Cultural Council

Lowell Cultural Council August 22, 2017 Meeting Notes In attendance: Absent: Maxine Farkas Christina Khem Sean Daniels Laura Frye Marianna Wood Bianca Mauro Joe Pyne Justin Sultzbach Jerry Bisantz Nick Speros Roberto Dei Reimbursement requests from LTC for their summer filmmaking program and Lowell Historical Society were reviewed and approved. We will have more than $11,000 rolling over from 2016 grants which were not completed to be granted for 2018. MCC has not given us our allocation as yet so we can’t complete our fiscal year reporting. Maxine and Roberto have a meeting scheduled with the city Auditor on August 30th to review what we do have completed. I just heard from our MCC contact that the legislature won’t be taking up the Governor’s veto of the MCC budget until sometime between the 11th and 29th of September, if the override passes we will have level funding from last year . . . if it fails our allocation will take a proportionate reduction. Council liaisons will be assigned to 2017 grantees to make sure that projects are completed and billed in a timely fashion. Attached is a list of grants that have not yet been billed/completed. Please indicate those you would like to oversee. Cap for 2018 grants was confirmed at $3000, wording on Council priorities was adjusted to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest on the part of Council members. The priorities section will read . . . Our priorities for 2018, which came out of the Community Input Meeting, are collaborative, and/or take place in the neighborhoods and/or performance in all its guises. We reviewed job descriptions (see attached) and the following individuals volunteered to take on development of . . . Sean Daniels – Publicity/Advocacy- he will work with Christina Khem who has agreed to take on Social Media. Christina had also agreed to work on media tips for grantees to help them better promote their projects Marianna Wood- Special Projects Coordinator Jerry Bisantz – Fundraising Coordinator A revised list of current members with contact info and a schedule for this grant cycle is attached.  Lowell Cultural Council 2017-2018 Schedule Mayor’s Reception Room Lowell City Hall 375 Merrimack St, Lowell Regular Meetings Tuesday June 27, 2017 6:30 PM Tuesday August 22, 2017 6:30 PM Tuesday September 26, 2017 6:30 PM Tuesday October 24, 2017 6:30 PM Tuesday November 28, 2017 6:30 PM Tuesday December 26, 2017 6:30 PM Tuesday January 23, 2018 6:30 PM Tuesday February 27, 2018 6:30 PM Tuesday Mary 27, 2018 6:30 PM Tuesday April 24, 2018 6:30 PM Tuesday May 22, 2018 6:30 PM Tuesday June 26, 2018 6:30 PM Additional meetings to be scheduled: Two Grant Workshops: September 12th and 13th 2017 Mayor’s Reception Room Two Interview Meetings: November 13th and 15th 2017 Grant Deliberations: November 27th 2017 Grant Award Allocations: November 28th 2017 Grantee Reception: Spring 2018 Community Input Meeting: Spring 2018 Job Descriptions Chair – Maxine Farkas * Oversees the grant-cycle process, but serves as advisor to other major council tasks led by fellow members, such as publicity, membership, fundraising and LCC-Originated projects. * Serves as the principal liaison with the MCC, receives all mail and email and disseminates all council related business to fellow members. * Works with fellow members to set funding priorities and guidelines. * Oversees the council review process and submits the grant package to the MCC annually, as well as annual reports to the municipality. * Works with fellow members to input information into the LCC On-Line Office, and ensures that all information is up-to-date, accurate, and submitted on time. * Works with fellow members to develop the work-plan for the council and implements the plan by calling meetings, setting agendas and facilitating discussions. * Periodically evaluates the work of the LCC and alters future plans accordingly. * Ensures that applicant queries and recipients= reimbursements are handled efficiently and accurately. * Works with the Publicity/Advocacy Director to maintain a strong relationship with the municipality and other community stakeholders in order to ensure the leadership in the community is aware and supportive of the LCC. * Ensures that once his or her term expires, the transition to the next chair is smooth and effective. Co-Chair - vacant * Shares responsibilities of the Chair, but the Chair remains the primary contact with the MCC. * Works with the Chair on all duties stated above and may share leadership over specific tasks as deemed appropriate. Treasurer - vacant * Maintains accurate records of grants paid, grants unpaid, interest and fundraised monies and administrative expenses. * Maintains on-going contact with the town treasurer for record keeping. * Keeps chair and fellow members informed of accounts. * Works with the chair and/or special project coordinator to set project budgets and track income and expenses for LCC-Originated activities. Secretary – Laura Frye * Records meeting notes and inputs them into the LCC On-Line-Office. * Tracks membership contact information and keeps the information up-to-date on the LCC On-Line Office. * Drafts letters for all LCC applicant and recipient correspondence, and assists the chair in preparing grant-cycle business * Coordinates mailings and periodically checks council records to ensure they are up-to-date and organized. Publicity/Advocacy Director- Sean Daniels * Helps to promote and increase awareness of the work of the LCC, the LCC program and community cultural activities. * Maintains press and media relations, submits notices to local newspapers, radio and public television for announcing grant cycle business and community input meetings. * Publicizes meeting notices, grant availability and awards on town hall bulletin board and other community venues. * Oversees all publicity involving the LCC beyond grant-cycle business, such as LCC-Originated projects, award ceremonies, fundraising activities and membership recruitment. * Oversees all advocacy work including coordinating legislative functions, inviting key stakeholders to LCC-funded events, organizing presentations to the municipality and other community and business leaders. * Directs all printed materials including brochures, e-mail announcements, web content etc. with help of fellow LCC members. Special Projects Coordinator- Marianna Wood * Works with the Chair, Publicity/Advocacy Director, Treasurer and fellow members to put on special events such as an LCC-Originated project, fundraising functions, award ceremonies, advocacy days etc. * Oversees all aspects of the event or project, including the work-plan, tasks, time-line, and responsibilities of individual members and logistics involved. * The coordinator is supported by the other key positions in carrying out the publicity and financing of the project. All members support the coordinator in implementing the event. Fundraising Coordinator – Jerry Bisantz * Works with fellow LCC members to develop a fundraising plan. * Gathers information about prospective donors, including individual, businesses, and government entities and developing a plan for donor cultivation. * Works with the Special Projects Coordinator on fundraising events and works with the Publicity/Advocacy Director on letters of appeal and other legislative advocacy work. Current Members Zip Name Phone Email Mailing Address code Bisantz, Jerry 978 866-2125 jerry.bisantz@gmail.com 68 Oakland Street 01852 Daniels, Sean 510 684-8071 sean.daniels@mrt.org 525 Pawtucket Blvd #704 01854 Dei, Roberto 978 674-1483 Rdei@lowellma.gov CASE 01852 Farkas, Maxine 978 349-8069 maxine.farkas@gmail.com 160 Western Avenue 01851 Frye, Laura 203 727-7813 lhfrye@gmail.com 600 E. Merrimack St 01852 Khem, Christina 978 427-0817 christinakhem@gmail.com 50 A St 01851 Mauro, Bianca 617 872-6449 theonlybianca@gmail.com 172 Middle Street #508 01852 Pyne, Joseph 978 454-2791 josephpyne@hotmail.com 25 Claudine Drive 01852 Speros, Nick 781 367-0181 speros.nick@gmail.com 200 Market Street #218 01852 Sultzbach, Justin 978 979-2166 jbsultzbach@yahoo.com 41 Riverside Ave 01850 Wood, Marianna 801 828-5088 nimmers@gmail.com 160 Western Ave. #221 01851 Projects from 2017 that need to be followed up Project title Applicant award notes 4th Annual Greater Lowell Pre-K STEAM Fair Acre Family Child Care 1000 5th Annual Bhutanese Cultural Festival Tika Rizal 1000 scheduled for October 6 Degrees of the Acre Tory Germann 2985 Angkor's Music Program Angkor Dance Troupe Inc. 2708 Annual Khmer New Year at "Pailin Park" 2017 Clemente Park Committee 2000 completed not billed Boys & Girls Club Mural Boys & Girls Club 2000 Maxine Boys and Girls Club Mural WASAA 500 Maxine Build Something! Nikki Giraffo 2000 Maxine Cambodian Cultural After School Program Sovanna Pouv 2000 might have been completed Capturing Herstory Girls Inc. of Greater Lowell 500 Celebrating National Dance Day (NDD) Donna Miceli Dance Company 1000 DIY Lowell 2017 Community Idea Summit DIY Lowell 1000 completed not billed Ellen McLaughlin's "The Trojan Women" Studio 506 Theater 500 completed not billed Flying Orb "Little Did We Know" The Miracle Providers NE 3000 completed not billed FreeVerse! workshops and showcase Joseph Bordeleau 1000 George Poirier - Re-Housing for Public Access Margaret Shanahan 1000 LCK 2017 Kerouac Festival Lowell Celebrates Kerouac 1000 October Lowell Heritage Series: 30 Years of Angkor Lowell Heritage Partnership 3000 Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race Bianca Mauro 3000 September 23rd Lowell Salsa In The Park (SITP) Eddie Ocasio 2692 Maxine Multi Cultural Youth Summer Art Program Sara Bogosian 2000 completed not billed North Common Summer Series ACTION 2000 Maxine Public Art at the Eagle Park Community Garden Mill City Grows 1500 River as a classroom - Field trip Tara Humphrey 280 Shelter Music Program Jennifer Sagalyn, 750 Southeast Asian American Memories Sue J. Kim 3000 The Business of Art Susu Wong 500 Scheduled for September? The Mill Dames Franky Descoteaux 1000 Winter Solstice Celebration Roger Tincknell 300 Young Company Merrimack Repertory Theatre 2000 Sean? 47215 You can find descriptions of these projects and contact info for them in the 2017 panel book in the LCC toolkit at mass-culture.org Please choose three to work with and let Maxine know your choices.