1/19/2022 - Meeting Minutes Salt Lake City Arts Council
Board Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
WebEx Online
Present: Staff:
Andrea Ashdown Felicia Baca
Matt Castillo Dawn Borchardt
Kathy Davis Kelsey Ellis
Annie Dayton Taylor Knuth
Josanne Glass
Erika Hill Public: Thomas Kessinger joined at 6:16 in
Tonle Nenbee the official recording of the Public Meeting.
Kat Potter
Excuse;
Susan Koles Rickman
,fit: Sylvia Davis (Council Staff)
I. Call to Order and Welcome Guest
Ms. Annie Dayton, Vice Chair of the Board called the meeting to order at 5:30
PM in the absence of a Chair and announced thaahe meeting would be conducted
electronically in the interest of public health. No guests were present at the meeting.
II. Approve Board Meeting Minutes —November 2021
No comments or corrections were made to the November 2021 minutes. Mr.
Matthew Castillo moved to approve the minutes and Ms. Kathy Davis seconded that
motion. The November 2021 minutes were approved unanimously.
III: Management
A. Welcome new staff—Dawn Borchardt
s. Baca introduced new staff member Ms. Dawn Borchardt, who is now the
progra coordinator and will primarily oversee the Living Traditions Festival, the
Twiligh Concerts, and the Busker Festival. Ms. Borchardt comes from a background of
managing festivals and events and was formerly the manager of the Memorial House in
Memory Grove in Salt lake City and worked with the Sundance Film Festival in Park
City.
B. Staff Workplans & Process — Taylor Knuth
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Mr. Taylor Knuth reviewed the strategic planning process for the Board which
had commenced in 2019. We are now at the stage of implementing the Strategic Plan,
which includes developing Work Plans. Mr. Knuth indicated that he and Ms. Baca had
discussed their philosophies of the Work Plans and want it to support better
communication and collaboration among their team. The Work Plans are not meant to be
punitive or to be used as a source for reprimanding team members, rather the Work Plans
are to be used for individual members of the team to set goals to work toward.
The general goal or lens for 2022 is to be stabilization and off of that, the team
members worked to establish and identify their individual goals. Everything is tied to
success indicators, collaboration, key activities, and specific timelines. Quarterly reviews
are anticipated with the first review to be at the end of March 2022. Mr. Knuth shared a
document with the Board outlining the Work Plan philosophies, which was developed
with the assistance of Jake from Union Creative. Mr. Knuth will meet with the Strategic
Planning Committee to review the draft with them and get feedback.
At the end of the fiscal year, an annual report is given to the Board identifying
areas of progress and incomplete items. The Work Plan aspect is one of the items.
All
C. Brown Bag & Busker Festival(Action)
Ms. Baca presented a memo regarding staff's recommendation that the Brown
Bag Concert Series be merged into the Busker Festival, with 2 additional Brown Bag
concerts to be held in satellite locations so that that they serve the same numbers and
constituents. Primrose Productions would manage these events. The Board discussed the
proposal and a Motion to Approve the merger of the Brown Bag Concert Series into the
Busker Festival as recommended by staff was made by Ms. Kat Potter and was seconded
by Ms. Josanne Glass. The motion was put to the Board and passed unanimously.
D. Living Traditions & Fellowship positions
Ms. Felicia Baca indicated that there are a number of Living Traditions Festival
staffing positions open and that applications are to be submitted by February 17, 2022.
Ms. Dawn Borchardt stated that applications would be submitted until all positions are
filled, but they are specifically looking for marketing positions at this time. There is also
a position for a special project lead focusing on education and an artists relations lead.
Ms. Borchardt will find out where the Festival is with staffing levels. Ms. Borchardt
provided, in the chat for the meeting, a direct link for applicants to send in their
applications.
Ms. Baca also announced that we had applied for an emerging leadership
fellowship for BIPOC communities through the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.
Renato Olmedo-Gonzalez applied for the fellowship and is leading out on it. The
fellowship award consists of a$5,000 stipend for us to hire a 3-month part time
fellowship position.
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E. Project Support Grants Recommendations (Action)
Ms. Andrea Ashdown presented a summary of Grants Committee's
recommendations for funding second round of Project Support grant applications. Mr.
Knuth shared a screen shot of a report indicating the names of applicants, scores given to
each applicant, and the amount of the grant awarded to each applicant. The report doesn't
reflect the amount each applicant requested. Applicants were scored on the basis of
meeting certain criteria in the areas of budget, inclusion, value, community, and goals.
We received 36 requests totaling $255,260. We are going tottnd,29 of the 36
grant applications totaling $69,250. We had more first-time applicants in this round;
those first-time applicants have a star next to their names i he repo The five
applicants who were awarded grants did not meet the cr. a require r
Ms. Annie Dayton made a motion to approv he .commendations for funding as
presented to the Board and passed unanimously.
F. City Process Updates 4li
i. Staffing
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Ms. Felicia Baca stated that the Board's request for three (3) additional
staff members (2 coordinating staff positions and 1 management level
position) has been included in the City's amended budget and will be
placed on the City Council's Working Agenda. Once we know what will
be included in the budget, we will discuss the specifics required of the
positions.
ii. Public Benefit Analysis
Ms. Baca also stated that the Public Benefits Analysis of the renewal of
the lease of the Art Barn by the Arts Council Foundation that has been in
ocess since August 2021 is currently scheduled for a February 1, 2022,
Council work session.
IV: Budget/Financial
A. Budget Amendment-Kelsey Ellis (Action)
Ms. Kelsey Ellis walked the Board through two (2) Budget Amendment
documents that had previously been emailed to the Board for review. The salaries and
benefits reflected in the budget are the same numbers as in the budget approved in June
2021. If the staff positions requested above are approved. Those numbers will change.
One increase reflected is $7,000 in donations received from the Twilight Festival.
"Commissions" is a larger number than anticipated as it captures the amounts received
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from the sale of art, not just the percentage we would receive from the sale. There is a
decrease in the amount of ZAP funding we anticipated in"Revenues." The biggest dollar
amount change shows the $500,000 grant from NDA that is for two years, so one-half
will be disbursed this fiscal year. Additionally, our state grant went up—where we
anticipated receiving $25,000, we were awarded$40,000. Because the Arts Council
manages the Mayor's Arts Awards now, the "Miscellaneous" category and the Arts
Festival moved the Festival to August in 2021, but back to June in 2022, two Mayor's
Arts Awards are shown in the Fiscal Year.
A discussion was held about grant awards that do not get used by grantees and the
issue of uncashed checks and reissuance of new checks. A goal for 2022 is to have Quick
Books electronically deposit grant awards which would keep bank fees down. The grant
applications require a grantee to be in good standing with the Arts Council. Further
discussion is required as to what"good standing"means.
The Board also discussed the NEA $500,000 grant and what the first one-half
225,000)will be used for in the first year. Ms. Baca explained that they were
currently working through the requirements and guidelines for the grant funds. The
money will be rolled out in April or May for approval before the end of the fiscal year.
Ms. Kathy Davis made a Motion to approve the budget amendments; the Motion
was seconded by Ms. Andrea Ashdown. The Motion was submitted to the Board and the
Board voted unanimously to approve the budget amendments
B. Review of Financials-Matt Cas ' to
Mr. Castillo did a brief overview o the financials, indicating that Ms. Ellis had
covered many of the items in revieig the budget amendments. Mr. Castillo indicated
that a few "nuggets"had helped to increase revenue and expenses are in"good shape."
Mr. Castillo indicated that there were"no real concerns"to address at this point.
C. 990 Review-Matt Casio
Mr. Castillo also indicated the 990 is very straightforward, has no real issues, and
falls from the financial audits reviewed in a previous Board meeting. The 990 shows all
required information and also shows that we are in compliance with the public security
rules. Mr. Castillo congratulated the staff for another year of clean financials
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V. Board
A. General-Annie Dayton,Vice Chair
i. Board Membership Updates
Ms. Annie Dayton, as Acting Chair, noted the vacancy on the
Board for the Board Chair and indicated that the Executive Committee is
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discussing the timeline for filling the vacancy since the term of the Chair
who resigned expires in July 2022. Nominations for the vacancy are
under the purview of the Nominating Committee and will be discussed in
upcoming meetings as scheduled allow.
Larry Cohen, who also served on the Grants Committee, also
resigned three months early in order to take advantage of another
opportunity out of state. The Board extended its thanks to him for his
service.
Ms. Dayton reported that new members for the Board have been
approved by the Mayor and are scheduled with the City Council on
February 1st for its "advise and consent." Ms Baca thanked the
Nominating Committee for their efforts.
ii. Recruitment
Ms. Dayton also reported that Mr. Matt Castillo's term as
Treasurer will expire in August and indicated the Board's appreciation for
his service, expertise, and input.
Targeted recruitment is being conducted for his position. Members
from Districts 1, 4, and 7 will be encouraged but any applications will be
considered. Ms. Baca has a scope of job description. Applications are
lower than during non-pandemic times and any recommendations and
sharing on social media by Board members for the Treasurer position will
be greatly appreciated.
Members are needed to fill vacancies on the Grants Committee, the
Strategic Planning Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the
Governance Committee. All Board members are serving on at least one
committee, but Ms. Dayton requested that any Board member who was
interested in serving on another committee get in touch with Ms. Baca.
VI. Arts Event Discussion
Ms. Baca state that she attended"Hamilton," and noted that an exhibit is opening at the
Art Barn on Friday, January 21 as part of the Gallery Stroll. She encouraged those who couldn't
come to the opening to view the exhibit during business hours.
Ms. Kat Potter stated that her Department of Cultural and Community Engagement had a
press conference earlier in the day to announce the public engagement opportunities for the
redesign of the Utah state flag. Public submissions will be accepted through April 30, 2022.
VII. Public Comment
No public comment was offered.
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VIII. Other Business
No other business was presented to the Board prior to the Closed Session and the Board
adjourned the Public Meeting on the Motion of Ms. Dayton and the unanimous vote of the Board
at 1:14:45 on the official recording of the Public Meeting dated January 20, 2022.
IX. Closed Session
Ms. Dayton indicated that a Closed Session of the Board was desired under Section 52-4-
205 of the Utah Code. In order to enter a Closed Session, seven of the eleven Board members
must be present, a motion must be made, and the votes of all Board members recorded, for and
against. Ms. Dayton moved to enter into Closed Session. The Board Members were asked to
make a visual vote by a raise of hand; all Board members listed above voted in favor of entering
the Closed Session. The official recording of the Public Meeting dated January 20, 2022,was
terminated at 1:15:52.
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