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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-21 Cultural Council Minutes r Town of Reading 3 x Meeting Minutes L{ :: p toT V0,! LeRK A. Board - committee - commission - council: 213 DEC 9 PK 5: 51 Cultural Council Date: 2019-10-21 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Arts and Crafts Room Address: 49 Pleasant Street Session: Open Session Purpose: Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Donna Schenkel, Nancy Ziemlak, Mary Ann Kozlowski, Nora Bucko, Megan Fidler Carey, Brian Kimerer, lane Soloway, Kathy Natale, Rosemary Lewis Members - Not Present: Others Present: Anne Landry, Reading Select Board; Timothea Pham, MCC Minutes Respectfully submitted By: Rosemary Lewis Topics of Discussion: Call to order at 7:04 pm. Welcome visitors. Anne Landry who is our liaison to the Select Board and Timothea Pham from the Mass Cultural Council. Minutes were approved. Treasurer's report: lane met with Sharon at the Town Office to complete the LCC Account Form (Voting Meeting Calculation Sheet). We received $9000 from the MCC, $5000 from the Town, and $1200 additional in our account due to miscalculation of interest, bringing the total available for grants to $15,200. There is also money available in our administrative account. The Town's contribution is in a separate account and it was advised that we use that before the MCC money, as it is only available for one year, or we will lose it. Donna brought up recruitment for the council, not just for new members, but for present members to step up into positions of Chair and Secretary, as those will be vacant come the end of this year. Donna prepared a list of duties for the Chair, which will be uploaded on the Google drive. There was discussion about this, and some changes were proposed. Anne stated that she would mention at the next Select Board meeting that the council is looking for new members. Brian suggested that we consider updating the Select Board on the Council's activities again as we did last year, since the presentation was so well received. Anne will see if that would be possible on the agenda. Brian presented a list of the applicants for this year. There are 21. The panel books won't be available until November 1, but Timothea stated that she could email PDF's to us soon if desired. Our next meeting will be Monday, November 4 to begin interviews. This year we will be scheduling on 2 nights, 11/4 and Wed. 11/6. Megan volunteered to schedule the interviews. Anne suggested using signup.com as an easier way to manage that. Timothea talked about the Festival Grants program which makes available grants for community based functions, such as the Porch Fest that was held last summer. Applications open January 20, 2020. Groups would be eligible for both RCC grants as well as Festival grants. Timothea also explained that she is our regional representative and talked about a new Health Initiative due to roll out in January. This would make attending cultural activities more accessible to Health Connector participants, by using their EBT cards to purchase tickets and entry fees. Page 1 1 There was discussion about Cultural Districts, which are geographical areas and are supported by boards with representation from local cultural councils, as well as major stakeholders from the town. It must be a navigable area by foot, and contain cultural assets, such as libraries, studios, performance spaces, etc. A Program Manager from MCC could assist in the planning efforts. Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm Page 1 2