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?  
Wednesday, March 20, 2024  
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 Klehr, Commissioner Curet, Commissioner Puleo  
Moyer, Commissioner Miquelon, Commissioner Handy, Commissioner Yudice,  
Commissioner Parks Snider  
- Excused: Commissioner Garrett  
- Quorum was established.  
- Staff: Mark Fraire, Augusta Brulla, Moises Garcia  
Call to order at 8:31 a.m.  
8 -  
Present  
Chair RODERICK RITCHERSON, AMNERIS CURET, Vice Chair MARY KLEHR,  
MARCIA MIQUELON, KELLY PARKS-SNIDER, FRAN PULEO MOYER, JAY  
HANDY, and KELSEY YUDICE  
1 - JENNIFER GARRETT  
Excused  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
2023  
MIN-564  
[MINUTES FROM THE 02/21/2024 ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS  
COMMISSION MEETING]  
Attachments: 2023 MIN-564  
A motion was made by Commissioner Handy to approve the February 21, 2024  
commission meeting minutes, seconded by Commissioner Puleo Moyer.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
C. Action Items  
1. Approve 2024 over all grants pool budget  
- Chair Ritcherson recommends restricting the annual Dane Arts grant spending to the  
amount approved by the County Board of Supervisors.  
- The approved 2024 budget is $218,000.  
A motion was made by Commissioner Curet to approve the overall 2024 taxpayer  
grant pool of $218,000, seconded by Vice Chair Klehr.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
2. Approve 2024 Cycle 1 grant pool budget  
- Historically, more Dane Arts grant applications have been received in the first cycle  
than in the second cycle of the year.  
- The Executive Committee and Director Fraire recommend the allocation of $115,000 to  
the 2024 Cycle 1 grant pool. This would leave $100,000 for 2024 Cycle 2 with a $3,150  
buffer which will carry over into the 2025 grant budget if not used in 2024.  
- The $115,000 grant budget will be used to fund project and capital grant awards, as well  
as a $100 honorarium for each grant panelist.  
- Vice Chair Klehr has reviewed the Capital grant applications, and will make funding  
recommendations to the Executive Committee in April.  
- Commissioner Curet will calculate project grant awards using the grant allocation  
formula and will present the funding distribution during the April commission meeting.  
- 2024 Cycle 1 awards will be discussed by the Executive Committee meeting on April  
12th. Proposed awards will be recommended by the Executive Committee to the  
commission for discussion and approval during the April 17th commission meeting.  
A motion was made by Commissioner Handy to allocate $115,000 for the first  
Dane Arts grant cycle of 2024, seconded by Commissioner Parks Snider.  
The motion was carried unanimously by a voice vote.  
D. Presentations  
1. Overview of WebGrants for Commissioners (Augusta Brulla)  
- WebGrants has a new look.  
- The WebGrants update was well received by panel reviewers.  
- Thanks to Commissioner Curet and Dane Arts Staff.  
- See WebGrants instruction guide and video published on the Commissioner Portal.  
2. Business of Art 2024 Marketing Report (Moises Garcia)  
- Moises Garcia is the LTE Cultural Affairs Specialist, student at the Bolz Center for  
Administration, and freelance Marketing Specialist.  
- Moises Garcia’s presentation covered the 2024 Business of Art Conference marketing  
activities, outlining the strategy, results, key takeaways, and future recommendations.  
- Strategy goal: Drive quality traffic to the Dane Arts website and increase conference  
registrations.  
- Strategy components: Social advertising, calendar listings, content calendar, print,  
ad-hoc radio, e-mail campaigns  
- The marketing budget included $950 for social media, $100 for post cards, and at least  
$1,000 for Moises Garcia’s staff time.  
- Result Highlights: 250+ arts and culture professionals engaged and impacted, 40  
sessions, 60+ speakers, 32 sponsorships, 186 attendees (125 paid, 27 scholarships, 34  
volunteers).  
- Advertising traffic overview: Google analytics was set up for danearts.com to track  
clicks on the registration page. This provides a solid foundation to compare with future  
traffic analytics.  
- Key conference information was easy to access by potential registrants and attendees.  
- Impactful online event listings include Destination Madison and 608Today.  
- Paid social media efforts significantly increased audience engagement on Facebook  
and Instagram.  
- Commissioners are encouraged to follow Dane Arts new LinkedIn page.  
- A key takeaway is that the use social media is highly effective, and Dane Arts has a  
loyal following on email in particular.  
- Engagement continued throughout the conference with a dedicated staff person posting  
exciting content in real-time during the conference.  
- Recommendations for 2025 include developing a social media press kit and a BoAC  
impact report with metrics and testimonials. These tools will help generate new  
partnerships and participants.  
- Dane Arts is looking at additional locations for the 2025 Business of Art Conference in  
addition to Arts + Literature Laboratory and StartingBlock Madison.  
E. Chair/Executive Committee Report  
- There are two vacant commissioner seats with one prospective commissioner to be  
interviewed by Director Fraire, Chair Ritcherson, and Vice Chair Klehr.  
- Provided all goes well, the prospective commissioner will be recommended to the  
County Executive for appointment to the Dane Arts Commission.  
F. Individual Areas of Focus update reports  
• Friends of Dane Arts:  
- Three of five total board members must be secured before the Friends Group is able  
to proceed with 501 (c)(3) status.  
- Chair Ritcherson is consulting with prominent community leaders about potential board  
members.  
- Since Dane County tax dollars may not finance a 501 (c)(3), an alternative means of  
funding must be secured by the emergent friends group.  
• Community Engagement/Publicity:  
- A letter of advocacy has been drafted, which will be signed by “Chair Roderick  
Ritcherson, on behalf of the Dane Arts Commission.”  
- Commissioners will be asked to send the letter to each of their county supervisors by  
the next commission meeting in April.  
- Commissioner Puleo Moyer asked commissioners to continue filling out the online  
event opportunities sign-up form.  
G. Executive Director's Report  
- Dane Arts would like to host a poster celebration and commissioner meet-and-greet on  
May 6th at Salvatore’s in Monona. 2024 Cycle 1 grant recipients will also be recognized.  
- The commission will continue to discuss strategies for distributing the annual poster  
and revisit the current suggested donation pricing model.  
- Dane Arts has a gallery space at StartingBlock Madison featuring the work of Mark  
Weller and Castle Place Designs.  
- Dane Arts continues to work with other county offices such as the Henry Vilas Zoo and  
Waste and Renewables, and hopes to collaborate with the Dane County Airport.  
- Reference Director Fraire’s notes for full Director’s Report.  
H. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
- The next commission meeting is Wednesday, April 17th at 8:30 a.m.  
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 Chair Ritcherson to adjourn.  
Meeting adjourned at 9:37 a.m.  
Minutes respectfully submitted by Augusta Brulla pending commission approval.