Meeting Minutes
April 3, 2008
Tallahassee

In Attendance:

Florida Arts Council	Department Staff
James Shaw, Chairman	Sandy Shaughnessy, Director
Jeffrey Tucker, Vice Chairman	Dianne Alborn
Jacqueline Bradley	Rachelle Ashmore
Donald Browning	Don Blancett
Xavier Cortada	Morgan Lewis
Tim Deratany	Lee Modica
Katharine Dickenson	Scott Moore
Janeen Mason	Gaylen Phillips
Jon Ward	Sarah Stage
	Laura Stone
	Patricia Warren

1. Call to Order
   Chairman James Shaw called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m.
2. Introduction of Council, Staff and Guests
   Mr. Shaw asked the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, department staff, and audience members to introduce themselves.
3. Adoption of Agenda

   Chairman Shaw announced that Stephen Hogge would not be able to attend the meeting and asked that item 10B, Public Art Inventory/Guide, be postponed to the next meeting. Mr. Shaw also asked that the agenda items requiring a motion be handled first. Jacqueline Bradley moved approval of the agenda as amended, with Jon Ward seconding. The motion carried.

   Note: for consistency purposes, these minutes will follow the order of the original agenda.

4. Chairman's Comments

   James Shaw thanked all the Council members for their hard work and support over the last several weeks. He reminded the members that they need to be year-round advocates and help educate the Florida Legislature and their staff on the importance of arts funding – be relentless.

   Discussion ensued regarding the following:

   • Inviting Legislators to become involved in local art projects;
   • An idea of creating a video regarding the importance of arts funding in Florida and uploading it on the YouTube Web site; and
   • An idea of creating a scratch-off lottery ticket for the arts.

   Following discussion, the chairman asked for volunteers to serve on a task force to address these ideas.

   Dedicated Funding Task Force

   • Tim Deratany, Chair
   • Don Browning
   • Xavier Cortada
   • Janeen Mason
   • Jim Shaw
5. Department of State Update
   • Division Director Sandy Shaughnessy began her comments by also thanking the Council members, as well as the cultural constituency, for their support of the Division and its budget.
   • She welcomed new Council members Xavier Cortada and Jon Ward.
   • Ms. Shaughnessy met with the Florida Film Commissioner, Lucia Fishburne, to discuss future partnerships, including a possible digital media workshop for individual artists; and she has been appointed Vice Chairman of the board for the Southern Arts Federation, as well as Chairman of the Programs and Services Committee.
   • The Division is not just about grants, the Division is Florida’s official state arts agency. All states and territories have a state arts agency. The Division administers many non-grant related programs such as the Capitol Complex Exhibition Program, Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, etc.
   • Florida plays a major role on the national level with its model programs such as cultural facilities and arts in medicine.
   • To date, the Division has received over 500 grant applications. In response to House proviso language in their appropriation bill, the applications have been categorized by those having components that reach children, seniors, the underprivileged, the underserved, and those with disabilities.
   • Ms. Shaughnessy announced two upcoming conferences
     1. The LEAD Conference, August 21-24, at the Broward Performing Arts Center
     2. Cultural Heritage Tourism Alliance, November 5-8, in Delray Beach
6. Approval of Minutes
   Xavier Cortada moved approval of the November 2007 meeting minutes, with Tim Deratany seconding. The motion was approved.
7. Guest Speaker(s) on Agenda by Special Request
   No requests for appearance before the Council were received.
8. Business Items
   1. Review of Florida Council on Arts and Culture Meeting Calendar
      Chairman Shaw reviewed the upcoming Florida Council on Arts and Culture meeting dates. Discussion ensued regarding the upcoming scheduled to take place via conference call. Following discussion, Don Browning moved to hold meeting in person rather than by teleconference, if the budget allows. Tim Deratany seconded the motion, which passed.
      
      Xavier Cortada suggested the possibility of meeting in Miami during Art Basel, November 2009. Jacqueline Bradley suggested inviting key legislators to attend as well.
   2. 2007-08 Grants Program Budget Update
      Don Blancett presented an update on the 2007-08 grants program budget.
   3. 2008-09 Proposed Grants Program Budget
      Don Blancett presented an outline of the 2008-09 grants program budget. Once the Legislative Session concludes, the budget amounts will be filled in according to budget allocations and presented at the next meeting.
      
      At a prior Council meeting, members requested an explanation of how dollars are distributed throughout the grants budget. Mr. Blancett announced that Division staff had prepared a presentation on fund allocations to be presented under Tab 10.
   4. Florida Cultural Endowment Program
      Don Blancett reported that the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Inc. and Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Inc., both in Palm Beach County, had applied for, and met the requirements to receive Cultural Sponsoring Organization (CSO) designation.
      
      Jeff Tucker moved approval of the designation. Janeen Mason seconded the motion, which was approved.
   5. Art in State Buildings Program Recommendations
      Lee Modica reported that five selections of artwork were made for the following locations: Department of Transportation (1), Florida Atlantic University (6), Florida International University (7), Florida State University (1), and the University of Florida (11) for a total of $237,638. Ms. Modica assured the Council that all required procedural forms had been collected, reviewed and accepted, documenting that established procedures were followed for these selections.
      
      Janeen Mason moved approval of the selection process. Katharine Dickenson seconded the motion. The motion was approved.
   6. Governmental Affairs Report
      Patty Warren reviewed the list of legislative bills filed to date during the current session that could potentially affect either the Division of Cultural Affairs and/or Florida’s cultural community.
      
      Ms. Warren also reviewed the Division of Cultural Affairs’ Legislative Budget Request for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
9. Grant Panel Reports
   
   1. Quarterly Panel Reports (QA)
      James Shaw, Panel Chairman, reviewed the report as follows:
      
      Review of the Fourth Quarter Quarterly Assistance Grant Program applications took place on February 27, 2008, with committee members Lee Modica, Laura Stone and Sarah Stage.
      
      Funding was considered for eight Quarterly Assistance applicant organizations with a total request of $31,000. Projects represented a wide range of topics that included music projects, a fish art exhibit, and theatre performances. The committee reviewed each application, with all achieving the threshold minimum of 75 for funding consideration.
      
      Full funding was recommended for the top-scoring mini-grant application in the amount of $1,500. The committee then raised the minimum funding recommendation threshold for Special Project applications for a total amount of $18,000. The committee recommended a total funding amount of $19,500 for five of the applications.
      
      The meeting adjourned at 9:41 a.m.
      
      At the conclusion of his report, Mr. Shaw moved approval of the Quarterly Assistance Program funding recommendations. Jacqueline Bradley seconded the motion, which carried.
      

Quarterly Assistance Program Awards

App # Applicant Name Application Title Applicant County	Request Amount	Average Score	Funding Rec.
Mini Grants
08.5503 City of Panama City African American    Cultural Center Sankofa - The History of Glenwood Bay	$1,500	92.3	$1,500
08.5515 First Coast Opera, Inc. Pirates of Penzance Opera Saint Johns	$1,500	75.0	$0
Special Projects
08.5508 Friends of the Young Musicians' Camp, Inc. Honors Workshop Miami-Dade	$5,000	94.0	$5,000
08.5510 Teatro en Miami Corp Educational Program of Teatro en Miami Corp. 2008-2009: El Reloj Dodecafonico Miami-Dade	$5,000	85.7	$5,000
08.5511 Pier Aquarium, Inc. Counting on Fish Pinellas	$5,000	90.3	$5,000
08.5514 Florida Literary Arts Coalition Florida Writers; Circuit Reading Leon	$3,000	86.7	$3,000
08.5516 ArtSouth ArtSouth Summer Camp Miami-Dade	$5,000	83.3	$0
08.5517 The Naples Players Rising Stars Collier	$5,000	84.3	$0
Funding Total			$19,500

10. Other Business
    
    1. Funding Formulas for Grants Programs

       At the prior request of the Council, a PowerPoint presentation was developed to explain how the budget is determined for each grant program.

       All Division program managers gave a brief presentation regarding their particular program(s) and how the program budgets are determined.

    2. Public Art Inventory/Guide

       This item was postponed until the June Council meeting.

       Katharine Dickenson thanked Chairman Shaw for his leadership and for running an excellent meeting.

11. Public Comment
    Donna McBride, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
    Sherron Long, Florida Cultural Alliance
    Terry Olson, Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs
12. Conclusion
    With no further business, the meeting concluded at 12:00 p.m.