TAMRMS#: B09
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Mayor's Celebration of the Arts
Presented by: Tamsin Brooks, Community Cultural Coordinator
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RECOMMENDED MOTIONS
recommendation
That the Community Living Standing Committee recommend to Council:
a. That proposed Council Policy C-CC-22 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts Awards, provided as an attachment to the September 14, 2020 agenda report titled "Mayor's Celebration of the Arts", be approved;
b. That for 2021 and ongoing, the annual budget for this event of $24,300 be reduced to $12,150 to reflect a bi-annual event with the approved budget in non-event years being carried forward to the following event year to support expenditure of $24,300 in event years;
c. That Council Policy C-CS-15 Cultural Wall of Fame, be rescinded
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of the report is to bring forward a policy guiding the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts and associated awards as per the Community Living Standing Committee’s recommendation.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL STRATEGIC PRIORITY
N/A
ALIGNMENT TO SERVICE DELIVERY
To date, the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Awards and the Cultural Wall of Fame are identified in the Service Levels Inventory as:
a) Service Name: Community Event Hosting
Service Definition: The coordination and delivery of arts, cultural, environment and recreation and parks events utilizing a combination of City and volunteer resources to expose the community to recreation, arts, and culture.
Service Component: Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts
Current Service Level: Arts and cultural achievements are recognized annually, celebrating community artists and support for the arts.
b) Service Name: Public Art
Service Definition: Maintenance, accession, and deaccession of City's public art collection
Service Component: Cultural Wall of Fame
Current Service Level: The annual recipient(s) of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts is that year’s inductee(s) into the Cultural Wall of Fame. A maximum of three (3) individuals or groups are inducted each year.
Potential inductees are evaluated based on set considerations outlined in the Council Policy C-CS-15 Cultural Wall of Fame.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL (OR COMMITTEE) DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
The Cultural Wall of Fame Policy C-CS-15 was approved by Council on November 17, 2014.
On March 9, 2020 the CLSC passed the following motion
(CM-20-003)
That the Community Living Standing Committee recommend to Council that a policy guiding the Mayor's Celebration of the Arts and associated awards be created,with a draft to be presented to the Community Living Standing Committee by August 24, 2020.
On June 15, 2020 Council passed the following motion:
(AR-20-207)
That the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts is added to the list of cancellations for 2020 and $18,000 be added to general operating funds.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Award began in 2009 when members of the community approached Administration about formally recognizing artists in St. Albert for their contributions.
The Mayor’s Celebration currently partners with Night of Artists. This partnership has created synergies and cost savings in marketing and advertising allowing for effective cross-promotion of the two events. It has also created cost savings in reduced production and venue costs for the Mayor’s Celebration, by aligning the two events in the celebration of arts in the community.
Community Festival Funding has assisted Night of Artists with grants from the Community Festival Funding program since 2016. In 2016 Night of Artists received $20,000. In 2020, the final year that they are eligible for this grant, they could receive up to $9,180.
Moving forward with the event, if Night of Artists decides to move elsewhere our partnership with them may change and we will have to adapt and/or look at alternate venues, format of event and possibly even change dates.
As discussed at the March 9th Community Living Standing Committee meeting there are alternatives to the frequency of the event.
1. Continue the program annually with the associated budget.
The benefits of this approach include:
o a high level of continuity and awareness in the community’s cultural calendar
o the ability to honour more artists
o the potential of continued partnership with Night of Artists
The risks of this approach include:
o budget required annually
o the relative size of the St. Albert arts community could mean that the number of nominees may fluctuate annually and could result in a decline in the number of nominations.
2. Change to a bi-annual celebration where every 2nd year the budget would be returned to general operating budget of the Corporation.
The benefits of this approach include:
o reduced annual budget (by half) to support a bi-annual event
o potential increase in the prestige of the event
The risks of this approach include:
o reduced community awareness of the event
o promotion of the event may be confusing
o lifetime achievement category nominees may pass away without getting a chance to experience having their contributions publicly honoured.
3. Move to a once per Council term celebration where in the off years the budget would be returned to general operating budget of the Corporation.
The benefit of this approach include:
o annual budget could be reduced to $6,075 to support an every 4 year event
o potential increase in the prestige of the event
The risks of this approach include:
o lost community awareness and marketing momentum of the event
o promotion of the event may be confusing
o may miss the chance to honour artist at their peak relevancy
o may miss the opportunity to encourage artists as they move through artistic stages of their career, especially for youth and emerging artists
o lifetime achievement category nominees may pass away without getting a chance to experience having their contributions publicly honoured.
o restricts the amount of recipients.
The Cultural Wall of Fame Policy, C-CS-15, was created in 2014 to enhance the Mayor’s Award program. The Wall recognizes accomplished individuals and arts and culture groups who demonstrate a mastery of their craft, providing long lasting and public facing awareness of the Lifetime Achievement Awards recipients. Funding for maintenance and adding additional names to the Wall comes from the public art operating budget, with a yearly allocation of $800. Administration is recommending that this policy be rescinded as all the relevant content has been incorporated directly within the proposed (new) Mayor's Celebration of the Arts Awards Policy.
The soon to be formed Arts Development Advisory Committee, will review and provide input and recommendations on policies under their purview.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
N/A
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
Annually, Community Services has allocated $24,300 in their operating budget for the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Awards.
Legal / Risk:
None at this time
Program or Service:
The Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts Awards is historically included in the Community Services budget and is part of yearly program delivery. This event recognizes artists in our community and provides a space for new and established artists to be featured as nominees and/or performers.
Organizational:
None at this time
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
1. Change to a bi-annual celebration and carry-over budget from the off years to enhance the monetary award for the recipients of the biannual awards.
2. Refer back to Administration for further consideration with direction from Council.
3. Refer the Policy to Arts Development Advisory Committee to review in early 2021 to bring recommendations back to Council.
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Report Date: September 14, 2020
Author: Tamsin Brooks
Department: Community Services
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble