Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church

Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church Meeting January 20, 2022 Virtual Meeting Minutes Members Present: Corey Jannicelli, Letty Hardi, Laura Hull, Ellen Gross, Mary Sellers, Elise Neil Bengtson, Ron Anzalone, Marybeth Connelly, Katharine Stewart, Maureen Budetti, Ed Henderson, Tim Stevens Guests: Keith Thurston (The Little City CATCH Foundation), Ari (resident)*will confirm full name Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Laura Hull at 9:35 a.m. Welcome new Planning Commission Representative Tim Stevens Receipt of Public Comments  No comments were received Minutes: November 2021 minutes were approved New Business: Arts & Economic Prosperity Report  The City will be applying to participate in the study this year and will need help from all Arts and Culture organizations in the city to survey participants and also complete a survey of their organizations.  The last report was done in 2016 and was funded by the CATCH Foundation, which will also allocate funding towards this year’s study. Old Business: Strategic Plan Background  The Arts & Humanities Council (originally C.A.T.C.H.) was established in 2009 followed by the Little City CATCH Foundation in 2014 as the fiscal agent but is not a voting member of the AHC.  The AHC is the only council that has a voting City Council member and staff liaison.  The AHC is unique in that all members are associated with a specific organization except for our one member-at-large position  The AHC is one of only two boards/commissions that allow non-resident members Review of SWAT Analysis 1  Strengths: o collaboration and coordination, diversity of views, representation, grant funding, representation, grant funding, community commitment, staff support, leadership, meeting space, and public art.  Weaknesses o Diversity  Based on the current structure of the AHC, the group can only be as diverse as the member organizations  Including groups such as the Eden Center, Galloway Methodist Church, Individual Artists or Bolivian dancers, Hispanic community group.  9:30 AM meeting time limits who can attend meeting and other meeting times should be considered  Incubator seed grants to promote art growth  Need to make sure that diversity efforts include opportunity for influence, input and power not just for optics o Operational Effectiveness  Recommend an update to the boards and procedures document and that all new members review a copy to better understand expectations o Organizational Structure and Purpose  Need clear goals for the AHC and its connection to the Little City CATCH Foundation  Are we a policy/advisory board or a doer board?  Is it possible to create a subgroup that is action oriented like the environmental service council to work on projects like an events calendar? o AHC not always consulted on arts and culture related topics  Clarification requested on whether site plans need to be reviewed by the AHC or just projects requesting special exemption. o Funding  Founders Row Mural is an example of what can be done without funding  Not having designated funding source limits what we can accomplish  Example of project funding- Historical Commission received matching funding from the city for specific projects with the state o History  Currently more focus on public art than humanities and history  History can be told through art, Tinner Hill Provides examples of the music festival, collaboration with Creative Cauldron, etc. o Staffing  Limitations with staff time allocations o Cooperation  Should the AHC be supporting our own organizations and each other or larger goals? o Other weaknesses included board structure/makeup, lack of marketing/external communications, and confusion around the Art District  Opportunities 2  o Funding  Grants such as NEA Our Town is something the little City CATCH Foundation could apply for and how would the AHC collaborated with the foundation on an Our Town project o Community Awareness  The Newspress is creating an Arts and Cultural column, recommend inviting staff to a future AHC meeting  Informal invitation to new business to attend an AHC meeting so they are aware of the group as a community resource. o Future Projects  Library Grant, Beyond our Walls o Other opportunities included Board Diversity, board Structure, more active participation, equity, reprioritization, staffing, joint programming and changing community  Threats o Lack of Marketing/External Communications  Continued challenge of utilizing the littlecity.org website to put out communications of upcoming programming  Question over whether the AHC can send out a press release or have a social media presence. Does that have to be a role of the CATCH Foundation? o Other threats included board diversity, structure and purpose, funding, limitations of staff/board member capacity and changing community Roundtable Discussions *Full roundtable conversation was not completed due to shortage on time  Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation’s (THHF) Dear Editor program has been taken over by the Washington Wizards which will give it a more regional presence  Ed Henderson has a new book coming out on E.B. Henderson  Feb 22- THHF Fundraiser for Black History Month at Creative Cauldron’s performance of Girls of Madison Street Adjourn Meeting was adjourned at 11:37 AM Next Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 17 Submitted: By Corey Price 3