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, September 8, 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, Klehr, Curet, Miquelon, Garrett, Yudice  
Excused: Puleo Moyer, Rose, Parks Snider, McKinney  
Quorum was established  
Staff: Mark Fraire, Augusta Brulla  
Call to order at 4:30 p.m.  
6 -  
Present  
Chair RODERICK RITCHERSON, AMNERIS CURET, MARY KLEHR, MARCIA  
MIQUELON, JENNIFER GARRETT, and KELSEY YUDICE  
4 -  
Excused  
KELLY PARKS-SNIDER, Vice Chair FRAN PULEO MOYER, DESHAWN  
MCKINNEY, and RICK ROSE  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
[MINUTES FROM THE 6/16/2025 ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS  
COMMISSION MEETING]  
2025  
MIN-229  
Attachments: 2025 MIN-229  
A motion was made by Miquelon to approve the minutes from the 6/16/2025 Arts  
and Cultural Affairs Commission meeting, seconded by Curet.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
C. 2025 Cycle 2 Grants Update  
1. Number of grant applications (by discipline), dollar amount of requests  
Project Grant applications by discipline include: 2 Local History ($10,500), 5  
Theater ($23,325), 5 Visual Arts ($18,083), 6 Dance ($25,350), 11 Arts in  
Education ($49,674), 12 Multidisciplinary Arts and Culture ($42,264), and 21  
Music ($86,192).  
2. Number of short order grants, dollar amount of requests  
5 eligible Short Order grant applications were received, totaling $4,450 in  
requests.  
3. Percentage of budget allocation for short order grants/recommendation  
Dane Arts staff recommends a budget limit of $2,225 for short order grant  
awards. This number reflects 50% of 2025 Cycle 2 short order requests.  
4. Number of capital grants, dollar amount of requests  
- 7 eligible Capital grant applications were received, totaling $15,879 in  
requests.  
- The Capital Grant budget is not to exceed 5% of total available funds in any  
given cycle.  
5. Anticipated 2025 cycle 2 budget (overall)  
- 2025 Cycle 2 total available funds equal $97,262  
- Final budgets for each funding opportunity will be discussed during the next  
executive committee meeting for recommendation to the full commission on  
October 16.  
6. Projected number of panel review teams needed, progress  
- 62 project grant applications are divided into 6 panels (5 reviewers / panel).  
- Each panel will review 10-11 applications. Dane Arts staff has recruited the 30  
panelists required, and the six panel dates are set.  
D. Approve Grants Process Improvement Recommendations (action item)  
1. Grant Application Category Change  
- Commissioner Curet presented a summary of recommendations for  
improving the current grant process. The document is available for  
commissioners to review via Google Drive.  
- Curet recommends updating the grant application categories to better align  
with the Dane Arts Mission. Updates would be made to the 2026 Cycle 1  
application.  
- Current grant categories: Arts in Education, Dance, Music, Multidisciplinary  
Arts/Culture, Theater, Visual Arts  
- Recommended updated grant categories: Arts Education, Dance, History &  
Heritage, Music, Theater & Performance, Visual Arts  
A motion was made by Curet to update the grant categories to Arts Education,  
Dance, History & Heritage, Music, Theater & Performance, and Visual Arts,  
seconded by Klehr.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote  
2. Grant Application Budget Updates  
- Based on grant panelist feedback, Commissioner Curet presented a list of  
recommended updates to the budget section of the application.  
- Budget updates include additional explanatory text and resources for recording  
in-kind contributions.  
A motion was made by Curet to approve changes to the budget section of the  
application as noted in the provided document with the addition of a mandatory  
request to note the total percentage of applicant’s budget that is comprised of  
in-kind contributions, seconded by Miquelon.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
E. Approve Revised October Meeting Date  
A motion was made by Miquelon to reschedule the October Commission meeting  
date to Thursday, October 16th at 8:30 a.m., seconded by Klehr.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
F. Areas of Focus Reports  
Friends of Dane Arts:  
- Members Ritcherson and Parks Snider, along with Executive Director Fraire,  
met with Madison Community Foundation to discuss creating an endowment for  
the Friends of Dane Arts.  
- A set of financial policies and procedures will be developed and approved prior  
to accepting any funds.  
Dane Arts Branding:  
- Commissioner McKinney developed a survey for Dane Arts staff to distribute  
to constituents. Dane Arts staff have committed to send the survey by the end  
of September.  
- Chair Ritcherson connected McKinney and Curet with Puleo Moyer’s current  
work within the branding area of focus.  
- A discussion took place about consistency in Dane Arts logo usage.  
G. Executive Director Report  
1. Budget Reduction  
The reduction to the Dane Arts budget has not been officially confirmed yet.  
2. Other Activities  
- Dane Arts Buy Local Art Market takes place at the Farley Center in Verona,  
September 13th, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.  
- The 2026 Poster and Calendar reception is set for November 7th, 5 - 9 p.m. at  
Aubergine Gallery in Madison.  
- A Dane Arts Holiday pop-up market is scheduled at Aubergine December 5 -  
6.  
- Artwork for the City-County Building has been approved and includes a  
photograph by Tom Jones and two sculptures created during the Harry  
Whitehorse International Sculpture Festival.  
- The 2026 Business of Art Conference theme is “Arts Business Community”  
with several keynote speakers confirmed to date.  
H. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
1. Dane Arts Calendar of Events  
Commissioners are encouraged to sign up to attend Dane Arts produced and  
supported events as well as chair grant review panels for the current cycle.  
2. Next Meeting Date  
Thursday, October 16th, 8:30 a.m.  
3. Other  
None.  
I. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
None.  
J. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
None.  
K. Adjourn  
A motion was made by Garret to adjourn.  
Meeting adjourned at 5:31 p.m.  
Minutes respectfully submitted by Augusta Brulla pending commission approval.