Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date:
June 23, 2003
Author:
Alice Niwinski
Phone No.:
604.871.6007
RTS No.:
3456
CC File No.:
2051
Meeting Date:
July 22, 2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
Director, Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT:
2003 Project Grants: Second Deadline
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve the transfer of $8,000 from the Organizational Development to the Project Grants component of the 2003 Cultural Grants budget, bringing the unallocated balance in Project Grants to $48,000.
B. THAT Council approve 20 Project Grants totalling $48,000 as listed in Appendix A, source of funds to be the 2003 Cultural Grants budget.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services recommends approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.
On November 22, 1994, Council approved a two-step grant approval process whereby undisputed staff recommendations are approved first, while applicants requesting reconsideration are given a second review and are presented to Council at a later date.
PURPOSE
This report presents staff recommendations for Project Grant requests received for the June 2, 2003 deadline.
BACKGROUND
Project grants are intended for developing organizations; organizations that work on a project-by-project basis; and one-time initiatives. To accommodate smaller organizations with shorter planning timelines there are two annual deadlines for this program. Staff review requests based on criteria that include artistic merit and distinctiveness, organizational competence, diversification of revenue sources, financial need, and community impact (see Appendix C).
Requests for Reconsideration:
The Request for Reconsideration process was approved by Council in 1994 to establish a consistent process for reconsidering grant recommendations to the main Community Service and Cultural Grant programs, which involve relatively large numbers of applicants. A request for reconsideration entails a written request by the applicant, a formal review by a staff committee, and a report to Council presenting the applicant's case and staff recommendations.
For the current round of Project grants, which are reviewed and reported on in a relatively short time-frame, any applicants requesting reconsideration are identified in a subsequent memo rather than in the report, allowing for proper written notification of applicants and adequate time for them to consider their options.
DISCUSSION
For the June 2nd deadline, 25 Project grant requests totalling $132,655 were received, including 12 from first-time applicants and groups that did not apply last year, as well as a number of groups with a good track record that will be eligible for Operating grants next year. Staff assessed the requests in the context of the evaluation criteria cited earlier, and of three priority areas: cultural diversity, new artistic directions, and audience development. Many of the applications addressed these priorities, so this proved to be a very competitive round.
For this second Project grant round staff recommend grants totalling $48,000 to 20 applicants, as listed in Appendix A. Detailed information about applicants, their projects, and staff recommendations are presented in Appendix B, which comprises the front pages of the applications. Table 1 summarizes the total grant requests and recommendations from both Project grant deadlines this year.
Table 1
2003 Project Grants
Project Grants
Requested
Recommended
No. of Groups
$ Amount
No. of Groups
$ Amount
1st Deadline
39
276,300
(approved) 28
(approved) 98,900
2nd Deadline
25
132,655
20
48,000
TOTAL
64
408,955
48
146,900
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
On March 25, 2003 Council approved Operating and Project grants totalling $1,390,900, leaving a balance of $40,000 for the second Project grant deadline. In view of the range and quality of the applications received in this second Project grant round, staff recommend that an additional $8,000 be transferred to Projects from the Organizational Development category of the 2003 Cultural Grants budget, bringing the total available for Projects to $48,000.
The $23,000 Organizational Development budget covers the Arts Partners in Organizational Development (ArtsPOD) program, and subject to budget availability ad hoc requests for collaborative audience development or management training initiatives. The transfer of $8,000 to the Project category will leave $15,000 as the City's contribution to ArtsPOD, the same level as last year. There is no need to increase the level of the City's 2003 contribution to ArtsPOD, given the significant increases in the federal and provincial contributions to ArtsPOD that have now been confirmed for this year. Staff note that the ability to transfer funds between Cultural Grant categories gives the City valuable flexibility in responding to unexpected or increased need in a grant category.
CONCLUSION
This is the last report on Project grants for the year 2003. Pending approval of the recommendations in this report, there will be no unallocated balance in the Project grant category of the 2003 Cultural Grants budget.
- - - - -
APPENDIX A
City of Vancouver Cultural Grants 2003
Project Applications (Spring deadline), Alphabetical List
Organization Name
2003 Recomm.
2003 Request
2002 Grant
2001 Grant
Other Civic
Support (2001-03)
1
absolut theatre company (Theatre Terrific)
0
5,200
2
Dancers Dancing Dance Soc.
1,500
3,500
0
2,500
3
Downtown Eastside Community Play (Van. Moving Theatre Soc.)
3,000
12,000
10,000
4
Eastside Culture Crawl Soc.
0
6,500
5
Flamenco Rosario (Rosario Ancer Flamenco Arts Soc.)
3,000
6,000
2,500
BAX $2,300 (2003)
6
Gallery Gachet Soc.
1,000
3,455
7
Indigenous Media Arts Group
1,000
2,500
8
Leaky Heaven Performance Soc.
5,000
+
7,500
3,500
9
Live Biennal of Performance Art Soc.
2,500
8,000
10
Musica Intima Soc.
2,000
-
4,000
3,000
2,000
11
New Performance Works Soc.
1,000
3,000
12
Pacific Assn. of Artist-Run Centres (P.A.A.R.C.)
2,500
6,000
0
13
Pandit Jasraj School
1,000
3,500
14
Radix Theatre Soc.
1,500
-
10,000
2,500
1,500
15
Seniors' Research Group of Chinese Opera and Music
0
1,500
1,200
1,200
16
Solo Collective Theatre Soc.
2,000
3,000
2,000
17
Spectrum Theatre (formerly Showcase Productions)
600
1,000
0
0
18
Taiwanese Cultural Festival (Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Soc.)
4,000
+
10,000
3,000
19
Time-Step Productions Soc.
0
5,000
1,000
0
20
Turning Point Ensemble
1,200
2,500
21
Van. Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Centre A)
4,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
OD $3,500 (2002); OD $1,000 (2001)
22
Van. Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO)
1,200
3,000
23
Van. Intl. Dance Festival Soc.
5,000
5,000
24
Virtual Stage Arts Soc.
0
4,500
25
Westcoast Sacred Arts Soc.
5,000
10,000
5,000
4,000
Totals
48,000
132,655
35,200
15,700
APPENDIX B
2003 Project Grants, Second Deadline - Front Page of Applications (on file in City Clerk's Office)
APPENDIX C
Application form information sheet* * * * *