CITY OF VANCOUVER
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: |
July 6, 2004 | |
Author: |
Alice Niwinski | |
Phone No.: |
604 871 6007 | |
RTS No.: |
04229 | |
CC File No.: |
2051 | |
Meeting Date: |
July 20, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
Director, Office of Cultural Affairs |
SUBJECT: |
2004 Project Grants: Second Deadline |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve the transfer of $9,000 from the Celebration Grants budget to the Project Grants component of the 2004 Cultural Grants budget, bringing the unallocated balance in Project Grants to $58,500.
B. THAT Council approve 21 Project Grants totalling $58,500 as listed in Appendix A, source of funds to be the 2004 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 1, 2004 deadline.
BACKGROUND
Project grants are intended for developing organizations; for organizations that work on a project-by-project basis; and for one-time events and other initiatives. To accommodate smaller organizations with shorter planning timelines there are two annual deadlines for this program. Staff review applications based on criteria that include: artistic merit; the distinctiveness of projects in the context of comparable activities in Vancouver; organizational competence, including ability to deliver on plans; diversification of revenue sources; financial need; and community impact. Appendix C provides detailed criteria.
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 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 second Project grant round this year, 32 Project grant requests were received. This is a larger number than in previous years, which averaged 25 requests. One applicant, Leaky Heaven Performance Society, was ineligible because its previously funded project had not been completed by the June 1, 2004 application deadline. Its application has been referred to the next Project grant deadline in December, when it can be reviewed in time for the Society's next project in July 2005.
Requests from the remaining 31 applicants amount to $129,700, and include 11 first-time applicants. The high proportion of first-time applicants reflects the ongoing growth in Vancouver's cultural sector, especially the development of new forms of expression and new ways that artists are working with various sectors of the community. Staff assessed all requests in the context of the evaluation criteria cited earlier, and of the following priority areas: new artistic directions, cultural diversity, audience development, and community engagement.
Based on these criteria staff are recommending 21 grants totalling $58,500, as listed in Appendix A. These include seven grants to first-time applicants. 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
2004 Project Grants
Project Grants |
Requested |
Recommended | ||
No. of Groups |
$ Amount |
No. of Groups |
$ Amount | |
1st Deadline |
40 |
$246,000 |
(approved) 32 |
(approved) $106,000 |
2nd Deadline |
31 |
$129,700 |
21 |
$58,500 |
TOTAL |
71 |
$375,700 |
53 |
$164,500 |
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
On March 25, 2004 Council approved Project grants totalling $106,000, leaving a balance of $49,500 for the second Project grant deadline. After reviewing the record number of applications received in this second Project grant round, staff are requesting that an additional $9,000 be transferred to the Project grants budget from the cash grant component of the 2004 Celebration Grants budget to help provide funding for 21 of 31 projects. The transfer would bring the total funds available for Projects to $58,500.
The ability to transfer funds between grant programs for cultural organizations enables the City to respond to unexpected or increased needs in a particular grant category. The Celebration cash grants budget currently has an unallocated balance of $104,250, and staff estimate that the unallocated balance of $95,250 that would be left after a transfer to Projects will be well able to address requests received for the second Celebration grants deadline in September 2004, noting that Celebration cash grant requests in the last September round amounted to $44,000.
CONCLUSION
This is the last report on Project grants for the year 2004. Pending approval of the recommendations in this report, there will be no unallocated balance in the Project grant category of the 2004 Cultural Grants budget.
- - - - -
APPENDIX A
City of Vancouver Cultural Grants 2004
Project Applications (spring deadline), Alphabetical List
Organization Name |
2004 |
2004 |
2003 |
2002 | ||
Recomm. |
Request |
Grant |
Grant | |||
1 |
Artropolis (A. T. Eight Artropolis Soc.) |
0 |
- |
7,500 |
7,500 |
0 |
2 |
Felix Culpa (Grinning Dragon Theatre Soc.) |
4,000 |
+ |
4,000 |
3,500 |
2,500 |
3 |
Flamenco Rosario (Rosario Ancer Flamenco Arts Soc.) |
3,000 |
5,000 |
3,000 |
| |
4 |
Gallery Gachet Soc. |
2,000 |
+ |
4,500 |
1,000 |
|
5 |
Jabulani World Music Soc. |
1,500 |
2,000 |
|
| |
6 |
Kinesis Dance Soc. |
0 |
4,000 |
|
1,000 | |
7 |
La Luna Productions |
4,000 |
5,000 |
|
| |
8 |
Narrative 360 |
2,500 |
3,600 |
|
| |
9 |
New Performance Works Soc. |
1,000 |
3,000 |
1,000 |
| |
10 |
Pandora's Collective Outreach Soc. |
0 |
3,100 |
|
| |
11 |
Realwheels Soc. |
2,500 |
3,000 |
|
| |
12 |
Screaming Weenie Productions |
2,500 |
+ |
3,500 |
1,000 |
|
13 |
See Seven Peforming Arts Soc. |
0 |
5,000 |
|
| |
14 |
Seniors' Research Group of Chinese Opera and Music |
1,500 |
4,000 |
0 |
1,200 | |
15 |
Seventeenth Floor Performance Co. |
0 |
1,500 |
0 |
| |
16 |
Shameless Hussy Production Soc. |
2,500 |
5,000 |
|
0 | |
17 |
Sharon Wehner Solo Dance |
0 |
5,000 |
|
| |
18 |
Shifting Point Theatre |
0 |
2,000 |
0 |
| |
19 |
Solo Collective Theatre Soc. |
2,500 |
+ |
3,000 |
2,000 |
2,000 |
20 |
Spectrum Theatre |
0 |
- |
1,000 |
600 |
0 |
21 |
Still, In Motion Dance Soc. |
0 |
5,000 |
|
0 | |
22 |
Taiwanese Cultural Festival (Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Soc.) |
5,000 |
+ |
10,000 |
4,000 |
3,000 |
23 |
Theatre Bagger Arts Soc. |
3,000 |
4,500 |
|
| |
24 |
Theatre Replacement Soc. |
4,000 |
8,000 |
|
| |
25 |
Theatre Terrific Soc. |
3,000 |
3,000 |
|
| |
26 |
Triptych Theatrical Soc. |
0 |
5,000 |
|
| |
27 |
Turning Point Ensemble |
2,500 |
+ |
5,000 |
1,200 |
|
28 |
Van. Asian Film Festival Soc. |
1,000 |
3,000 |
|
| |
29 |
Van. Intl. Dance Festival Soc. |
6,000 |
+ |
6,000 |
5,000 |
|
30 |
Van. Youth Symphony Orchestra |
2,000 |
3,000 |
|
| |
31 |
Wen Wei Dance Soc. |
2,500 |
2,500 |
|
| |
Totals |
58,500 |
129,700 |
29,800 |
9,700 |
Note: The numbers in the left column correspond to the order in which the front pages of the applications are packaged.
+- Indicates a change from 2003 Project Grant.
