Title
Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs General Program Support, Multidisciplinary Organization Grant Application(NB)
This item requests approval by the City Commission for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs (PRCA) to submit an application for and accept if awarded a General Program Support grant from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
Explanation
The City of Gainesville Parks Recreation and Cultural Affairs’ Department, Cultural Affairs Division, annually applies to the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA) for a general program support grant. The Department qualifies as a Level III organization and can apply for the highest level of funding, $150,000. Staff prepared a general program support grant to be submitted by the June 1st deadline, requesting grant funds for FY 2023-2024 in the Multidisciplinary Organization category.
In FY 2021-2022 the City received $76,417 from this grant and the FY 2022-2023 award amount, though not announced, is expected to be considerably higher than the previous year.
Though this grant is for general program support, a detailed outline of how the funds will be spent is required with the application. The grant award for FY 2022-2023 will be applied to initiatives that will build PRCA’s cultural program capacity to fulfill its program goals. The grant will provide funding for elements of the “352ArtsRoadmap” cultural master plan for the City of Gainesville and related marketing initiatives. It will provide support for the Thomas Center Galleries’ exhibition curation and marketing; 352walls coordination and artist fees, as well as cultural programming artist fees. In addition, the grant will provide funding for collaborative inclusive arts programming as identified as a strategy of the new Comprehensive Plan. We anticipate the budget in the grant application for FY 2023-2024 to have similar goals.
The grant submission deadline is June 1, 2022; a panel review of applications will be scheduled for September; final recommendations are subject to approval by the Florida Legislature and Governor and will be announced in June 2023. The grant period for the next grant is July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024.
Strategic Connection: This item is connected to Goal 1: Equitable Community and Goal 3: A Great Place to Live & Experience in the City’s Strategic Plan and is a high priority.
Fiscal Note
The FY 2023-24 General Program Support, $150,000 grant requires a 1:1 match. The matching funds will be met by expenses from recurring cultural affairs staffing costs, cultural programming artist fees, event marketing costs for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire and the Downtown Cultural Series, which includes the Downtown Festival and Art Show, and materials and supplies. No additional funds will be necessary to facilitate this request.
Recommendation
The City Commission to 1) approve the request for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs (PRCA) to submit the grant and accept the grant, if awarded, from the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and 2) authorize the City Manager or designee to execute the grant award agreement and other grant related documents, subject to approval by the City Attorney as to form and legality.