ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: March 16, 1999
Author/Local: A.Niwinski/6007
RTS No. 00557

CC File No. 2051

Council: March 30, 1999

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director, Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT:	1999 Cultural Grants: Operating and Project Grant Allocations

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council approve 75 Operating Grants totalling $1,173,400 and 23 Project Grants totalling $66,000, as listed in Appendix A, for a total of $1,239,400, including conditions on grants where noted. Source of funds to be the 1999 Cultural Grants budget.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

Council established the annual civic grants program in March 1978. City Council confirmed the criteria used in assessing Cultural Grant applications on 3 February 1987, and approved the current Cultural Grant categories (Operating, Project, Incentive, and Theatre Rental Grants) on 14 December 1989.

On 22 November 1994, Council approved a new two-step grant approval process whereby undisputed staff recommendations are approved first (and are the subject of this report), while applications under reconsideration are given a second review and are presented to Council at a later date.

Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.

SUMMARY

As listed in Appendix A, this report recommends approval of 98 Operating and Project grants totalling $1,239,400. All recommendations include any advance installments already approved by Council.

Not included in Appendix A are two applicants requesting reconsideration, as indicated in Appendix B. Their applications will be considered by Council on April 29th. The recommendations in this report, together with those for applicants requesting reconsideration, amount to $1,314,400, leaving an unallocated balance of $31,740, as detailed in Table 1.

Appendix C provides a summary of all 1999 Operating and Project grant requests by type of activity, including those referred to in the reconsideration process.

In addition, a package of the front pages of all applications, with staff recommendations and comments, was sent to each City Council member in advance.

PURPOSE

This report presents recommendations for all 1999 Cultural Grant Operating and Project applications reviewed by staff, except those involved in the reconsideration process.

BACKGROUND

This year, 88 Operating and 27 Project grant requests totalling $1,818,500 were received.
Operating grants are designed to help the city’s more established non-profit arts and cultural organizations achieve the financial stability they need to develop and maintain quality programming. Project grants are designed to support the activities of arts groups that work on a project by project basis, and whose projects address the City’s criteria and objectives for cultural grants.

Following a review of the 115 applications, staff concluded that nine applicants in the Operating category would be more appropriately addressed in Projects, either because they continue to work on a project by project basis, or because they don’t have a long or stable track record of civic funding.

DISCUSSION

Staff ‘s initial recommendations for all grant applications were for 76 Operating grants and 23 Project grants, amounting to $1,314,400, with an unallocated balance of $13,740 in the Operating, and $18,000 in the Project categories. After applicants were notified of these recommendations in writing, two requested reconsideration (see Appendix B). These two are not included in the recommendations presented for Council’s approval in this report.

This report deals with the 113 cultural grant applicants that have accepted staff recommendations (see Appendix A). The two requests for reconsideration will be presented to Council in April, following further review. In addition, any recommendations in this report about which Council has concerns will be referred to the reconsideration process, so that applicants may have the opportunity to speak to Council.

A summary of staff recommendations for all 115 applicants, together with the unallocated balance in the adjusted Operating and Project budgets is provided in Table 1, following.

Table 1

Funding Recommendations for All Applications

	Recommended in This Report	Under Reconsideration	Total Recommended	Unallocated Balance
Operating	$1,173,400	$75,000	$1,248,400	$13,740
Project	$66,000	$0	$66,000	$18,000
TOTAL	$1,239,400	$75,000	$1,314,400	$31,740

Staff recommendations are based on clearly articulated criteria, including artistic merit, activity level, organizational competence, diversification of revenue sources, financial need, accessibility to the broader community, and contribution to the health of the cultural sector as a whole. As in the past, a number of grant recommendations to smaller and developing organizations have been made, focusing on support for diversity, artistic innovation, and community access. Three of the organizations recommended for funding this year have not previously received a City grant.

A summary of the recommendations in this report compared to those in previous years is provided in Table 2, following. Staff note that the decrease in the number of applications this year is due mainly to the establishment of a second deadline for Project grants to provide flexibility for small arts organizations, which operate in a relatively short time-frame.

Table 2

Overview of Recommendations
for Operating and Project Grants

	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995
Total No. of Groups	115	132	136	143	150
Not recommended	16	25	29	24	31
Recommended:	99	107	107	119	119
Decreased	9	8	9	8	13
Held at same level	68	59	65	60	45
Increased	14	29	19	36	43
New or not funded last year	8	11	14	15	18

CONCLUSION

This report and the reconsideration report to be presented on April 29th are the main reports on Operating and Project grants scheduled for 1999, although a report covering applications received for the second Project grant deadline will be presented to Council in early September. Reports on other Cultural Grant programs, including 1999/2000 Theatre Rental grants, which are the primary source of civic support for the Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony, Playhouse Theatre Company, and other regular users of the Civic Theatres, will be presented later in the year.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver