Title
Fiscal Year 2020-21 Community Arts Support Grant Allocations (Ordinance S-46890)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute all necessary agreements between the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and approved applicants for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21 Community Investments and Engagement and Project Support grants in an aggregate amount of $815,346. Further request authorization for the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item.
Report
Summary
The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture has administered the Community Arts Support Grants Program since 1986. The program includes three tiers of core operating support grants called Community Investments and Engagement Grants and Project Support Grants for cultural festivals, youth arts and culture engagement, and artist support categories. The annual Community Arts Grants Program also includes a rental support of $125,000 in funding from the Phoenix Convention Center for performing arts organizations renting Symphony Hall or the Orpheum Theatre for public performances. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, this part of the program has been put on hold.
To be eligible for any category of funding, an organization must be a registered non-profit arts or cultural organization, must have tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and must provide a cultural service to Phoenix residents. For the Youth Arts and Culture Engagement Grant, an applicant can be a school or registered non-profit organization with an arts or culture program. Organizations without tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Services Code may apply to the project categories using a fiscal agent with tax-exempt status. The organization serving as fiscal agent must be an arts or cultural organization. This policy allows the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture to broaden the reach of the grant program to small, emerging arts and cultural organizations and, through the fiscal agent partnership, establish relationships between large and small organizations in the hope that traditional partnering opportunities and resources sharing may develop.
Funding allocations totaling $815,346 are requested for 80 grants to 75 organizations funded through the Community Investments and Engagement Grant and Project Support Grant categories (Attachment A).
All grant applications for the Community Arts Support Grants Program were due to the Office of Arts and Culture on April 2, 2020 and were reviewed by panels made up of local artists and arts professionals, community laypeople, and out-of-state experts to ensure a thorough and unbiased review. Panel recommendations were then forwarded to the Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission to review and recommend for funding, ensuring these organizations are good stewards of public support.
Community Investments and Engagement Grants (CIEG)
These grants strengthen the community's access to arts and culture programming. The CIEG program provides core operating support to arts and cultural organizations of all sizes that have a primary mission to create, produce, or provide arts and cultural programming to enhance the quality of lives for Phoenix residents. CIEG grant allocations are determined by the ranking an applicant received during the panel review of the following criteria:
Artistic/Cultural Value (30 percent)
Community Engagement and Public Value (40 percent)
Financial and Administration (30 percent)
In CIEG Level I, organizations must have a total operating budget of at least $2.5 million. Twelve organizations are recommended for funding totaling $405,496. In CIEG Level II, organizations must have a budget between $250,000 and $2,499,999. There are 23 applicants recommended for funding totaling $233,000.
CIEG Level III grantees must have a budget between $25,000 and $249,000 and receive a flat award between $5,000 and $7,000. A total of 19 organizations are recommended for funding totaling $110,000. Allocations are determined by the ranking an applicant received during the panel review of the following criteria:
Artistic/Cultural Value (30 percent)
Public Value (40 percent)
Growth and Sustainability (30 percent)
Project Support Grants
These grants promote and encourage the breadth of arts and cultural programming in our community by supporting projects both large and small throughout the City of Phoenix.
Cultural Festival Project Grants support guest artist fees/expenses, production fees, and marketing expenses for cultural and ethnically specific community festivals. Applicants request an amount up to $3,500 to fund their proposed festival. Nine organizations are recommended for funding totaling $31,500. Allocations are determined by the ranking an applicant received during the panel review of the following criteria:
Artistic/Cultural Quality (30 percent)
Community Engagement Quality (30 percent)
Project Logistics (20 percent)
Budget/Administrative Ability (20 percent)
Youth Arts and Culture Engagement Grants support guest artist fees/expenses, production fees, and marketing expenses to support the artistic and cultural work of young people or projects which introduce youth to arts and culture. Applicants request an amount up to $2,500 to fund their proposed projects. Eleven applications are recommended for funding totaling $26,350. Applicants were ranked using the following criteria:
Artistic/Cultural Quality (40 percent)
Youth Engagement Quality (40 percent)
Budget (20 percent)
Artistic Exposure Grants support Phoenix-based guest artist fees for arts and culture projects, including but not limited to residences, workshops, lectures, performances, curation, commissioning of new work, exhibitions, readings, and non-cultural festivals. Applicants request an amount up to $1,500 to fund their proposed projects. Six applications are recommended for funding totaling $9,000. Applicants were ranked using the following criteria:
Artistic/Cultural Quality (40 percent)
Youth Engagement Quality (40 percent)
Budget (20 percent)
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
The Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission reviewed and approved the FY 2020-21 Community Arts Grants Program allocation recommendations at its meeting on Aug. 18, 2020.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Karen Peters and the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.