PARC (Parks, Arts, Recreation, Culture) Committee

PARC Tax Advisory Board Minutes from April 20, 2022 Attendees Brian Thompson Scott Okelberry Karen Schaack Nan Kuhn Brandon Smith Regie Walker Spencer Stevens Nate Mecham participated by conference call. Laurel Shelley and Camden Bird excused. The meeting started at 5:30 pm. Karen moved to approve the April 13, 2022, meetings minutes, Brandon seconded the motion. Motion passed. Grant Applications Received The estimated total PARC funds available are approximately $1,277,206. The Board reviewed and evaluated how the projects would support and enhance the American Fork community. The Board was unanimous with the final recommendations for allocation of PARC tax funds. American Fork Library Requested Recommended Connect Learn Center to Community $ 20,000.00 19,709 In the Zone Room 5,900.00 4,800 Library Writers' Room 9,500.00 American Fork Parks & Recreation 30 Acre Parcel Plan 50,000.00 Art Dye Bond 350,000.00 350,000 Beehive Fields Master Plan 30,000.00 Hunter Park Playgrounds 150,000.00 49,406 Park Amenities 32,712.00 Pickleball Courts 514,000.00 312,500 Pool Shade Structures 28,300.00 28,300 Rotary Park Basketball Courts 70,000.00 Robinson Pavilion 77,000.00 Alpine Community Theater (ACT) ACT Programming 150,000.00 Friends of the Library Annual Mural Commission 3,100.00 Book Fairy 18,052.50 16,600 Community Writing Class/Workshop 4,600.00 3,600 In the Zone 7,365.00 6,000 SPARK Reading Club 4,415.00 4,000 Harrington Center of the Arts (HCA) Chalk it Up 21,075.00 16,300 Concerts in the Park 22,843.00 19,000 Empower Women Arts Mentor Program 9,300.00 6,000 Exploration of New Works 8,839.00 3,500 Fork Fest 69,700.00 60,000  Sculpture Exhibition 9,621.00 6,500 Timpanogos Chorale 24,600.00 23,000 Winter Festival & Holiday Market 19,030.00 13,200 Timpanogos Art Foundation (TAF) Administration 139,900.00 89,000 History & Heritage Pageant 9,550.00 7,800 Instrumental program 61,750.00 49,000 Theater Program 112,850.00 90,000 Visual Arts 21,400.00 15,900 Visual Arts Art History Program 23,000.00 13,500 Youth Choir Program 21,725.00 16,700 Youth Speech Contest 3,000.00 2,900 Wasatch Contemporary Dance (WCD) Dance Film Debut 10,000.00 Wasatch Music Alliance (WMA) Wasatch Winds & Show Band 59,000.00 50,000 $2,172,127 $1,277,206 Timeline April 28: Submit Final Recommendations to Council Other Business a. Next meeting – TBD b. Council Work Session on May 3rd. Brian moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:05 pm. The following statements explain the reasoning for these recommendations: AF Library: Learning Center $19,700 This room is a center for learning, tutoring, and participating in many other worthwhile activities. New paint, windows, lighting, desks, chairs, smartboard, etc., will make the learning center more inviting and functional in helping people of our city learn and grow. AF Library: In the Zone $4,800 This area is a safe place for teenagers to go for homework, reading, studying, and connecting. Storage cabinets, sofas, and stackable chairs, will make this room more functional and inviting for the teenage population of American Fork. Friends of the Library: Teen Zone Supplies $6,000 This funding will provide microphones, audio mixer, charging station, MacBook pro laptops, and virtual reality headsets as well as art supplies for learning and activities for teenagers. Friends of American Fork Library: Book Fairy Project $16,600 A long-standing project for American Fork, the Book Fairy Project enhances literacy, art, culture, and community. The Book Fairy encourages students to enjoy reading and learning and to pursue an understanding of literary arts. This project provides six books through the school year for every first grade student in our community as well as incentives for first graders to visit and become familiar with the library. Friends of the Library: Writing Class $3,600 This 16-week course taught two times per year for writers in our community will give beginning writers a broad overview of how to go from idea to published book. This class will provide opportunities for citizens of our community to write and know how to seek publication. Friends of the Library: SPARK Reading Club $4,000 SPARK will help ignite third graders’ love of reading and forge life-long connections with the library. Third graders who complete quarterly missions that will familiarize them with the library and its resources will receive prizes. If a third graders have a library card and knows how to use it, they have a great tool for learning and growing. Harrington Center for the Arts: Winter Festival $13,200 A winter festival and holiday market in American Fork will add to the festive environment of the holidays for the citizens of our community. This week-long festival in Robinson Park will feature a holiday-themed village with booths highlighting local artisans and craftsmen, a live nativity, hot food and drinks, a mailbox for Santa, performances by local artists and art groups, and nightly demonstrations by amateur and professional ice carvers. This winter activity will draw our community together. Harrington Center for the Arts: Women in the Arts Mentor Program $6,000 This program will connect female art professionals with young creative talent for on-on-one instruction and career training. This will include technical instruction and will connect participants with the practical tools and industry contacts necessary to turn a hobby into a viable career. This program will increase the commitment to artistic vision in American Fork. Harrington Center for the Arts: Timpanogos Chorale $23,000 Timpanogos Chorale provides choral music from diverse cultures and genres for the enjoyment of American Fork Community members. This group provides opportunities for some members of the community to perform and improve their talents and for other members of the community to listen to and enjoy their work. Harrington Center for the Arts: Exploration of New Works $3,500 This program focuses on the exploration of new plays and musicals by local writers. New musicals and plays will be selected by a committee of qualified specialists. Each workshop will conclude with a concert-version performance of the new plays/musicals followed by a critique with qualified panelists who will offer artistic feedback and comment on the commercial viability of the work. This project provides a new dimension of artistic involvement for our community. Harrington Center for the Arts: Fork Fest $60,000 This annual summer music festival offers an opportunity for the American Fork community to experience local musical talent as well as talent from outside of the community. The concept of this festival encourages participation and enjoyment in art, culture, and music. This year it will be a two-day festival. Harrington Center for the Arts: Chalk It Up $16,300 This week-long festival brings an exciting art experience to our city through professional chalk artists, chalk art competition, community participation, and live voting by community members. Having it happen in conjunction with Steel Days enhances the celebration and encourages art in the community. Harrington Center for the Arts: Concerts in the Park $19,000 Members of the community value the tradition of the Concerts in the Park series during the summer. These concerts bring many people together and provide an important musical and social experience for American Fork patrons in the unique environment of Quail Cove Harrington Center for the Arts: Sculpture Exhibition $6,500 This sculpture exhibition will offer new sculptors the opportunity to have their sculptures cast in bronze by one of our four nearby fine art bronze foundries. Then, American Fork citizens will be able to enjoy these sculptures, which will be placed on display in the community. The showcasing of local art will enhance the community experience. Timpanogos Arts Foundation: $284,800 The Timpanogos Arts Foundation produces many excellent artistic performances and cultural education programs for the American Fork Community. They provide an opportunity for community members to participate in their specialty areas (symphony, choir, visual art, theater, etc.) and to produce quality performances and exhibitions for the members of the community. TAF also provides cultural experiences through the History and Heritage Pageant. TAF enhances the overall life experience for American Fork citizens and contributes to a well-balanced community. The Board recommends each group within TAF be given the following grants: TAF Visual Arts: $15,900 *Visual Arts History Project $13,500 Mary Kawakami Speech Contest: $2,900 History and Heritage Pageant $7,800 Youth Choir Program: $16,700 Instrumental Music Program $49,000 Theater Program: $90,000 Administration: $89,000 *Visual Arts History Project This nine-month art history course for fifth graders in American Fork will teach the history of art, the artists themselves, and their respective periods and styles. Local artists will teach the children and bring art alive for the students to help them make art an integral part of their lives. Wasatch Music Alliance: Operations and Equipment $50,000 The Wasatch Music Alliance and its two performing groups provide an opportunity for many American Fork instrumentalists to perform and for many other residents to enjoy concert band and jazz band music in our community. AF Parks and Recreation: Art Dye Park $350,000 American Fork has been working to complete Art Dye Park for many years, and the vision for the park is excellent. The current plan, when completed, will make this an acclaimed gathering place for athletics, entertainment, and recreation. Ongoing funding for this multi-use park is a prudent use of PARC tax funds. AF Parks and Recreation: Pickleball Courts $312,500 Enthusiasm for pickleball is exploding in American Fork. More pickleball courts will be necessary to supply the demand of those who want to play. *Though supportive of increasing the number of pickleball courts in American Fork, the Board recommends finding a place other than Greenwood for those courts. If courts are already planned for the 30-acre parcel across the freeway, the courts will all be close together. We need to spread them throughout the city. Also, though the neighbors currently feel they will be okay with the pickleball courts there, the pinging of the ball is noisy, and hearing that sound from 6:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. will become wearing in such a tight space. AF Parks and Recreation: Shade Structures $28,300 These shade structures will enhance the recreation center and will be a place of refuge from the sun for local swimmers and their parents. The shade structures previously funded by PARC have been a great success, but the pool needs more of them. AF Parks and Recreation: Hunter Park Playground $49,406 The replacement of worn playground equipment is a good use of PARC funds. Park playgrounds provide hours of enjoyment for children throughout the community. Requests Not Recommended for Funding This Year American Fork Library: Writers’ Room Though this is a worthy project, there are not sufficient funds at this time. Alpine Community Theater (ACT) Although ACT provides opportunities for people to perform and quality entertainment for their audiences, ACT has chosen to move their performance outside of American Fork City, and therefore, should not be funded by PARC money. Friends of the Library: Mural Commission The murals would be nice, but other library projects seem more prudent at this time. Wasatch Dance: Film Debut Wasatch Dance’s film project is interesting and worthwhile, but it does not provide enough benefit to the citizens of American Fork to be funded by PARC. AF Parks and Recreation: Basketball Court This is a project that should be funded in the near future, but there are not sufficient funds at this time. AF Parks and Recreation: Robinson Pavilion Though a new pavilion would be nice, the funding is not available at this time. AF Parks and Recreation: Park Amenities The Board supports providing more amenities in the city parks, but there is not sufficient funding available this year.