City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: FEBRUARY 17, 2021
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Fiscal Year 2022 Grant Application to the Virginia Commission for the Arts for a Creative Community Partnership Grant for the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities.
BODY
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ISSUE: Consideration of a Fiscal Year 2022 grant application to the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) for funding in the amount of $4,500 for the Creative Community Partnerships Grant.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
(1) Authorize the submission of a grant application in the amount of $4,500 to the
Virginia Commission for the Art’s Creative Community Partnership Grant Program. The grant application deadline is April 1, 2021.; and
(2) Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents that may be
required.
BACKGROUND: For Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, the City is seeking $4,500, the current maximum permitted in the VCA’s Creative Community Partnership Grant category. Through the Creative Community Partnership Grant Program, the VCA will match funds up to $4,500 to local arts organizations who are awarded an arts’ grant from the City of Alexandria in FY 2022. Independent town, city, and county governments are eligible to apply for funding in this category.
The City has received the maximum funding in this grant program from the Virginia Commission for the Arts for the past 41 years. The Alexandria Commission for the Arts (ACA) advises the Office of the Art’s staff on funding appropriations to grant applicants and fully endorses the application submission.
DISCUSSION: The City of Alexandria's Office of the Arts administers the City's Art Grant program. Annually, the Office of the Arts invites grant applications from organizations to fund arts programs in Alexandria. Grants are awarded through a competitive evaluation process and are approved based on available funding.
The goals of the City’s grant program are to strengthen Alexandria's creative capacity by providing its residents with diverse opportunities to meaningfully engage with the arts; to improve the capacity and stability of Alexandria-based arts organizations to create, perform, and present works of artistic excellence and innovation through organizational support and program funding; and, to create a vibrant urban environment by supporting diverse individual artists, organizations, and other entities in the creation, performance, and presentation of high-quality works of art across the City of Alexandria.
Each year approximately 25 to 30 local arts organizations and artists are awarded grants through the City of Alexandria’s Arts Grant program. Funding distribution of the VCA grant award will be to any nonprofit arts organizations who receive a City of Alexandria Arts Grant. If the full VCA award of $4,500 is granted to the City, the appropriation to the organizations will be determined by the grant application scores.
Although the distribution may result in small awards to the arts organizations, the impact can be much greater. With the VCA grant, arts groups can promote that they are a recipient of funds from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and its funder, the National Endowment for the Arts, which can often help arts organizations leverage additional donations.
FISCAL IMPACT: The Virginia Commission for the Arts provides up to $4,500. The City has identified the required matching funds in the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities FY 2022 proposed operating budget.
In addition, the City is also responsible for normal administrative costs associated with this grant. These costs include financial and reporting oversight provided by the administering agency (the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities) as well as the Office of Management and Budget and the Finance Department.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
STAFF:
Debra R. Collins, Deputy City Manager
James Spengler, Director, Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA)
Diane Ruggiero, Deputy Director, RPCA/Office of the Arts
Cheryl Anne Colton, Regional Program Director, RPCA/Office of the Arts