Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church

The Falls Church Arts and Humanities Council Minutes of Meeting of August 20, 2015 - 9:30 a.m. The Dogwood Room, City Hall Attending: Barbara Cram, Midge Wang, Maureen Budetti, Sally Cole, Marybeth Connelly, Laura Hull, Lindy Hockenbury, Keith Thurston Also present: Ingrid Racine, Marketing Specialist City Staff, Moira Lethbridge, Executive Management Consultant Barb Cram called the meeting to order at 9:32 AM The August Meeting was dedicated to the final session of Strategic Planning lead by Moira Lethbridge, Executive Management Consultant, Lethbridge and Associates. Ms. Lethbridge stepped through the pieces of the strategic plan from the prior sessions and each of the groups with segment assignments provided status updates. Action plans under each goal areas were filled in. The complete Word document will be provided to members of the Council. Marybeth Connelly reported that there had been a very productive meeting on the subject of marketing, and that good progress had been made. Ingrid Racine, Marketing Specialist for the City is in attendance today. Luara Hull reported that on the issue of funding sources she has assembled a list of corporations and foundations that should be considered when seeking larger donors. A five year plan is needed to qualify for many of these grants. A date of June 2016 was set for the full plan. Large donors also want a statement of ongoing commitment. While a binding commitment from the City Council may not be possible, a commitment in principle may be helpful. The next step in the funding process will be a meeting on the subject of 5 year joint goals for CATCH. Arts Policy (Cram, Thurston and Irene Chambers) Ms. Cram reported that she had talked with the EDO office and was building an inventory of cultural assets, targeting January 2016 for that portion to be ready. From several recent issues, it is clear that CATCH needs better communications with the EDA. We have a joint member, but because of CATCH meetings are held on workday mornings, he was unable to attend the CATCH meeting. We will work to find avenues of improved communications. The Name of CATCH has been a discussion for some time, as lacking clarity. While it stands for City of Arts, Theater, Culture and Humanities (CATCH) and internally served us well as a short hand – the actually name as passed by the City Council was the longer term. After much discussion and several possibilities discussed it was voted unanimously that the name should be “Falls Church Arts and Humanities Council”. The next meeting will be September 23, 2015. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 AM.