Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Christina McClelland, Director of Arts & Culture
DATE:	November 20, 2014
CC:	Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
RE:	Approve request from Lawrence Art Center to partner with the City of Lawrence for NEA OurTown Grant.

Please place the following item on the November 25, 2014 City Commission consent agenda:

Approve proceeding with request from Lawrence Arts Center to partner with the City of Lawrence for NEA OurTown Grant by authorizing the first step in submittal of the general grant description in December with the understanding that the full grant will be reviewed by the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission and approved by the City Commission prior to final submittal in January 2015.

Background:

The Lawrence Arts Center is requesting approval to partner with the City of Lawrence to apply for a National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town: Arts Engagement, Cultural Planning, and Design” grant, which supports creative placemaking projects that represent the distinct character and quality of a given community and that include a vision for enhancing the livability of that community, a systematic approach to equitable civic development, and support for the integration of art and artists into the fabric of civic life. Applications must be in partnership between a nonprofit organization and a local government entity, one of which is a cultural (arts or design) organization. The highest ranking official of the local government is required to submit a formal statement of support designating the project as the only one being submitted for the local government. Grants are given up to $200,000 with the necessity of the lead partner (i.e., the Lawrence Arts Center), providing matching funds at the rate of 1:1. The second partner (i.e., the City of Lawrence) is not required to provide any matching funds.

The Lawrence Arts Center proposes to partner with the City of Lawrence to apply for a $200,000 grant to support the next phase of the Free State Festival, the project for which the Lawrence Arts Center and the City of Lawrence successfully received “Our Town” funding in 2013. In 2016 and 2017, the Lawrence Arts Center will transition the Free State Festival from a largely regional festival to a national one that will make full use of the new infrastructure built along the 9th Street Corridor as a result of the ArtPlace-funded 9th Street Corridor Project. By enhancing the Festival’s integration into the cultural district’s streetscape, the Lawrence Arts Center will ensure that the Free State Festival highlights the people and places, history and culture, that make Lawrence attractive to businesses, tourists, and potential residents.

The deadline to submit a one sheet Letter of Intent with a project title and one paragraph description required for the first phase of applying to the “Our Town: Arts Engagement, Cultural Planning, and Design” grant opportunity is December 15th, 2014. The full grant proposal must be submitted by January 15, 2015.

Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission preliminarily recommends a partnership between the City and the Lawrence Arts Center for the NEA “Our Town: Arts Engagement, Cultural Planning, and Design” grant, contingent upon the final grant application being reviewed and approved by the LCAC Executive and Grants committees prior to submittal. So, they are recommending to enable the Arts Center to proceed on the first step on the grant submittal, with the understanding that the final grant will be reviewed by the LCAC and approved by the City Commission prior to its January 15, 2015 submittal.

The Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission will also be examining how to establish a better policy for art grant proposals that require a City partner in the future.

Requested Action: