Delaware State Arts Council Meeting

Delaware State Arts Council Meeting June 21, 2006 Buena Vista New Castle, Delaware

Council Present: Julia M. McCabe, Chair Theda Blackwelder Steve Boyden Keyla DiSalvo Annabelle C. Kressman Brian Miller Lise Monty Ann Schenck Allen Sessoms Susan Shipley Bill Spiker Joyce Hill Stoner

Council Absent: Gary Grunder John Ranney Lawler Rogers Debbie Wicks

Staff Present: Laura Scanlan, Director Sharon Gibbs Gwen Henderson Karen Lewis Izzy Mead Kristin Pleasanton Leslie Richeson Sheila Ross Susan Salkin Roxanne Stanulis Paul Weagraff

The Council meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Judy McCabe. Ms. McCabe requested a motion for the approval of minutes from the March 2006 meeting. Lise Monty made a motion to approve the minutes that was seconded by Brian Miller and unanimously approved. Ms. McCabe mentioned that the Governor appointed a new Council member, Reverend John Ranney from Milford, who was unable to attend this meeting due to a prior commitment.

Chair's report presented by Judy McCabe:  Congratulated Theda Blackwelder for her presentation to the Joint Finance Committee for an increase in funding for the DE Division of the Arts. She confirmed that DDOA is expected to receive an increase of $300,000. Ms. Blackwelder stated that she felt the increase is due in part to the support from arts organizations represented at the hearing.  Attended a Delaware Theatre Company event in which Ben Cameron conducted a presentation on the importance of the Arts.  Attended several grant panels.  Participated with arts organizations in a meeting with DE Today to discuss coverage of the arts in Delaware.  Attended Coro Allegro's concert celebrating the 100th birthday of Temple Beth Emeth.  Attended the opening of DE Center for the Contemporary Arts and met the new director.  Was interviewed by Lee Kimball on WILM News Radio's Delaware State of the Arts.  Attended a Mid Atlantic Ballet performance.

Director's report presented by Laura Scanlan:  Thanked Council members for participating in the grant process. Council Members served as panelists and panel chairs. The Division of the Arts hosted seven panels with more than sixty panelists.  Eric Fraint, President of Your Part-Time Controller will present findings from their financial analysis of DDOA grantees on July 20 in DDOA offices. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the implications, potential remedies, and prepare a plan for addressing the issues at the Council’s September meeting.  The Nonprofit Finance Fund will conduct facilities planning workshops on August 7 & 8 in Lewes for organizations considering building projects.  Conductor David Amado has signed a three-year contract with the DE Symphony.  Ken Wesler will be leaving the Grand Opera House on June 30th.  City Theater requested a meeting with Laura Scanlan and Sheila Ross to discuss their current financial situation. The executive director has resigned. The board will be meeting June 23 to discuss options for addressing their $50,000 deficit.  Representative DiPinto and Senator McDowell are sponsoring House Bill 490 which would provide for a Percent for Art program for state financed public buildings.  The Inspector General for the National Endowment for the Arts completed an audit of the DDOA. He reviewed five years of grant information and is expected to issue a final report within a few months.  Izzy Mead is coordinating production of a DDOA FY-2006 annual report which will be produced in Artline for the July/August issue.

Overview of the Panel Process: Ms. Scanlan mentioned that this year’s panelists were well prepared. Panelists suggested that there be better guidance on how organizations present their budgets, that program evaluation was lacking; and that strategic planning efforts were very weak. Sheila Ross is working on a technical assistance plan to address these issues before the next grant application cycle. Panelists also suggested improvements to the Public Impact grant program and expressed appreciation for on-site evaluations. The on-site evaluation form has already been revised based upon feedback from the panelists. Roxanne Stanulis, Gallery and Volunteer Coordinator, is arranging for on-site evaluations throughout the year.

Abbreviated Grant Approval: Paul Weagraff presented the General Operating Support Abbreviated grant recommendations for approval. Annabelle Kressman made a motion to fund the Abbreviated grants as presented, seconded by Joyce Hill Stoner, with unanimous approval from Council.

Community-Based Abbreviated Grant Approval: Paul Weagraff presented the Community-Based Abbreviated grant recommendations for approval. Mr. Weagraff mentioned that Wesley College would receive a smaller amount compared to other organizations due to the size of the project. Susan Salkin indicated the panelists were disappointed with marketing of the Wesley project. Ann Schenck made a motion to fund the Community-Based grants as presented, seconded by Brian Miller with unanimous approval from Council.

Project Support Grant Approval: Paul Weagraff presented the Project Support grants for approval. Kristin Pleasanton reported that the staff recommended that the Wilmington Delaware Area Rotary Club project be considered an anomaly and be reviewed differently from community projects. Staff noted that the panelists had difficulty in grasping the nature of this project, a public art commission. Panelists scored the application as not meeting expectations and therefore it would not be funded. Paul Weagraff noted that the low scores were concentrated in one panelist’s review. Brian Miller said it would be a bad precedent to go against the panelists’ recommendations and that the application should not be treated differently from others that scored below expectations. Theda Blackwelder stated that if Council does not go along with the panelist’s recommendations “we are not setting a precedent” and that staff and Council should have some discretion. Allen Sessoms made a motion to approve funding for Wilmington Rotary at $5,000 which was seconded by Bill Spiker. The motion carried with 4 in favor, 2 opposed and 5 abstentions.

Joyce Hill Stoner mentioned that she attended and evaluated St. Anthony's Italian Festival, that the performances were quite good and that they should be funded. Susan Salkin said that the panelists really struggled with this application, that the grant application was written poorly, focusing exclusively on the architecture of the performance venue, rather than the concert series for which they were requesting funding. Allen Sessoms commented that the organization did not represent themselves well, that an effort should be made to inform organizations of the importance of effective grant writing, and that the zero funding recommendation should stand. Council voted to approve all Project Support grants at the proposed level. Arts Stabilization Grant Approval: Laura Scanlan presented the Arts Stabilization recommendations for approval. ARTCO guidelines dictate that DDOA can draw up to 6% of the income in our fund, amounting to $91,000 for the coming period.

Laura stated that the Milton Development Corporation’s bids were drastically different and one of the contractors had never been on-site. Staff will require the Milton Development Corporation, Inc. to submit a reasonable bid from a contractor who has been on-site to scope the project and funds will not be released until the bid is presented to DDOA.

Ann Schenck expressed concern that Possum Point Players received criticism for their application and yet were recommended to receive funding. Theda Blackwelder expressed support for the funding recommendation.

Susan Shipley questioned the status of the Center for the Creative Arts, whether they have a new executive director, what initiatives they are working on, whether they recovered from previous flooding and how many people they are serving. Paul Weagraff said the Center’s director recently retired and they have an acting director. They have taken precautions regarding the flooding and have restored their building. The panelists thought that the quality of programs has improved.

Joyce Hill Stoner made a motion to approve funding as presented, seconded by Lise Monty with unanimous approval from Council.

Technical Assistance Grant Approval: Sheila Ross presented the Technical Assistance grants. Ms. Ross mentioned that there were only two applicants and Council members Joyce Hill Stoner and Gary Grunder reviewed the applications. The reviewers recommended funding the DE Art Museum and not the Center for the Creative Arts. Allen Sessoms made a motion to approve the funding recommendations, which was seconded by Ann Schenck. Steve Boyden and Bill Spiker abstained from the vote and the remaining Council members approved the funding recommendations.

Education Partnership Grant Approval: Paul Weagraff presented the Education Partnership Grants. Panelists read and scored the grants independently. These grants are guaranteed for three years, provided the programs make satisfactory progress as demonstrated in interim reports read by panelists. After the three-year period, organizations may apply for continued funding, but funding is not guaranteed after the third year. A motion was made by Susan Shipley to approve the Education Partnership Grants as recommended, which was seconded by Alan Sessoms. Joyce Hill Stoner, Bill Spiker, Ann Schenck and Steve Boyden abstained from the vote and remaining Council members approved the recommendation.

Education Resource Grant Approval: Paul Weagraff presented the Education Resource grants. Allen Sessoms made a motion to fund the grants as recommended, which was seconded by Joyce Hill Stoner. Ann Schenck, Bill Spiker and Steve Boyden abstained and the remaining Council members approved the recommendation.

Public Impact Grant Approval: Susan Salkin presented the Public Impact grants, along with background on the program since this is a new grant category. Please refer to the attached notes as distributed at the Council meeting. The panelists unanimously recommended nine organizations for the Public Impact grant, two for audience development and seven for community impact. These grants will be funded with NEA Challenge America funds. The increase in DDOA grant money from the state will enable us to expand this grant program in future years.

Staff presented two funding options for the Council's consideration. Option one established grant awards proportionate to the organization's budget size, ranging from $7,500 to $12,500. Option two established awards of $10,000 for each recipient. Staff noted that under Option two, smaller organizations would be getting a higher percentage of their budget than the larger organizations. Ann Schenck asked which option the panel preferred. Susan responded that panelists saw advantages to both. Theda Blackwelder said that it was a merit award and should be awarded equally across the board. Allen Sessoms agreed these should be treated as a block grant. Joyce Hill Stoner made a motion to approve Option two, providing a grant of $10,000 to each organization recommended by the panel, which was approved by all Council members.

General Operating Support Grant Approval: Paul Weagraff presented the General Operating Support recommendations. Mr. Weagraff mentioned that the organizations recommended for zero-funding were those that did not “meet expectations”. This year GOS awards represent a percentage of the organization’s most recently reported expenses as stated in their IRS 990, with the grant amount being inversely proportionate to the actual expenses. Allen Sessoms made a motion to approve funding, which was seconded by Ann Schenck.

Annabelle Kressman wanted to discuss City Theater and asked the staff whether their grant will be modified based upon the coming year’s financial and programming situation. Laura Scanlan reported that Sheila Ross will continue to assess City Theater Company, and determine whether cut-backs justify a reduced grant.

Judy McCabe called on Council members to express their conflicts of interest and abstentions: Keyla DiSalvo, Dover Art League Theda Blackwelder, Biggs Museum and Opera Delaware Ann Schenck, Brandywine Baroque and Delaware Theatre Co. Bill Spiker, DE Art Museum Joyce Hill Stoner, Winterthur Steve Boyden, DE Art Museum and Winterthur

Ms. McCabe called the vote on general operating support recommendations. Council then approved the General Operating Support recommendations unanimously, taking into consideration the abstentions.

Old Business: Brian Miller commended Kristin Pleasanton and Roxanne Stanulis for their coordination of the gallery panel in which panelists reviewed and ranked 44 artists for exhibits in the Mezzanine Gallery.

Annabelle Kressman wanted to know if the organizations that did not receive Public Impact grants might receive training or technical assistance to prepare them for next year. Laura Scanlan said that staff is planning to develop assistance. Susan Salkin said that the staff would be meeting next week to discuss how the DDOA would address grant writing and grant information workshops, including how to prepare Public Impact applications. Laura Scanlan suggested that organizations that fared well might be strong instructors. Another possibility would be to include panelists in the training to express how they evaluate applications.

Annabelle Kressman pointed out the value of grantees contacting their legislators to thank them for the DDOA funding increase ($300,000).

Allen Sessoms made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Brian Miller. All approved. Judy McCabe adjourned the meeting at 1:50 p.m.