April 29, 2026 — Boulder Arts Commission Regular Meeting

[3:49] Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, so… Boulder Arts Commission: Welcome to the Boulder Arts Commission meeting. It is April 29th, 2026, and I will call a roll. Caroline Kurt, present. [4:07] Boulder Arts Commission: Jeffrey Catch? Present. Jill Katzenberger? Present. Gaya Vinay? Present. Galleryl? Present. Montserrat Glacios? Present. And Kate Simonos will be joining us, around 7pm. Boulder Arts Commission: I will now turn the meeting over to Chair Kurt for procedural items. Great, welcome to the April 29, 2026 Boulder Arts Commission meeting agenda. Boulder Arts Commission: Item number one has been completed, and I would like to have an approval of the agenda for tonight, please. Boulder Arts Commission: I will make a motion for approval of the agenda. Boulder Arts Commission: Second, all in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Unanimous? Boulder Arts Commission: And we will move into public participation. Boulder Arts Commission: Melissa has some opening slides for that, and then I have some comments, and we'll go down the list. [5:03] Boulder Arts Commission: The City has engaged with community members to co-create a vision for productive, meaningful, and inclusive civic conversations. Boulder Arts Commission: This vision supports the physical and emotional safety for community members, staff, and council, as well as democracy for people of all ages, identities, lived experiences, and political perspectives. Boulder Arts Commission: For more information about this vision and the community engagement processes, please visit the website listed. Boulder Arts Commission: The following are examples of rules of decorum found in the Boulder Revised Code and other guidelines that support this vision. Boulder Arts Commission: These will be upheld during the meetings. All remarks and testimony shall be limited to matters related to city business and to be a 3-minute time limit. No participant shall make threats or use other forms of intimidation against any person. Boulder Arts Commission: Obscenity, racial epithets, and other speech and behavior that disrupts or otherwise impedes the ability to conduct the meeting are prohibited. [6:06] Boulder Arts Commission: In-person participants are asked to refrain from expressing support or disagreement verbally or with applause. Traditionally, support is shown silently through American Sign Language applause signal. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Thanks to everybody who came today. We have a number of people who are assigned up to speak, so I have two requests. The first is if you can Boulder Arts Commission: stand closer to the table and on the other side of this pole that's right here. That will allow the online people to see and hear you better, and if you can just project your voice, that is very helpful. Also, we have a 3-minute time… timeline, so there's gonna be a timer. Boulder Arts Commission: shared with the screen, so, please pay attention to that, and I'm gonna have a pretty abrupt cutoff after that 3 minutes. So, we have a list, so I'm gonna go down the list, and then, [7:11] Boulder Arts Commission: Just let me know, Melissa, if there's somebody online that I call that's not here. Boulder Arts Commission: All right, we first have Leah Brenner Clock. Boulder Arts Commission: From Streetwise Arts. I believe they are online. Boulder Arts Commission: Good evening, my name's Leah Brenner-Clack. I'm a 30-year resident of Boulder and the founder and executive director of Streetwise Arts, a Boulder arts organization that served the Boulder County… er, Boulder community for 10 years. I'm honored to represent Streetwise Arts today as a top-scoring small organization for Red Rock funding. Boulder Arts Commission: I want to share how important and transformative this FedRock Tier funding is for extra small, small, and medium organizations like ours. We work towards building creatively vibrant communities here in Boulder through our missions and programs. I started this organization with a passion to make an impact. [8:03] Boulder Arts Commission: the visual landscape of the city and to the community through innovative, accessible, and edgy arts programs. We're not a traditional arts organization by design. Boulder Arts Commission: Our mission is to uplift artists. Boulder Arts Commission: And build vibrant communities and resilient communities through public art projects, creative events, and hands-on education programs that beautify spaces and amplify cultural diversity and social justice. Our values include ensuring equitable access to the arts, supporting diverse artists of all ages and skill levels, and providing opportunities for the community to participate in public art programs. Boulder Arts Commission: In 10 years, we've installed over 170 murals across Boulder. We've served 2,000 students just last year, and built deep collaborations with local nonprofit organizations, businesses, communities, and BVFC schools. We've hired hundreds of professional working artists for mural work and education programs that change the trajectory of their career. Boulder Arts Commission: Streetwise arts murals are seen en masse on the City's cultural asset map, and we've won local awards for impact in the community. We're a small but more variety organization. Thousands of people experience our murals on the streets of Boulder every day. [9:04] Boulder Arts Commission: We're deeply honored to be considered for Bedrock funding, considering all of the amazing nonprofits that applied. We take that responsibility and that recognition very, very seriously. I understand that there's some opposing views about the criteria for Bedrock organizations, which inherently affects our organization, but also many other organizations in this community. Boulder Arts Commission: I'd like to reference a few key passages from the City's website about this bedrock recognition and the criteria in which it was created. Boulder Arts Commission: Bedrock institutions are defined by long-term impact, community-centered missions, and alignment with the city's priorities expressed in the Blueprint Plan act as multipliers in the arts ecosystem. This approach encourages collaboration, multi-agency projects. Boulder Arts Commission: Importantly, it deprioritizes the size of operating budgets as a primary determination of grants amounts. Rather, the bedrock approach transparently encourages organizations essential to Boulder's creative identity, equity goals, and civic engagement. Boulder Arts Commission: And the scoring rubric says findings from the Blueprint Phase 1 planning process reveal strong support for impact-driven funding tiers that recognize institutions of all sizes, large nonprofits, and catalytic small to mid-sized groups alike, boosting social mobility and community resilience. [10:16] Boulder Arts Commission: The engagement process highlighted the desire for grants program to help support organizations in fostering collaboration, accessibility, sustainability, resilience, and community impact. Boulder Arts Commission: I'm proud of the citizens of Boulder, my experience. Boulder Arts Commission: We showed up to participate in the planning process, and I'm proud of the Office of Arts and Culture and the Boulder Arts Commission for adopting an innovative and transforming… Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sorry to cut you off, but we need to stay with the time, and I'll give you a little pat starting at 5 seconds, and let you know to start winding up. Boulder Arts Commission: The next person to speak is Allison Green, also Streetwise Arts. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay. [11:00] Boulder Arts Commission: My name is Allison Green, and I'm the Education Manager for Streetwise Arts. I'm speaking in support of Streetwise Receiving, a 2026 General Operating Support Grant at the Bedrock level. Boulder Arts Commission: As the second top-scoring nonprofit of this category. Through my work, I've seen firsthand the transformative impact our programs have had on people of all ages. Boulder Arts Commission: From elementary school students to older adults, Streetwise Arts often partners with schools and organizations serving at-risk youth, Title I communities. Boulder Arts Commission: and newcomer populations, students who often feel disconnected from traditional education. Our mural programs use public art to build confidence. Boulder Arts Commission: foster connection, and give students a meaningful reason to engage. By centering their lived experiences, each mural cultivates pride, belonging, and visibility. Our work with newcomer youth is especially impactful. Art provides a universal language that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers. Boulder Arts Commission: Helping students feel seen, valued, and connected. [12:02] Boulder Arts Commission: Through structured, creative programming, participants build confidence, communication skills, and peer relationships while engaging in positive, productive activities. Boulder Arts Commission: Beyond youth programming, we are expanding our impact across the community by bringing mural programming to older adults. Boulder Arts Commission: Collaborative art offers meaningful benefits for aging populations by reducing social isolation, strengthening community bonds, and supporting mental and physical well-being. Boulder Arts Commission: Participants will have the opportunity to share their stories in a lasting public way, creating a sense of visibility, purpose, and connection. Boulder Arts Commission: We are also developing programming aligned with suicide prevention efforts in Boulder, recognizing the critical need for safe, creative outlets where individuals can process emotions, build resilience, and feel supported. Boulder Arts Commission: Although we are a small organization, we are highly intentional in how we steward our funding. Our impact is made possible through strong, trusted relationships within the community, allowing us to do meaningful work with limited resources. [13:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Demand for our programs continues to grow. Many schools and organizations are eager to partner with us, but our ability to expand is directly tied to the funding we secure. Boulder Arts Commission: Funding from the Bedrock Grant would directly support the expansion of our programming, allowing us to serve more students, deepen our impact in underserved communities, and extend our work to intergenerational and mental health-focused initiatives. Boulder Arts Commission: This investment would help us continue using public art as a catalyst for connection, healing, and positive community transformation. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, Kathleen. Boulder Arts Commission: Kathleen McCormick. Boulder Arts Commission: Hi, everyone, and don't shoot me. Messenger. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, I'm Kathleen McCormick. I'm a former Arts Commission member, serving from 2016 to 2023, and I was chair for two years during the pandemic, which was a really difficult time for the arts community, as it was for everybody, but even more so for artists. [14:10] Boulder Arts Commission: And I'm here tonight representing Create Boulder. Boulder Arts Commission: I've lived in Boulder for 33 years, and I've been a member of the arts community all that time. I perform with a group that, is listed as a GOS recipient tonight, so I'm hoping that goes through. Boulder Arts Commission: After leaving the Arts Commission in 2023, I helped with the successful campaign for the Arts, Culture, and Heritage Ballot Measure, led by Create Boulder, which has produced about $3.5 million annually so far. Boulder Arts Commission: And has powered the expansion of arts grants, the Office of Arts and Culture, and we hope eventually will provide more affordable facilities and venues. We're working with Lauren and her team on that now. Boulder Arts Commission: I joined the Create Boulder Board in 2024. [15:01] Boulder Arts Commission: Create Boulder has supported the arts community for years through advocacy and funding. For example, we brought the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of dollars in regional arts grants Boulder Arts Commission: to the Boulder community during the pandemic. Boulder Arts Commission: The letter we emailed to you yesterday was not intended to offend anyone or to jeopardize Boulder Arts Commission: Funding, but rather to ask questions that we hope you have already addressed, or might tonight. Boulder Arts Commission: For me, some of the questions that I have about bedrock Grants are, what is a Bedrock Grant? What does Bedrock mean? It means different things in different communities. For some communities, it means legacy organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: Are supported because they're foundational to other smaller groups. Boulder Arts Commission: How can we select only 5 organizations when it's clear there are many that would deserve that honor? Is a 3-year grant appropriate, or should we only offer 1 year to start? [16:01] Boulder Arts Commission: Create Boulder members and others did ask such questions and offer opinions about this grant during the Arts Blueprint process, but here we are at the point where you'll have to decide. Boulder Arts Commission: I've observed how the grant system and the role of commissioners have changed since I was on the Arts Commission. Boulder Arts Commission: You still approve the grants, but no longer score and rescore every grant application. We used to read and score each application twice, with a month in between for questions and responses from arts organizations before making final decisions. Boulder Arts Commission: That is now done by an outside panel of experienced arts administrators. Boulder Arts Commission: Sweet. Boulder Arts Commission: Whose members generally don't live in Boulder. Boulder Arts Commission: So I believe it's incumbent upon consumers to review the applications and drill down on the scoring to make sure the choices the panel has made are the choices you would also make to serve… to best serve the community. Thank you. Thank you. [17:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Kathleen. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: All right, Rita Valente-Quinn from Notice theater. Boulder Arts Commission: Good evening, everyone. My name is Peter Belan Quinn, MODIS theater Producing Executive Director. I'm here in response to Create Boulder's request to delay approving the Bedrock organization's scores and reconsider its definition and criteria. I urge the Boulder Arts Commission to uphold the current process. Boulder Arts Commission: The Bedrock grant process was built over many months of research, community input, and alignment with the Boulder Arts Blueprint, the Comprehensive Plan, and the CDCR goals. The concept and criteria were debated in this commission, where there was opportunity to provide feedback, and the rubric has been public for many months. To reconsider the Bedrock Organization grants now would undermine due process. [18:02] Boulder Arts Commission: Erode transparency, and damaged trust in this commission. Boulder Arts Commission: The timing of this request, submitted just a day before the vote, instead of when the grant criteria were being discussed, begs the question, is this about improving the process, or about contesting its outcomes? Boulder Arts Commission: Because the panelists made no mistake. Modus theater is a Boulder bedrock organization. Our award-winning Rox Karma Arrows performance, an official event for the CDC Quicentennial, was credited by the Native Americans Rights Fund for laying the groundwork for Indigenous Peoples Day in Boulder. Boulder Arts Commission: Modus Immigrant Monologists and our artistic director were voted People of the Year in 2016 by the Boulder Weekly. Boulder Arts Commission: Modus One Action Arts and Immigration Project brought together 55 arts and cultural organizations that created 125 events in which 60,000 people participated. The City of Boulder designated 2016 as the year of Modus One Action Project. [19:00] Boulder Arts Commission: Modus' salsa Loteria Monologue was quoted by the City City Council in their decision to become a sanctuary city. Modus' performance law enforcement leaders Read Dreamer Stories was covered widely by national outlets and theater magazines, uplifting Boulder for National Arts Impact on Immigration. Boulder Arts Commission: Modus was highlighted by Colorado Creative Industries as an example of arts leadership during the pandemic. Our autobiographical monologue projects, conceived and premiered in Boulder, received the Westport Arts, excuse me, Westport Award of Best theater Programming, the True West Colorado Theater Award, the SCFB Rex Morgan Award for Regional Collaboration, and the inaugural Boulder Arts Week Artivist Award Boulder Arts Commission: board last year. Boulder Arts Commission: Moduslit regularly partners with city programs to support city goals. Just in the past two years, we were hired by the city to use improv theater to engage residents in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, to develop a bilingual theatrical performance with low-income community members for Boulder's Elevate Boulder program, and to share stories of belonging in Boulder for the city's equity team. And of course, there is our Always Fast [20:10] Boulder Arts Commission: annual performance in honor of Dr. Martin Luther Boulder Arts Commission: in Junior's Day, which is, a City of Boulder arts event. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Rita. Boulder Arts Commission: Kirsten Wilson! Yeah, this theater. Boulder Arts Commission: Oh. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Dr. Valent Quinn, she killed it, so I get to do fluff. It's awesome to be here. First of all, I hate it that we're having tension around money. Boulder Arts Commission: The government does not fund the arts equitably, it should not have the scrap to just survive, and there's a lot of survival in this room, and it's ridiculous. Boulder Arts Commission: Not y'all are ridiculous, but the funding love in the United States, ridiculous! Boulder Arts Commission: I also have to say, Boulder Arts Commission: I think everyone… this is about Create Boulder's letter yesterday. There's so much respect for the leadership on Creates Boulder. Worked really hard to move funding in the arts. There's no question about that, and we're really, really grateful for momentum in the city to support arts funding. [21:16] Boulder Arts Commission: That being said, Boulder Arts Commission: I think there's two things that I'm holding. One is we have a question is, bedrock is not just who has the most land and owns it, but what is the rock on which we stand, and what are the rock on which we're going to build a better boulder? And that's complicated, and I'm sorry, but y'all are the leadership. Good luck. But I feel that this is an important process, and I think interrupting it, I think, as Rita said, begs the question of validity. Boulder Arts Commission: In terms of the commission and how things move, for right now. The second thing I just have to say is a year ago today. Boulder Arts Commission: I had a similar letter, but from the National Endowment for the Arts. Boulder Arts Commission: Because we got a $40,000 grant. Boulder Arts Commission: And it was approved. [22:01] Boulder Arts Commission: And it was publicized. Boulder Arts Commission: And then our rubric changed, and we lost that money. We already had theaters booked, and we had things going. Boulder Arts Commission: So it's very irritating to get a letter, a local letter, from an established, respected arts Boulder Arts Commission: company, like, create folder, that says, y'all made a mistake, and these guys… Boulder Arts Commission: if they disappear, not as important as other organizations not to be named. And I'm sorry, but I am offended. Boulder Arts Commission: And again, I understand it, because people worked for other, maybe, organizations. But I have to say, this was not appropriate, I feel. Boulder Arts Commission: So I… I'm sorry that we're scrapping for money, because all the organizations in this room, and the ones that maybe create boulders Fund, is very important, and I'm really sorry there's not funds at all. But I also have to say, some of those organizations that I assume they're supporting are already getting $60,000 general operating. It's a difference of $20,000. Boulder Arts Commission: Whereas from some of these small arts organizations and MODIS, this is a salary all. [23:03] Boulder Arts Commission: This is a salary, so we're here, because this is important, so thank you so much for your leadership. I'm sorry leadership is so hard in the community right now. It is, and I appreciate it. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Thank you, Kirsten. Boulder Arts Commission: All right, Graham Hill, Streetwise Arts. I have Graham Hill online. Boulder Arts Commission: Right now, I… Bring you in to speak. Boulder Arts Commission: To remove this option, move. Boulder Arts Commission: No, you're still running in Tyra. Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: All right, Graham, are you here with us? Boulder Arts Commission: Ramhill? Boulder Arts Commission: Do you mind if we speed it, maybe? Boulder Arts Commission: We can circle back, at least. Boulder Arts Commission: We'll come back to that. Boulder Arts Commission: Next, Rebecca Stetson from Junkyard Social Club. [24:07] Boulder Arts Commission: Good evening, I'm Rebecca Fetzen, here in support of Junkyard Social Club. I've already submitted written comments, so I'm going to keep this super brief. I'm here tonight because Junkyard matters. I've been involved as a parent, organizer, and board member, and I've seen firsthand what this space makes possible. Boulder Arts Commission: Junkyard is creative, a little messy, and real. Boulder Arts Commission: Kids are not just consuming a program, they're making, problem solving, experimenting, and participating. And it's more than a kid's space. It's a true third space where families, artists, educators, and neighbors gather and build relationships, find belonging, and take part in the kind of creative, socially supportive events Boulder needs more of. Boulder Arts Commission: Spaces like this are rare, and once they disappear, they're very hard to replace. I also encourage all of you to uphold the integrity of the current process, and trust the recommendations in front of you. I urge you to support Junkyard. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Thank you, Robin. [25:00] Boulder Arts Commission: Ian Bates, Junkyard Social. Boulder Arts Commission: Bye. Boulder Arts Commission: My name is Ian Bates, I'm the Director of Education at Junkyards with the Club, and one of the artist community members who quite literally built the space with my hands. That's not why I have this. I've been at Junkyard since its inception, and have witnessed its growth through deep partnerships and community collaboration. Boulder Arts Commission: In this context, bedrock was not defined by size, longevity, or budget, but by impact. Boulder Arts Commission: And through alignment with the city's priorities, goals like climate initiatives, equity and accessibility, collaboration, and encouraging access, experimentation, and audience development. Boulder Arts Commission: It was designed to support both anchor institutions and emerging organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: I believe Junkyard Social Club exemplifies the bedrock concept. It is a rare and vital convergence of community, creativity, and access to the arts in Boulder. [26:02] Boulder Arts Commission: We serve as an entry point. Boulder Arts Commission: Things like a low-income child building a bumblebee sculpture with wings from scrap metal materials. We built two of them. Boulder Arts Commission: An adult attending their first Fusion dance class, or a first-time director staging a new production for the whole community. Boulder Arts Commission: Junkyard is a place to try, to fail, and to try again. Boulder Arts Commission: It's not just a venue, it's a living ecosystem. Boulder Arts Commission: It fosters belonging, experimentation, and intergenerational connection. Boulder Arts Commission: We fill a critical gap in social infrastructure, offering a true third space. Boulder Arts Commission: Where people can gather safely and authentically outside of home, school, or work. Boulder Arts Commission: For many, Junkyard is one of the few accessible environments that centers play and creative expression as essential to human development. Boulder Arts Commission: Designating Junkyard as a bedrock institution would recognize not only our current impact, but our essential role in shaping a more inclusive, imaginative, and connected Boulder. [27:03] Boulder Arts Commission: It is a foundational space, one that holds community, cultivates possibility, and sustained… and merits sustained support. Boulder Arts Commission: Finally, I want to address the call to revise the rubric. Boulder Arts Commission: It is my understanding that the process was thoughtfully designed and applied across more than 60 applications. Boulder Arts Commission: Discarding it because the results were unexpected undermines the integrity of that process. Boulder Arts Commission: Redefining criteria to privilege scale or budget would not increase fairness. Boulder Arts Commission: It would reinforce existing inequities. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you for your time and attention. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Anne. Boulder Arts Commission: David Ensign, Motor Speeder. Boulder Arts Commission: Hi, I'm David Amesai, I live at 4020 Ovens Drive here in Boulder. I'm speaking as a Moda Speaker Board member. Hello, Boulder Arts Commission members, thank you for your service in making Boulder a wonderful community where we can experience outstanding art and culture. [28:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Let me also echo Kirsten's words and thanking Create Boulder for all the critical work that you do. Boulder Arts Commission: I know almost all of you extremely well, and continue to enjoy collaborating with you on projects in both. Boulder Arts Commission: As an engaged community member and former planning board member, I've served on numerous nonprofit boards and have had the privilege of being a MODIS theater board member for the last 10 years, working with the incredible staff members like the ones you heard from tonight, and seeing the impact of MODIS's work on the community has been incredibly rewarding. Boulder Arts Commission: In each of our board meetings, Kirsten and Rita report on all the great work being done. We're always blown away by the amount of work that gets accomplished and the number of incredibly exciting opportunities we have for future projects. Boulder Arts Commission: There is way more potential work than we have the funding for, but helping prioritize excellent prospects is definitely not the most uncomfortable volunteer activity I've been involved with in the nonprofit space. Boulder Arts Commission: In the last board meeting, we were all thrilled to learn how well MODIS theater scored in consideration for Bedrock grant funding. We're so honored to have the support of the public for the outstanding work MODIS does, and of course, the team started thinking of the doors this funding will open. [29:11] Boulder Arts Commission: As you heard from Rita and Kirsten, it can be very disheartening to have the support that we were expecting come under question. Boulder Arts Commission: Having served on the City of Boulder Planning Board for 5 years, I'm sensitive to the importance of integrity around following public processes that our community can trust. Boulder Arts Commission: I would urge the commissioners to respect the process that was decided on. All of these wonderful arts organizations have worked diligently with the process in getting to this time where they've shown how they will use bedrock funding in ways that are impactful for the community. Thank you for the role you play in identifying where our public funding can support incredible artistic work in our community. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, David. Boulder Arts Commission: Do we have Graham Hill? He has not responding to my message. Okay, and have we missed anybody online? Boulder Arts Commission: Anybody else that was signed up? [30:03] Boulder Arts Commission: Let's try again with Graham, who's… Boulder Arts Commission: We weren't able to hear him. Graham Hill: Hello? Boulder Arts Commission: Oh, there we are. Boulder Arts Commission: Go ahead. Graham Hill: Hi, my name's Graham Hill, I'm a Streetwise Arts board member. Graham Hill: And I wanted to speak tonight to talk about the impact of Streetwise Arts. As a 10-year-old nonprofit in the community. Graham Hill: We have laid out 170 murals for our community, really enriching the soul of our community as a place that has wonderful public art. Graham Hill: For not only locals, but visitors to enjoy. Graham Hill: We've got just 1.5 employees, Running our show, along with a very strong working board, and with this minimal Graham Hill: group of people, we have really impacted a lot of people in this community, especially with those that are learning to become artists and have great interest in public art from children to older adults, as was pointed out earlier by Allison, our educational program leader. [31:19] Graham Hill: So, I really like how we are working in this community, and every penny is very important. There are so many wonderful nonprofits in this community, we're very lucky to have each other. Let's support each other, but let's trust what's been going on, and how the scoring works in our community, because Graham Hill: The people that are doing these scoring understand the arts and how competitive they are. Thank you very much for your time. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Graham. Boulder Arts Commission: Anybody else online, Melissa? Boulder Arts Commission: No one that was signed up to speak. Great, and anybody that I missed in the room that was signed up to speak? Boulder Arts Commission: Great. Thank you, everybody, for your comments. We really appreciate it. [32:05] Boulder Arts Commission: public comment and First Amendment rights to speak our minds is a bedrock of our entire country for now, and we appreciate your participation, so… Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Jill, don't make me cry. All right, I, asked for approval of the agenda, and then immediately skipped over something, so… I wasn't saying anything. Boulder Arts Commission: Are you all, Boulder Arts Commission: do the approval of the March 2026 meeting minutes. Make a motion for that. Great. Great. I have a couple of edits before we move on to a vote. Boulder Arts Commission: My edits are, on… Boulder Arts Commission: Item 6, toward the very bottom, and the motion that was made, regarding having, some comments [33:07] Boulder Arts Commission: held through committee. And two edits in the paragraph saying, my motion is that the Commission approve the substantive content, rather than substantial. Boulder Arts Commission: And then, the second-to-last line, and that we delegate authority to move around the language and priorities in. Boulder Arts Commission: this document. Boulder Arts Commission: Anybody else have any edits? Boulder Arts Commission: Other than saying I'm glad I wasn't the one taking them, and it's that pretty. All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Great. Unanimous. And just really want to thank Melissa. Those were voluminous, and obviously took a lot of work and detail, so thank you for doing that. I understand the city's changing some process around minutes, and Boulder Arts Commission: Nice job. Thank you. [34:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Moving on, commission business. Boulder Arts Commission: We have a new commissioner to swear in. Yay! Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, I will read this, I'll show it to you at the same time. Okay, so I'll read it in little pieces. If you can hold up your right hand, please. Boulder Arts Commission: Aye. Aye. Ms. Ms. Do solemnly affirm… Do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, and the State of Colorado, and the State of Colorado. Boulder Arts Commission: and the Charter and Ordinances, and the Charter and Ordinances of the City of Boulder… of the City of Boulder. Boulder Arts Commission: And faithfully perform the duties, and faithfully perform the duties of the office of a member, of the office of a member of the Arts Commission which I am about to enter, of the Arts Commission which I am about to enter. Thank you. Welcome! Is that right here, please. [35:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Bye-bye. Yeah. Thank you. Montserrat, we're going to wait until a little bit later in the agenda to do some introductions and get to know each other a little bit, but welcome. Thank you. 29th. Boulder Arts Commission: reasonable maintenance is okay. Boulder Arts Commission: Yes, we have the other new commissioners gonna join us. Boulder Arts Commission: Later. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, work groups. I know you had some… Boulder Arts Commission: Sarah's gonna start with the work groups. Great. Boulder Arts Commission: All right. For the Boulder Arts Blueprint, a key goal is accessibility and inclusion. Ensure all cultural amenities and creative experiences are widely available and accessible to all Boulder communities. Boulder Arts Commission: Every Boulder community member, regardless of age, ability, income, or background, will have access to creative experiences where they live. This goal affirms arts and culture as a public amenity that serves all community members. [36:09] Boulder Arts Commission: In order to guide our internal work towards this goal, as well as communicate with our external partners, staff drafted an accessibility statement for the Boulder Arts Commission for review. Staff is requesting feedback by May 18th. We're hoping to have a final draft approved in advance of the Accessibility Summit in June so that we can include it in that event. Boulder Arts Commission: Were there any comments as of now on the traps that you made? Boulder Arts Commission: And then, Guy, would you like to provide an update on the other work we've been doing? Boulder Arts Commission: Whoa. Boulder Arts Commission: Sure. So, one of the things that… Boulder Arts Commission: I worked with Farrah and Jill on, and Lauren, is to take the responses that we received for the GOS applicants. So we reviewed, 31 organizational responses, and you'll find this on page 23. [37:06] Boulder Arts Commission: Of this package, packet that's there. Boulder Arts Commission: Essentially what we wanted to do was we… we wanted to look really closely at the GOS, grants and see what people were describing as past, current, and future efforts. Boulder Arts Commission: to determine where the city should focus our accessibility work, and to use data that's already available in Chazan, instead of going back out to all these nonprofits and asking them to Boulder Arts Commission: to resubmit and share new information. And overall, we had some, interesting findings, that you'll… you'll see in the report. And one of the Boulder Arts Commission: And one of the biggest, Boulder Arts Commission: sort of the biggest surprises, I guess, is… Boulder Arts Commission: You know, is that we did find that there are some areas that you think would be obvious that are not being addressed, like maybe changes to… [38:00] Boulder Arts Commission: infrastructure, or the ability to have temporary ramps, and things like that, that, you know, that require them to be ADA compliant. We were sort of surprised that not everybody had the funding for that, and that was a little bit, Boulder Arts Commission: I think… I don't say unfortunate, but I think that if there's room. So, it was mentioned by over half of organizations, so there's room for improvement, and that's… that's, I think, pretty significant. And we found that, financial and transportation access, remains some of the least Boulder Arts Commission: addressed. So to that end. Boulder Arts Commission: Sarah has worked really well and put in a lot of effort in this June Accessibility Summit that she mentioned, and I hope all commissioners will remind their liaisons to please attend that, and learn from other nonprofits who will be there who are doing some interesting work, and it's a good way to Boulder Arts Commission: To network and see what others are doing, but that's just one of… Boulder Arts Commission: many opportunities that we're hoping to create, for this year, to have nonprofits, get the support that they need, in order to meet their goals when it comes to accessibility. Thank you. [39:11] Boulder Arts Commission: Yes, we're planning to have subsequent summits focusing on specific things about digital accessibility, but this is going to be a broad gathering to discuss success stories, best practices, and we'll have someone from the Center for People with Disabilities talking as well. Boulder Arts Commission: We've been chatting with stakeholders to learn about their practices, both in the arts community and, outside of it, and Cindy and I are presenting our programming to the Center for People with Disabilities to receive feedback. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Anything… any questions on the accessibility and… our take-homes? [40:01] Boulder Arts Commission: Great! Boulder Arts Commission: Sure, I'd be happy to. So thank you so much to Jill and Jeffrey, who are on our sustainability work group. Boulder Arts Commission: We recently met with Jonathan Cohen, who's Director of Climate Initiatives at the City of Boulder, who's very excited that we are reaching out, and I am sure that is going to continue to, work with us on a whole lot of things. Boulder Arts Commission: We reviewed a draft, which has not been set up with the Commission yet, but we're working on a draft similar to the accessibility draft. The base of it, though, is public and was used as part of the Bedrock grant process. Boulder Arts Commission: We also have a, summary report, which we'll be sending out about the, from the applications from the bedrock process. Boulder Arts Commission: We will have a summit on September 14th at, John Fair Social Club, and Sarah's working on who to invite for that. We're also working with Jonathan Coyne from, Climate Initiatives to see who to invite to that. Boulder Arts Commission: Is there anything that you would like to add? [41:02] Boulder Arts Commission: For now? Boulder Arts Commission: I will just say that hoping to be able to put together a clear document of resources and incentives that can be available to organizations through city and county, yeah, to be able to make… make steps in the city. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, and I think there's a great opportunity to align the Commission with the work that has already progressed within the City, as well as across the state, with a lot of other organizations that we can use as North Stars for that. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. And when were we hoping that summit was going to be? It's in September. Yeah, we have some time to build up the base materials for it. Boulder Arts Commission: Great. AI? Yes. So, thank you, Carolyn and Yale, for being in our… our AI work, group. We met with Richard Todd, who heads the city's AI work, [42:05] Boulder Arts Commission: I don't even think it's an office, I think it's an office of one who's doing amazing work. We have a summit scheduled for July 16th, and the calendar is, it's posted already, so please check out our… we can send it out to the Arts Commission. Boulder Arts Commission: We are hoping to do both a summit for organizations about, Boulder Arts Commission: using AI, like, leaning on some of our professors at CU to come and speak about it. Did you want to add anything to that, Sarah? Yes, so I have been speaking to a professor at CU to talk about AI best practices when it's appropriate to use, when it's inappropriate to use. Boulder Arts Commission: But undeniably, it does make writing grant applications more accessible, so I prefer that. Boulder Arts Commission: So, I've provided, a list of our questions to this professor. Boulder Arts Commission: They are. Boulder Arts Commission: To receive feedback, and she'll be presenting at the summit, providing advice to applicants on how to use it for our rubric specifically. [43:05] Boulder Arts Commission: Beautiful. Boulder Arts Commission: We also intend to host a meetup about AI for individual artists, focused more on copyright law, protecting yourself. AI and IP. Yes, and AI and IP, all the acronyms. Boulder Arts Commission: I've also reached out internally at the City of Boulder to our communications team to talk about a Creative Workforce First movement, or document, so our internal creatives are using local creatives first before using any kind of AI-manufactured images and things, so… Boulder Arts Commission: We're working on that internally. Is there anything you'd like to add to that? Boulder Arts Commission: Oh, I'm excited for the events. Yeah. Yeah. Very informative, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Great. Thank you. Excellent. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Brendan, that's you! Public art program. Boulder Arts Commission: 8. [44:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Thanks, everybody. Boulder Arts Commission: Today we will be… Hopefully, approving our process and selection for the Bear Creek Greenway Trail. Boulder Arts Commission: It's a $90,000 project. Boulder Arts Commission: It's right where, kind of, baseline and Gilpin meet. We started off the project with two… actually, four underpass walls. Boulder Arts Commission: Two separate underpasses, one that was gonna go under baseline, and then this location at Gilpin. Boulder Arts Commission: Partway through the project, we realized that the budget of $90,000 was not going to give us what we wanted for both locations, so, we decided to focus the artwork on this location here at Gilpin. Boulder Arts Commission: So the process to date, in August of last year, we had our orientation meeting, which is where we drafted our request for qualifications. In February of this year, we had our finalist artist selection meeting, where we selected four finalists for this project. [45:01] Boulder Arts Commission: And… Just last week, we had our finalist artists present their proposals to the selection panel. Boulder Arts Commission: And they selected their favorite. Boulder Arts Commission: our Central… or sorry, that's not the Central Avenue Bridge. The Bear Creek Greenway, selection panel, Boulder Arts Commission: We had Jeffrey Cash as our commissioner on the project, Gwen Burak from… she's the deputy director at BMOCA as our arts professional. Boulder Arts Commission: Artie Sandstone is a local artist here in Boulder. One committee member was Scott McCary. He's a neighbor and also director of transportation services at CU Boulder. And another community member was Laura Hendrickson. She's a neighbor and school teacher. Boulder Arts Commission: Our technical review committee included Erica Amador, she's a Transportation Senior Planner, Ryan Wiltshire, Transportation Civil Engineering Manager, and Mark Garcia from Planning and Development Services. These are all non-voting members who are included based on their expertise, and we'll get the proposals for safety and feasibility. [46:03] Boulder Arts Commission: Our acquisition criteria, it's the same for every project. Inherent artistic quality, the context of the artwork, the ability to install and maintain, a time horizon for the artwork, the diversity in terms of artwork and artists, uniqueness. Boulder Arts Commission: Of the project and artwork, and how it relates to the rest of the collection. Boulder Arts Commission: So again, here's our sites for art. There are two distinct, walls, in both directions going under this underpass near Gilpin, and again, we eliminated a second underpass location. Boulder Arts Commission: Because of budget constraints. Boulder Arts Commission: So from the request for qualifications, we wanted the new artworks to be bright, whimsical, and uplifting. They should connect with the daily flow of pedestrian and biker interaction in a way that activates and brings to life the underpass entrances. Boulder Arts Commission: Additional interpretation of themes such as history and geography of the site and location at Bear Creek are also encouraged. The panel was also open to exploring a variety of media, as proposed by the artists, but will give preference to two-dimensional exterior mosaic artworks in glass or ceramic tile. [47:13] Boulder Arts Commission: It's important that the designs utilize materials that are easy to clean and maintain and are suitable for outdoor display. This was a national call for artists, and we had, Boulder Arts Commission: almost 500 artists apply for this project. It was one of our largest group of applicants. Boulder Arts Commission: So of the four finalists that were selected, the first was Alex Kaufman from St. Petersburg, Florida. He proposed water jet, cut porcelain tile representing local birds and trees. Boulder Arts Commission: So here's, Boulder Arts Commission: One set of birds will be on one side of the underpass, and the other bird image will be on the other side of the underpass. Boulder Arts Commission: No issues from our technical review committee. Boulder Arts Commission: The panel really liked that it was a sophisticated proposal, very clean, subtle, yet refined. It was Colorado-inspired, but not obviously so, and a very well-prepared proposal. [48:11] Boulder Arts Commission: nodded all his I's and crossed all his T's. Some of their concerns were that it was a little too simple and didn't cover as much square footage as some of the other proposals. Boulder Arts Commission: Our next proposal was from Rita Valley. She was from Louisville, Colorado. Boulder Arts Commission: So she proposed rounded mosaic tile scenes of nature and life in Boulder. So you can kind of see those rounded… there's like a… there's bears, there's a hiker, there's a mountain climber, a biker, some more animals, and then behind that, some topographic and watershed imagery, behind those circular tiles. Boulder Arts Commission: Again, no issues from our technical review committee. Boulder Arts Commission: The panel liked the layered imagery and the interesting take on the watershed and topography. They thought the vision was a little muddled, didn't have kind of a central focus, and wasn't as refined as others. They thought, you know, it kind of required you to kind of stop and look [49:09] Boulder Arts Commission: More closely, and for that location, it didn't seem appropriate. Boulder Arts Commission: Our next finalist is Kasia Polkowska from Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Boulder Arts Commission: Her design included local flora and fauna depicted in the Polish folk art style with bold colors and handmade mosaic tile. So you can see some bears, birds, deer, and flower imagery, and it's really bright colors with a black background. Boulder Arts Commission: Again, no issues from our technical review committee. This is a pretty straightforward project. There's not a lot of technical issues. The panel loved the inspiring and unique design. Boulder Arts Commission: People said they hadn't seen this kind of design before, especially because it was traditional kind of folk art. They liked that it was whimsical and colorful. Boulder Arts Commission: There were some comments about having a black background for the artwork, and they wanted to see kind of more of a central focus, or more of a balanced composition across both sides. [50:12] Boulder Arts Commission: And finally, Stacia Goodman from Minneapolis, Minnesota. So she… her design is on one side, are kind of fish coming at you, their heads coming down the river, and on the other side, kind of the tails going the other direction. It's called heads or tails. Boulder Arts Commission: She's going to work with local artist Jessica Moon Bernstein-Sciano, and she'll be using porcelain tile mosaic depicting Colorado's greenback cutroat trout. Boulder Arts Commission: The panel really liked, that it covered both sides of the trail, on the other side of the creek as well. It looked kid-friendly, they liked that she selected a local muralist to work with. Boulder Arts Commission: And she seemed very professional and a master of her craft. They also thought the design was a little bit safe, and that the color palette could be a little more vibrant. [51:06] Boulder Arts Commission: Ultimately, the selection panel reached consensus on selecting Stacia Goodman from Minneapolis, Minnesota for the project, and final feedback was to just work with city staff to finalize the design. The potentials, maybe use some brighter colors, and then to coordinate for a safe and seamless installation across the creek. Boulder Arts Commission: So our next steps will be to, receive City Manager approval, and then, Boulder Arts Commission: Contracting and installation next year. Boulder Arts Commission: Any questions about the process? And actually, Jeffrey, if you have any comments, since you are our Boulder Arts Commission: Commissioner on the board? Well, this is the… this is the first such project I was, had the opportunity and the privilege to sit on in my three years here thus far, and how many… how many actual applications did we start with once the 500 were kind of whittled down? I think we whittled us for about 20. [52:04] Boulder Arts Commission: 25, maybe? No, no, no, they were… how many did we actually score? Oh, yeah, almost 500. Yeah, is that how many? My mousing finger is still broken. We had an amazing, yeah, that's one word for it. I was not prepared for that. I'm like, oh, I'll just go here this weekend and do it. Oh, I gotta spend a week doing this. Boulder Arts Commission: So. Boulder Arts Commission: what was… what was great was when we got down to the next groupings, we were basically united front in what was making that selection, and then when we got down to the final four, I think that meeting took… Boulder Arts Commission: 20 minutes, and it was mostly, hi, how are you, catching up? Because we all were united as to who were our top four, based on the applications and their previous works and, and their bios. Boulder Arts Commission: I know we had a… we were really gearing for the local artists. Boulder Arts Commission: Because we had two Coloradans who had, who had put, submissions in, but it really came down to, our, our belief that the, [53:06] Boulder Arts Commission: the person who was chosen can get it done, because there is a lot of technical aspects to this, because this is handmade, hand-cut, mosaic tiles. And, but it was a lot of fun, and… Boulder Arts Commission: I'm kind of sad that it's over at this point, other than, you know, going over and hitting a bottle of champagne against it or something. Boulder Arts Commission: Brandon, can we go back and just see the image again? Sure, sure. Boulder Arts Commission: I will say, it was a national call, but the Colorado artists, I mean, we had 2 out of 4 create proposals for us, so that the Colorado artists always taught you really well, even if it's a national call, so… Boulder Arts Commission: So the fish there, the heads and the tails of the fish, as well as the bird and the dragonfly up above, those are actually made out of mosaic tiles, and then when you see the dots within the actual painted mural, those are also mosaic tiles. [54:00] Boulder Arts Commission: And the water area is the local artist Jessica's mural ate top of the… How are community members chosen? Boulder Arts Commission: We work with, our project partners from transport… like, in this case, it was transportation, trying to find… we also have a… we've also done several calls online for people who are interested to send us their information, so we have a running list of community members who… A roster. Exactly, a roster. We actually live in those neighborhoods, so that goes through those underpasses and such, yeah. So we always try to find community members who live or work near the project site, and it was great that Scott was also Boulder Arts Commission: CU Boulder Transportation Director, because that… he rides, like, through there every single day, yeah. Yeah, awesome. Boulder Arts Commission: Any other questions or comments? Boulder Arts Commission: Do you have boat language? I do. Boulder Arts Commission: So, and I do just want to remind everybody, and especially we have some new commissioners here, welcome, Kate. We're going to ask you not to vote on this one. We'll get you signed in right afterward, and then you can vote away. But, just to remind everybody that we are voting not on the outcome here, but that they followed the process, and, [55:17] Boulder Arts Commission: And we're gonna take the committee's recommendation. So that's what the vote's been. Boulder Arts Commission: Oh, sorry, I need somebody to… I'll propose a motion. I move that we approve this process was properly conducted, and recommend that the proposal by Stacia… Stacia Goodman advance to the City Manager for final approval. Boulder Arts Commission: Second. Boulder Arts Commission: Great, any discussion? Boulder Arts Commission: All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Unanimous. Great, thanks a lot. Thank you so much. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you for including me, Brandon, that was a lot of fun. All right, Kate, we'd like to get you sworn in, and then we're gonna have a round of introductions a little later in the meeting. Perfect, and I apologize for… [56:09] Boulder Arts Commission: My son was performing in his school band concert, and I had to be there. And support, you know, support young artists. Boulder Arts Commission: So I'm gonna read your… I'm gonna hold your right hand up, yes, hi. So read this, and then you'll… Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, bye. It's a meeting. Boulder Arts Commission: Do you solemnly affirm… Do solemnly affirm… that I will support the Constitution? Boulder Arts Commission: And I will support the Constitution. Of the United States of America. Of the United States of America. And the State of Colorado. And the State of Colorado. And the Charter and the Ordinances. And the Charter and the Ordinances. Of the City of Boulder. Of the City of Boulder. And faithfully perform the duties of the Office… And faithfully perform the duties of the Office. Of a member of the Arts Commission. Boulder Arts Commission: a member of the Arts Commission, which I am about to… which I am about to enter. Thank you. [57:03] Boulder Arts Commission: Welcome. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: It's here. Boulder Arts Commission: All right, thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: And we'll move to the grant programs with Farrah. All right. Starting off with GOS grant decisions. Boulder Arts Commission: Just for some context, from the arts blueprint, Bedrock institutions are groups that are anchored within the sector regardless of their size, budget, staff, or legacy. Bedrock grants were to be impact-based grants that underscore SER goals like climate initiatives, equity, and accessibility. Boulder Arts Commission: The idea to reward impact oversights is setting a nationwide precedent. Boulder Arts Commission: This definition influenced the proposed rubric for the grant, incorporating climate initiatives, accessibility, community engagement, resilience, and most importantly for the rubric, collaboration. The idea of Bedrock grants and the rubric were deliberated between July and October 2000… [58:04] Boulder Arts Commission: 25, in a public process. The Commission approved the grant materials in October, and the rubric has been public since, with clear definitions and resources to help understand the questions being asked. The panel is instructed to stick to the rubric. They spent over 100 hours on general operating support, reviews. Boulder Arts Commission: And Cheryl attended the panel meeting, and I believe we have a statement from her. I do. This is… Boulder Arts Commission: This is a statement from Cheryl, and I'm blanking out in her lessons, Bordozo, who is our just-departed commissioner. Boulder Arts Commission: And she, as part of the… the committee, some of these bullet point items. Boulder Arts Commission: Bedrock application bonus. Boulder Arts Commission: The committee received far more applications than anticipated across all GOS categories, and for the bedrock category, 33, thus creating a mismatch between panel expectations and reality. They estimated it ultimately took around 100 hours to review all of the applications. [59:10] Boulder Arts Commission: Panelists received additional compensation to account for the increased review load. Boulder Arts Commission: on eligibility discussions. The panel engaged in substantive conversation about what qualifies an organization as a bedrock organization, ultimately returning to the rubric and their collective scores to resolve questions. Scores were reviewed, discussed, and affirmed as accurate. Boulder Arts Commission: on scoring methodology. Boulder Arts Commission: Bedrock scores were evaluated alongside GOS scores, with organizations assessed on the full scope of their work together, rather than the bedrock materials in isolation. Boulder Arts Commission: The intent was to compare organizations within tiers on an apples-to-apples basis, and the system worked as designed, considering not all Bedrock nominees are extra-large organizations. [60:00] Boulder Arts Commission: The panel was pleasantly surprised by the impact demonstrated by smaller organizations and how that translated through the scoring process. Boulder Arts Commission: on follow-up messaging. The panel asked whether staff could send outreach to non-awarded applicants encouraging future applications with messaging that frames the decisions as funding-limited rather than merit-based. Boulder Arts Commission: For all applications, outcomes and impact measurement. Go up. Boulder Arts Commission: An ongoing challenge for applicants is moving beyond attendance data toward meaningful impact narratives. The underlying question the panel is asking, quote, you have the data, now what else does it tell you, and what will you do with it? End quote. Boulder Arts Commission: I encourage the Office of Arts and Culture to continue their outreach education in working to upskill this area for local organizations, as it will benefit not only their City of Boulder applications, but inform their future programs and other funding applications. [61:00] Boulder Arts Commission: on staff recognition. Boulder Arts Commission: Sarah's close work with applicants was evident throughout. She has clearly invested significant time explaining the process and supporting organizations through their applications. I know she continues to go above and beyond in responding to applicants' queries about the process. I'm excited, as a regular citizen now, to see the fruits of the bedrock Initiative she's spearheaded. Boulder Arts Commission: Right. Boulder Arts Commission: So, overall, GOS panel recommendations. Over 70… overall, 77% of applicants were recommended for award tonight. Again, funding limited. For comparison, last year, the award rate for new GOS applicants was 78% after the increased adjustments to base, so it was less than that before the increased adjustment to base. Boulder Arts Commission: While this is a competitive grant, just for, some benchmarks, the award rate for local city or state general operating support grants is 30-50% on average, according to Americans for the Arts data. Boulder Arts Commission: But last year, there were 40 recertified organizations from the 2022 applications, plus 20 from the 2025 applications, so… [62:08] Boulder Arts Commission: Those are the numbers. Boulder Arts Commission: And then, a note on… Boulder Arts Commission: grant decisions, the organizations that are approved for Bedrock funding cannot apply for other funding. Boulder Arts Commission: At this meeting, Commission members have the choice to approve the recommendations, approve individual awards while submitting Boulder Arts Commission: Specific questions, postpone approval of individual awards, finding the answers to specific questions, or not approve the recommendations. Boulder Arts Commission: So, the Oops, I'm missing a slide here, but this is the top, scores for the bedrock rubric. Boulder Arts Commission: I believe it's not open. Boulder Arts Commission: Great. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, we have some discussions. I… there are two people that are going to end up recusing themselves. I don't think, [63:03] Boulder Arts Commission: for general statements that we need to have you removed, is that correct? That's right. Yes. Okay, so what I'd like to do is invite any commissioners that have Boulder Arts Commission: general comments on, this process, and the question that's been put to us by the public, and the vote that we're going to have. Give you some time to make your comments. Boulder Arts Commission: I'd ask you to limit yourself to 5 minutes in the interest of time, and then, we can have some discussion, and then move into a vote. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay? Boulder Arts Commission: Great, so… We're going to move into a motion, not a vote. Yes. That's part of the budget, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: And… does anybody have… Boulder Arts Commission: Any statements? Anything that they want to add for consideration beyond what we've already heard today? Boulder Arts Commission: I have a question. Sure. For Sarah. Yes. Could you, clarify the tiebreakers for the… [64:09] Boulder Arts Commission: the organizations that scored, there had higher bedrock average than others, but with the GOS and bedrock average score, they got lowered, so I just wanted to clarify the… Boulder Arts Commission: Yes, that's a great question. So in the case of a tie, the category scores are used in order of the scoring system, so the first one, bedrock, would be, their collaboration score. Boulder Arts Commission: Sarah, can you explain that to me again? Boulder Arts Commission: the collaborations. The collaboration score is the tiebreaker. Yes. And then, do we have… Boulder Arts Commission: I only see a tiebreaker, or a collaborations work for free suppliers on the Excel, or the spreadsheet. Do we have a… [65:06] Boulder Arts Commission: where is that? Like, where… where can I find the collaboration score for everyone else? Oh, those, I can provide those. I do agree that probably it's not the clearest way to represent that. I only included the collaboration tiebreaker score in cases where there was a tie, but yes, I can provide those. Boulder Arts Commission: Or they can be calculated on an iPhone calculator. Boulder Arts Commission: And then I have, yeah, some technical questions. This first category, the ones that say, like, B slash the size, does that mean they applied for Bedrock? Is that what the B is for? And then, Boulder Arts Commission: On the GOS one, Colorado Shakespeare Festival is yellow. Yes. What's that about? We funded as many organizations as possible, starting with the highest score to the lowest score. Boulder Arts Commission: The yellow just represents partial funding, because technically they should be getting $60,000, but we only had $13,000. Cool. [66:11] Boulder Arts Commission: One thing that I noted, I just wanted to kind of point out, kind of goes in with the tiebreakers, is that, if I were looking at just the bedrock average, their KGMU is one that even Boulder Arts Commission: is out of order under the bedrock averages just alone. So, Boulder Arts Commission: It doesn't seem like using that, that average, the plus the average score. Boulder Arts Commission: Elevator, like, really impacted that many organizations when it came to the bedrock. Boulder Arts Commission: analysis. Am I reading that correctly? Yeah, with that exception, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: Sarah, I sat in on the vision grants, and I know how unbiased you both try to be, but was there any clarification given to [67:08] Boulder Arts Commission: the people doing the scoring, what an anchor institution is, like, how they need to think about it, what is the federal, or examples from other cities, not from Boulder, because we don't want to bias them. Boulder Arts Commission: We went back to the definition that's on the scoring website for a bedrock institution, and then, yes, ultimately, what makes a bedrock institution is scoring really well on the rubric at the end of the day, so they just decided to stick to the rubric as the North Star. Boulder Arts Commission: I don't have any qualms with the process. I don't have any qualms with the scoring or the rubric. Sarah and staff will remember, probably about a year ago when this was first presented to the Commission, I was Boulder Arts Commission: alone, loud, curse voice, and I've been apologizing to Sarah ever since then, for… for not understanding what the Bedrock program was, mainly because of what it was called. And so, I had an opportunity to sit down with she and Lauren, and… [68:16] Boulder Arts Commission: Talk about how… Boulder Arts Commission: What the benefits of it were, what the idea of it was, and how it could be transformative to… Boulder Arts Commission: Arts organizations of all sizes, depending on who were the awardees. Boulder Arts Commission: And I, and I was… Boulder Arts Commission: I was convinced at that time that this… this was a good use of that particular fund if we were using them in that way. Boulder Arts Commission: The first thing that probably tipped me off was the actual name of it, and I'm really kicking myself right now, because I should have pushed further to change the name of it at that point in the process, so that we didn't have to go through the syntax of… of… of… Boulder Arts Commission: going through what is a bedrock organization versus what is a bedrock grant, and this is a bedrock grant for organizations. [69:07] Boulder Arts Commission: And… Boulder Arts Commission: ultimately, when I'm looking at the funds that we received from 2A, and the windfall from that, my hope would have been that it would have been able to raise all ships, and that that could have been used Boulder Arts Commission: In a way that… Boulder Arts Commission: went across the board for all organizations, and everyone would receive a small percentage. That's not what the process is, that's not what the scoring is, so this is where we are now, so this is what we're voting on. Boulder Arts Commission: But… But that's what my vision was originally. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, I do validate that, and I think that the term bedrock has been problematic in that it connotes legacy institution rather than impactful institution, so that has caused kind of a quagmire there. But I would also like to note that Boulder Arts Commission: Grant award amounts are increased across the board. So, this is that. [70:06] Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, I, I was pulled back to the Blueprint Executive Summary, and where it discusses, in addition to what you pointed out from this, about what the bedrock is Boulder Arts Commission: meant to be, and I'll just quote a couple sections, they're key partners in the creative ecosystem, impactful institutions of various budget sizes. A funding category built around anchor institutions should evaluate their impact on specific metrics to assess reach and impact. Boulder Arts Commission: And then in a different paragraph, Boulder Arts Commission: that these are organizations that serve Boulder historically through sustained public programming, education, employment, and or cultural infrastructure. They're defined by long-term impact, community-centered missions, and alignment with the city's priorities. So, when I look at [71:03] Boulder Arts Commission: how the result is, I feel that those organizations are supported, and this… this… that language supports them. Boulder Arts Commission: getting this funding, I think that the rubric supports this language, and that was gathered through the consultants in the community, and put through the process, and that we talked about for months, and poured over words. I think that's all supported in the Boulder Arts Commission: how the committee came to this decision. If there is Boulder Arts Commission: in my opinion, if there is a disease of… around the specific organizations that ended up scoring well, I would encourage people to think about whether that is a good direction to look at Boulder Arts Commission: creating a system. We shouldn't be pointing the rubric to who we think should get funding. We should develop a robust [72:03] Boulder Arts Commission: Voting system, scoring system. Boulder Arts Commission: And let that guide our way. And what can we learn about how these organizations are expressing what they do out in the community? How can we help other organizations in the next years write and express what they are doing to a level that they may get funding in the future? Boulder Arts Commission: And, it's… it's a new program now. It's not going to be perfect out of the door. It's iterative. We look at the rubric every year. We have opportunities to continue to mold this over and continue and improve, and… and I think… Boulder Arts Commission: while interesting, I think it's supported by what I see. Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Everyone's a… look. Boulder Arts Commission: If the rubric is supported, how come we have… no, we have just one small organization represented? We have one extra large, we have three large, and we have one small. But if the rubric is going to work for everybody, shouldn't we see [73:06] Boulder Arts Commission: more small. I feel like we are saying that, oh yeah, the Red Rock supports organizations of all types, and yet the rubric is not Boulder Arts Commission: the result doesn't show that. It's just one small organization. Well, there are a list of small organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: That are not supported by the rubric. Boulder Arts Commission: I would say that, in my opinion, and Sarah is free to give your opinion too, but they… all organizations Boulder Arts Commission: contributed answers to the same rubric. It wasn't different questions for small, it wasn't different questions for extra large, and… Boulder Arts Commission: They are… that levels the playing field, and the rubric that we designed and the program that we designed didn't specify we want to have, I mean, like, one from a small and one from a medium. It was, here is the scoring, here is the priorities of the city, [74:01] Boulder Arts Commission: And that's what we used, and these are the results. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, and I guess if we could… I mean, if we looked at, you know, what the rubric, and we're looking at the qualifications, is it… is it possible for a larger number of small organizations for next time to, to qualify if we change the rubric for the next… next go-round? Boulder Arts Commission: Will… that would be interesting to find out, where if we… if we take the amount of things that we're asking for, and… Boulder Arts Commission: more people are basically qualified for higher scores, will that indeed bring smaller organizations in? Or will it leave all smaller organizations out? So, I don't think… I don't think the scoring is that, it's just we have a lot of people doing really great work that ticked all the boxes in this particular rubric. Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, I definitely see opportunity, like, to con… like, this is not a one and done. We need to keep digging in and seeing how it's playing out, and… and adjusting, and getting feedback from staff, and… [75:05] Boulder Arts Commission: Feedback from the public, and… Boulder Arts Commission: But I think, you know, a couple of speakers, in my mind, I think it would be hugely unfair to Boulder Arts Commission: Hold back the process at this stage of the game. Boulder Arts Commission: We agreed to for 2026. Boulder Arts Commission: I was gonna say, like, Boulder has more bedrock organizations than we have bedrock grants, and that's just… that just isn't… I'm calling them bedrocks! Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, so just, like, not being awarded a Bedrock grant is not us saying, like, oh, you're not important to the community, or you're not vital to the community. That's not what it's saying. I think maybe that's how people are receiving it, generally, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: If we could give a bedrock grant to everyone, I would. Truly. Boulder Arts Commission: I heard somebody over here. Yeah, this week. Boulder Arts Commission: Cute. Boulder Arts Commission: So if the… if the five are awarded the Bedrock this year, is there going to be an opportunity for Bedrock next year, or is this just them getting Bedrock this year, next year, and the year after? [76:09] Boulder Arts Commission: It was determined that, and it says in the application itself, that award years would be staggered according to score, and because these organizations are top scores, they would be entitled, according to the plan, to 3 years of funding. Boulder Arts Commission: So next year, nobody will be eligible for Bendra, and the year after as well, undetermined. Boulder Arts Commission: And based on current funding levels. Boulder Arts Commission: If funding was to remain the same, and the distribution of that funding was to remain the same, yes. Boulder Arts Commission: So… Can we go back to the number of organizations that get funded? Boulder Arts Commission: the percentages? Yes. Boulder Arts Commission: Do you have information from… other similar-sized… Boulder Arts Commission: Towns, cities, what percentage is getting awarded? Yes. How do we compare? What's 30 to 50? Oh, you mentioned that 30… that was a 30 to 50. [77:10] Boulder Arts Commission: So, in theory… It's just for federal, but that's for, like, top people. Okay. So, in theory, we could scale back on this, what is that, 75%? Boulder Arts Commission: 77% of total to accommodate for more bedrock next year. Boulder Arts Commission: I'll pass that one to the chair. Boulder Arts Commission: That… I… I'm not sure what input I can add. We can talk… every year, we talk about what buckets of money go to which programs, and how… and the staff determines Boulder Arts Commission: What would be, based on the applications, what would be an appropriate, percentage in each category size? Boulder Arts Commission: So, I think we certainly will have an opportunity at that juncture to talk about it as a commission, and ask questions, and apply some of the things that we learned from this year. Is that addressing what you… [78:08] Boulder Arts Commission: thought I might comment on? Boulder Arts Commission: catch. I don't know what you're throwing. Well, I would… I would request that we add that to the agenda, because at a 77% rate, if that is not the benchmark standard in other parts of this country. Boulder Arts Commission: I think we need to free up some money for additional bedrock organizations for next year, and move from 5 to 10, or whatever else, because Boulder Arts Commission: if Bedrock is being associated with, like, some sort of, like, a designation for these nonprofits. Boulder Arts Commission: And there are some that are being… Boulder Arts Commission: Left behind that are smaller, more experimental, and they need to sort of have their time and their turn. Boulder Arts Commission: we need to scale this number back, and I think we should add this to the agenda, like, sooner rather than later, because then we… if we add it later on, we always feel, like, a little bit rushed, you know? Boulder Arts Commission: Yes, the reason I'm kind of dodging the question is because, like, as a staff person, to provide an adequate response, I don't know if it's industries, like, I'm not sure that it would be industry standard to try to fund a lower percentage of applications. I think probably there's lots of factors, like, funding levels. [79:18] Boulder Arts Commission: That make it more competitive in other cities. But, certainly, it's an iterative process, like Caroline said, and so when we're developing the budget for next year, there'll be a lot of back and forth. Boulder Arts Commission: And I believe that we start the… the conversations around that in… coming up in the next couple months, so… I wasn't involved last year, I joined, like… It was right as all that was going. So I was nailed it out of my depth, so… And my thought point would be, like, well, let's… let's get the percentage higher. Boulder Arts Commission: But we have the bedrocks that are kind of standing in the way of that. Boulder Arts Commission: Right. Boulder Arts Commission: But confirming that, due to the scoring, there will be no Bedrock grants for the next 3 years, due to this year's score? [80:06] Boulder Arts Commission: Question for Sarah, and then dependent on budget. If nothing changes in the funding or the distribution of funding, and again, there will be an opportunity to provide… to suggest a different distribution of funding. Boulder Arts Commission: But if that does not come from the Commission discussions, then there would be no new applications for that work. Boulder Arts Commission: So that was, a part of the program that we had all discussed, approved. Yes, that is written in the grant application language that was approved by the Commission. And the idea of that was also that after 3 years, we'd have… we'd have case studies for what the Boulder Arts Commission: transfer… transformative funding for those organizations would be. Yes, and I… Boulder Arts Commission: recall in the discussions that with extra funding comes extra responsibility, and the reporting will be crucial to find out, was this extra funding, Boulder Arts Commission: what was actually accomplished with that? How efficacious was it? [81:05] Boulder Arts Commission: So essentially what we're looking at here, is this correct, is that's the competitiveness of each of these categories. Boulder Arts Commission: Yes. And as Cheryl's comment. Boulder Arts Commission: implied, the bedrock ended up being way more competitive than anyone anticipated. So, is it the case that one thing the Commission could do is look at this going forward and say, essentially, how competitive, to your question, Gaia, how competitive do we want these different categories to be, if we're open to having Boulder Arts Commission: GOS categories be more competitive, we could make the bedrock somewhat less competitive, so we could… we could… Boulder Arts Commission: mess with the math. Right, right. So, it's possible, right, that the Commission could take another look at what are we aiming for in terms of the competitiveness of these different Boulder Arts Commission: these different areas, and keep the… pointing to your page? If the rubric stayed exactly the same. [82:03] Boulder Arts Commission: But the funding distribution was tweaked. Boulder Arts Commission: more organizations could be granted FedRock grants next year, but as you said, if we change nothing. Boulder Arts Commission: we wouldn't be able to give out any more Bedrock grants next year because there wouldn't be sufficient funding, yeah. Nor does the Bedrock Boulder Arts Commission: Going forward, if we… we could also… Change the amount. Boulder Arts Commission: If we wanted to. Right. Okay, I just want to get clear on kind of what the options are going forward. Typically, what the process is, is staff will be crunching numbers and all sorts of different variations, and ways to look at the numbers, and ways to spread things out, and what's equitable, and we'll come with a recommendation, and one of the things that we could do is Boulder Arts Commission: Ask for specific, you know, analysis. Boulder Arts Commission: of… that approach. Boulder Arts Commission: I'm intentionally recusing myself from the broader conversation. But I do want to say that I read so many incredible grant proposals, they all deserve it. [83:10] Boulder Arts Commission: And I also want to say that while only 15% Boulder Arts Commission: are being recommended for bedrock, a lot of them applied. Not all of them Answered every question. Boulder Arts Commission: So there's some growth there in terms of how to… Work on the observation. Boulder Arts Commission: You mentioned, I know we have, you know, 3 years here, but the reporting will be more rigorous for better organizations. Do we know yet, like, how that will look, or, like, what kind of the standard is going to be with that? Yes, the Commission did approve, a report addictum, requiring additional questions of Boulder Arts Commission: these crises. It was robust. Boulder Arts Commission: Good. I want it to be, yeah. It was robust but flexible, so it's asking what they were able to do with the money related to the five categories, but it doesn't have to, like, they don't have to speak to all five with the extra funding, because that's not realistic, so they could speak to one category or two, or something like that. [84:11] Boulder Arts Commission: I haven't. Boulder Arts Commission: I know, I know we want to really trust all the scorers, and I… and I do. I just had… took real issue to this Boulder Library Foundation, with one of the panelists making them two on every single thing. Boulder Arts Commission: Including collaboration, accessibility, sustain, like, they cannot be a 2003. Boulder Arts Commission: And that's the one that's really, like. Boulder Arts Commission: How can they be to your community connection? Boulder Arts Commission: I don't have the application in front of it. I know, but I'm just saying that Boulder Arts Commission: I think that they just stood out as, like, unusual at this one. Boulder Arts Commission: panelists. I think the difficulty with assessing that application in particular is that the organization itself is a fundraising mechanism, so interpreting [85:01] Boulder Arts Commission: programming. Boulder Arts Commission: was, there were some different interpretations there. Boulder Arts Commission: You're supposed to get married. Boulder Arts Commission: One of the things that we had discussed, particularly after 2 years ago, is, Boulder Arts Commission: considering an approach where the top and the bottom scores get dropped, and that's something that we can look at also moving forward for next year's program. Within the panelists, not the scoring of, like… The top scoring organizations are eliminated! Boulder Arts Commission: Which would address this type of… Boulder Arts Commission: Back to the reporting question that was asked about, more frequent reporting, which I agree with. I think 3 years is a little too long to wait to hear how the bedrock rent is impacted. Oh, no, there… Everyone reports every year, yeah. Speaking of getting up to speed, but… [86:01] Boulder Arts Commission: Curious if the Commission or staff ever Utilizes a non-written Boulder Arts Commission: portion of the reporting? Is there ever other visits, interviews, yeah, like, seeing in kind of an immersive way an example of what has been done. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, not as part of the reports, but we do, we will, in the next couple months, have the opportunity to be assigned with Boulder Arts Commission: various GOS recipients as a liaison, and that role can help kind of bolster everybody's understanding of what's going out… going on in real life. We report back out Boulder Arts Commission: meetings, I don't know if that is along the lines of what you were saying? It is along the lines, yeah. Because if it were experiential, then we'd have to be there to also vote on it. Right, right, yeah, no, I understand. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah. [87:02] Boulder Arts Commission: Alright, so, just looking at the time. We're at 7.30. Boulder Arts Commission: Do you feel like we've hit the points that we want to talk about for this book? Boulder Arts Commission: Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: So… Just a couple of housekeeping Boulder Arts Commission: items. We will pull out votes for any organization that needs a recusal. I know there are three, three of us. Boulder Arts Commission: I think that's it for right now. Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Bye. Boulder Arts Commission: Oh, I need a motion, please. The first one… Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, we've got the Dairy Arts Center and Junkyard pulled out as a separate group, so… It was the third one? You don't have to leave right now. It's part of the GOS. Oh, okay. So I need a motion. Boulder Arts Commission: On that first line. I move that you approve the following Bedrock Awards, MODIS theater, Streetwise Arts, and Frequent Flyers. [88:07] Boulder Arts Commission: Second… Boulder Arts Commission: I'll second that. Boulder Arts Commission: Any discussion? Boulder Arts Commission: And a vote. All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: That's 5. All opposed? Boulder Arts Commission: Two of us. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Let's move on to the Junkyard Social. We have a recusal. Boulder Arts Commission: Great. Need a motion, please? Boulder Arts Commission: I move that the following receive a Bedrock Award, Junkyard Social Club, All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Oh, sorry. Second, please. Boulder Arts Commission: Right? Yeah, that probably have to be. [89:02] Boulder Arts Commission: You want me to second? Yes. I'll second that. Okay. Okay, thank you. I couldn't hear you. All right, all in favor. Boulder Arts Commission: 4. All opposed? Boulder Arts Commission: 2? Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Cindy. Jerry Arts Center, introduce themselves. Boulder Arts Commission: I can second with L. Yeah, okay. Boulder Arts Commission: You can… yes. Boulder Arts Commission: Otherwise, a piece of the welcome. Boulder Arts Commission: I need a motion on that final line, please. Boulder Arts Commission: Move that the following receive a Bedrock Award, Derry, Art Center… Second. Boulder Arts Commission: All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Five of us, all opposed? [90:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: And these are the scores for extra-large organizations, again. Boulder Arts Commission: Colorado Shakespeare Festival is only in yellow because it's technically a partial funding. Boulder Arts Commission: Could you clarify why they ended up as partial funding? I understand you said earlier that there were not sufficient funds to get them all the way there, but why then? Yes, we had, something like Boulder Arts Commission: we went down by score pretty evenly across the different funding tiers. It was, like, so clean, except for one instance. In any case. Boulder Arts Commission: We had an additional $23,000 or so, and two organizations got tied. One of them was Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the other was Boulder Opera. Because Boulder Opera had a higher tie-breaking score, it was determined that they would receive the full funding Boulder Arts Commission: And, the remainder, basically, would go to Colorado Street Festival, but I can also, I know that [91:01] Boulder Arts Commission: We discussed this with Caroline from Said. Because we have the extra funds, you're saying that these two organizations, this one and the other one, are actually getting funding that they wouldn't have otherwise. Boulder Arts Commission: Probably, I wouldn't put it that way, but, we… there was a very even score, cutoff point, funding everything top to bottom, and then we had this sort of remainder with two organizations that tied, the funding that we hadn't already sort of allocated. Boulder Arts Commission: I'm probably not expressing myself well. For the new commissioners, our philosophy is that we typically don't like to Boulder Arts Commission: Provide less than the full amount, but we felt that in this Boulder Arts Commission: instance, or the committee felt, in this instance. Boulder Arts Commission: With supportive staff, that… Providing at least partial to the Colorado Shakespeare Festival design. Boulder Arts Commission: And has it been conveyed to them the rationale for the… Commercial funding. [92:04] Boulder Arts Commission: N-no. Boulder Arts Commission: Does it need to be? Boulder Arts Commission: I mean… I think traditionally, scores are sent out, and that kind of speaks for itself. Boulder Arts Commission: the rationale behind the funding decisions, but they could see this as well, so they could see, yeah. I emailed them, so… individually, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Good stuff makes itself available if people have questions and want to call in. Boulder Arts Commission: I know Sarah has a lot of conversations. It's been a busy week. Boulder Arts Commission: Any other questions? Boulder Arts Commission: In the language. Boulder Arts Commission: Do we have boat landlord? Oh, I'm so sorry. It's clearly been busy. [93:01] Boulder Arts Commission: that we award the following extra-large GOS organizations, Parlando, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder Ballet, Fritz Music Project, E-Town, Groundworks Art Lab, Museum of Boulder, Colorado Chautauqua Association. Boulder Arts Commission: Boulder Ensemble theater Company, KGNU, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Colorado Music Fest and CMA, and Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Boulder Arts Commission: Second. I'll second that. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Any additional… Discussion. Boulder Arts Commission: Great. All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: That's unanimous. Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: These are the scores for large organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: And again, due to the… Boulder Arts Commission: tier definitions, I do think that this is something that commission should reassess, given how many extra large organizations there are, and that we only had 4 applications for large organizations. [94:05] Boulder Arts Commission: I move that we award the following large GOS organizations, BIF, Boulder Arts Commission: In asterisks, or whatever that is. CO, Film Society, Local Theater Co, and the new local. Boulder Arts Commission: I have a second. I'll second that. Boulder Arts Commission: Any discussion? Boulder Arts Commission: All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Unanimous. Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Alright, and mid-sized organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: I was told someone had a recusal with… Yes, it's pulled out on the bottom, so we can do the first first, and I recuse myself, it's me. Boulder Arts Commission: I mean, sleep. Boulder Arts Commission: Sorry, Anita? I move that we award the following mid-sized GOS organizations the SPARK, Compass, Resonance, Boulder Symphony, Third Law Dance, Rainbow Socks, Turning the Wheel Productions, and ACE at Boulder JCC. [95:03] Boulder Arts Commission: I'll second. Boulder Arts Commission: Any discussion? All in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Unanimous, thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: I'll excuse myself. Boulder Arts Commission: I got it. I got it. I got it. Boulder Arts Commission: Do I have a motion for, Kutandara? Boulder Arts Commission: I move that we award the following mid-sized GOS organization, Kuchandara Moon and Stars Foundation. Do we have a second? Boulder Arts Commission: Jill? Boulder Arts Commission: Any discussion? Boulder Arts Commission: All those in favor? Boulder Arts Commission: Unanimous. Boulder Arts Commission: So sorry. Boulder Arts Commission: It's not nice. [96:08] Boulder Arts Commission: And then these are the scores for the small organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: Can I get a motion? Boulder Arts Commission: I move that we award the following small GOS organizations, Cultural Caravan. Boulder Arts Commission: Society for Creative Aging, the Catamounts Boulder Metalsmithing Association, Creator Boulder Youth Orchestra, Yale of Colorado Mallow Fest, Noble Art District, T2 Dance, and Boulder Opera. Boulder Arts Commission: Any second break, any discussion? Lots of loved, beloved scrappy companies there. Yeah, all my favorite. Boulder Arts Commission: Unanimous. Thank you. And finally, extra small. Boulder Arts Commission: We were the following. Extra Small GOS organizations, Eco Arts Connections, Candle Singers, Band of Tough, Boulder Samba School, East Window, Boulder… IKO? [97:08] Boulder Arts Commission: Lemon Sponge Cake, Ballet, Flatirons Community Orchestra, Kid Studio and Gallery, Fireside Inc. Riders, CO Nonprofit Center, and Sansuji. Boulder Arts Commission: Second? I can second. Boulder Arts Commission: Any discussion? Boulder Arts Commission: All in favor. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. That was a lot of money we just gave out. Yeah. Congratulations to all the recipients. Thank you, Commissioner, and thank you, staff. Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you so much, Sarah, for all your work on that. It was a big new challenge. Boulder Arts Commission: I do have one more point, sorry, class dismissed. Boulder Arts Commission: Yes. Boulder Arts Commission: This is just, if anyone's curious, a perfection of where we're going in terms of staggering awards. We will have essentially $280,000 of new GOS applications to give out next year, if funding is unchained, and then the committed funding that was just voted on recently. [98:13] Boulder Arts Commission: Well, that's exciting. Before we move on from the grants, I wonder if I could just add a point that… Boulder Arts Commission: Of course, getting up to speed pretty quickly on one of those. Boulder Arts Commission: And, I spent about 16 years on a grant seeker side of organizations, and have written and stressed over more grant applications than I care to remember. Had only a little bit of grant Boulder Arts Commission: PTSD, looking at some of that, just because once you've done that, and it's… it's a lot, and it's really, really hard. And, Boulder Arts Commission: So, I very much… Boulder Arts Commission: relate to how difficult it is for organizations to go through this process, and I… I feel… I feel that it was the right thing to do. [99:01] Boulder Arts Commission: to… Boulder Arts Commission: honor the process that they had gone through and the rubric that had been set up and was carefully followed throughout. That said, I agree with Jeffrey's point about that word bedrock. Boulder Arts Commission: It was really hard to wrap my head around what are we actually… doing. Boulder Arts Commission: What does that mean, and what does this grant mean? Boulder Arts Commission: So, Boulder Arts Commission: I spent some time making sure that, okay, we did what we said we were going to do in terms of the rubric and having these organizations go through this and awarding these grants, and I do think that word bedrock is really misleading and confusing, and Boulder Arts Commission: and means different things to different people, so I support the sentiments that came out tonight to take another look at what is this Boulder Arts Commission: What are we calling this? How are we defining it? Boulder Arts Commission: And how can we really communicate carefully with Boulder Arts Commission: The organizations that are sleeping against us from sleep. [100:03] Boulder Arts Commission: And I agree to, as we can, start that discussion early enough, and… That's correct. Boulder Arts Commission: Since I was one of the two that voted, no, I just want to make sure that people really understand, not that I don't believe in these organizations that got the beddrop, I really do, and I… and I think that Boulder Arts Commission: The onus comes on us. I don't think the rubric that is used for other grants should be used for bedrock. I think we need a separate framework Boulder Arts Commission: And I think it would have been a good time to… to change this framework anytime between now and next year. And if we had a better framework, we wouldn't have this conversation in the first place. We would have been… Boulder Arts Commission: Boarding, yes. I think the framework didn't work for this four-bedrock specifically, and I think there's over a million dollars being spent over 3 years. Boulder Arts Commission: We owe it to the community, to the Boulder community, the people who are not sitting in this room providing public comments. [101:00] Boulder Arts Commission: to really define up front what does bedrock mean? What does it mean to be essential? What does it mean to be anchor? It's too ambiguous, and so we have these discussions over and over again. I think that, you know, as I said, I do believe in the work that these people do, and I think it's very Boulder Arts Commission: hurried that they have to come here and ask for this money, and, like, the stress that they all feel, I can put all that stress. Boulder Arts Commission: And that… and I really want us to be… Boulder Arts Commission: much more mindful for next year while we define Bedrop, and I think I would love to see us free up more funding for additional organizations to get access to beddrop funding. If it is clearly that transformational to these organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: We need to… we need to figure out, even if it's… Even if it's gonna make… Boulder Arts Commission: you know, some of the smaller ones, like the ultra-small, the super-duper small, like, how will we define this? Like, we have to make it work for more organizations, like, bump it up to 8, 9, 10 even. That's my feedback. [102:02] Boulder Arts Commission: That's a good question. When you say that the rubric or the process didn't work for this, is that, is that focused on the distribution of the sizes, or what would… I think the distribution of the sizes is off. Boulder Arts Commission: If we are saying in the blueprint that we're going to support extra large, large, small, media, that is not how the distribution has Boulder Arts Commission: shaken out at all, right? Like, and I think we have missed out on Boulder Arts Commission: like, economic vitality maybe should be one of the additional things for a bedrock organization, is to, like. Boulder Arts Commission: see how we can figure something like that in. I haven't fully thought of it, but I was disappointed that we didn't see more small organizations. I would have loved to see smaller organizations part of it. Boulder Arts Commission: So, I… That's all. Boulder Arts Commission: I just want to say, first of all, that I totally value both of your perspectives and, you know, agree that we will continue to evaluate [103:09] Boulder Arts Commission: process. I want to thank everybody for following the rubric. I… Boulder Arts Commission: agree that it would be great to see more smaller organizations. I want to also acknowledge that there's a pretty big jump between large and extra large. It's like 500,000 to a million, and then we've got extra larges that are well over a million. So, like, that amount, the 80K, is going to make such a big difference to those large organizations. Huge difference to all of them, so I'm so excited to see what MODIS does. Boulder Arts Commission: what Streetwise does, what Frequent Flyers does, when they've already made such a big impact with the budgets that they have. Boulder Arts Commission: It's gonna be an awesome three years. Boulder Arts Commission: I have kind of, like, a philosophical question, maybe. If it was called something else, but the results were the same, would there be a type of pushback from y'all in your minds? [104:00] Boulder Arts Commission: No. Okay. I think it was most… a little more of, you know, I under… I'm new. Boulder Arts Commission: But I had an issue with the definition of bedrock and definition of bedrock in the Boulder arts and culture community, and impact versus legacy. Yeah. And… but I also would have wanted to see more of… Boulder Arts Commission: A more variety of small, medium, large organizations, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: And I understand that you guys went through this last year while I was not on the commission, and I, you know, it's a ton of work and, you know, a lot of thought, and time that went into it, but I just… I had to vote with Boulder Arts Commission: how I felt most. I had to vote on the process. Boulder Arts Commission: but not the result. And I have no problem with the… with the numbers, but when I'm saying, you know, what does… what does eligibility look like in the future, and that's what we get to play with next time. And we're so glad that we've brought all this up now, and we can look at that carefully and figure out what we want to do for it. [105:17] Boulder Arts Commission: The only thing that is on my mind, I am really looking forward to what we can improve in all of this, and I just want to make sure that at a certain level, we stay grounded in what the consultants told us, the community wants, because this is all, again, going back to Boulder Arts Commission: thousands of hours talking to the community, and what the community itself told us they wanted. So, like, I think it's great to, like, let's… Boulder Arts Commission: optimize and see how we change the program, but in terms of changing definitions and what does it mean, I think we need to stay rooted in what Boulder Arts Commission: We spent a year and a half asking older what they wanted. [106:02] Boulder Arts Commission: I think optimized is a good word. That's a good way of putting it, yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Anything else? Thank you, Sarah. I do have one more agenda item, I think, though. Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: It's on the agenda. Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, go ahead, keep on. So, not my personal agenda. Boulder Arts Commission: So, we have discretionary funds for requests that would never… Boulder Arts Commission: fit well with any kind of grant application. We have a committee to… Boulder Arts Commission: approve these sponsorship requests that involves all of us as staff and two commissioners, and because Cheryl just, left the commission, we are now looking for a volunteer to serve along with Yaleid on that sponsorship committee. Boulder Arts Commission: I did that before you allowed, and it was… it was nice, maybe two emails a year. Let's give someone else an opportunity, too, if nobody else wants. Tell us a little bit more about… about the role and what it… [107:02] Boulder Arts Commission: what that sponsorship grant is? Sure. So, we receive a request, Boulder Arts Commission: I think an example Lauren always uses is, like, someone needed porta-potties for an event that was, like, very communally important, but that would never, ever do well in a grant application, so for those kind of one-off discretionary funding situations, Boulder Arts Commission: they will send us a formal letter and a request, and the reasoning behind it, and then as staff, we evaluate it, and say whether we support that use of funding or not, and then if it's a unanimous staff support, it then goes to the two commissioner members of the sponsorship committee to approve that. And it would be for something Boulder Arts Commission: At least tangentially related to arts and culture, I assume. So, like, the porta-potties for some kind of cultural event. Yes, or participating in, like, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, that kind of thing. One I remember was changing over two sets of stairs over to a ramp. [108:02] Boulder Arts Commission: Per… per venue here. Boulder Arts Commission: there's a Toni Morrison event. Essentially, the Human Relations Fund, they got their funding cut, so they asked if we could step in on behalf of the Museum of Boulder to fund the Toni Morrison bench, so those are all just examples. How much is the sponsorship budget? 14… it's either 12 or 14, I'm really sorry. I… Million. Million. Boulder Arts Commission: I think it's smooth. Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: And the requests are usually, like, $2,000. Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: I'm up for it. Yeah. They're cute little projects that I'm just like, oh, what can I do? Boulder Arts Commission: That was not an item. Top on my lady there. Boulder Arts Commission: I'm like an animal. I'm president of my HOA board, but the number of times we've talked about dog. [109:08] Boulder Arts Commission: Alright, moving on, I see we're at, like, quarter till, 10 till at this point, so I'm gonna keep us moving. Thank you for that. Boulder Arts Commission: I would like to do the intros, but can we do that last, just to have a nice little warm wrap-up to this meeting? We're probably gonna go over about 10 minutes. I'm really sorry. If you need to leave, go ahead. But not right now. But not right now. Lauren and Steve are gonna bring us matters matters from the staff. Boulder Arts Commission: And a Boulder Arts Recap, Boulder Arts Week recap. Boulder Arts Commission: go now. Boulder Arts Commission: About a week, recap? Boulder Arts Commission: A week out. Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: Come on, baby. Boulder Arts Commission: Nope. [110:04] Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, Polar Arts Week. Happens. Yeah, it did, yeah. Go! Boulder Arts Commission: That's us. Sorry, it didn't happen. Boulder Arts Commission: It's so weird. You guys crush social media adoring it, getting up to adoring it. Yeah, thank you. I have a lot of good numbers to show you on these really good slides that are totally blacked out on my computer. Boulder Arts Commission: We totally can leave you, too. I don't know. Maybe we do introductions, I guess. Introductions, I wouldn't be sharing anymore. Oh, please. Boulder Arts Commission: I wanted to give Kate and Muskrad a few minutes to just introduce herself, tell us what made you interested in joining the Commission, and if you have any priorities from what you know of what we do, what you're interested in. [111:02] Boulder Arts Commission: Helping us solve, or… You can create. Boulder Arts Commission: Whichever one of you wants to go first. You're giving us a really challenging first opinion. Boulder Arts Commission: Pressure. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah. Oh, God, you did. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, shit. So, either one of you, that's gonna start. I'm Montserrant. I… Boulder Arts Commission: Work in the arts. I work in the art market. I've been working in the art market for, over 10 years. I'm a very big advocate of art and culture, and, it's just been part of my… Boulder Arts Commission: my life since I was a child, and I am excited, you know, I'm fairly new to Boulder, I'm 2 years in, and I… I'm excited to be more involved, in shaping the arts and culture in Boulder for the future generations. [112:10] Boulder Arts Commission: And I'm excited to be here and learn, you know, the next 5 years. Boulder Arts Commission: Let's see if… See what's in store. Junita. Welcome. Boulder Arts Commission: Great, hi, I'm Kate Samino, and I have been in Boulder almost 3 years. I love it. It feels like longer, because I love it. And, I was a musician growing up. Music was most of my arts experience, just playing bassoon. My family has played music, and Boulder Arts Commission: my role… I am an Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives at CU Boulder College of Music, and most of my background has been in both higher ed and in arts and music, and so as I got going in my role there, I started to realize that I felt like there was Boulder Arts Commission: Just a lot of misunderstandings and lack of, [113:01] Boulder Arts Commission: connection, in some ways, between CU Performing Arts and the broader city and area as the folder, and I thought, well, I could probably Boulder Arts Commission: both advocate for CU Boulder, and also help be a liaison and kind of help with understanding, okay, why aren't faculty coming to this? Why can't we get students to come to this? Like, I can help you understand that, and I can help organizations in our community figure out if they want to find ways to connect better with CU, music in particular, but performing arts more broadly. Boulder Arts Commission: or with the ticketing and marketing of CU events, things like that. So that's kind of in a technical sense. I hope to create a little bit more understanding between CU Boulder Arts Commission: And the broader city, Boulder Arts Commission: personally, when I lived in Minnesota for quite a while, I was on the board, and Boulder Arts Commission: and served as chair for a few years of the nation's largest community music school, McHale Center for Music, and Boulder Arts Commission: Love McPhail, it's amazing. And so, I have a good sense, I think, of how… Boulder Arts Commission: Just that interface between arts organizations and funders and the community, and how all of us can really make an impact through what we do here, and so… [114:08] Boulder Arts Commission: I hope to also kind of bring that eye to how can we function well as a board and staff and… Boulder Arts Commission: Be able to have the impact we want to in our community. Boulder Arts Commission: And then a guy was like, I'm on the Arts Commission, and there's an opening. So there it is real. Boulder Arts Commission: But as you can see in our voting this evening, we are not… There are some requirements around us. Boulder Arts Commission: like, not talking something. What is it? There can't be three of us. There can be 3, so we're fine. It's so fun. Boulder Arts Commission: Would each of the commissioners like to take just, like, one minute and introduce yourself and, replug into the arts? [115:01] Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, for sure, Boulder Arts Commission: My name is Gaia, and I am at present on the board of the Dairy Arts Center, but I'm cycling out. I'm not renewing. Boulder Arts Commission: In August, Boulder Arts Commission: to be as unbiased as possible on this commission. I'm also not joining the Board of Roots music project, which was another thing that I was supposed to help with. I instead want to focus on helping all arts organizations. Boulder Arts Commission: And, yes, you describe me as a… I hate this word, but… Boulder Arts Commission: philanthropist. I am generous with my time and funding to many arts organizations and other non-profits as well, and I'm very involved in the larger, bolder community to get people connected to Boulder Arts Commission: resources, funding, board members, areas in which that I can help. [116:03] Boulder Arts Commission: And you're great at it. Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: My name is Jeffrey, and I'm a professional board member around town here. Boulder Arts Commission: I grew up poor on a farm and lived Boulder Arts Commission: In a tent for 3 years of my life, and… Boulder Arts Commission: have made it my life's work as an adult, because the arts saved my life, and I was able to see the world through them. I've made it my life's work to be able to… Boulder Arts Commission: fund them, and support them, and amplify them as much as I can. And so that's one of the things I'm here to do. As an aside, I met Montserrat on election night here in Boulder for City Council. She had recently run for city council, and a bunch of folks Boulder Arts Commission: she just said, I want to get involved in town. And all of these folks introduced each… us to each other. We'd never met. And I said, come on, hold my hand and hang up. [117:02] Boulder Arts Commission: She was in very painful shoes. And then, and then Kate, Kate actually worked with my husband up at the College of Music, so, so I'll try not to, not to interrupt when you two are… are… are being friends, because, yeah, this, we're gonna, we're in the same circles here now. Boulder Arts Commission: Also, you should know that Monterey also could hold hands on election night. No. Boulder Arts Commission: Hi guys, I'm Caroline Kurtz. I've been in Boulder since 1995. Boulder Arts Commission: And I'm an arts and entertainment attorney in town. I also am the regional contact for Burning Man here, so I'm really involved in the Burning Man community and arts in general. Boulder Arts Commission: I also have, in the past been a professional board member. I've sort of dampened that down as I've taken on the commission, so know a lot of people in the space, and [118:03] Boulder Arts Commission: grew up in the arts, being from the Midwest, I spent my summers at Interlochen Academy playing flutes, and so, always thought and knew that I would be involved somewhere in the arts. So, I'm really happy to be supporting Boulder Arts Commission: events and, and, artists and spaces, and love it all. I'm very proud of our community. Boulder Arts Commission: I'm Yalaid, I'm, like, the punk DIY alley rat ambassador on the board here. And yeah, my main goal is to just, like, have more weird art, spontaneous art, and artists, like… Boulder Arts Commission: I think people say, like, make Boulder, or, like, keep Boulder weird, but I'm like, we need to, like, make it weird. Yeah, we're getting there. Like, you help a lot. That helps a lot, I think, in making, you know, a weird space. Boulder Arts Commission: So, yeah, that's my… Amy. Can you hear a little bit about those… [119:03] Boulder Arts Commission: Zine. Oh, yeah, I mean, we might talk about it, actually, in the Boulder Arts Week, but I produced the first ever, Boulder Zine Fest this year for… and Boulder Arts Week at Junkyard Social Club. Yeah, so it was amazing, and I have a, monthly zine club as well here in Boulder. What is this? I was… I was about to… Oh gosh, okay. I was like, I might have one. So basically, it's basically just a self-published magazine, so, like. Boulder Arts Commission: short for magazine. So yeah, it got really popularized in, like, the 70s and 80s punk scenes, and, with, like, union movements and social justice work, so… but it can really be anything. I make art zines, but people can make them about information stuff, can make them about social justice or poetry, really anything you want. I have… I know someone that makes, like, a whole series about Nicolas Cage, so, like. Boulder Arts Commission: It really can be about anything, so… Yeah. And you just make it yourself and distribute them yourself, yeah. We're gonna do one. What does bedrock mean to you? [120:03] Boulder Arts Commission: He was. Steen. Yeah. I'll go when you change its name. Boulder Arts Commission: And I am Jill. I feel like I just started on the commission, but now we're on to year 3, and yeah, on my first… Boulder Arts Commission: meeting, I'm in the States, I got a text from Lauren afterwards that said, they're not all like this. Boulder Arts Commission: Okay. Boulder Arts Commission: That was much worse than this. But yeah, I founded it, I'm the executive director of Jump Beard Social Club. I decided to join the commission because we went through a two-year zoning process with the city for permitting that Boulder Arts Commission: almost squashed us, like, 10 different times, you know? And so, having experienced that. [121:02] Boulder Arts Commission: I want to make sure that other organizations have the chance to succeed in the space where we need more awareness! Yes! Boulder Arts Commission: Okay, awesome, thank you. Okay, I want to acknowledge it's 8.01, we do have one more agenda with a couple Boulder Arts Commission: subparts to it. If you need to leave, we don't need to vote on anything, so take care of yourself and your family, but I will turn it over to Cindy, who has her computer. There's a lot of work around this, I can't wait to… Boulder Arts Commission: Excited as part of it. Boulder Arts Commission: Sweet. Yay! So I just want to share a quick look at Boulder Arts Week 2026, what we heard from participants, what the numbers showed, and where we're headed in 2027. Boulder Arts Commission: I'll have some time at the end if you have any questions, if you don't want to just get the heck out of here. Okay, real brief, brief history. Boulder Arts Commission: Boulder Arts Week, was proposed in 2012 when community leaders from VMOCA, the Dairy Center, Visit Boulder, and others came together and proposed the idea to the city. The first event launched in 2013. [122:05] Boulder Arts Commission: And it's grown steadily since. Boulder Arts Commission: In 2018, management moved from the City of Boulder. The City of Boulder… Office of Arts and Culture already always funded it, but management of the program itself moved to the city in 2018. And last year, we had the first ever Boulder Arts Week Awards, which we did again this year. Boulder Arts Commission: It's awesome. So here's some numbers. A highlight this year was expanded funding for programs that were happening during the week. And I go back and forth between calling them programs and events, because Boulder Arts Commission: some of them were multi-event programs, so, but anyway. And the expanded funding was thanks to our steering committee, especially Gaia, thank you, who had the idea to go out and, like. Boulder Arts Commission: solicit funds for sold things from people who might want to support that. And, so along with Visit Boulder, Create Boulder, and the City of Boulder Special Districts team, we sponsored 29 different programs. [123:07] Boulder Arts Commission: Which is nearly double the 16 of what the Office of Arts and Culture funds alone, which has been kind of, like, what we've been paying for the last however many years. Last year, we had a couple extra from Boulder Arts Commission: downtown, district funding, but, yeah, 29 programs, pretty exciting. The numbers were strong across the board, an estimated 26,000 in attendance, which was a huge jump from past years, likely due to the 32% increase in programs. Boulder Arts Commission: And even though BIF happened during Boulder Arts Week, that wasn't reflected on our calendar. BIF was… Boulder Arts Commission: Actually, only 3 events on the calendar was their, like, I… I entered them as just one event, the whole thing, and then they also submitted, listings for, like, their opening and closing nights. Boulder Arts Commission: We, we had over 114 participating artists and organizations, and the Boulder Buzz Award voting was up more than 550% this year over last year. 550%. [124:06] Boulder Arts Commission: I'm gonna give you some percentages later. So it was a strong year all around. I'm really excited to see it growing further. As you can see, I don't know if you're, like, paying close attention, we had a bit of a dip in 2025, and that was the year that they had, like, the first electrical shutoff due to wind, where they didn't tell anybody about it. Bulbar Arts Week, so that was kind of a bummer. Boulder Arts Commission: But I'm excited to see that we're kind of back on a year-over-year growth trajectory this year. Boulder Arts Commission: When participants were asked whether Boulder Arts Week helped generate awareness for their event, 74% agreed, or strongly agreed, up from 72% last year. And notably, zero respondents disagreed. Last year, we had about 11% people of participants who said, I'm not coming back. It was Excel. It was all Excel's fault. [125:02] Boulder Arts Commission: So, yeah, it's a meaningful tip from last year. Boulder Arts Commission: Here's some more numbers. Sentiment is strongly positive across the board, and every metric this year improved year over year. 95% Boulder Arts Commission: of those who responded said their overall experience was positive. 89% planned to participate for sure again in 2027, and no one said they definitely would not return. So that's a strong signal. Nice. A win's a win. Yay! A wind? Boulder Arts Commission: Too soon! So the qualitative feedback mirrors the numbers. We got a lot of… I had to have a free Boulder Arts Commission: pre-response opt-in in the feedback forms, and it's great to see all of this. Why is Leanne Siege still showing up? I don't know how. I don't know why. It's not showing up on my screen. Anyway. Boulder Arts Commission: I just realized that, sorry. Yeah, so, mostly positive feedback, and then some good constructive notes. Calendar functionality, communication timing, and city permitting processes were things that people kind of… [126:10] Boulder Arts Commission: had a little frustration with, and we're taking it all seriously. And it's also not the first time we've heard these things, which is why I have… here are some opportunities for us to improve in 2027. These are six priorities I've identified. Earlier and more promotion on email and social media. I mean. Boulder Arts Commission: We kind of did an amazing job, which you'll see in a little bit, on social media, but, it's just this… Boulder Arts Commission: is… Boulder Arts Commission: social media is… you know. It's a beast. And we're… we're working on it. We did a… we did a great job, but earlier stuff, I think, will be better next year. Yeah, the workshop. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, yeah, we did. Boulder Arts Commission: And people said, you know what you should do? You should have a workshop. Another thing is an interactive event map, which we also have this year, and we've had for several years, but the fact that people keep bringing up that we should really have an interactive map indicates that it's… [127:10] Boulder Arts Commission: not easy to find, the functionality isn't there. Boulder Arts Commission: Yes, I know. And that kind of goes to our calendar, so one of the other things is a more functional calendar, which we're talking with BCAA about, because they host the Boulder Arts Week calendar. Specific feedback, because I actually love the calendar. Boulder Arts Commission: Feedback… Boulder Arts Commission: I do, I like it. Frankly, when I said I want to attend an event, it added it to my calendar, I… It was amazing! Well, just, like, there are some things that it's hard to… Boulder Arts Commission: it's not super evident to a lot of people how to filter it until you know it. Yeah, I know. Filter by date, and by type of event. Boulder Arts Commission: Is what we've heard. So this is, like, people trying to do stuff and unable… so it's not clear to everybody. And, like, the map, and, like, the… you should have more of a, like, talk about social media, I'm like, yeah, we did. I'm like. [128:12] Boulder Arts Commission: Not just to, like, brush that off and say you weren't paying attention, but maybe we could do a better job of, like, sharing how we do that and… and… Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Some people are just never gonna, like, like the little portal that you made, right? Yeah. Boulder Arts Commission: We have this awesome toolkit this year, that… which was way more robust than a toolkit we had last year, thanks to Gaia's introduction to, a friend at Fringe Fest. She gave us all the stuff that Fringe Fest used to use, and we kind of lifted a lot of their ideas and create… and… Boulder Arts Commission: reformatted it for Boulder Arts Week. So we have this great toolkit. Boulder Arts Commission: And, they would really like to make a comeback, if anybody wants it. There was… there was an event during Boulder Arts Week that was kind of fringy, which is cool. But anyway, so that was kind of put together towards the end of planning, and so next year we'll just do it earlier and have more kind of orientation around it. [129:12] Boulder Arts Commission: simplifying city processes is something that we hear all the time. Came up in the blueprint. So, people who are like, I wanted to do something durable Arts Week, oh, shit, I didn't know I had to have a permit for this. So, just sharing that, you know, being… Boulder Arts Commission: more proactive about sharing this kind of stuff. All right, social media engagement. Look at these percentages! Boulder Arts Commission: Nice, Cindy. For introducing us to James, who kicked butt on social media this year. He was our coordinator, and he is gonna stay on for as long as he can. He's really loving it, and he's totally, like, immersing himself into the local scene, which he wanted to do. Boulder Arts Commission: On Instagram, it reaches up over 240%. Link clicks increased over 3,000%. And a big portion of that is a lot of the collaborations. We really lean into the collaborations, so… [130:07] Boulder Arts Commission: Telling people. Boulder Arts Commission: tag us as a collaborator, and that just, like, it just, you know, just helps everything… eat all of us. Boulder Arts Commission: Facebook, similar story. Reach was up over, 488%. You like that one? Like, almost zero link… link clicks? Now you got a lot. Boulder Arts Commission: And this year, we played with TikTok a bit. We only had 3 posts, but we're, we're learning it and rolling into it. But already our, James, who used to do social media for Croc, said our, Boulder Arts Commission: standard, or, engagement was over 5%, which is above industry standard, which is 3-5%, so I was like, good job! And one of the cool things that he did, that James did, was we connected with some people at CU, and one of the students, as a part of their arts buff. [131:11] Boulder Arts Commission: initiative, wanted to get involved, and she came, and she, like, walked around with James, and they went to cool things, and they took video, and it was really cute. So I'm looking forward to doing more of that next year, earlier, too, with CU. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, so it was exciting, you know, there's always ways that we can improve, but overall, I'm pretty satisfied and excited to see the direction things are moving, especially with, like, the additional funding. Boulder Arts Commission: model that Gaia was like, we should do this. You really… Cindy, you did an awesome job. Boulder Arts Commission: I found out that feather flags are illegal in Boulder. What type of flags? Those ones you were calling everywhere? Yeah, people wore feather flags, they're, like, tall flags on the sticks. And I accidentally left one in Primo Junkyard Social Club, and they got a ticket. And then I got a warning citation, but it came in, he was like, I gotta give you an warning for this flag. [132:09] Boulder Arts Commission: It's your flag! Boulder Arts Commission: I also reached out to him, I was like, I put that plug up, like, it's weird that… So you're a Renegade owner, it's just, yeah. Someone that forgot to grab it. Installation. Boulder Arts Commission: Pardon me, so… Those, like, inflatable thingies, the coffee. Boulder Arts Commission: The sign permitting people are like, yeah, let's hang out and chat about this, we can figure out stuff for next year. Like, so, yeah, they're totally willing to work with us, we just need people. Cindy, I had a question. Do you have a breakdown on… Boulder Arts Commission: So I went to some stuff in North Florida, in the Noble Arts District, and it wasn't, like… [133:01] Boulder Arts Commission: as, like, zesty and well-attended as, like, you know, Pearl Trade, like, do we have any breakdown on, like, attendees based on location? Boulder Arts Commission: No, and that's something we can add to the metrics we look at next year. I know that a lot of people who do things on Friday who aren't in North Boulder are like, nobody came to my thing. Not nobody, but… Boulder Arts Commission: And I tell this to people every year, I'm like, don't plan something on the first Friday unless you're in North Boulder. Yeah, that's good advice. Yeah, and, like, you can, but just… Boulder Arts Commission: Be aware. Unless it's earlier in the day, or whatever, because that's… I mean, it's… it's hoppin', and then really go all out. Boulder Arts Commission: It was really, actually. Boulder Arts Commission: I don't know, I didn't help you last year, so I only know what happened this year, and I thought it was super well ran. I do think the steering committee missed out on… we had a list of, like, people that we wanted to reach out to for social media front-end. [134:00] Boulder Arts Commission: we didn't do a good job with that, so I think that should be, like, something we really remember to do for next time. Yeah. Like, we were supposed to get commissioners on, and we didn't do that, like… Yeah. We did, we got a few, but yeah, it's… that's the top one. Boulder Arts Commission: Yeah, so I feel like we could have done a better job, like, following through on some things like that. Yeah, let's start earlier next year. And then there were some events that one of the ones that was too expensive, and people didn't attend, so, like, even if there's guidance and, like, sweet spots for the price, because not all of them are free. Right. But obviously the free ones tend to do better, but if there's any guidance, we can provide as always. Boulder Arts Commission: That's cool. Yeah, and along the lines of guidance, also, I've talked… Sarah mentioned that we're speaking with a center of people with disabilities, looking at guidance for, like, how to Boulder Arts Commission: sharing with the public how your event or program is accessible. Because there's a… there's, like, a click, like, click this box if you're accessible. I'm like, what does that even mean? Boulder Arts Commission: So, like, is it wheelchair accessible? Is it accessible to the blind? You know, you bring your dog in. And I've tried very hard to get it out in front of BBSD, because a lot of their activities were, like, kid-friendly, and super fun for families. I did not get very far, because [135:11] Boulder Arts Commission: But they were like, oh, we need to, but maybe next year. I connected with their, like, arts person at the district, and I mean, it's… Boulder Arts Commission: All I could get was them, so if they put their stuff on the calendar. Got it. Boulder Arts Commission: Which wasn't a ton. Boulder Arts Commission: It was really good, and I'm excited to continue to help if you still need my help next year. Thank you, yes, thank you, I appreciate it. It's fun. Boulder Arts Commission: Thanks for all your support, everybody. Boulder Arts Commission: Blueprint? Sure. Boulder Arts Commission: Just a quick update on Arts Blueprint. I'm so happy… so we, Boulder Arts Commission: Took it back to the advisory committee, which was wonderful, because it was basically, like, beta testing everything, and the website is up to date now. Boulder Arts Commission: If you would like to click around, if you see anything, if there's anything of interest to you. [136:03] Boulder Arts Commission: I really think the website speaks to a lot of the challenges that everybody was having, I'm happy to say. But you also received an updated draft, or an updated final blueprint, where materials are moved around, and the recommendations are moved more towards to the front. Boulder Arts Commission: The executive summary is still something we're still, playing around with, because we have… we need to do a version. The version has to be Boulder Arts Commission: accessible according to Colorado state laws, so it'll be a one-pager, and it'll include… actually, there'll be, like, a Boulder Arts Commission: bite, and a snack that includes… actually, these slides up here, we're making them into pages, so if you're interested in getting a little bit more summary, you can use these beautiful boards. Thank you so much, Sarah. No, please. Boulder Arts Commission: I will add one final document specifically about infrastructure. It was asked of us to make a, kind of a summary page about infrastructure, for some of our advocacy groups that are interested in working specifically on building out [137:05] Boulder Arts Commission: Artists live work spaces or venues. So there'll be, like, a one-pager that's a part of all this. Boulder Arts Commission: And we also, in your packet, which was very long, I get it, there was an Arts by the Numbers page that we're working on, that will go on the website, and then there'll be, sort of, numbers within each goal, so directing more from all of the data that we have, because we have extensive research that Cindy works on. Boulder Arts Commission: feeding… how it fed into the specific goals, and then if you were interested in using more, you know, quantitative data, you would have easier access to that. So, if you have questions about any of that, or if you have feedback on that older Arts by the Numbers page, just let me know, but thank you. Boulder Arts Commission: Cute. Yeah. Cute. Boulder Arts Commission: Any questions about the staff memo? Seeing none, we will move on. Boulder Arts Commission: Stop memo, I like that. Yeah, yeah. We also have a new Arts Commission photo, but I think in the interest of time, and our lagging energies, unless people are dressed up for it, not today. Yep, yep. And with that, and a bang of the gavel. [138:19] Boulder Arts Commission: Thank you, Caroline.