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Arts & Culture Board reelects chair, readies percent-for-art work after positive council reception of strategic plan
Summary
The Littleton City Arts & Culture Board reelected its chair and vice chair, received staff reports on library and museum programming, reviewed grant application counts, selected a mural wall site, and prepared to move a community arts and culture strategic plan toward a City Council resolution and possible percent-for-public-art policy work this.
The Littleton City Arts & Culture Board reelected its chair and vice chair and moved to advance a newly drafted Community Arts and Culture Strategic Plan toward formal action by City Council after a positive reception there this week.
Board members reelected JD to a second consecutive one-year term as chair and Denise Weed to a second consecutive one-year term as vice chair by voice vote during the meeting. Board members also agreed to cancel the board’s May meeting because staff will be attending a conference; the board will resume its regular schedule in June.
The strategic plan — presented to the council at a study session two days before this meeting — drew what board members described as “nods and smiles” and prompted council interest in a formal adoption. The board’s leadership and staff expect to bring a draft resolution to City Council to adopt the plan; staff said the resolution could appear on the council agenda in late May, with an eye to ordinance/resolution readings before November if council asks for that schedule. Staff also reported that City Council expressed renewed interest in exploring a percent-for-public-art program, including both public-side and private-side mechanisms, and asked the board to return with a preliminary game plan.
"The state of the arts was an awesome event," City Council liaison Joel Zing said during the meeting, thanking board members for their work on recent community programming.
Staff updates covered multiple program areas. Library staff described a monthlong program series tied to Ralph Moody’s Little Bridges, a spring reading challenge for ages 4–12 that runs through April 15, and plans for summer programming starting in June. Library staff also reported an elevator-outage repair in progress (no completion date given) and previewed a spring/summer calendar of poetry and National Library Week events.
Museum staff reported they are "in process of awarding a contract for the design phase" of a revisioning project for the history gallery and said the firm Studio Tectonic has been selected as the preferred designer; staff expect to forward that contract to council in late May. Tim Nims, museum director and a staff liaison to the board, said the museum will begin a one-year self-study required for reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, with a site visit and final commission decision expected next year.
Grant and program items drew detailed operational discussion. Staff said the arts-and-culture grant application deadline is the day after the meeting (midnight) and reported roughly 30 applications submitted to date (midday count). Staff contrasted that with 64 applications in the prior year and attributed the lower early count to two new eligibility rules this cycle: only nonprofit applicants are eligible, and funded activity must take place within Littleton City limits. The board discussed a tiered review schedule tied to lodgers-tax revenue forecasts; staff reported preliminary year-to-date lodgers-tax returns for January–February running about 10% below the same two months last year but said March returns looked stronger in preliminary data and that staff will continue to monitor monthly receipts before final allocations.
The board approved a site selection for this year’s mural program: a long, approximately 90-foot brick wall on the east side of Windermere near the Littleton Boulevard intersection (the owner shares the building with Penny Robin Dance and the wall sits near the start of a bike lane). Staff said they had not yet selected an artist and that the owner is open to a bike-themed mural; board members discussed possible artists and student participation.
Subcommittee assignments were set for three standing groups: public art, museum, and library. Members volunteered for subcommittees; chairs for the groups will be selected by each subcommittee. The board also discussed next steps for the strategic-plan work, including forming either full-board discussions or subcommittee work to develop a percent-for-art recommendation and an implementation timeline.
Board members closed the meeting with a roundtable of community event announcements and adjourned at 7:36 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for June with a possible City Council item on the strategic plan in late May.
