Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church

Page 1 MINUTES OF the Arts and Humanities Council (A&HC) of Falls Church approved June 20, 2024 PURPOSE OF MEETING: To discuss arts and humanities matters across the City of Falls Church. DATE OF MEETING: May 16, 2024 (Next Meeting: June 20, 2024 at 9:30 am) PLACE OF MEETING: Dogwood Room, City Hall 1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Laura Connors Hull at 9:32 am 2. THOSE PRESENT: NAME LIAISONS Member: Laura Connors Hull, Creative Cauldron Regan Davis, FCCPS Member: Elise Bengtson, Chamber of Commerce Justine Underhill, City Council Member: Ron Anzalone, Victorian Society Ed Henderson, Historical Commission (virtual) Member: Ellen Gross, VPIS Keith Thurston, CATCH Foundation Member: Katharine Stewart, Friends of Cherry Hill Member: Lapha Havan, VLAC Staff Member-at-Large: Ari Autor (virtual) Holly Irwin Member-at-Large: Mary Sellers (virtual) Member-at-Large: Russ Mardon Member: Maureen Budetti, Falls Church Arts Guest Member: Nikki Graves Henderson, Tinner Hill Letty Hardi, Mayor (virtual) ABSENT Jessie Labukas, MRSPL TOPICS OF DISCUSSION: . 3. Organization Round Table Members or liaisons representing Friends of Cherry Hill, VLAC, Falls Church Arts, Chamber of Commerce, VPIS, Victorian Society, FCC Public Schools, World Art Day, CATCH Foundation, the City Council, Creative Cauldron, the Historical Commission, and the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation gave updates. 4. Minutes for Approval For the April 18, 2024 meeting minutes, they were amended to include that the budget letter was sent (Holly will send everyone copy of the letter); and that Laura, Ed, Joe Wetzel (on behalf of Falls Church Arts), and Katharine went to City Council meeting April 29. With these corrections made, Ron moved to accept the minutes; Elise seconded. Unanimously approved. Related to the budget request, Justine reported that the Council will take up our budget request in their consideration of amendments. Members asked about the $25,000 for the Levine School and the competitive bidding process by which Levine School was contracted to provide music education at Oak Street Elementary. Justine will report back on this. Mayor Letty Hardi also reported on the new ‘tourism website’ and will ask the Economic Development Office staff to give an update at our next meeting. 5. New Business A. Review of AHC’s Strategic Plan & Goals The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in alternate format upon request. Call 703 248-5014, (TTY 711). Page 2 Laura began with reviewing the five major goals that we agreed upon in early 2023. We want to see if these are still current, and review our progress against them. Keith said that when one looks at the progress and developments in Falls Church City’s arts and culture environment over the last fifteen years, you see significant change for residents, visitors, and those who work in the City. Under Goal ONE, there was discussion about whether it needs to specifically refer to “underserved and under-represented”? We want to give voice to the underserved and under-represented and decided to separate the 1st bullet into 2. Keith brought up idea of doing an ‘annual report’. The 2nd item about the Eden Center and the Vietnamese community has been accomplished. We discussed if there are other organizations and/or populations that we need to reach out to, such as the Latin American/Hispanic community? For the 3rd item about promoting Falls Church’s 75th, a new logo was created, exhibits in City Hall were mounted, and other marketing paraphenalia is done. We discussed the milestones (such as the City’s incorporation, school district, 125th of Library), and decided to change it to anniversaries and the timeframe to 2024-2025 to capture initiatives in place for all the anniversaries. Under Goal TWO, members discussed “The Little City” website and challenges for how it was originally to be maintained, especially with event-type information that changes all the time Is there a need for this now? or is “VisitFallsChurch” accomplishing this? are there other ways to publicize what we do? Ron pointed out that there is a wealth of more “static” information about Falls Church’s history and historic sites that doesn’t change. We decided to table this item until we get an update about the new tourism website. Under Goal THREE regarding public art, members discussed our work on the Public Art Policy and Guidelines and the intensive work we did to develop the Guidelines so the Policy could be adopted for the 75th Anniversary. However, we understand that the new City Attorney is still reviewing the Policy. Decided to table review of this item until Holly can give us an update from City Attorney. Under Goal FOUR regarding communications and collaboration, we discussed the item “look for synergy and opportunities for cross-promotion” and the master calendar, The Little City/CATCH website, communications between and among our organizations separate from Council meetings, and having ‘evergreen landing pages.’ We agreed to change the item about planning an annual “CATCH Festival” to 2026. Under Goal FIVE regarding “Advocate for inclusion of arts, theater, culture, and history …” Members discussed if our advocacy could be more effective with an “Arts and Culture” staff person separate from Recreation and Parks, where Holly’s position falls. Her position is under review in September. Discussed relaunching the Communications sub-committee and agreed that we needed more discussion on this goal. B. City-Initiated Art Projects Update Holly reported that: • RFQ for artists to create art for the City Council chambers will be posted next week. Members asked who the subjects will be and what is the process for selecting them. • Designs for the four electrical boxes are due next week Hope to have them art-wrapped by end of the summer. • FY24 grant reimbursement forms are due today. FY25 grant applications open next week. • Holly will send request out for Grant Review Committee members. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in alternate format upon request. Call 703 248-5014, (TTY 711). Page 3 6. Ongoing Business At the A&HC June meeting, Cindy Mester will attend and talk with us about streamlining the current process for developer-initated projects and giving our feedback. 7. Adjourn Ellen moved to adjourn, and Maureen seconded. Unanimously approved. MEETING ADJOURNED AT: 11:33 am SIGNATURE OF RECORDER: Katharine Stewart The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in alternate format upon request. Call 703 248-5014, (TTY 711).