Newbury Cultural Council DRAFT MINUTES
December 1, 2015, Rowley Town Library, 7:00 PM
Present: Pam Jacobson, Joanne Johnson, Kathy Muse, Michael Updike, Zachary Roy, Jeanne Cannell, Diana Lord, Amy Swiniarski, Elizabeth Duff
Absent:
Meeting called to order by Chair Michael Updike at 7:06
Review of Minutes of November 20, 2014
- Motion to approve by Joanne, second by Kathy, unanimously approved.
Review of 2015 approved applications and status of reimbursement
- Open Air Sculpture is the only application outstanding from last year’s reimbursement. They have until mid-January to submit it.
Review of Voting Meeting Calculation sheet
- Joanne reports that there is $4,445 to award this year
- $100 held back for administrative costs (changed to $95 at the end to make awards even.)
Review and Vote on 2016 Applications
- BCAC: equipment 500/3,220
Upgraded curtain recently. Kids need decent equipment as they learn theater. It’s a nice little venue. Worthwhile. Capital. Some in-kind services will be donated. Approved $500
2. BCAC: DJ/Band Cruise night 300/400
Awarded last year as the previous year they had come in under budget with curtain replacement. One of 7 other music proposals. Their other request is approved. Denied.
- Cantemus tickets 400/50,786
Michael and Joanne recuse themselves from this vote. Will give 20 tickets to library to give out. Library supports but only if it does not count against their own grant request. Shows are in Hamilton & Newburyport. What are the criteria of who gets the tickets? How many LCCs are they hitting up? They have a lot of other income sources. Denied.
- Denis Cormier: Hands on History @ NES 250/350
Only history themed request. Kids loved it last year. Lot of bang for the buck. Approved $250
- Delvena Theater Company: Mae West @ Senior Center 450/450
- Has done different performances for Senior Center. They are supposed to be wonderful. Good reputation. No alternate source of funding. Open to all members of the community. 100 of them will benefit from a free performance. Approved $450
6. Ruth Harkovitz: Songs of WWII @ Senior Center 550/550
Not really supported by the Senior Center (she was pushy) Denied.
7. Stephen Lewis: Poster exhibit @ NTL 50/60
Has asked for more in the past to put on his display. Impressive. Approved $50.
8. Merrimack Valley Philharmonic: 55th season 200/45,150
Andover is outside our service area. There are a lot of other musical requests. Denied.
9. COA: Tickets to Choral Society concert 300/400
Joanne is recused. Were able to attend both Christmas and Spring concerts last year. Senior Center provides transportation. Board and Director choose recipients who could not afford tickets otherwise. Approved $300.
10: NES: Li Liu Chinese acrobatics 1,345/1,345
Reaches the entire Elementary School. That is a lot of money. They have the support of PTA if RCC cannot support. Only dance themed request. Partial award $650
11: NTL: Roman Music Therapy 1,150/1,150
Only request from the Library. Music therapy for ages 5 and under. Only grant for this age group. Partial award $400.
12. Newburyport Chamber Music Festival 300/33,600
Week long event in August in Newburyport. Lots of venues around town, some free and some for pay. Commission new works. World class pianist. Partial award $200
13. Newburyport Choral Society: Beethoven Concert @ Belleville CC 300/29,250
Joanne recuses herself. Partial funding $200.
14. Newburyport Literary Assn.: Newburyport Literary Festival 300/39,000
Only Literary themed request. Quality program. Partial funding $250
15. Theater in the Open: Spring Panto @ Maudslay SP 500/6,500
Four weekends in June. A lot of local kids, tweens & teens participate. They hit up a lot of other LCCs. We have funded them the last three years. Partial award of $250.
16. Open Air Sculpture Group: Outdoor Sculpture # Maudslay SP 300/2,630
Only visual art themed request. Partial award $250.
17. Town of Salisbury: Salisbury Art Stroll @ Old Eastern Marsh Rail Trail 200/2,100
It is in Salisbury – how does it benefit any others? Weak application. What were they going to do with the funding? Will any Newbury residents participate? There are programs that will impact our residents more. Denied.
18. TMPO: Percussion show @ Triton 800/2,200
Only grant in Newbury for teen/high school and middle school students. Partial award $700
19. Workshop Arts Inc.: Intern program @ NES 500/1,500
Parents pay for their kids to participate. Having unpaid interns run the theater lights should be the cost of doing business. Is there a theater program at Triton middle school? Denied.
Motion to award grants as discussed: Elizabeth
Second: Joanne
Unanimous, with recusals mentioned.
Other Business
- Present and discuss results of town-wide survey
Surveys were available at elections, library, and town meeting. 90 responses were received. A lot of questions were left blank (or did not apply to cultural council.) How do we educate people about who we are and what we do? Only 1/3 of surveys said they were aware of NCC. Want a stronger public presence. Maybe go to a PTA event? We should go to some of the events that we fund. Is it on the Newbury town web site? Let’s have an article written for the Daily News that describes the survey and other activities & describes how we are funded. Can we include a future survey in the town census form? Grant recipients are required to credit the NCC in all publicity.
- Vote Officers for next year
- Elizabeth is moving. Pam has completed her 2-3 year terms. Joanne has one more year in her 6 year limit. Jeanne may move in spring. Joanne knows of two people who might be recruited to serve. Elizabeth has a couple of suggestions as well. Other possible recruits were brainstormed. Elizabeth will reach out to them before she moves.
Joanne nominates Michael as chair; Elizabeth seconds. Unanimous. Joanne will stay on as treasurer but would like to train the next person. Diana will accept a co-treasurer position. A new secretary will be needed to take minutes at the next meeting.
- Establish and vote sub- committee of 2 or more members to sign payable requests
- Signers will be: Joanne, Kathy, Pam, Diana, and Zachary. Motion by Kathy. Second by Amy. Unanimous.
Adjournment at 8:52
| 
