The Gastonia City Council on Oct. 7 approved adding explicit award-history language to the arts committee grant application and scoring rubric, purchased two public art pieces for a combined $44,000 and authorized several small event expenditures tied to upcoming festivals.

Councilwoman Stepp presented the arts committee report, saying the committee debated updates to the grant guidelines and scoring rubric and that the committee vote on the draft had been 5-3. “The main reason I voted against it … was that we felt that there needed to be language at the beginning of the application that explained that … if you had already applied and received money in the past, your score is automatically gonna be lowered according to that rubric,” Councilwoman Stepp said.

The council directed staff to add clear language at the start of the application indicating that award history would be considered. Councilman Kasupius described the recommended sentence: “award history will be considered, and organizations who have been awarded a grant for 3 consecutive years will not be eligible [for the highest score] during this application process.” After a motion and second, council voted unanimously to include the language and approve the rubric with that clarification.

On public art, the council approved two separate purchases recommended by the arts committee. The council voted to purchase “Earth, Wind and Fire” (sited at Trenton and Long) for $22,000. The council then approved purchase of a kinetic piece listed as “Celestial” for $22,000 at Walker E. Reed Park; that second purchase passed with recorded opposition (council split 3–2). The arts staff said each piece had been leased for a year before the purchase decision and that buying now would use funds normally allocated for grants this year.

The council also approved several event and program budgets recommended by the committee: up to $400 for a design-your-own ornament station at the holiday after-party; up to $1,200 to sponsor an African drumming troop for the spring Gaston Max event; and up to $3,500 for the spring visual arts student showcase. Those items passed unanimously.

Arts staff and committee members said the rubric and the upfront language are intended to make the grant process transparent for applicants and reduce wasted time completing applications for which an applicant could receive a lower score because of prior awards. Staff said the rubric will remain available in the published guidelines and that the award-history category will be reflected in the scoring examples included with the rubric.

The council discussion also included questions about whether the arts committee had pursued philanthropic contributions for public art purchases; staff replied the purchases fall within the approved arts fund for the year and that discussions about outside fundraising could continue. Council members suggested the committee pursue private fundraising in future cycles to reduce reliance on city funds.

The council’s approvals let the city retain two pieces now on lease, provide budget authority for festival and youth arts programming, and signal the committee’s new emphasis on rotating and publicly visible works.