It was a quiet week this past Friday at the Friday Morning Group, my favorite event of the week. That does not at all mean it was not interesting.
The main topic of discussion was how to increase attendance at the Friday Morning Group. Since we tried to re-kick start the Group just before the end of last year, we have had mixed results. We had very good attendance after the holiday break. We have had good attendance when we have had special guests, such as County Commissioner Ken Welch or Roisin McDonough, Director of the Northern Ireland Arts Council. But attendance at the FMG when there is no such guest on the agenda is spotty at best.
Various thoughts about group dynamics and life cycles were discussed. There was some discussion of what the focus of the group ought to be. We have lately narrowed the focus somewhat by focusing a lot of attention on the FMG Concept Paper with the Pinellas Prize and the Creativity Center. While those are important topics, it was suggested that they should not be the only focus of the FMG.
There was also a discussion about the every week nature of the meeting. Some thought was given to the idea that an every week meeting loses some of its feeling of speciality. The idea was floated that an effort should be made to make at least one meeting a month more of a special event, perhaps with a guest speaker or some other event type meeting.
Please let us know your thoughts on these or any other ideas you might have on increasing interest and attendance at the FMG. I can be reached by email at gatordem@verizon.net, or by phone 727-823-3074.
There was some discussion of the efforts to move the FMG Concept Paper proposals towards reality. I spoke before the County Commission twice last week on the subject of supporting artists in the community and the Concept Paper proposals specifically. I also attended a planning meeting of the Pinellas County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). It has been suggested to us by at least two County Commissioners that the CVB's funding is not subject to curtailment under the property tax proposals currently being debated in Tallahassee. Also, the CVB is geting a new director, D.T. Minich. While the CVB Director in Lee County, Mr. Minich used the community based artists there to market his community and as a way to break through the "clutter" of other beach communities in Florida. This seems like a promising line to pursue.
Speaking of things getting curtailed in the current tax cutting environment, I attended a very interesting City Council workshop in St. Petersburg last week. Ann Wykel presented a very interesting study on how to improve the Public Arts program in St. Petersburg. While the Council Members who attended were impressed with the plan, they were hesitant to even have it formally presented to them at a televised meeting. The City is facing some very severe revenue shortages under any of the property tax reduction plans currently being debated by the legislature. As you might suspect, programs supporting arts, cultural and charitable activities of the City are prime targets for cuts. Please let your local elected officials know how you feel about these possibilities. It wouldn't hurt to let your state legislators know either.
And please try to attend a meeting of the Friday Morning Group in the near future. Bring a friend and let other interested folks know about us. We can use your help.
Showing posts with label Pinellas Prize. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pinellas Prize. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Lead, Follow or...
The conversation continued last Friday Morning regarding efforts to implement the proposals in the Friday Morning Group's Concept Paper. Herb Snitzer and I reported on our meeting with Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Seel. We had a very good meeting with Commissioner Seel (we tried very hard not to talk about money).
We had previously sent the Concept Paper to Karen for her to review prior to our meeting. We asked her to just think about the concepts and leave the money aside for the moment. Ultimately we did talk about money. It is unavoidable in the current property tax "reform" environment in the state legislature. We did ask her to think about the funding for the proposals not as "new" money projects but as a rather modest reallocation of existing Cultural Affairs dollars.
We did succeed in getting Commissioner Seel to be supportive of the concept. However, the money part was definitely going to be a problem. We were urged again to look to the Tourist Development Council (TDC) as their revenue stream (bed tax on hotel and motel stays) is not going to be impacted by whatever property tax "reform" ultimately occurs. The TDC, through the Convention and Visitors Bureau, controls Tourist Development Tax grants and New Product Development grants. Ken Welch has also suggested that the TDC would be a good place to look for funding as their revenue stream is protected.
The conversation turned to the idea of government funding in general. The Concept Paper and requests for County funding all stemmed from Commissioner Welch's visit with us in February. Herb Suggested that we approach some friends in the corporate community to help us identify arts supporters in that community. Then we could strategize on the best way to pitch our proposal to them for seed money funding. We could then re-approach government for public / private partnership funding.
We renewed the discussion about the proposed size of the awards for the Pinellas Prize. Again we talked about the South Florida Cultural Councils banding together to give 10 $15,000 awards to artists every year. It was noted that Tampa gives a $15,000 stipend to their Poet Laureate and a $25,000 stipend to their Photo Laureate every year.
Herb said it was time to stop looking to others for "models" of what we ought to be doing. If we are going to think of ourselves as a leading arts community, we need to start acting like leaders. It is time for us to quit following what other communities might be doing. As a leading arts community we should be raising the bar, not seeking only to emulate someone else.
If you wish to see these proposals from our Concept Paper get implemented, we are going to need your help. We are going to need you to help us secure private funding. We are going to need your help in advocating these proposals before governmental bodies. And we are going to need your help in promoting these proposals with your friends, neighbors, relatives and anyone else who will listen.
It is time to quit following and lead.
We had previously sent the Concept Paper to Karen for her to review prior to our meeting. We asked her to just think about the concepts and leave the money aside for the moment. Ultimately we did talk about money. It is unavoidable in the current property tax "reform" environment in the state legislature. We did ask her to think about the funding for the proposals not as "new" money projects but as a rather modest reallocation of existing Cultural Affairs dollars.
We did succeed in getting Commissioner Seel to be supportive of the concept. However, the money part was definitely going to be a problem. We were urged again to look to the Tourist Development Council (TDC) as their revenue stream (bed tax on hotel and motel stays) is not going to be impacted by whatever property tax "reform" ultimately occurs. The TDC, through the Convention and Visitors Bureau, controls Tourist Development Tax grants and New Product Development grants. Ken Welch has also suggested that the TDC would be a good place to look for funding as their revenue stream is protected.
The conversation turned to the idea of government funding in general. The Concept Paper and requests for County funding all stemmed from Commissioner Welch's visit with us in February. Herb Suggested that we approach some friends in the corporate community to help us identify arts supporters in that community. Then we could strategize on the best way to pitch our proposal to them for seed money funding. We could then re-approach government for public / private partnership funding.
We renewed the discussion about the proposed size of the awards for the Pinellas Prize. Again we talked about the South Florida Cultural Councils banding together to give 10 $15,000 awards to artists every year. It was noted that Tampa gives a $15,000 stipend to their Poet Laureate and a $25,000 stipend to their Photo Laureate every year.
Herb said it was time to stop looking to others for "models" of what we ought to be doing. If we are going to think of ourselves as a leading arts community, we need to start acting like leaders. It is time for us to quit following what other communities might be doing. As a leading arts community we should be raising the bar, not seeking only to emulate someone else.
If you wish to see these proposals from our Concept Paper get implemented, we are going to need your help. We are going to need you to help us secure private funding. We are going to need your help in advocating these proposals before governmental bodies. And we are going to need your help in promoting these proposals with your friends, neighbors, relatives and anyone else who will listen.
It is time to quit following and lead.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Conversation Has Begun
Last week at the Friday Morning Group a rather lively discussion took place. Judith Powers had written up her comments on our Concept Paper. These comments were distributed to all seven County Commissioners and to Liz Warren, Judith's direct supervisor and to Paul Cozzee, the Assistant County Administrator under which the Cultural Affairs Department now falls (Parks, Leisure and Culture).
Herb Snitzer gave us a brief review of Judith's comments. They were pretty much what was expected after Judith's visit to our Group on March 9th. If you wish to read Judith's comments, you can find them here. The attendees at the meeting pretty much agreed that despite Judith's comments, we would continue to pursue the concepts of the Pinellas Prize and the Creativity Center contained in the Concept Paper. Also, we agreed that what we would do is advocate for our concepts and not get into any kind of dispute with anyone who has expressed different views on the concepts.
Along those lines, apparently word of the concept paper has spread throughout the artists community. Mike Conway reported on some conversations where some artists were pretty much stunned at the suggested size of the Pinellas Prize. Apparently there is a little bit of grumbling about the size of the prize, with some folks suggesting that perhaps the money could be spread out among more artists. Personally, that is part of the attitudinal change that we have previously talked about. Given the scale of the Cultural Departments budget ($2.1 million), the size of the prize ($50,000) is really not that much money. Heck, in this day and age, $50,000 is not a lot of money period.
Speaking of money, Michele Tuegel reported on an artists workshop that was held to go over requirements for the $1,000 grants the County is offering. On fairly short notice, about 40 artists showed up for the workshop. One of the points of interest to Judith was that after the workshop was over, many of the artists stayed and chatted amongst themselves. It seemed to her that this indicated that a gathering place for artists, where they could feel comfortable to meet and discuss their art, their lives and their daily travails might be a very good thing indeed.
There was also some discussion about the Cultural Affairs departments new location off of Ulmerton Road where there is at least meeting space available. This location is co-located with St. Pete College's mid county location. Michele reported to us about the business development courses that SPC is offering there. We have had many discussions over the years about the need for artists to recognize that they are, in fact, small business people. As such, artists could use help in the area of business development. It was suggested that perhaps SPC could be persuaded to deliver some of these business development sessions geared towards artists.
Stay tuned for further developments.
Herb Snitzer gave us a brief review of Judith's comments. They were pretty much what was expected after Judith's visit to our Group on March 9th. If you wish to read Judith's comments, you can find them here. The attendees at the meeting pretty much agreed that despite Judith's comments, we would continue to pursue the concepts of the Pinellas Prize and the Creativity Center contained in the Concept Paper. Also, we agreed that what we would do is advocate for our concepts and not get into any kind of dispute with anyone who has expressed different views on the concepts.
Along those lines, apparently word of the concept paper has spread throughout the artists community. Mike Conway reported on some conversations where some artists were pretty much stunned at the suggested size of the Pinellas Prize. Apparently there is a little bit of grumbling about the size of the prize, with some folks suggesting that perhaps the money could be spread out among more artists. Personally, that is part of the attitudinal change that we have previously talked about. Given the scale of the Cultural Departments budget ($2.1 million), the size of the prize ($50,000) is really not that much money. Heck, in this day and age, $50,000 is not a lot of money period.
Speaking of money, Michele Tuegel reported on an artists workshop that was held to go over requirements for the $1,000 grants the County is offering. On fairly short notice, about 40 artists showed up for the workshop. One of the points of interest to Judith was that after the workshop was over, many of the artists stayed and chatted amongst themselves. It seemed to her that this indicated that a gathering place for artists, where they could feel comfortable to meet and discuss their art, their lives and their daily travails might be a very good thing indeed.
There was also some discussion about the Cultural Affairs departments new location off of Ulmerton Road where there is at least meeting space available. This location is co-located with St. Pete College's mid county location. Michele reported to us about the business development courses that SPC is offering there. We have had many discussions over the years about the need for artists to recognize that they are, in fact, small business people. As such, artists could use help in the area of business development. It was suggested that perhaps SPC could be persuaded to deliver some of these business development sessions geared towards artists.
Stay tuned for further developments.
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