Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church

CATCH Meeting June 26, 2014 Falls Church City Hall Dogwood Room Minutes / Notes Present: Barb Cram, Sally Cole, Keith Thurston, Nikki Graves Henderson, Marybeth Connelly, Laura Hull, Lindy Hockenberry, Midge Wang, Staff: Rachel Crichon, Webmaster : Nick Gatz Guest: Deborah Roth The meeting was called to order with a quorum present by Barb Cram at 9:36am. A Legislative Committee meeting update was provided from the meeting earlier in the morning. City planning staffers Loren Bruce and Aikta Jain met with the Committee to talk about a possible CATCH overlay District and other ideas to advance the CATCH cause in Falls Church. The comprehensive plan was reviewed with ideas of inclusion. It resulted in a planned field visit to nearby location that have results that would be beneficial in Falls Church. The next cycle of CATCH Foundation grant applications are due on August 1, 2014. Application formats are available from Rachel or Barb. Barb and Webmaster Nick Gatz provided an update and review of the website. New content is needed, especially photos for the events a 1080x380 pixel size in a RGB or JPEG formats. If PDFs are sent Nick will change them to a SVG format. It has been noticed that some personal calendar entries are showing on the public website originating with mixed use calendars in organizations. A fair warning was made for all. There is a Comprehensive Plan Small Area Plan public session that has a focus on West Broad Street (to West Streets), to be held on Saturday morning in the Columbia Baptist Church. Many should attend. Tinner’s Hill Blues Festival went very well with beautiful weather. They performed an survey with those departing and found that while learned of the event in the Washington Post, the largest segment learned of the event by word of mouth. Attendance was up over last year’s attendance and beer and wine sales were up. Beverages is where the money is made – not just on ticket sales. There were lessons learned on such things as the chicken vendor ran out. Overall there was a slim profit – which is positive. Deborah Roth attended to the meeting to introduce a concept of bootstrapping something similar to the Des Moines Social Club in central Iowa that took an old building and turned it into a hub for art gallery, restaurant and venue for performing arts with many sponsors and success. See DMJuice.com for a visual tour of the club or DesSocialClub.Org. Zach Mannheimer is one of the key thinkers and is available to consult to other locations. Also referenced was the American in the Arts as a supporting construct. A reports and update on banners was provided. City non-profits can buy their banners and the City will manage getting them up. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 am. Submitted: Keith Thurston