Dane County

Minutes - Final Unless Amended by

Committee

Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission Executive Committee

Friday, May 9, 2025

8:30 AM

Hybrid Meeting: Attend in person at the City County

Building in Room 209; attend virtually via Zoom.

A. Call To Order

Present: Chair Ritcherson, Vice Chair Puleo Moyer, Supervisor Rose, Klehr

Excused: Miquelon

Quorum was established

Staff: Augusta Brulla

Call to order at 8:30 a.m.

4 -

Present

Excused

Chair RODERICK RITCHERSON, MARY KLEHR, FRAN PULEO MOYER, and

Supervisor RICK ROSE

1 - MARCIA MIQUELON

B. Consideration of Minutes

[MINUTES FROM THE 04/04/2025 ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING]

1. 2025

MIN-041

Attachments: 2025 MIN-041

A motion was made by Klehr, to approve the minutes from the April 4th

Executive Committee meeting, seconded by Puleo Moyer.

The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote

2. Approve April 7, 2025, commission minutes for recommendation to full commission

A motion was made by Klehr to recommend the April 7th commission minutes for

approval by the full commission, seconded by Puelo Moyer.

The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote

C. Cycle One Grant Final Wrap Up

- 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.

1. Carry over funds from 2024

- $3,000 from the 2024 grant budget was intentionally not allocated.

- Supervisor Rose confirmed that funds not spent during a given grant year will carry over

into the next year.

- An update on the carry over funds will be provided during the May commission meeting.

D. Business of Art Conference Preliminary Wrap Up Report

- The Business of Art Conference IV was a success with three dates of workshops,

speakers, and performances.

Highlights include:

- Thursday: Grant Writing Workshop, Headshots, BoAC Meet-up, and performances by

Rob Dz and the Madtown Mannish Boys

- Friday: Juggler Josh Casey, keynote by County Executive Melissa Agard, Workshops,

Happy Hour Meet-Up, and Soul Sessions performance

- Saturday: Keynote with Heal the Hood, workshops, prize drawing, and Arts Admin Mixer.

E. Boltz Students Consulting Report/Discussion

- Dane Arts worked with a group of students from the Bolz Center during the 2025 Spring

Semester through their consulting class.

- Students developed a research plan and report to “…build community recognition of the

[Dane Arts] commission and its impact on the community.”

- Research methods included a survey, focus groups, and interviews. 344 surveys

collected.

- Issues Identified: Dane Arts brand identity (Dane Arts vs. Dane County Arts and

Cultural Affairs, ambiguous logo), Dane Arts identified as a “city-based” organization,

siloing of artists in Dane County, difficult grant process.

- Strengths Identified: Independent artist development, artist compensation,

helpful/personable staff offering connections (respondents love Mark!), high awareness of

BoAC conference, antidote to “clicky” local art scene.

- The findings and recommendations of the report align with Dane Arts office and Dane

Arts Commission objectives.

F. Dane Arts Branding

1. Dane Arts Department

Chair Ritcherson discussed the importance of ensuring Dane Arts’ name and logo is

present on all materials, including DABL promotions.

2. Dane Arts Commission

- Vice Chair Puleo Moyer will work with Dane Arts staff to develop brand guidelines and

templates for use in future promotional materials. These will be added to the Commission

handbook.

- Continuity and consistency will be stressed in branding enhancement efforts.

3. 50th anniversary planning

- Consensus was that a strategy should be developed for planning the 50th anniversary

celebration.

- Vice Chair Puleo Moyer suggested hosting a large concert in tandem with Business of

Art Conference in 2027.

- Commissioner Klehr will investigate the history and exact definition of “Cultural Affairs”

in the context of the Dane Arts Commission.

G. Other

1. Friends of Dane Arts

- The Friends of Dane Arts board met in April.

- Jay Handy officially resigned from the board.

- Chair Ritcherson will meet with board member Kelly Parks Snider to develop next steps.

2. 2025 Dane Arts Sponsored Events

Commissioner Klehr will populate the commission event calendar with upcoming events.

3. Impact Study

To be discussed at a future meeting.

4. Vacant position

H. Executive Director’s Report

Director Fraire will provide an Executive Director’s report during the May full commission

meeting.

I. Future Meeting Items and Dates

1. Develop May 2025 Commission Agenda

-Roll call, establish quorum

-Approve April 7, 2025, meeting minutes (action item)

-Cycle one grants wrap up/final report

-Business of Art Conference Report/Discussion

-Boltz Student Consulting Report/ Discussion

-2026 Calendar and Poster Call for Art

-Dane Arts Visual Artist Directory and Next Steps

- Areas of Focus Updates

-Executive Director’s Report

- Future Meeting Items and Dates/Dane Arts Calendar of Events

2. Next meeting date

- Chair Ritcherson discussed shifting the Executive Committee meeting date one week

prior to the Commission meeting. This will allow the Executive Committee to approve the

Commission agenda prior to publication.

- The next Executive Committee meeting will be rescheduled to Thursday, June 5th.

- The next commission meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 12th at 4:30 p.m.

J. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda

None.