Park Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, good morning, everybody. I'll call the meeting to order of the Dane County Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission. Augusta, can we have roll call, please?

Chair Julia Moyer? Here. Vice Chair McKinney? Here. Commissioner Kuret?

Here.

Commissioner Clare? Here. Commissioner Fath? I'll check again in a second. Supervisor Downing?

Downing is here.

And Commissioner Stankey.

Here.

All right. I think Doug should be on in a minute.

Do we have a quorum? Do we have a quorum?

Do we have a quorum?

I think...

We have six without Doug, so we should be good. And then once he joins, we'll be great. We'll also be great.

Okay. All right. First business order of business is consideration of the minutes. Hopefully everybody had a chance to review them. Any points of discussion on the minutes? I'm seeing a no from Mary. All right. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes? from, let me be very specific. What are those minutes from? June 16, 2026.

It seems like forever.

Thank you, Mary. And we do not need a second. All in favor? Any opposed? I see am now. Great. Okay. The minutes are approved. Thank you very much. Next order of business, we're welcoming our new commissioner, Sarah Starnke. Hi, Sarah. Do you want to say hey to everybody and just maybe give a 10, you know, five minute overview of your background for us?

Yeah, of course. Well, hi and thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited and thank you especially to Doug for reaching out to me and asking me to join. I think this is just great and I'm excited to get started. So my background is in the fine arts. I have a BFA in photography and then an MFA from the UW here. which was also in photography, but it was more interdisciplinary. And that's really where my art is now. I do a lot of installation-based art, kind of more conceptual art. And I professionally have been working at a MOCA previously. That's how I know Doug, of course. I was his assistant preparator and the photographer over there. And then I moved over to the art and lit lab, which I'm sure you guys are familiar with. They're amazing. And I was the lead curator there for a while. And then I stepped down, I'm just on the curatorial committee over there now. So if we want to Yeah, if there's anything I can do to be helpful in that regard. Yeah, and that's, I mean, that's, that's pretty much me.

Yeah. Well, and Sarah's already joined us. We took a little tour of Doug's artwork, which hopefully you all received the invite. And Sarah was there as a great support. And then Augusta and I did already meet with Sarah to just kind of go over, you know, the high level things going on here at the commission and some of the resources. So We're really thrilled to have you on board, appreciate your fresh approach and your enthusiasm. So welcome.

Thank you all.

And then also we just want to bid farewell to our Jen Garrett, who was an amazing part of the commission. We appreciate her connection to the Governor Evers office. Jen was very forthcoming about having a health issue that she's dealing with right now. And she said that she was comfortable with us sharing that with everybody. So feel free to reach out to her and send well wishes. She's in really good spirits. So we'll miss her dearly. Next item on the agenda is fall grant awardee guest presenters. So Augusta and I have been reaching out to a few past awardees. I think the commission had mentioned it would be really nice to have some visitors to some of our meetings. just representing the work that we support. So just wanted to let you know that for September, Aubrey from Sandburg Elementary, so that the next meeting is gonna be coming to present. Augusta, can you give us a little 10 second about that project? Do you remember?

Yeah, so it's an afterschool musical theater program. It's been really impactful. They're a first time applicant as well. So... yeah, I know that they're really excited to do it. And then even a little bit of funding goes a long way for an MMSD school in presenting theater programming that they would not normally have in their schools. So I believe that it's a partnership with the Overture Center who helps provide like the curriculum for a Disney musical. And I think Mary probably knows a lot about it too. But yeah, we'll definitely hear more next month.

Yay. All right. Excited to have her. And then November, October, we're going to be talking grants. So then we thought November would be the next time to have another guest. So we've invited Ruth Phillips, the executive director of the Innovation Center in Stoughton, who was another Cycle One grant awardee to join us in November. So she'll be coming on. Oh, Sarah has her hand up.

I just wanted to add quick on the topic of MMSD being brought up that I'm on the Lowell Community Organization, which is, you know, one of the elementary schools at MMSD. That's where my son attends. So, you know, just another connection to throw out there if there's anything we can do. Thanks for that, Sarah.

Appreciate it. Yeah. And so the Innovation Center of Stoughton Do you remember that project by chance?

Yeah. So they focus on STEAM. So science, technology, engineering, art, and math. It's a center in Stoughton. We haven't toured it yet. We'll have to go take a tour. They applied for a summer STEAM camp and they focused the funds on art supplies. So they did like laser cutting, printing, printmaking, 3D printing, And they've been tagging Dane Arts in their projects on Instagram. So it's been really neat to see. And I think they're mostly like middle and high school students they're working with. But really cool projects and some incredible design work from their young participants. So excited to hear more from Ruth on that. And it's nice to see, you know, Stoughton being served with the grant funding as well. Awesome.

Yeah. And so we'll shoot for maybe a couple of presentations a semester. So if there's anybody that really floats your boat and you want to see us invite them for spring, be sure to reach out and let either Augusta or I know we're happy to invite them to come. So great.

Something to think about as you're looking through the grants that have just come in. So, oh, yeah, yeah, that's a good point.

I also say one of the things and we're starting to hear, but geographic distribution. So it's not just all folks who got the grants in Madison. I think as much as we can be intentional about that in all areas of our work. Yeah, that's great.

Yeah. So our second gal will be from Stoke. So that's good. I wasn't thinking about that at all, but yeah, that's a good point. All right. Awesome. Okay. So moving on next, this order of business is the commission roster. So hopefully you all have access to our shared Google drive and in there, In the main folder of the Dane Arts Commission, you will see a commission roster that we put together. I'm hoping very much that this can at least be for just us, for our group, the go-to in knowing what terms we have coming up that will expire, where everybody's had in terms of when they started, when they end. I also put a little bit of language here. Maybe I'll share this document with you all if this is helpful. All right. Can you all see that? Okay, great. Yeah, so this is just the Excel spreadsheet that I threw together that has all of the commissioners, the start date, the end date. We will be having an 11th commissioner that's going to be put forth for approval with the county executive. It sounds like that's going to happen. So there's also an 11th person. I won't go into details about her yet, but she's wonderful and a part of our 50th planning committee. But anyhow, check over your start date, end date. If anything looks awry, please let me know. And so this can be like our working doc in here. And I do have sort of the general provisions listed below. from the county administration language. And just to review that everybody's on a three-year term and that would end the third Tuesday in April or as soon thereafter. So I don't think that's something that we were always thinking about, but that's really the language in here that the terms end in April. And except for the county supervisor member, which is two years in length, right? So that's Patrick for us right now. Any questions? Am, I see you.

Are we able to add in when we started on the commission? I can never remember.

Yeah, because I have like the start of the current term in here, the start date, but I don't have like the original start date. Is that what you're asking, Am? Yes. Okay, we'll try to work on that and dig that up. I guess, can I add a column in here? And if you know your start date, can you insert it?

In here, we could do like... Yeah, and I think it was May 2021. Original start date.

And we think it was, what was it, Augusta?

May 2021. There is a software called Granicus, which I can link. Okay, awesome. Thank you. That'd be great. That the county executive's assistant manages. So, Jen, that's what we're trying to get to match.

Yeah, right, right. We're trying to work, making sure we all have the same details together. Have some good historical data. Okay, we'll add that. Thanks. That's a good suggestion, Anne. Thanks. We'll get that added. Let me just make a note. Original date. Um... And then what I also want to ask of the commission is we do have a document also in the Google Drive of potential commissioners. And thank you. I know Mary has added a person in there, but we need people in the queue so that when we have empty seats, We have people that we as a commission can come together and discuss and see who we'd want to be the person that we would extend an invitation to or ask the county executive to consider her appointment the minute we lose someone. So we need to be really effective and efficient with that. So please put people on that document. So when we have openings, we can have a few people to discuss. They don't have to put the application in immediately, but if they could just put their name forth, put them in the document so we can discuss it.

Mary?

Yeah, two quick, one, after this meeting, I'll send out the link to our handbook that people have been updating so that, thank you for, by the way, listing the end dates, because that was a question for the handbook. So I'll update that. But I'm asking everyone to take a quick look at their bio and make any changes that they would like. So thanks. And you answered a question for me, Fran, because I put someone in the list as a potential commissioner and I wondered if she needed to put in her application. She's really excited about the prospect. She knows that it may never happen. It might happen, you know, but should she put, it sounds like she, we can wait on anyone putting in an application until we know we have a need.

Yeah, I think so. I know Mark is always saying, have them just put the application in. So, I mean, I guess they can put an application in. There's no reason they can't. But I guess I would love us to get to a point where we have a process of having two or three or four people out there that have been listed. And we have a discussion about it as a commission as to who we think would best match our needs in terms of our goals that we're going to be talking about today and what kind of strengths we need added to the commission to make us more effective. Does that make sense?

Brian Downing has a question.

Yes, yes, Downing.

Just to go back a step, when filling in the original start dates, it's not fresh in my memory, but I served on this commission some years ago. Would you want to find that out and enter it?

Yes, I think we should. I think your longevity on the commission is an important aspect of the value you bring. So let's definitely get that added to the spreadsheet.

All right, thank you. Thank you.

All right. If there's no other discussion on the roster, we'll move on to director's updates. I don't know if Mark is able to run through those. Otherwise, Augusta is on backup here to run through your points, Mark.

I will get back to you shortly. I'm driving right now. Give me about 10 minutes, please.

Okay. All right. We can come back to that on the agenda then. Oh, I missed item E, didn't I? I'm sorry about that. Thank you. I skipped item E. So we're going to toggle back to item E, which is a main point of discussion for us today. So I'm going to share my screen. So in thinking about what was previously our areas of focus and the work that you all have been doing in various areas to support commission goals, I got to thinking about what would make the most sense for us strategically. And so what came to mind and what Mark and I had been talking about that seems to make the most sense is to create a set of goals that align with the strategic pillars outlined in the county executive's Dane County in Action strategic vision. She has four pillars, basically, that she has been talking about and promoting. And I think it just makes sense for us strategically to try to align under those. And so in looking at this from a high level view, there are so many things that we're doing currently that just slip under these pillars really nicely. So I want to share a working document with you all, and I'm looking for feedback on, is this a good way for us to move forward? and any areas you're currently invested, and I want to make sure are represented in here. So let me just share my screen here. Here we go. And you can, of course, find this document in the strategy planning folder in our Google Drive. Here is, gosh, can you all see this? Yeah. Okay, great. So there's four primary areas. The first one is community-wide services. And under that fit neatly, in my opinion, the grant program, marketing and branding updates, are the two criteria that seem to fit pretty well under community-wide services delivery. The grant program is an accessible county-wide service. Dane Arts grants are a community service and useful across Dane County. And then marketing and web updates ensure accessibility and access and just giving us the name recognition so people are aware of the services that we offer. So those were the two areas that kind of landed under the community wide services delivery. The second area is economic development. So under that, all of the economic impact data and messaging that we've done historically as a commission falls neatly under here. The arts, of course, are such an economic development engine for the county. arts translate into job spending, audience growth, and local business community vitality. So I'm not going to go into the details of all what potentially members of the commission could do in this area yet. I just kind of want to talk high level here. The second area are Dane Arts produced events and celebrations. So, of course, the Business of Art Conference, what's coming up with the 50th anniversary celebration and so many other things. And then lastly, the Friends of Dane Arts, which is the development fundraising wing that we're so lucky to have being developed to help support all of the great Dane Arts work. I do have a email out to Rod to meet for coffee. Deshawn may be joining me. to just kind of get a feel for what our role will be with the friends group and how that relationship is going to exist and how we can support their work and vice versa. And then the last part of that is the Dane County Artist Directory, which is currently on the DABLE website that Augusta created. That's such a huge value for the community. And so those are the four components under economic development. The third pillar that the county has outlined is the justice system improvement. And I've heard this spoken by many different commissioners over the years, that the arts offer prevention, rehabilitation, reintegration, and community-based healing, and really ensure the commission's work reaches the right partners. In that bucket could potentially be the Business of Art Conference, youth art support and projects, which I know there's a deep passion for on our current commission. Partnerships with community support organizations. So for example, like Chrysalis with the grant we supported for them with their storytelling event and presentations and workshops like with Operation Fresh Start and Natum. The last bucket is environmental leadership and stewardship. This is an area near and dear to my heart. currently on the Waunakee Sustainability Committee. Environment's so important right now, and I'm glad it's one of the county's pillars. And building intention around that into how sustainability weaves into our Dane County arts work is a recognizable thread in our grants and public art and commission sponsored events. It's an area we certainly could build out more or talk about more in the work that's happening. So I'm looking for some discussion around this and wondering what you all think about this to help guide our work this year. It's a lot to wrap your head around, I know. Mary, you're on mute if you're chatting a little there.

Fran, I think it's great to align with the direction. So I think that's the right thing to do. I'd have to spend a little more time, give it the thoughtfulness that you've already put into it. And I can email you back if I have any comments on it. But I think the approach is right on. Thank you.

And to be clear, that is what I'm looking for feedback on, is just the approach at this point, if you think it is a good strategy for us. And there's obviously going to need to be much more discussion around it. And I apologize, I wanted to get this out to you all ahead of the meeting so you could look at it. So I guess we're just, we'll be a meeting behind because I'll be looking for your feedback in more detail after the meeting.

I would say, I think the approach is spot on to Anne's point. I'd also say, I don't think we necessarily have to focus on all four of the pillars. I think it's a question of capacity and effectiveness. Like how can we be most effective? Maybe that looks like, focusing on those first two pillars. Maybe it does look like all four, but I don't think we need to feel like we have to tackle all four just as we're getting started. As we think about our capacity, because I think in particular, the third and fourth one would be us having to build a lot in order to actually effectively meet those, as opposed to existing infrastructure, activities, et cetera, which really falls to those top two. So I think it's a strong approach and it's just about figuring out where are we.

That's a great point. Thank you. Any other thoughts on that?

I appreciate the work that's being put into this. And like Ann, I'd love a chance to read through it. Do we have access to this document?

Yeah, it's in the strategy planning folder in our Google Doc. So please, have at her. And particularly the areas you have been previously focused in on, can you add that to the doc under whatever area? That makes sense if I missed it. Because I just want to make sure everybody's work that's been done to date is reflective in here.

One other thought. I think utilizing this approach is great. And hopefully we can position it to help the work of Day and Arts be more incorporated into communications at the county level. And just like if it's tied in, then some of their talking points could also be, look at the great work happening here. Because that falls right in. So I think that that would help in our positioning. I'm just trying to strengthen the support of the arts in that way.

Agreed. I know that Mark has been working to try to give a monthly update to her to include in the newsletter, but hopefully then we can feed into that and make it a little easier for them. Okay, great. All right. Well, thank you. This will be an ongoing conversation for us. I'll be sending an email. I can link to the document and we can start a conversation in the email thread too.

Downing with a question, Fran.

Yes.

You may have just answered it. For us less computer literate, I'm hoping you'd send us a link to whatever, wherever this document is.

Yes, I will make sure that I send an email with a link, and I can also attach it if that's easier for you to open it. So either way, yes, thank you. I'll make sure to do that.

Thank you.

Okay. Can we lead back to director's updates? Mark, are you ready? Maybe, Augusta, maybe you start down the director's notes then for us, just in the interest of time, and Mark can chime in when he's ready. Sure. Okay, Mark, yeah, chime in.

Yeah, please do reference Director Ferrer's notes for a complete overview, but I'll give an abridged version.

Just a quick summary. It's not going to be that quick, but...

At the county, we are experiencing budget cuts that will affect Daynard's office. We've been tasked with reducing our budget by 45,000. So Mark is in communication with the chief of staff and the county executive about how those cuts will, where they'll come out of and how that will take place. And then Mark was invited to be a part of the county executive's economic development team So he's connecting with other Dane County departments like the airport and office of climate to work together on that. So that's really great. An overview of grants. So all the applications are in, they were received August 1st and we received 65 project grants, four short order and three capital. So it's a pretty high number of project grants for the second cycle in the year, but we're kind of back to typical numbers for short order for four last cycle.

We had over 20, which was unusual.

Um, but still a lot of requests, 25% of applicants this cycle are first time. So wow. Distinct. Usually it's only a couple. And so it's quite a few first time applicants. Um, we audit all of them for eligibility, which are just about finishing up on, um, Honestly, most applications need some type of correction before they go to the review phase, like a date or a file that won't open or something. So we give people the grace to fix that if it happens. Let's see. The grant panel review meetings will happen between September 21st and October 1st, still determining if we'll have five or six panels. We might be able to do just five panels this cycle. And we are still recruiting reviewers. So we have about 22 secured. And that's after asking about 150 people. That's the conversion rate. At least three if we do five panels. But if we do six panels, we'll probably need eight more. It just depends if we want to assign 13 applications per reviewer or a few less. But 13, probably doable.

Is that the typical kind of ask-to-acceptance ratio when you're looking for reviewers, or has this been a tougher go?

It's tougher in the fall.

In general, in fall and stuff?

Yeah, I'm seeing a pattern. So spring, like that, I asked 100 people, it filled up pretty easy. But I've gotten a ton of responses that have been really courteous. They're just saying I'm at capacity for fall. So, yeah. but Mark and I have been jamming on this and asking a lot of people, and it's working, so we're getting there. It's like Doug has a question. Yeah, Doug.

Yeah. What's the process of finding the reviewers? If I know some people that I think would be good reviewers.

Oh, that would be amazing. First of all, Doug, what I should do is send you all, I have a job description for the panelists. Opportunity. And then we have a very simple form online, which is where they fill out their name and put a resume. And then we'll look over that and invite them to participate. So it's pretty simple to submit like a little bio or resume. But I will send out that request to everybody. So you have the position description and you can just forward that.

Sounds good.

Can you drop that in the grant folder of the Google Drive?

Yes.

Awesome.

Yes. That would be super. Thanks for asking. Do we ask all of the people in our artist directory?

That's a great point. And Mark just brought that up. So I haven't yet. Okay. But I definitely could.

Yeah.

Yeah. And then, yeah, trying to get a mix of, you know, we have a lot of people that work in the arts, but if someone is like a nonprofit leader that understands how to present a project or a program, understands budgeting and how to measure impact, That's a great fit as well.

You know, it's something to consider for the future. You know, we talked about how do we garner additional support out in the community if we use the review process as a way to, for instance, tap into business leaders in the community. Because then you see actually what the arts are doing in the community and what people are trying to do. And we pull them a little bit closer to here's the work. So I think there may be some strategic opportunity in how we think about selecting. And even if it's just a few slides, try

what the work is actually I love that I love that too because when people read the grants I've had people cry when they read them and they're so impactful and you but you have to be in the middle of it reading it to understand and also people don't know the scope of the arts and again people don't like the wide swath of what's happening and the diversity of what's happening

You don't know that until you're sitting down and looking at 100 applications. You only know whatever your niche is and what you'd like to go out and see. But I think that could be an opportunity. So I think maybe let's keep that in mind.

I love it. Well, I think that's great. Yeah. Any other questions? Oh, there's Mark. Hey, Mark. Hi, Mark. Welcome. Otherwise, Mark, do you want me to jump in on calendar and poster and then I'll turn it over?

Yeah, just one comment about the grants. We're not looking for experts in any art discipline. I don't know if we said this, but we're really looking for people that can review and assess the success of a grant application. So it doesn't have to be an expert in the arts or any discipline, just somebody that is skillful and understanding a good project and would be able to review that.

Is it something we've ever considered like with the bowls, with bowls or having like students maybe like. I recruit a lot of bowls graduates. Oh, you do. Okay.

Yeah. We talked about student. I think we have not specifically not worked with students. Okay. But we've had some people at the division of the arts who have some young professionals that they're helping mentor just to kind of keep consistency and with the scoring, right, Mark? Is that still the plan?

Correct, yes.

We have had a student. Actually, we had the Bowles student, but she might have been a graduate. She read all the applications and was a backup. That was kind of unique. That was recently, right? I remember.

2022, I think, or 23. Yeah, Mary.

As we build our potential commissioner list, I think that would be people to tap to. If they're not already in those roles.

Yeah, great idea. Yeah. Okay, well, I can give an update on our 2027 calendar and poster. So. Artists have been selected. We have 13 artists. We have representation from cottage grow Fitchburg. Madison McFarland Middleton and Verona in the calendar and then seven of the artists are brand new so they've never been in the calendar before and I want to give a huge thank you to Mary Fran Doug and then Steve Wagner our calendar designer for your excellent work on the jury it was really hard to pick because there were so many strong applications and you all did a really wonderful job of listening to each other and creating a really vibrant calendar. The theme is treasures of Dane County. So we're seeing all different representations of that. And I'm excited to show you, I think I'll show a draft in September. So it's our designers finishing up the draft and should be ready to go into production soon. Um, hopefully we'll have them by mid September for delivering to our vendors. Um, but we're going to be very careful about proofing it. And then we have an exhibition of all the selected artists at Aubergine Gallery on Willie Street, and that's going to be on view from October to December. We have a reception on November 6th, which is also Gallery Night. That's from 5 to 9 p.m. And then we'll reach out about commissioners signing up to help with that event. So welcoming guests, helping us sell calendars, and just being present at that event. And then we're also hosting a holiday pop-up market at Aubergine on December 4th and 5th. And some of our calendar and poster artists will participate, but we'll have a mix of other artists as well. Nice.

Can you say the date of the poster celebration again?

Yes, that's November 6th.

Yeah. Yeah. And little known fact to get the poster artist to sign your poster is really something I'm starting to kind of collect year to year. So that's just it's such a fun event.

So I hope you can make it and have it on the calendar. It's really, really lovely.

OK, great. Thank you for that. And I think I know. as an artist hearing Doug say that he thinks it was the best year, like the best year he's seen of the calendar. I don't know, Doug, if you want to elaborate on that, but I was really impressed by that comment.

Yeah, no, I'm really happy that there was seven new artists. You know, one of the things I wanted to bring to the board is that I think there's a lot of artists that aren't seen. And it's like the same people are seen over and over again. And, you know, I know that feeling of feeling marginalized as an artist. And I think it opens up, you know, there's that fine line. You want the calendar to be, I don't know what word, you know, pleasant or marketable, but you also want it to challenge you. And I feel like the images kind of pushed, you know, that a little bit to maybe get people to thinking about, you know, Dane Arts is a lot more diverse than I thought compared to maybe the previous years. So I think it's a really good direction. And I was just happy to participate and to, you know, bring especially the new people forward.

Yeah. Thanks for speaking up for them. I think it would have looked different without you on that committee. So really value your feedback there.

Thank you guys for listening.

Thank you. All right. Anything else?

Oh yeah. Mark. I don't know if you heard, I quick just summarize the beginning of your notes, but I went over the quick budget cut note grants and calendar poster, but I'll turn it over to you for more. There's a lot of updates.

All right. We've been doing so much with the month off. I left my notes in the car, so I don't have the sheets in front of me. But if you have any questions on anything that I've jotted down, please let me know. We're looking at trying to do something related to the anniversary and a summit or a conference of some sort. have no idea exactly what that is. We have moved it to September versus April for lots of reasons. And the main reason is that My Arts and WISO have been accommodating to work with us on this. We outgrew Arts Lab and Starting Block Madison that we needed to go somewhere else. And because we're trying to focus a little bit more on youth programming and what artists are doing in those communities, this is not so much about youth leading youth, but there's a lot of artists who are working in communities that service young people. So what are they doing? What can we do to help them? What challenges are we facing, especially today with all that's going on in the past month or so here on the Willie Street area? is really concerned and I think a lot of people are suffering. So we're trying to navigate how we present as Dane Arts answers to those kind of challenges and that's what we hope the summit to be. But part of me is also saying I don't know what to do with this summit conference because it's going to change. So I met with Mary and Amy, get some ideas from them and education wise. So anything you have related to how we can improve the work of our communities. And this is the focus I often say to people is that, yes, we're the arts, but we're about building a better community through the arts, which is a different paradigm than what this office has been previously to my coming here. So we'll continue to match that challenge and hopefully get the county exec on board with a lot that we're doing. I know I've been meeting with the chief of staff more than I've ever met with the former chief of staff. We're meeting almost once a month, if not more. So it's been a challenge to try and figure out since they're all new, they really don't know the process of day and arts and all that we're trying to achieve. So the budget cuts are another issue we have to face related to challenges and see where the budget plays out in terms of the 45,000 that I recommended for cuts. They're looking at it differently. And I told the chief of staff that the controller is looking at money, even cutting budgets, but doesn't really have any skin in the game in terms of impact it has when we make these cuts on the very people we're working with. So we'll continue to face the challenge in the budget deficit that the county is facing. Poster calendar seems to be going strong. Thank you for your service on that. The Business of Art Conference, we're refiguring the anniversary. We have a good group of folks that we've been teaming up with. And as you know, Diane Ball, we supported the event in the 2027 with $25,000 donation. I'm working on a resolution right now. Patrick, I hope you're able to present that resolution and sponsor it in the county because I believe that's one of the next steps once the resolution is drafted. It has to be sponsored by the supervisor, correct?

Well, I'm not sure what Commissioner Dowling thinks about that, but Downing looks forward to seeing your resolution, and of course I will present it.

I guess I'm confused by Commissioner Downing thinks about it.

Oh.

I think there was a typo, or maybe it autocorrected. Oh.

Oh. Did I make a misspell? Sorry. I looked at your name twice. Dowling and Dowling. Okay.

All right.

Well, we'll ask him when I see him next. Very funny.

All right. Well, thank you for that report. Appreciate that. Excited about the 50th moving forward now. And I know the Head of the event planning for that, Sylvia Getting, is very excited to get moving on the event. She did have a walkthrough with Diane at YSO and MyArt. So Diane Ballwig is having some wonderful input on the event, which we're really excited about. And Sylvia has some really fun, creative ideas about the event. So maybe we'll invite her to a future meeting also as we get closer and we can share more about it. and how we as commissioners can just have a lot of fun with the 50th celebration. So, all right, thank you for that. Moving on, future meeting items and dates. Our next meeting will be September 22nd, whereas I mentioned we'll be having a guest presenter from one of our previous grant cycles. Any other meeting agenda items you'd like us to add for the next meeting? We'll continue to discuss our goals. And again, I'll have an email going on that. So you'll know more before the next meeting, but anything else? Okay. Can we talk? Oh, please. Sorry. Sophia?

I didn't have any agenda items for the next meeting, but I just want, there were some dates shared. Are they going to be in the minutes of this meeting?

For the events coming up, you mean?

Yeah.

Yeah, you'll have those in the minutes for the poster calendar reception and for the art pop-up. Yes.

Okay, great. Sorry, I didn't get to write them down. So I just want to make sure. Thank you.

Would it be helpful for those to get on everybody's calendar? Would it be helpful for us to do calendar invites for those? I mean, you can decline them if you don't want them on your calendar. That would be great.

Okay, great. I'll send a calendar invite too. Great. Okay.

Awesome. Mary, upcoming events. Yeah. I'm putting in the chat the link to the events calendar. Boy, Mark, when I see your notes, I think you're not busy enough. And could we just all tag along behind you to all the things you do? Because it's amazing. There are some things coming up. Dane dances in August. And in September, there's a Good Neighbor gathering that's happening. And the Children's Museum has an event, the Hispanic Heritage Celebration on the 24th that they've invited us specifically, but it's also one of our events that we've funded. There are events happening in October, et cetera. As usual, feel free to go. Many are non-ticketed. As many of us would like can go. The ticketed ones were able to get comp tickets. People are very generous about that. And please take a friend. And Deshawn, I'm thinking about sort of that strategic opportunity to invite people to come with us, friends of Dane Arts. So that's a thought, too, that if you're able to go to one of our events, to take someone that you'd like to introduce to the work that's happening across the county in terms of arts. And Augusta is always ready to help support and get that ticket. So I... There's also on that calendar, I don't know if you want to show it, Augusta, but we've already got the November 6th poster. calendar event on there if you'd like to sign up for some responsibility. So that's there under that tab. And we have a tabling event on September 14th. So that's the first page here where you can sign up for any of the grant funded events. But if you look down at the tabs at the bottom, there's Dane Arts produced events, right? And you'll see the November 2026 calendar poster reception, and you're welcome to sign up for what you'd like there. There's a tabling event on September 14th. And Fran and Augusta, thank you so much for getting that information out to us between meetings so that people can think about it. That's from 3.30 to 6 at Gordon Commons. I don't know if anyone's offered to help with that, but that's what we're looking for next, right, Augusta, that you'd have someone with you possibly?

Oh, yeah. Thanks, Mary. I think I'm fine doing it myself, but if anybody wants to come out and talk to students, you're welcome to join me. So it's set. I'll be there no matter what, but anyone's welcome.

Okay, great. And I'm always happy to help navigate this calendar with you or put your information on there if you'd like. um we've had a couple of events this summer that people a number of us have shown up to which has been great the chamber orchestra concerts on the square that we went to together and fran brought tons of sushi it was incredible um i we some of us got to see doug's exhibit and i love that idea that if any of us are doing things and want people to come and see our work, that would be exciting. I was able to go to the Mikado at the Bartell Theater, the Madison Savoyards, and it was fascinating. It was very well attended. They almost sold out for every show. They had a very engaged talk back. And I was able to speak to the person connected to the grant who expressed very seriously to me. And Deshawn, I think the amazing work you did we were asking people about what Dane Arts means to them. What she said, completely unbidden, she just, I thanked her for the ticket and we talked about the show and she said, I want you to know that no matter how much money we get or how little money we get, the connection to Dane Arts is what matters to us. So it's about being part of that community, having that endorsement and feeling like you're connected to Dane Arts. And that's something that you had surfaced for us And she said, that's exactly what she said. So I wanted to share that. She was really, really appreciative. Sonia, I think you went to, did you go to something recently or you're headed to something soon? Or Sophia?

Yes, I'm heading to something this Thursday. I think it's an indigenous kind of art festival.

I think it's Saturday, isn't it Saturday? The 24th. Or is it Thursday?

Right. I think it was a, sorry.

Because I want to be able to count that. I'm pretty sure it's Thursday night, right?

I think there were, it's called Tradition Bearers Live. Yeah. And it's on the 20th. Yes. Thursday?

I don't know why I have the 20th Saturday. At any rate, yeah, that was with the Wisconsin Humanities Council. We were able to support funds to help them move along. It's unusual that we're supporting the Wisconsin Humanities Council, but they're in such desperate needs related to what's happened across the board for the humanities councils around the country. So that would be, it's great that you're going. I'm at Forward Fest most of this week, trying to build up with the young technology folks that I'm meeting. So I have it down a Saturday, so I have to double check that. Thank you for bringing that up, Sophia, because I didn't know it was Thursday.

Did someone bring that to the schedule? or adding it to the calendar?

Yeah, I'll add that after this meeting. But thank you, Sophia, for going. But again, open invitation for people to attend events. And please introduce yourself. We have a little sort of, there's a column with a little cheat sheet about what you could do if you go to one of the events to let people know that Dane Arts is there and that we appreciate them.

Mary, thanks for keeping that calendar up to date. So huge and important. Well, a couple of notes. This weekend. If you are a Dane Dances fan and you know Al Cooper, they're celebrating his 75th birthday this weekend. So Friday's Dane Dances is going to be like a big tribute to him. I think he's emceeing. So if you can stop by and give Al a hug, I'm sure he'd appreciate it. They're having a big party Saturday that I'll be attending to support him. He's just, he's a gem in the community and Dane Dances is a gift. So So just wanted to share that. And then this past weekend, I was lucky enough to go see Augusta dancing with her flamenco group at the Agora Art Fair. And she was beautiful and did an incredible job. I always get tears in my eyes watching you dance. So thank you for sharing your talent with everybody. I'll put a note out to the group next time she's dancing because it is a treat to go watch. So. Just wanted to share that. All right, anything else on events?

Yes, I met with the treasurer of the Madison Friends of Madison Arts Commission, and he mentioned he's part of the creative company that I met with a couple weeks ago about the 50th anniversary. And he said that the Madison Arts Commission Friends of group doesn't even know the Madison Arts Commission people. They've never really met. So we thought maybe we should bring both the commissions together with both the friends group as a gathering to just get to know each other based on the work we do. So that'll be happening hopefully within the next couple months, but I'll keep you posted. I just wanted to alert you that we are looking at some kind of gathering for the Friends of Madison Arts Commission, Friends of Dane Arts, and both commissions from Madison and Dane County.

Great. And Mark, I don't know if you heard, but I did invite Rod for a coffee just so we can understand communication, like what's going to be the regular communication between the two groups and how's that all going to work? So.

So we're generating the memorandum of understanding. And one of the main reasons is foundations and friends groups have often had differences with the departments that they work with. So we just want to be very clear our relationship with the Friends of Dane Arts.

We're so lucky to have Rod leading our friends group since he knows us so well. So. All right. Okay, great. Any other comments? Moving on to item I, public comment on items not on the agenda.

I think we have a couple of visitors. We do. There is no one registered to make a comment. OK. All right, great.

OK, any other business? Anything else anybody would like to talk about?

No.

Okay, I guess all we need is a motion to adjourn then.

So move.

Thank you, Commissioner Downing.