operating Grant and full ensures we are able to move forward

one program the very expensive program of Grants is the one that's been cut for this year

City staff will work with the Arts commission to fully fund the general operating Grant category

the amount of budget that three4 of a million dollars would fully fund General operating support

called put um other Grant categories on hold that we think will not be as useful

one budget scenario focuses on supporting our 37 General operating support organizations

additional Commissioners also would have a better grasp throughout the year and year-to year on the records of arts and culture organizations

with only five Commissioners voting that a single commissioner could have an outsized influence on the final scores

reviewing scoring and awarding grants to dozens of large and small arts and culture organizations

lessen the burden of the scoring grant applications and responding to those grants

they request that we continue to increase the financial support for boulders arts and culture organizations

through our education programs and currently we partner with our four organizations to support local artists and local Arts nonprofits

AS WELL AS SUPPORTING FUNDS FROM THE OFFICE ART AND CULTURE IN A SMALL GRANT FROM THE BCA I PLAYED FOR TWO GRANTS.

SO THERE NEEDS TO BE IN MY OPINION MORE SUPPORT FOR THE OFFICE OF ARTS AND CULTURE BECAUSE THEY'RE THE ONES THAT DO SUPPORT YOUNG ARTISTS AND PROJECTS.

finally cultural grants this budget request responds the recommendations of State Council and the Arts Commission to make the one-time increase approved last year

if the council does wish to make adjustments for it it doesn't need to come at the expense of offsetting something else

do not qualify for the last remaining large grant in our program which is the facilities grant

the Arts Commission decided to equitably divide up the general operating support grants based upon percentages of projected applicants

tonight we can provide information on the 2019 general operating support grants that have been awarded to small medium large and extra-large organizations

they're very pleased with the additional grant funds of 250,000 dollars and they applaud

AND WE REALLY WANNA LOOK FOR THE BEST PRACTICES OF THOSE COMMITTEES TO. NOT ONLY ENSURE THAT WE ARE ON REQUIRING

ARE ALSO DOING MORE REGULAR RECONCILIATION SO IN THE PAST THE DEPARTMENTS WOULD DO THEIR RECONCILIATION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES OCCURRED ON. RELATED TO THESE GRANTS IN THE FIRST WINE WAS A SITUATION IN TWENTY SIXTEEN

it's grant funded through the states and it's something that we pursue and have received grant funding for each year

it's positioned to really give us a lot of flexibility around whether we get grant funding and so the dollars that are identified

so ability to leverage grant funding and those types of things what we're not doing is sacrificing any grant monies that we already have

restoring fully the arts grants that to the same amount that they were in 2017

there's a lot of work that goes into approving grants okay

the Arts Commission unanimously voted to recommend that you make these changes and and adopt the motion

is the second reading and consideration of a motion to adopt ordinance a 207 amending chapter 14-1 arts grant program

since the one-time funding proposed for 2018 is substantially less than the one-time funding for 2017

that we instituted those the new three-year cycles on major grant

the total grants funding was about six hundred seventy-five thousand dollars with both the ongoing and the additional one-time funding

we have some funds that are going to fund the programs that these different groups put on