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2015-10-01Beverly Cultural Council Meeting October 1, 2015 Porter Mill Studios, Rantoul St. Beverly The meeting was called to order by Temporary Co -chair Andrew Houle at 7:00 pm Those in attendance Allison Hanchett, Colleen Michaels, Brett Mason, Barbara Broudo, Michael Miller, Terri Hansen. Absent: Savery Kelley, Caity Bogdan Andrew began by reviewing the situation of Chair Savery Kelley who will be spending the next year travelling with her husband as part of his employment. With the approval of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Mayor Michael Cahill, it was decided that Savery would remain as a member and as Chair, with Andrew Houle serving as Temporary Co -Chair during her absence. It is hoped that she will be able to participate electronically in future meetings. Andrew distributed the schedule of activities and meetings for this grant cycle October 1 Public information meeting October 15 Deadline for postmark of grant applications October 22 Meeting for distribution of grant applications to members for review* October 29 Meeting for applicant presentations Part 1 November 5 Meeting for applicant presentations Part 2 November 19 Voting Meeting December 3 Final voting meeting ( if needed ) *This meeting was subsequently rescheduled to October 21. Andrew has arranged for the council to use space at Porter Mill at no charge for meetings. The primary advantage over the Library is that we don't have to stop at 8:45 for the library closing. Discussion ensued later to change presentation meetings to library for the ease of the applicants. Andrew will contact the library to book meeting rooms for those evenings. Barbara brought up the interest on the part of Brenda Wong Murphy in joining the council. The council suggested that Barbara should send a letter of interest to the council to get the process of appointment started if we all agree to invite her to apply. Andrew shared the work he has done in publicizing the activities of the Council on social media — primarily Facebook. The council has 240 followers. He also has a supply of the business cards we had printed last year and will distribute them at the City wide Open Studios event on October 17. We reviewed the information provided by the MCC of our allocation of $12,200 for 2016. There are possibly more funds available. 1. Northshore Concert Band informed us that they would not use their grant of $385, and 2. there is some confusion about some of the funds granted to Sea Change Theatre, as the founders moved out of state and left the operation of the theater up to the Dane Street Church. It's possible another $500 will become available for the upcoming year, as we haven't heard back from the church on what it plans to do. Other treasurer's information discussed included the 10/15 deadline for entering the Account Form into the Online Office and completing the Voting meeting Calculation Form as instructed in the most recent instructions from the MCC. Discussion was held on further exploring some of the unique ways other Local Councils serve their communities. One idea tossed around was a Red Carpet Reception for the awardees. It was mentioned that if we want to do more activities beyond granting funds, we will have to schedule meetings outside the regular grant cycle. We talked about coming up with a snappy motto: "We give money to artists!" as a way of expanding community knowledge of the opportunities for funding. Nothing specific was decided, but more discussion is expected in the future. Discussion was held on the Arts District events on October 17. The webpage for the district was recommended. While the council has no official role in the event, it appears we will all be participating in it — either as artists or audience. Discussion was held to remind council members on the process for the grant application receipt, recording, reviewing, and voting. Andy as chair and Terri as secretary decided to work out a plan for sharing the duties of receiving and recording the applications. We were introduced to Will (didn't get last name) the manager at Porter Mill, who is graciously supporting the work of the council by granting us meeting space free of charge. The meeting was adjourned by Andrew at about 9:00 pm. Submitted by Terri Hansen, Secretary.