CONSENT CALENDAR
City of San Bernardino
Request for Council Action
Date: December 6, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Charles A. Montoya, City Manager;
Lydie Gutfeld, Director of Parks, Recreation & Community Services
Department: Parks & Recreation & Community Services
Subject: Approve Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts Grant Awards
Recommendation:
Adopt Resolution No. 2023-183 of the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, approving the Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts grant awards to winning applications in the amount of $25,296.
Executive Summary
Award a cumulative total of $25,296 to six winning Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts applications.
Background
The Visual, Performing and Literary Arts (VPLA) Grant provided by the City of San Bernardino Arts & Historical Preservation Commission (AHPC), is funded through the Cultural Development Impact Fund to reengage the art community in the City. For Fiscal Year 2022-2023, $100,000 was allocated for the VPLA grant; nine applications were granted funding for a cumulative total of $72,700. $2,000 of the funding was approved to be used towards Artist participation fees in the First Annual Festival event in October 2023. Along with the approval of grant funding to the nine winning applicants and Festival Artist funding, the Mayor and City Council approved the remaining balance of $25,300 to be available for grant applications from individual artists and non-501c3 entities, for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.
The grant application period opened in August 2023 and closed in September 2023, applicants needed to provide their completed application, reference photos, and supplemental documents as needed. The AHP commission received 13 grant applications for various projects in the City of San Bernardino.
Applicant Name and Project Description Requested
Amount
VPLA
Category
Cory Hollaman - 2020 Vision Youth K-12 Art Classes $ 25,000 VISUAL/MUSI C
Christian Mariscal - Welcome to SB Postcard Mural $ 25,000 VISUAL Freddy Calderon - Exhibition & Workshop for Civil Rights Institute Photography $ 14,225 VISUAL
Heather Andrews-Horton - 2 Murals (Nunez & Perris Hill) $ 20,000 VISUAL Ellen Mckizzie - Self Published Coloring & Poetry Books $ 19,372 LITERARY Edwin Johnson - CHORDS & ICUC - The Hip Hop Shop $ 24,800 MUSIC Alma Rosa Rivera - Publish Collaborative Poetry Book & Documentary $ 25,000 VISUAL/FILM Desiree Decker - CSUSB College Corps - Mural at Elementary School $ 12,000 VISUAL Tristan Acker - Only Empire Now - Music Awards Program & Event $ 25,000 MUSIC Brian Wing - SB Teen Music Workshop - Performing Arts Program Grades 6-12 $ 25,000 MUSIC
Antonio Miles - Thee Empire Podcast - Podcast Operations and Documentary $ 25,800 FILM
Adam Aguilar - Change of Thought Project - City Mural & Documentary $ 25,000 VISUAL/FILM
Bronique Martindale - Produce Performance Events $ 15,756 DANCE Discussion
The total amount of grant funding available is $25,300. The total amount requested from the 13 applicants is $281,953. Because of the limited funding and shortage of scoring responses from the Arts and Historical Preservation Commission, staff decided to split the funding evenly to allow for an even distribution of funds in each area of the VPLA categories (Music, Dance, Visual Art, Theater, Literary Arts, and Film).
The division of funds to be applied to each category of the grant is $4,126. The applicants were asked to respond to an additional questionnaire to determine whether a reduced amount of $4,126 would support their proposal. Of the 13 applicants, two were disqualified for not meeting the eligibility requirement of being an individual artist or non-501c3 organization. Of the remaining 11 applicants, there were no theater proposals; with the visual art area being the most popular, was decided to select two visual art projects to award. Five (5) projects were eliminated for at least one of the following reasons:
1. Residency of the Artist.
2. Non-Response to additional questionnaire.
3. Voluntary withdrawal due to inability to complete the project with less funds.
Based on the remaining categories, responses received from applicants, and considering the three scoring sheets received from commissioners, it is recommended the grant funds be awarded evenly ($4,216) as follows:
1. Music- Music Awards Program & Event (Tristan Acker/Jay Kasai)
2. Dance- Dance Performance Event(s) (Bronique Martindale)
3. Visual Art- Civil Rights Exhibition & Workshop (F. Calderon)
4. Visual Art- Change of Thought Project Mural (Adam Aguilar)
5. Literary Art- Collaborative Poetry Book (Alma Rosa Rivera)
6. Film- Thee Empire Podcast & Documentary (Antonio Thee Miles) The cumulative total of the recommended awards listed above is $25,296. Funds should be dispersed in January with completion of proposed projects by June 31, 2024. A report of completed projects will be presented to the commission no later than September 18, 2024.
2021-2025 Strategic Targets and Goals
The approval of the grant allocations aligns with Goal No. 2: Focused, Aligned Leadership and Unified Community by providing opportunities to an underserved community to engage in participation of visual and performance arts are various community locations throughout the city; and Goal No. 3: Improved Quality of Life whereby the community has access and introduction to art center programs and amenities throughout the city.
Fiscal Impact
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund with this item. Sufficient funding for this item exists within the Cultural Development Fund in the FY23/24 Budget.
Conclusion
Adopt Resolution No. 2023-183 of the Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino, California, approving the Visual, Performing and Literary Arts grant awards to winning applications in the amount of $25,296.
Attachments
1. Attachment 1- Resolution 2023-183 VPLA Grant Awards
2. Attachment 2- VPLA 2023 Grant Application
3. Attachment 3- VPLA mid-year reporting form
Ward:
All Wards
Synopsis of Previous Council Actions:
December 7, 2022 Mayor and City Council of the City of San Bernardino approved the allocation of grant awards in the amount of $25,300 to be used for the next round of grant awards
specifically for individual artists and non-501c3
organizations.