Arts Commission

Minutes of the Meeting Grant Review Committee Tuesday, January 19, 2021 3:00 p.m. Middletown, CT Via WebEx Present: Charlotte McCoid, Lee Godburn, Joyce Kirkpatrick Also present: Kisha Michael, Staff 1. Call to order - 3:08 p.m. 2. Public session - no pubic in attendance 3. Approval of Minutes: September 15, 2020 - Motion made by Lee Godburn to approve the minutes of September 20,202 and seconded by Charlotte McCoid. Assignment of chair 4. Motion made by Lee Godburn to move the agenda from New Business to appoint Joyce Kirkpatrick as chair for the grants panel committee, seconded by Charlotte McCoid. 5. Old Business a. MCA Grant Policy Review & Recommendations i. Bylaws – “Commission Policies/Procedures Grants” - were tabled ii. Grant Panel Process & Procedures - were discussed. After our experience with virtual meetings, how will this affect our future meetings? L. Godburn called Tom Hennick at FOI to get his view on how we have handled our grants panels historically and to clarify that since the MCA determines the distribution of public funds, all grants panel need to be totally transparent and open to the public. The only time for confidentiality is the granting of these funds and that could be done in executive session. Reviewed questions strategies. Everyone agreed the most critical questions should be: description of the project and Impact on Middletown community. Also, there needs to be time for the Panel to develop or assign questions about an application before the grants meeting. How to? iii. Youth Applicant Incentive - this has been resolved and we did have success with one application. Staff feels we should inspire and support the youth applications going forward. iv. MCA yearly grant schedule - Common Council schedule of meetings causes our grant process to have a 4-week lag before the MCA recommendations are presented to them. We can either change our meeting date or have added special meetings to accommodate this conflict.  v. Grantee project completion timeline - Our grant process doesn’t specify how long a grantee has to complete their award. We assume it is one year. One thing is clear, they cannot apply for a new grant unless the first one is completed or withdrawn. J. Kirkpatrick will draft a short statement to clarify how this process is done for the full commission. vi. Funding restrictions & award amounts - Discussion on how an applicant determines the amounts of monies requested. Some are conservative and some ask for the highest amount, especially true for new applicants. L. Godburn will call various grant writers who work in local communities and the state department for information that could help to clarify how to determine funding requests for the MCA and, in turn, the applicants. vii. Conflict of interest – R. Kirkpatrick compared COI on website and the one on file in her documents (with date of 1995) and sees inconsistency. It was confirmed that this particular document needs revision to reflect the present time and L. Godburn volunteered to review and make suggested edits. Staff suggested to take all documents with edits by R. Kirkpatrick and merge for review. 6. New Business i. New initiatives - New Initiatives suggestions from staff for the MCA were to include themes, team history and etc., connecting artists in the community and to help jumpstart new ideas with the hopes of a larger participation. ii. Grant report review process – was tabled 7. Announcements - Reminder - In 2022, the MCA is celebrating 50 years of continual service to the Middletown community. Shenker funds need review…scholarships, professional development, and significant statement of art. Staff is developing an on-line grants power point presentation. It will have MCA history and an explanation on the grant application process for applicants. 8. Adjournment – meeting ended at 4:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Charlotte McCoid Acting Secretary cc: Town Clerk, Mayor’s Office