I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. Thanks, everyone, for being here. I know it's
cold. It's warming back up here. Yeah, it's going to be like back 70 degrees again on Friday, Saturday.
So yeah, right. It's a bummer all the leaves fell off the trees, though. OK, yeah.
Agenda item number two, a review of the BAC minutes. So the minutes have been distributed and read.
Are there any noted corrections to the October meeting minutes? Great. Okay. I'm going to go ahead and
motion to approve the minutes. Can I get a verbal second? Second. All right. Thank you, Paul. All in
favor of approving the minutes, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay.
The minutes are approved. Holly, walk us through the financial world of things. Hello everyone. No changes.
So we are still trying to get $65,000 at the door to our artistic advancement grant recipients. We're
almost there. We're waiting for legal to answer one more question about them, and then hopefully we
will get those MOUs out by the end of the week, and then we'll wrap the payments very quickly after that.
During this meeting, we will vote on the operations grant allocations. We had a great meeting last Friday
that Gerard will talk a little bit more about. And so between getting the artistic advancement grants
out the door and the operation grants out the door, we will have more than spent our grant funds available
for the year. Gerard, again, will talk a little bit more about this.
just based on the quality of the operations grants this cycle and just knowing that our 501c3s are in
more need than ever right now, we found some extra money in my budget to be able to give a little more
funds for that. We have the $5,000 for emerging artist professional development. I'm working with CHAS
right now to encumber $4,000 of those funds for workshops that will happen next year with some awesome art
And we still need to talk about the Public Art and Grants Fund of $16,500. But we'll do that in a public
art meeting. So while you see no changes on this screen from last year or from last month, funds are
moving. And I'm happy to answer any questions. Great. Cool. Thank you. Thanks, Holly. Item number three.
back to you and jazz for city updates. I don't remember if this happened before or after the last full
commission meeting. Our 26th budget was approved. So that's great. And basically we're going to have
the same amount of money that we did this year to spend. So we'll have the same amount of money to spend
on public art and grants. And that's separate from our one percent for the arts allocation, which is
tied to capital.
projects and comes from a different funding source that's outside of the city's general fund and local
income tax budget. So I'm heartened. We were one of the few budgets that wasn't cut this year. So I
think that's just a great indication from our administration and from council that they see value in
the arts. Of course, I always want to fight to get especially our grant funds up every year. And I was
just asked not to do that this year. But I think we'll still be able to do a lot with what we've got.
next year and we'll see how things move forward into 27 when there's potential for there to be more
cuts but I will just kind of keep my finger on that pulse and
I know you will all support me in advocating to keep our budget strong as we go into the next budget
cycle. We will. Thank you. Thank you. Michael, we will keep council there till 2 a.m. I think
Beyond that, here at the city, I think we're just trying to wind down the year. We're coming up on our
last couple of payment and claim cycles for the years, still trying to get contracts out the door before
the end of the year so we can hold on to every part of money that we have. And that's really what we're
focusing on right now. Can I do the BAC engineer? Yeah. Yeah. OK. Hi. OK. Thank you, Holly.
So, save the date for Wednesday, December 10th for the end of year BAC artist party that celebrates
the grant recipients. That will probably be the day. Something like six to eight, something like that.
Please reserve that day on your calendar. For now, I will keep you updated. It might be at FAR Center
for Contemporary Arts.
Again, some of this is a little not confirmed. It's not confirmed fully, but just please hold that for
now, and I will get in touch more, and we'll try to get that out as soon as possible. But that's my
update, so please attend. Thank you. If it does stay on the 10th, if we could do 6.30, or maybe start
at 6, but well, because that's the same day as our last meeting. So we will be here. Right,
we noted that. So yes, 6.30. Yes. That's why we did it.
Yeah, we did know that. Paul and I did know that. Because last December's meeting was like 30 minutes.
Yeah. And I think it's because Chas and I were both not here. So it could be a shorter meeting. It might
not be, though. You never know. It's still plenty of time for things to come up. We shall do 630.
But yes, we know that the Arts Commission meeting is on that day. But yeah, you can just go from here
to there. And there'll be food, right?
Likely I have to get it approved, but I'm going to do my due diligence as a public servant. This party
has libations of all sorts and festive wonder for the arts community. I think Christina might help me
with some of this, but I need to talk to her. OK, thank you. The last one you had there was so fun.
Thank you, yes.
Trying. Yeah, I wasn't at that one funnily enough. The pictures looked great. They looked like a fun
time. But yeah, I will send out a more official confirmation. I just wanted you to mark your calendars
now as it gets into busy season. And shout out to Rob for reminding us that it was October last month
and that we needed to figure that out. So kudos, Rob.
Okay, now I'm gonna stop talking, thank you. Okay, thank you, Cindy, for your updates. Agenda number
four, we're gonna have a presentation, actually on behalf of two different groups. So I'm happy to welcome
back Carol Rhodes, who will be speaking on behalf of Artists for Climate Awareness, and then Lily Shan,
who will be speaking on Brushes for a Better Planet,
Bloomington Project for Earth. The groups are related in some ways. We're actually partnering. It's
going to be very quick. I have 10 slides. If you both want to stand over here, you can. If you want
to stand over here, you could. Oh, fine. I don't know if that's- Or join the table. That's where the
mics are. Okay. Lily, if you want to come over here too. Yeah, so Lily and I are partnering.
in a project. She approached me last spring. We are, and Artists for Climate Awareness is hosting, advising,
and being a sponsor for the project that Lily will describe soon. We're very proud. So just a very quick
two minutes about who Artists for Climate Awareness is. Next slide. Our mission is to use art to educate
Inspire and empower people to act promptly both personally and communally to reverse environmental
destruction and initiate the earth's healing and that's what we do. And we do it a lot. Next slide.
And this is
slide deck that I've used before and you're the Bloomington Arts Commission so I probably don't need
to explain to you how the depth and breadth and effect that art has on people so we can skip this slide.
We raise awareness about climate change through artistic expression in workshops and events. We always
educate. We
hope to inspire and empower people to become agents of sustainability. We partner with like-minded
non-profits, and I'm gonna just give you a list of the non-profits that we have partnered with in the
three years that we've been in business. We partner with Canopy Bloomington Sierra Club, Sycamore Land
Trust here, Center for Sustainable Living, Sass Press, Audubon, Hilltup Garden,
We've done something at Lotus Blossoms, Jacobs School of Music. We are partnering with a group called
Net Impact at IU. MC Iris contracted to do some education, but our instructor canceled. And we're partnering
with a lot of new groups via Lilly's project. So next slide. We serve artists.
We serve communities. We have a lot of partners who you just heard of. We've had, and this was an August
slide deck, 156 people have joined us at one time. That means paid money and donated. Right now we have
85 of them that are current. So I sort of, you know, they rotate through and so I need to bump some
people. Some will stay on, some will come on you. But right now we have 85 currently paid members
And 31 of those are lifetime. Next slide. We were founded in 2022 by a group of artists. We started
doing grassroots workshops. We have done a lot since. We've had five total art shows. We've had more
than 22 workshops now. I think it's up to 26.
And we do children's events. We did Middle Way House. We've done all kinds of things. And our exhibitions
include musical performances, too. Next slide. So these are just the programs we have offered. We offer
workshops, art shows.
And we've done some legislative outreach with Sierra Club, that which we can do as a 501C3. And these
are the 24, 25 highlights. In 2025 now, we've had four workshops, two musical performances, two panel
talks. We did Lotus Blossoms last spring. We've had a film screening, four tabling events,
We have an art sale at Bloomington Fine Arts Supply and with the IU Group we're planning a bake sale
and some other things. Next. Some programs and initiatives. We've got Brushes for a Better Planet that
you can see and Lily will go into that. Another very big one is this Midwest Climate Art Consortium
which is in process right now. We're in the planning phase with a group of
people from Louisville and Cincinnati and Chicago, as well as some others. So we are hoping to share
resources with other nonprofits and scientists. So we have some scientists groups there, too. So that's
a very exciting thing. Next. So our visions are to expand our regional collaborations so that we can
get more bang for our bucks in our efforts.
Partner with scientists, Lily will talk more about that. Collaborate with groups to launch traveling,
some traveling climate art shows. I could say more about that, I won't. Continue to offer educational
programming and engagement and work toward climate policy integration. That's it. I introduce you to
Lily Shan, whose project we're supporting.
Good evening, everyone, and thank you to Carol for providing some information. Artist for Climate Awareness
was just serving as a fiscal sponsor for Brushes for a Better Planet. Next slide, please. So I want
to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Lily Shan. I'm a PhD student at IU in geography. And
last year, I was a Fulbright-Neruda scholar in India, where I first conceptualized Brushes for a Better Planet.
So Brushes for a Better Planet is a global initiative that brings together artists, researchers, and
communities together to co-create visual stories about climate justice. For some context, I study climate
change and how water scarcity impacts women in tribal and rural India. And from my research there, I
learned that art was a transformative tool to foster and create knowledge about climate change. Many
of the communities that I work with are illiterate, so art became not just a form of expression, but
a tool to encapsulate the lived experiences of women there.
From my work in the university setting in Washington, D.C., I realized how inaccessible climate research
is to the communities we need it the most. And art was a crucial bridge to get this data, research,
and facts back into the hands of the community. Upon learning this, I worked very closely with another
arts organization, Coimbatore Paints, and artist and curator Natalie Callahan to produce a climate and
art workshop as well as an exhibition.
The inaugural session of BPP resulted in 25 workshop participants from a diverse range of 40 attendees
to the exhibition, including NGOs and environmental researchers, and a community mural depicting
a sustainable community. We brought in 15 local artists and received sponsorships from art suppliers,
caterers, and the Fulbright Commission, allowing us to put on a community art event while additionally
disseminating and raising awareness of environmental issues.
And I was supposed to stop there until many of the attendees there actually came up to me asking how
they can get involved further and what the next steps are going to be. And with that I realized that
art is not just a tool to raise awareness of climate change impacts, but it can be the spark that encourages
further action.
I had already planned to move to Bloomington, and I realized I didn't want the B2P to end. And so I
got in touch with numerous IU partners and artists for climate awareness. After working very closely
with different groups throughout the city, we developed a comprehensive Earth Month programming that
engages both researchers, artists, and the public to embody and fight for climate justice in our community.
From this, I was able to apply for nine grants, host a workshop at IU in October, and table at a variety
of events in the ACA.
At this current moment, we see public funding for environmental research and arts being cut to an all-time
low, meaning some of the cross-cutting research taking place may never reach the eyes of the public,
and even if it does, how are we going to communicate it? Our Earth Month programming, specifically keeping
in mind Bloomington's local ecologies as a college town and arts hub in mind, aims to bridge this.
Our first event, the Hackathon, aims to bridge researchers and artists together to form a direct link
of collaboration. The premise is simple, pairing environmental researchers at IU and local environmental
organizations with local artists to create visual and artistic representations of climate justice and
climate research. With partnerships from ESSI and the Ostrom workshop, we are recruiting researchers
from IU to take artists on field trips throughout the month of March to show them what their research
is on and how climate justice manifests in Bloomington.
Following the field trips, dedicated studio time will be set aside in the Ostrom workshop every two
weeks leading up to the exhibition, allowing for space and time for the artists and researchers
to collaborate on what their final piece will look like. These pieces will be put on display at ACA's
Animal Earth Month exhibition at the end of April for the public to enjoy and learn about the art and research.
But we hope these collaborations go farther than usual. With this programming, we hope to forge lasting
partnerships between artists and climate researchers at IU to continue to work together, apply for grants,
and ensure that climate justice is realized. This is the first of its kind, and we hope to be able to
create a sustainable model to partner with the university and other local organizations in Bloomington
in the future. Next slide, please.
The second component of our programming is the workshops specifically engaging the youth of Bloomington.
We hope to host at least three workshops in partnership with local art teachers and environmental
organizations to teach the public about environmental issues through arts. We have already hosted one
workshop at IU for IU students where we brought in Ava Hartman from Kennedy Bloomington and Diana Ojeda
from IU. At this workshop we had 15 participants.
We additionally have tabled at Science Fest, where we're hosted annually by IU, where kids got to make
their own climate comics to help them learn about climate change through coloring. These workshops would
aim to engage the youth in creative ways of thinking about climate change with the main objective to
inspire change. Next slide, please. The final component is public art. Knowledge, especially climate
research, deserves to be in the hands of the public, and the public deserves to co-create this knowledge.
Thus, we are working with the Sustainability Commission to develop a standard mural with a local artist
for their annual Earth Month celebration, allowing for the public to actively help create art that reflects
climate justice. In addition, we are working extensively with Midwest Fable to develop a planetary healing
interactive installation in Fathom Square Mall. ACA's Earth Month exhibition will also be open to the
public, allowing for the community to see the research and art that has been created as a part of the
Earth Month programming.
Through all this programming, we aim to elevate local artists to be a part of climate justice discussions
and contribute their unique ways of knowing and understanding that translates into visual and tangible
products for the public to also enjoy. We want to continue to work with the public, youth, and artists
and researchers to create a sustainable and just community in Bloomington. And this is just the first
step. Next slide.
As we continue to plan our Earth Month programming, we are in need of some things. First of all, funding.
I don't need to stress how important it is that artists are compensated that for their time, especially
as public arts funding decreases across the country. The second thing is marketing. We want to hear
from the public, and we want them to come to our events. So marketing is crucial to ensure people know
of the opportunities available. And finally, partnerships. We have a few partnerships already established
at the university and in the local community, but we would love to partner with the commission to help
make some of these events possible.
Next slide. As I conclude and open up the time for questions, I want to leave you all with this quote
from Bertolt Brecht. Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it. Through
this programming, we hope to shape our climate and environment's realities by driving and fostering
spaces for change through the power of collaboration in art. Thank you. Bravo. Thank you. Thank you.
questions from the group? Okay. So you're going to be at Earth Day next year in partnership with the city.
Yeah, so we're still waiting on a grant to make sure from Arts Midwest to see if we're able to do the
Sand Art mural because we did reach out to the commission and they didn't have funding for it. But hopefully
we'll be able to get that grant and have an appearance at that switcher park event. I think we have
plenty of support for that. And we have a group of Girl Scouts participating in the Sand Art mural.
Oh, great. Cool. I've got a couple of questions, but I'm
I wonder if any commissioners have questions first. Cool. How can we support you? So honestly, the first
thing is definitely marketing. One of the biggest things is we want the public involved in as many of
these events as possible. And currently, I'm still working with the Austrian workshop to finalize the
dates for the hackathon, but we want the public to also come on these field trips so they can see researchers
in action as well. The second thing is also,
Just if you have any sort of events that we would be able to table at or spread awareness around, that
would be awesome as well. Because most of our connections actually come from the tabling events. Oh,
that's great. Yeah. So those are at the basic level of the biggest support that we need. Awesome. Cool.
Thank you. I know Chaz has your contact information. So as you're doing a promotion, just share it with
her. And we'll make sure that you're on our Instagram page. You can always tag us and reshare your posts.
We're also always happy to include blurbs in our newsletters, and we're also happy to come show up at
the event. We have an arts project grant cycle that will launch in February of 26. So it might be a
little too late, but it might be something I would just encourage you to check out if retroactive payments
of things is something
you're open to. But that's all about just funding projects that have a very public-facing component.
So it sounds like a good candidate for that. And then have you already tagged specific artists to work
with in the community?
Yeah, so for the Sand Art Mural, we're working with Sarah Sethi McQueen, and then for Midwest Mabel,
they have a few artists that they're working with for the eco-anxiety healing installation. And then
I know Carol has a bunch of artist contacts, and so we're hoping to tap into that for the hackathon
component as well. We're also working with performers and a biology professor for
a program based on following a researcher through springtime frog season. And then they create music.
That's cool. Thank you. So I know that Artists for Feminine Awareness, you are a 501C3, right? Yes.
Is your group a 501C3? No. OK. Cool. Yeah, I only asked it just because of our operations grant cycle
as well. Right. So we're the fiscal sponsor. Right. Yeah. They're under that umbrella.
Yeah. Yeah. So I think, and I think we do, do we allow, yeah, we allow fiscal sponsors. Yeah, we do.
We do. Yeah. So. Yeah. Okay. Because, yeah. Right. This is an aside, but do you happen to have Ben Brabson
on your. Yes. In your group? Fine. I just wanted to. Yes. Yeah. He's a, he's a great supporter. Yeah.
That's great. Yeah. And he, and I'm sorry if I missed this, but have you guys
We talked with the, oh my gosh, what's Dina's? Dina. Dina. Boss. Dina. Boss. Yeah. We did a presentation
in August with Ben Brabson and Dina and David. Right. Yes. We're going to show it's the best space.
OK. We've got to make sure you're aware of them. Because I know there was a lot of artists involved
with that. Like, there's a stained, the little tiger glass work, stained art, stained glass art.
I'm wondering, there are many organizations involved with environmental protection and awareness. And
I'm wondering whether you're in contact with them as you try to publicize your events. Yes. Yes. We
work through each other, luckily through social media.
In the last several months, organizations around the country have gotten in touch with me and said,
let's work together and see what we can do. So it's getting very exciting, right? And there are many
organizations, and we really need to work together at this time. Yeah. Thank you.
And yeah, we've been partnering with some local environmental organizations as well as environmental
organizations affiliated with IU in particular. So I had a list on the screen, but some of the programs
we're partnering with is the Environmental Sustainability Society Institute, the Environmental Futures
Program, the Alsham Workshop. The Environmental Resilience Institute is also an environmental partner.
I've been meeting with them.
in two weeks, and so different components, but we're also hoping to get more involved with the local
organizations, such as Canopy Bloomington, because I think that's also a very important aspect of the
community-driven art. Yeah, yeah. In our workshops, in our events, we always have somebody come in.
And so I've brought in Canopy Bloomington, Sycamore Land Trust, Sierra Club, and many others as well.
So yeah, it's strength in numbers.
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like for a lot of your events, I mean, some of them are site-specific, like
the sand art at Switchyard. But for your workshops and things like that, is needing a space, is that
an issue that you come up against? Or do you usually have a good space to host your events? We have
an agreement with Ivy Tech at 501C3.
where we're able to essentially just pay a very small amount per participant for their services, for
their registration and marketing and facilities. So it's wonderful. And also Pillar Arts. Yeah, I would
just throw out, if you're looking to host a public event,
and just needed a space, maybe not necessarily like an art studio space, but a space, I would recommend
the Cook Center in Maxwell Hall as a space to reach out to. Thank you. Good projects. It's so nice to
see art as activism. Yes, exactly. Exactly. It is art as activism, and art sort of is
OK, thank you. Keep us posted. This is really exciting. Thank you so much for making time. Thank you
so much for letting us talk to you. Yeah, thank you for making time. You're doing awesome stuff. Thanks.
Great. Agenda item number five, an update from your public art interim chair, Christina. Hello. Christina,
take it away. Yeah. So the main focus is just the convention center and just to kind of update where
we are with that. So the call is live. And we're getting some applications there. And that will stay
open until Monday the 17th.
And so again, this is a large-scale installation. The budget is around $400,000, so that's exciting.
And then also just remember to just tell your friends, like artist friends, who you feel like are qualified
and can apply. So that's that. As far as selection process, moving on to the next step in that process,
what we'll do is we'll kind of talk more about that
at the Public Arts Subcommittee, but we do want to be able to have the BAC involved in that process
and kind of like do a run through of that. This is being run through the Capital Improvement Board,
so it's not necessarily the city's money, it's theirs. And so just kind of putting that out there. And
then we kind of want to be able to narrow down the finalists to five finalists
submit proposals for the full artwork. And then the last few things was just our meeting on Friday,
November 15th at 1215 for this public arts subcommittee meeting. And then right afterward, it'll be
following the strategic goals task force at one. So those are the only things I have. Any questions
for Sina? How did the block party work out?
Oh, the Trump administration's block party. It actually was pretty good. So this was the block party
that Nick Blanford shared about last month. There was a lot of attendance. I was actually really heartened
and surprised. But I do think that one thing that was suggested at the October meeting was you're going
to need more modes to get public feedback, and that was a correct
assessment. And so I am only peripherally involved in that process at this moment in time, but I do
communicate with Nick regularly. And we have a meeting on the books just to talk about learning lessons
from that experience and just kind of next steps moving forward. Yeah, he learned a lot, too, on what
to do and what not to do. So he's great.
pretty well attended. Then it got kind of cold. Yeah, it was nice. The weather wasn't too bad. It's
hard on gallery walk though. It's true. It was not the good for gallery walk idea. It was not at all.
It was, we were... The weather or the block party? The block party. With the gallery walk. It was too
diluted. We just don't need more... Some of the people in Bloomington for... Yeah, we don't need more
things on one... All on the same day. I'm happy
I am equally happy and exhausted by how many things there are to do on a given night of Bloomington,
especially Gallery Walk. But I definitely found myself having to see so many things that night that
I didn't have the energy to really get anything out of any of the things, because it was just like,
dipping, dipping, dipping, dipping. But I can share that. I'm sure he's already thinking about that,
but I'm happy to share that feedback.
It's not only up to him, it's also IU. But it's ultimately up to IU for some of these things. What did
you say, for some reason? I said for some of these things. Sorry. I want to share one other thing about
the Convention Center. We've gotten 60 applications so far. Dang.
Wow. Coming in. It's not going to slow down before the 17th. I'm just kind of bracing myself for an
onslaught of the 17th, both of applications, but also questions and glitches. So we're ready. And we'll
talk more about the process and how we're going to handle that volume of applications on Friday. That's
exciting. Yeah, that's exciting. Wow. Yeah, yeah. OK. Yeah. A lot of really robust.
Qualified applicants, it's really exciting to see just the type of folks who are applying to this. And
it's from all over, all over. Yeah, yeah, it's really cool. Well, good job with the call out then, if
you got that many people. Oh yeah, all you did, it's such a great job. Yeah, let me try. Yeah, that's
too good of a job.
those new venues, new outlets. Oh, yeah, yeah. Koda Works is just, people love that. And a couple others
that were recommended to me are just, yeah, that makes a huge difference. That's awesome. Yeah. That's
exciting. Yeah. I guess, hopefully, something good. Yeah. We'll definitely get something good.
Also, I just clap for Holly because it's also juggling a thing. It's not the city doesn't own it. Like
it's from the Monroe County Fund funding. So Holly has also a little control on some of this. And so
I just want to say good job. Kudos to her because it's hard work. And thank you all for helping her
on that too, because I think it needs to be said, you know, it's just the format of this is a little
funny. It's not a city only thing. And so. Yeah. Good job, Holly.
Representing the Arbo. But thanks to the commissioners for just helping us develop a robust process
that we can share. Claps for everybody. And act with them. Yeah. I'm clapping for Alfie. Any more for
Christina or anything else on public art? OK, great. Yep, perfect. Moving on to agenda item number six.
I am going to present on behalf of Leila, who is en route to Paris. A little jealous. Okay, so as Holly
noted, the operations cycle, the sort of the package
of funding has been expanded a little bit from, I think, what we had initially budgeted and compiled.
It is on the screen currently. I'll note a couple quick things. One is, out of the 20 groups, there
were two groups that we opted not to fund. And actually, they don't appear on this list.
note on that was we found them to they didn't have arts as sort of the primary focus of you know of
their organization and sort of given that and the need expressed by a lot of fantastic candidates we
opted to not fund those and then the groups that are on here I think based on a combination of assessment
assessment of need and just sort of the
organizational capacity from the reviewers and their operating budgets is how we arrived at the amounts
that we did. So the higher ones went to highly rated groups with large budgets. And yeah, all in all,
we're looking at a funding package of around $48,000 with a couple groups getting the maximum of $5,000 and then
I think our lowest amount is $500, and that's for a group that's just emerging and has a very small
operating budget. Any initial thoughts, questions? It's nice to see the Creative Class Center being
supported. How many people are getting funded? Eighteen organizations.
Great. They were all really very robust applications. Yeah. I mean, kind of similar in talking about
how we've improved our call-out process. I think we've done a good job of not just refining our grants
process, but also teaching the people who apply. We've seen much, much better responses, which in some
ways makes our job a little bit harder, but in a good way. So OK, so. Just to say that.
this was an outstanding group of applications. Quite heartening to see how many organizations there
are doing good work across a whole variety. Yes. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
So yeah, if there aren't any more questions or comments about this, I'm going to ask the grants
subcommittee members who are here to vote on this. So any other comments? Okay, then I will go ahead
and motion to approve the funding package. Can I get a verbal second from a committee member? Second.
Thank you, Betsy. All right, so all in favor of the funding package here, say aye. Aye. Any opposed,
say nay. All right, great. Thanks all.
Our coffers are empty. Oh, yes, I did. I know we had a conversation earlier in the year when the NEA
and IAC things started to happen. I wish we could have done a completely like fort.
all the grant commissioners would have loved if we did another grant cycle. But I just found this was
an opportunity. We had a little extra money in the budget, and I just thought this was the appropriate
way to spend it. And now I have zero money, but that's OK, because it's November. And we still have
a budget for the artist party. Yeah, so I mean, pending any issues with folks declining awards, which
I don't think we foresee. I think this year we should be spending all of our grant funds, and then some.
Yeah, and then some.
actually, this is a little bit of a tangent. So some of our funds, so most of the funds, well, you've
seen it on the budget thing. So our funds for grants come from these sources. They come from the general
fund category. They come from a local income tax that we have. But then a portion also come from the
Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association. And that is like a tax that is available to residents and like
businesses that live in that zone pay that tax. But then those taxes go to fund different types of things,
including some of our arts grants. And so in addition to finding some extra money in my general fund
budget to cover these, the VUEA also offered to cover more. So that's great. Yeah. And now that it's
been approved, is there any viability of the money getting out before Christmas?
I have an email scheduled to be sent to our lawyer tomorrow at 9 AM saying, hey, it was approved. Here's
the template of the contracts. Here are all the grad applications. Here's the numbers and the names.
What is it going to take? Yeah, it's our hope, but it's we are, Gerard and I are also talking about
having a conversation, and Legal is very open to this, having a conversation with them at the beginning
of next year just to talk about how we can really expedite this process. Again, I think the BAC has
experienced this in a lot of different ways this year. I don't think there are any new rules. I think
this administration is just taking a different approach to how they follow them. And so I think we're
just trying to
It's been enough to spend as much time with them understanding that so we can create more efficient
processes for everybody that isn't leaving anybody behind. And do we have an outlet where this is a
broadcast, like these are announced? We always do a press release. And then at the party at the end
of the year, that's like when we honor them and we have a little slideshow.
What I'm observing is this is becoming significant, particularly in hard times for culture. And I think
it would be good if more of the community got to know it, if the local paper took it on and stuff. So
we've been talking about that sort of thing. So we always do a press release on it, because this is
a worthy thing that people should know. It's up to the press to pick it up. That being said, there's also
talks on trying to work with the mayor's office to like get out the word more so that I'm gonna flag
for us like maybe there's possibility we talk to the comms in the mayor's office and be like hey arts
has had a rough year like everything else maybe we could yeah I don't know maybe we could like have
them do a spot somehow have them with their contacts maybe be like hey newspaper hey whatever maybe
do a spotlight on this but
So that's something we've been thinking about. So yeah, that might be something we can help facilitate
and let them know that, hey, you could do this arts feature maybe on at least the operating support
grant and how the VBA gave more money and this is really needed and blah, blah, blah. So potentially, yeah.
we could potentially. We'll also do a presentation to council in early 26, just kind of like recounting
to them how our grant school has grown over the past year, how we've evolved to fit their needs as they
change and evolve. We'll do that. Also, Chesson are going to be interviewed tomorrow for a new WFIU
podcast to talk about arts, so we can talk about that too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Nice work. Nice work.
And also, this is a note, I think if you have any contacts and people you know, you can always send
them the press release or tell them, because sometimes it's hard for us to also have to act as our own
press people. With that being said, yeah, feel free if you know anyone or like you know someone at Limestone
Post or at Bloom, tell them that. Now I'm saying that with mother-in-law rights for Bloom.
So someone email her, I feel like that's a, I can't say that, but you know her, email her. But yeah,
if you can help us out with anything like that and trying to get out the word, that would be great too,
because, and also, yeah, or WFHB or other things, like we're happy to talk to them, but also, as you
as our ambassadors, you beautiful BAC people, you know, get out there and tell them Elm Arts Matter,
because we also need some data, so this is why it's good that we spent all our money,
The data is, the artists and the artworks need it. So no one can say no to that fact. There's so much
gloom and doom out there that it's really nice to see someone being, or organizations being bolstered.
Some of them have pretty big budgets. But this is, again, a step in the right direction for our funds
going to support art in our community. All those different aspects. There's music. There's craft.
I think there are a couple of ways to think about helping the community know more about what is going
on. And one was there was just a splendid article about the budget and how the budget was being set
up. It had a long, long, long part about art and the importance of art. I thought for sure that Hallie
was the ghostwriter for that. It was really very, very little. Where was it? Pardon me? Where?
was in the Herald Times. I think also, though, that one of the things that the paper does rely on is
people providing stuff to them. And we might think about or ask Holly and others to think about sometimes
developing press releases, which is
gets the text, that gets the kind of flavor we want things to have, and then bring it on over. I think
that I've seen other organizations be very successful in letting the people at the paper know. And it's
partly a matter of figuring out. And I don't know who it is, but figuring out who is the person who
would be the person who would pick up on this for us. Yeah. There's one person who's just kind of known
for writing about arts things. And so anytime there's a big thing, I always reach out to her individually
and say, hey, here's a press release. We also, so economic and sustainable development, there is a column.
I think this is probably the column you're talking about, Paul. There's a weekly column called It's
Your Business. And that's like, that column is shared between our department, Downtown Bloomington,
Inc., the mill,
and a couple other folks. And we basically all fight for who gets to write it. So first, it's a fight
of who gets what week. And then it's a fight of who and which department gets to write the thing. And
so Jane Coopersmith is actually the one who wrote that article. But any time one of those slots comes
available, I'm like, hey, hey, hey, hey. Got my spiel. Also, we do do a lot in French. This is a fun
fact that I must tell you, because I have this knowledge in my brain.
The city does so many press releases, only about half of them get picked up, which is why part of it's
not press releases, part of it's making those connections. We have in the mayor's office our comms people
for the city. Lucas used to work in Indian as a reporter and he's awesome and he did a presentation
recently on how, that's why I'm kind of saying just for some background that making more personal
things like Holly was that reporter, emailing them too directly to be like, hey, you might be interested
in this. It's going to be much more effective for some of these things. So we're kind of moving away
from that route because they literally looked at the last year's press releases. Only half were picked
up. Some don't need to be press releases. Some do. But I think for some of these more feel-good stories
that are also factual, just making sure we somehow figure out ways to tell people about it, it's an
ongoing thing, though.
you know, how do we make sure the residents know what's up. So yeah, this is good to talk about. And
I appreciate that. But yeah, we just had a thing on press releases. I am like, so I mean, one thing
I realized that we don't really do is like, I don't know that we like share when those press releases
go out, I don't think we really share them internally. I'm wondering if this if like, because you all
get those because there's also like a city list of people that are supposed to
Yeah. OK. We'll pay for the Herald Times, because you can get a free login through the library. Oh,
really? Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I'm pretty sure, because I know Leila, for example, gets the press release.
I don't want to get all the city press releases. You don't? You don't want to know why the water tastes
like coconut this month?
We can try to... We can... Yeah, we can set that up. We can do that. We can figure it out. Well, I mean,
if I get them, I can put them at least in our midpoint email. That would make total sense. So if you
just want to, if you just like, I don't know, you can just send them to me. That's a good idea. Yeah,
right. A curated selection. Yeah, right.
They're all important citizens. That's why we don't want to overload people with things. Press releases
have a place, and so that's why. That's part of this ongoing discussion. So just so you know. Anyway,
thank you. Do those live on the city website? Yes, they do. There's an archive. And also, what I try
to do, and I could probably just prepare this folder if you guys ever wanted to take the time to look
through it.
I try to archive all of ours just in one central folder. We can look those up. Yeah. But it is also
like, if you Google City of Bloomington, hope well. You'll get the press releases, and then you'll get
others' takes. Yeah, I'll just pull them up, I'm sure. The city is also redoing the website, because
it's kind of hard to super search some of this sometimes.
Next year hopefully we'll have a new website and it'll be easier to find some of these things,
just FYI. Things just always take forever because it's government, but I think a lot of these things
will be helped in getting out the word by things we have planned for the future. It's just not helpful
right now, but you know. We are thinking about this and talking about it and trying to do things, but
it doesn't always go quickly or maybe it's the right thing, so we're trying.
Any other questions or comments on grants? All right. Lieutenant, item number seven, from your chair.
All right, we'll keep this short. I got three quick things here. So one is actually, it's an events
thing, but I just wanted to make a note of it. November 21st, at the Waldron Center, they are having
a Boards and Commissions Appreciation Night. In case you all didn't get the email,
Yeah, I came out if I remember to throw that in the midpoint email. But, yeah. Okay, great. Yeah, if
you can try to make an appearance at that, it's a nice thing to go to. What day is it? November 21st.
Is that next Friday? Yeah, man, it's not a day. What? It was what you got last year. Yeah.
Yeah, I think I've never seen that. It's like a drop-in thing, right? Oh, yeah. I'm going to re-send
you. It's at the top of your mailbox right now. Perfect. All right, yeah, second thing, as Christina
noted, the task force is meeting this Friday after the public art meeting. And we're going to be drafting
our list of goals for the next year, too. So yeah, it's happening.
Excited about that. And lastly, just as a reminder, we are inching closer to January 30, which is sort
of the turnover date for a number of our commissioners. So I know that we'll be saying goodbye to Leila.
And then I will be stepping down this chair. So that is two.
Two leadership positions that will be open. Would love for folks in the group to consider stepping into
those roles. Agenda item number eight, upcoming events and important dates. I just mentioned the, yeah,
need to update this. I think I'm doing such a good job in that.
Time moves fast. So we have the event on November 21st. We have the event on December 10th. Any other
art events of note people want to mention and bring up at this time? Well, this weekend is a kind of
crafts and artists event over at the convention center. Oh, OK.
What is it? I think they tore the place up with lots of things by artists. Was that the handmade market?
No, this is different. I think this is when a bunch of different craft guilds get together and do...
Oh, it did? But is there another thing? Probably knowing this community. There's too many of those things.
I do. Somebody put a stop to it. Or make them all do it at one time.
What's that? The African American Arts Institute, all their ensembles. The Dance Company, The Soul Review,
and The Choir. If you haven't seen them, they're fantastic. Like, really, really good. What day is that?
Saturday. It's 7.30.
Yeah, I mean, they're all great. Soul Review in particular just like blows me away. There's also some
like author talks. Is that on there? There's like a bunch that have any names referred to in there.
Sorry, it's a nice letter. Oh, yeah, right. That has a bunch of names. That is always with the scan.
Thank you. Any other events of note the folks want to bring up?
I'm giving a talk about how my degree in Classics got me to where I am today, in Indianapolis,
next Saturday. Shut up. I'm very excited to talk about going to Latin Forum when I was a senior in high
school. That's fun. Where is it going to be? It's at Butler University. Oh, go girl. I'm so excited.
That's awesome. There's a movie, Sun, Saturday, called Freedoms Under Assault. Oh, yeah. It's amazing.
I've seen it. Did you see it yet? I didn't see it yet. Oh my gosh. It's so good. Is that the VCT? Yeah,
the 15th at two. Eek.
I think it's at two o'clock. I got an email about it. Unfortunately, I mean, I don't know if anyone
cares about football, but it is right in the middle of a football game. Perfect timing. But it's Jeremy
Hogan. It's mostly his footage of the protests that happened at the beginning of last school year in
Dun Meadows campus.
It's amazing footage. It's horrifying. A lot of great interviews with professors concerning Pamela Witten
and the way she's directing IU. So that's at two? Yeah, I think it's at two o'clock. It's... A bus crew?
Yeah, it was shown once already and it was packed. It was full house. It's just really an amazing documentary.
Very current, very current. Yeah, his footage is killer. Yeah, it's really, it's great. It's kind of
horrifying, but awesome. It's like an hour and 10 minutes. Yeah. And the Buskirk Jumlee Theater, we
donated the time.
for the second showing and the cost of the staff and everything. Love Bohem, I think, has two
more performances at the MET this weekend. Anyone wants to go with me on Friday? No? What's Love Bohem?
Oh, is it good? Is it good? I haven't seen it. Oh, OK. What's that?
It's the Mac the Musical Arts Center, where they do opera performances a couple times a year. Yeah.
I'm sure it'll be great. Yeah. I'm sure it will be. Yeah. It was good. OK, good. Oh, because Elliot
set it down. Yes, so. Did you make her jealous? It's like, what's happening? Drink some fancy Oliver
wine. That's lovely. Bark.
Thank you for entering that. There is a house exhibit, an event called Tending, and that is going to
happen on Saturday from 7.30 to 10 or 10.30 or something. It's a fundraiser for SNAP, actually, and
it's being curated by Faye Gleiser,
at IU, and it's really going to be fun, I think. It's just sort of a very cool. Everything will be for
sale? You know, I don't even know. I don't think we're even thinking about sales, but maybe.
I'll ask her. Anyway, just a few artists are putting things up, and there's, I think, a performance
and stuff like that. And I forgot the address. I've got that information somewhere. You do? OK. Thanks for that.
It's a cool idea, and I just love the idea of that. OK, great. Moving on to commissioner announcements.
Would anyone like to announce anything? I'd like to announce that this meeting is over six minutes.
We did it again.
Yeah, look at us. He's almost all of our time. Wow. Things to talk about. Okay. Do we have any public?
No. No public. That's a new thing, right? I feel like the last couple meetings got people keeping their INS.
That's good. I appreciate the relative calm. Let's keep it that way for December, too. Okay. Well, I
will go ahead and motion to adjourn the meeting then. Can I get a second? Second. Gretchen thirds it.
All right. This meeting is adjourned. Thanks all.