Holyoke Local Cultural Council Meeting August 7, 2023

Holyoke Local Cultural Council Meeting        August 7, 2023

In attendance: Anne, Tim, Koco, Navae, Mark, Gloria, Nadia, Chris D (non-member)

Absent: Chris, Gabriela, Chloe

Agenda

New Member

Grantee communications

Treasurer’s report

Community surveys

Review of HLCC-sponsored events

General announcements

Previous business

Other business

New member

• Chloe Soto – recently appointed new member, not present for today’s meeting.
• Chris Dunay – submitted an application and is present, listening to today’s meeting.

Grantee communications

• Couple of questions received via e-mail about reimbursements.

• Silverthorne Theater Company (Greenfield-based) was not on MCC’s lists but was on HLCC’s tracking page – Anne helped resolve this matter. They did a reading at Gateway City Arts and received HLCC funding for it. 

Treasurer’s report

• 2021

• Funds are about to roll back to HLCC; term is 18 months

• Total = $60,022

• Reimbursed = $34,608

• Encumbered = $25,414

• Navae will support us with annual audit and funding review 

• 2022
  • Total = $59,145
  • Reimbursed = $42,758.72
  • Encumbered = $16,386.28

• • 2023
    • Total = $87,578
    • Reimbursed = $34,479.45 

• Encumbered = $53,098.55

Community surveys

• Gabriela and Chris were taking lead on surveys however they are not present
• Koco was looking into digital survey to increase accessibility but can’t find free service, google surveys doesn’t exist anymore
• All three surveys are available via google forms and all have been posted on our FB page
• Long versions in Spanish and English are on the city’s website
• 31 responses received from English survey to date (all digital)
• 0 responses from either of the two Spanish surveys (paper or digital)
• Deadline for responses is August 23rd
• Navae – suggested putting some at the library, Tim will bring over copies and collect them by 8/16
• Koco – farmer’s market is a good idea, there is always a city table with local resources and information. Do any members have the capacity to do this?
• Need to have funding priorities updated by Sept 1st so we have given ourselves two weeks to gather responses 
• Capped at 100 paper surveys. 
• We can have longer conversation about how to incorporate responses into our work in the coming months
• Cultural council members are allowed to fill out the survey
• Gloria inquired about how she could assist – discussed reaching out to neighbors and posting online. She will also follow up with Holyoke Media to see if they can support dissemination

Review of HLCC-sponsored events

• Holyoke Pride went well despite having to move indoors last minute due to weather-related concerns

• Paper City Clothing Company – Koco inquired about a recent event and if it was funded by HLCC, Anne confirmed they had not applied

• People can sign up for MCC’s mailing list to receive alerts including when applications are open

General announcements

• Gloria is working with a historian of Afro-Cuban art/culture who works with a group of artists, dancers and musicians. They are planning an educational project/event and are  looking for a venue and funding. 
  • Timing – dependent on when they receive funding and a venue. Likely a 2024 project that could be eligible for HLCC funding
  • Consideration of audience size when determining venue
  • Featured paintings will include collections of Ivor Miller
  • Want to do collage of media, education and exhibition
  • Previously did an event at someone’s house, then did an event at church in CT
  • Tim – suggested United Congregational Church as a venue, sanctuary seats 800 people and can be used for events however Mark noted the sound isn’t great
  • War memorial – sound is better than the church’s however not best 
  • Holyoke Community College might have a space and could sponsor the event 
• Tim –  not HLCC sponsored event however Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival was great and well attended

Previous business

• • Had previously talked holding grant writing workshop
    • Haven’t been able to offer grant writing workshop since 2019
    • Anne had conversations with Holyoke Media about hosting a workshop there, they are interested in partnering with us. Could potentially do hybrid workshop
    • Consideration of timing. Likely timeline: grants open on September 1st and close on October 16th – this has not been formally announced, this is based on previous cycles that were 6 weeks total
    • Need to confirm a date with Holyoke Media. Sounds like they can do simultaneous translation, but at the very least they can translate for a recording
    • Consideration of doing evening time for workshop

• Tentative plan to do a workshop Wednesday September 13th , back up date Wednesday September 27th from 6:30-8 pm. Gloria will confirm with Holyoke Media and report back. Please hold both of these dates if possible.

• Council members should feel empowered to reach out to community members and potential recipients to encourage them to apply
• HLCC funding – provided by state, then unencumbered funds are rolled back to council. Because we are reimbursement-based, unused funds eventually roll back to us for re-granting in future grant cycles
• Wifi in this building does not work well, according to mayor some of the ARPA funding can go towards this, however they won’t be able to get started for 3-4 months
  • In the meantime we can’t do hybrid meetings. Not going to buy zoom account since we don’t have wifi
• Discussion of reviewing bylaws – group decided to table this

Other business

• Next meeting is August 28th because we voted to move it up one week in advance of Labor Day weekend
  • Setting aside time at this meeting to discuss grant writing workshop
  • Previous grant writing workshop slides are on FB page
  • Once date is confirmed we will promote 
• Anne is working on process – all grant recipients are required to submit an application for a vendor ID number through the city. Getting a vendor ID number is free and only has to be done once,  however the form is not a fillable PDF,  not available online, and there is not a Spanish version. Anne is working to resolve these issues.
  • If orgs do not have funds up front, they can do progress payment or final payment. 
    • People can do 3rd party vendor who will receive invoice from grantee – this vendor sends to the city and the auditor pays the grantee
    • 4-8 weeks before payments come in to grantees

• Mark was looking at ethics training. It would not allow him to select HLCC as his organization, and kept receiving error. Could not create account. Suggested contacting Brenna or Timothea. Koco re-sent link, issue resolved? Reminder to all members to complete this training if you have not already done so.,
• Picking dates for grant readings – expect doodle poll within the next two weeks
• November is grant season – members should anticipate 3-4 meetings with 3-4 hour chunks of time. Question of doing an online rating system – all agreed, Nadia will take lead on putting this form together. Once grant review dates are scheduled, we won’t be able to move them because of our timeline/deadline.
• Anne gave overview of timeline with dates, documentation, and workflows
• Sustainability – question of whether or not we can promote ongoing funding or suggestions for ongoing funding. MCC doesn’t provide anything to grantees. Nadia will work on putting one-pager together of recommendations for sustainability funding for grantees and share it at the next meeting

Tim moved to adjourn, Mark seconded. Unanimous vote. Meeting adjourned at 7:39 pm.