HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-05 Cultural Council Minutes 0� Pq�O'
Town of Reading
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TOWN CLERK
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2921 JUN -8 AM 10; 31
Cultural Council
Date: 2021-04-05 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Location:
Address: Session: Open Session
Purpose: Version:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Mary Ann Kozlowski, Megan Fidler-Carey, Bharti Joy Paris, Nora Bucko,
Brian Kimerer, Katherine Lopez Natale, Kern Perry, lane Soloway
Members - Not Present:
Michael Duncan Smith
Others Present:
Vanessa Alvarado, Tyler Mills, Sherry VanderAkker
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Katherine Lopez Natale
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was conducted via ZOOM due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Minutes of the March 8, 2021 meeting were approved.
Treasurer Jane Soloway reported that all requests for payment have been paid. Jane
believes that the town grant funds will be fully expended by the June deadline. As of the
April meeting, $8471.03 remains in the main account and $2005 in the account contributed
by the town. The Annual Report required by the Massachusetts Cultural Council had been
filled out in the fall, but due to a failure to hit the"submit" button, it was never formally
received by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. That error has been addressed and we are
currently up to date. The treasurer's report was approved.
Brian Kimerer sent copies of the annual survey to members of the RCC. He noted that the
response rate of 65 was slightly below that of the previous year (70). The data seemed to
indicate that the public believed activities addressed a variety of age groups and revealed
some of the more popular social media sites that Reading citizens use to access news about
coming events. A fuller report will be provided when the survey period ends.
Discussion of the survey results expanded to the observation that the RCC might ask to join
Arts Reading's virtual art fest in October to present the year's grant recipients to the public.
Another discussion addressed the desire to see the wonderful arts programs at Reading
High School receive more town-wide exposure. One council member mentioned how Revere
art students sold their artwork at a local farmer's market. Selectman Vanessa Alvarado
offered to make her Select Board contacts aware of our desire to encourage Reading arts
students to share their talents in local events.
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Sherry VanderAkker joined the meeting briefly to express her thanks to the RCC for the
grant that she received. She is soliciting residents' photos taken during this past year in
order to produce a pictorial history of the time. She has also reached out to RMHS art
teachers to have students contribute. Ms. VanderAkker will credit both RCC and the library
for their support of her project.
The Council discussed a number of communication matters. The RCC Chair, Mary Ann
Kozlowski, asked members to notify her when they became aware of performance dates of
activities that the Council has funded. This information will be added to posts on a variety
of social media sites. Megan Fidler-Carey informed the Council that the middle schools had
rejected an end of year virtual motivational performance by Jesse Green even though it was
cost-free. She will look into the possibility of having the library support this event for
elementary school students. Megan also suggested that we give principals advance notice
of providers and teacher-sponsored events funded by RCC in case they had not already
been part of the planning process. Lack of such information can make it difficult for arts
groups to follow through with their proposed events. RCC will also reach out to the high
school arts department to encourage them to participate in the RCC grant program since
they also have a great deal to offer the community.
Several RCC members will be going off the board due to term limits. We currently have two
associate members who are willing to serve as full members. The RCC Chair will contact
town hall to inform them that MCC does not limit the Council to five members and does not
have a category of"associate" council membership.
In order to help the RCC be more visible in the community, members will seek to present an
overview of the year's work to the Select Board once the local election is over and perhaps
when some COVID protocols have been lifted.
The Chair thanked our visitors for attending our virtual meeting.
The next meeting will be held on May 3rd at 7 p.m.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
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