Fife Public Arts Commission approves funding for spring craft, art awards and Harvest Festival prints

The Fife Public Arts Commission on Wednesday approved several event-related expenditures from its 2025 events budget, including $250 for spring festival craft kits, $500 for this year’s art awards and $3,000 to cover a vendor request for Harvest Festival "jelly prints."

The votes came during discussion of the commission’s 2025 city-events involvement and budget. Tim (staff member) said the commission’s base allocation for city events is $3,000, with an additional $526 available from LTAC funds and $360 in contingency, and that the commission could exceed the $3,000 allocation by roughly $800 if needed.

Why it matters: the approved amounts will fund the commission’s public-facing activities this year — booth programming, awards and giveaway items — and commissioners repeatedly flagged rising vendor and material costs as a factor in deciding how much to set aside.

Commissioners approved a $250 request for prepackaged children’s craft kits for the spring festival after a motion and second. The commission then voted to increase the art-award line to $500; Tim explained the award and refreshments previously totaled roughly $350 because the commission already owns last year’s banner. The largest single allocation at the meeting was a motion to provide $3,000 for the Harvest Festival jelly-print activity after a vendor requested an additional $1,000 over last year’s figures. The motion passed by voice vote.

Several commissioners pressed for clearer budgeting detail before committing to new projects. Commissioner Wendy Howard Cooper said she had researched vendors and emphasized that price increases and staffing needs at multi-station activities had pushed some requests higher. Commissioner Bonnie urged the commission to prioritize items already on the roster and to confirm subtotals when discussing new commitments.

Staff and commissioners clarified that booth space for city events is provided by Parks & Recreation and is not charged to the commission; the commission controls the activity it places in the city booth and the amount of commission funding devoted to supplies or performers. Aliyah, marketing and event specialist for Parks and Recreation, recommended lower-cost bulk items as an alternative to higher-priced giveaway bags and explained that staff can supply volunteers for some events if the commission prefers not to staff booths with commissioners.

The commission also discussed future event-related items, including a splash-pad ribbon-cutting this summer with an art unveiling and the tree-lighting event; commissioners noted current funds likely preclude further large commitments for tree lighting until the budget is revisited.

The meeting moved on after commissioners confirmed the allocations and noted staff would continue to reconcile the budgeted amounts with contingency and LTAC funds.