Dane County  
Minutes - Final Unless Amended by  
Committee  
Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission  
Consider:  
Who benefits? Who is burdened?  
Who does not have a voice at the table?  
How can policymakers mitigate unintended consequences?  
Monday, May 12, 2025  
4:30 PM  
Hybrid Meeting: Attend in person at the City County  
Building in Room 209; attend virtually via Zoom  
A. Call To Order  
Present: Chair Ritcherson, Supervisor Rose, Curet, Klehr, McKinney, Miquelon, Parks  
Snider, Yudice  
Excused: Vice Chair Puleo Moyer  
Quorum was established.  
Staff: Mark Fraire, Augusta Brulla  
Call to order at 4:30 p.m.  
8 - Chair RODERICK RITCHERSON, AMNERIS CURET, MARY KLEHR, MARCIA  
MIQUELON, KELLY PARKS-SNIDER, KELSEY YUDICE, DESHAWN  
MCKINNEY, and RICK ROSE  
Present  
1 - Vice Chair FRAN PULEO MOYER  
Excused  
Absent  
2 - JENNIFER GARRETT, and JAY HANDY  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
[MINUTES FROM THE 4/07/2025 ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS  
2025  
COMMISSION MEETING]  
MIN-042  
Attachments:  
2025 MIN-042  
A motion was made by Klehr to approve the minutes from the April 7th  
commission meeting, seconded by Yudice.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
C. Cycle one grants wrap up/final report  
- Grant awards are being processed as recipients return required paperwork.  
- Commissioner Curet led a follow-up meeting with grant panel chairs to discuss the  
grant review process. Recommendations for improvement were discussed for  
implementation in 2025 Cycle 2.  
- The 2025 Cycle 1 award announcement was released and includes a quote from Mark  
Fraire and County Executive Agard.  
- Going forward, the grant award press release will be reviewed by the commission for  
review before moving forward to the Office of the Executive for review and publication.  
- A resolution is in place that allows unused grant dollars to carry over from year to  
year.  
D. Business of Art Conference Report/Discussion  
- The conference was well received with over 200 attendees, three days of workshops,  
speakers, and performances.  
- Highlights include: Keynotes by County Executive Melissa Agard (Friday) and Dr.  
Roberto Rivera, and Heal the Hood (Saturday), 32 workshops, Headshots, two BoAC  
happy hour meet-ups, performances by Rob Dz, the Madtown Mannish Boys, juggler  
Josh Casey, and a Soul Sessions performance featuring hip hop artists from South  
Africa, Chicago, and Madison.  
- Director Fraire sent thank you notes to each this year’s sponsors and donors.  
- County Executive Agard featured the Business of Art Conference in her weekly  
newsletter.  
- Dane Arts staff will start raising funds for the 2026 conference in 2025.  
- Commissioner McKinney suggested surveying participants about the impact of  
participating one year post-conference.  
E. Boltz Students Consulting Report/Discussion  
- Findings and recommendations of the consulting group reflect and affirm current Dane  
Arts goals for the coming year.  
- All commissioners are asked to read the Bolz consulting report for future discussion.  
- Chair Ritcherson noted that continuity and consistency will be stressed in Dane Arts  
branding enhancement efforts. The 50th anniversary of Dane Arts is an opportunity to  
implement any changes.  
F. 2026 Calendar and Poster Call for Art  
- Applications for the next Dane Arts Calendar and Poster closed at midnight on May  
11th.  
- 55 applications were received from 14 different municipalities (including 24  
applications outside of Madison).  
- The poster and calendar jury will meet the week of June 2nd; applicants will be notified  
of the jury’s decision by June 16.  
- There is currently an ordinance in place requiring the production of the Dane Arts  
poster, however the ordinance may be updated.  
- Partnering with a sponsor to support production costs of the poster could make the  
program more sustainable in future years.  
G. Dane Arts Visual Artist Directory and Next Steps  
- Dane Arts created a visual artist directory hosted at dablmarket.com/artist-directory  
- The mission of the directory is to connect local artists with patrons, opportunities, and  
each other, and currently hosts nearly 100 visual artists.  
- Commissioners are encouraged to share the directory with any patrons and visual  
artists who may be interested in this resource.  
- Dane Arts staff are working with the Arts and Literature Laboratory, Madison Arts  
Commission, Overture Center for the Arts, Urban Community Arts Network, and the  
Wisconsin Arts Board to develop an artist directory resource that showcases all artistic  
disciplines.  
H. Areas of Focus Updates  
Commissioners will be asked to share a six-month report on their areas of focus during  
the June commission meeting.  
I. Executive Director’s Report  
- The majority of Dane Arts current activities are captured the reports above.  
- Dane Arts staff are working on developing an artist in residency program in  
collaboration with StartingBlock Madison and Arts + Literature Laboratory.  
- Dane Arts staff are preparing to update and open the 2025 Cycle 2 grant application.  
- Dane Arts continues to partner with Forward Madison FC in creating gameday posters  
by local artists.  
- Dane Arts staff will begin focusing on planning the 50th anniversary of the Dane  
County Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission.  
J. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
1. Dane Arts Calendar of Events  
- Commissioner Klehr shared upcoming events supported by the Dane Arts grant  
program as well as additional events supported through other Dane Arts funding  
channels.  
- Commissioners are encouraged to sign up to attend any event supported by Dane  
Arts.  
- Chair Ritcherson introduced the idea of providing commissioners with generic  
business cards for outreach efforts. Commissioner McKinney suggested providing  
custom cards with commissioner names. Staff will look at the cost and make a  
recommendation.  
2. Next Meeting Date  
The next commission meeting will take place on Monday, June 16th at 4:30 p.m.  
K. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
None.  
L. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
None.  
M. Adjourn  
A motion was made by McKinney to adjourn.  
Meeting adjourned at 5:24 p.m.  
Minutes respectfully submitted by Augusta Brulla pending commission approval.