SR-305-005
CAD\COUNCIL\REPORTS\CAC Arts In Education Demonstration Project Grant.doc
City Council Meeting: April 10, 2001 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation To Accept A Grant From The California Arts Council’s Arts In
Education Demonstration Project And Authorize The City Manager’s Office To
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Negotiate And Execute A Contract With The 18 Street Arts Complex To
Coordinate The Granted Project.
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the Council accept a grant from the California Arts Council’s Arts
In Education Demonstration Project to implement the Santa Monica Arts Education Plan by the
City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School
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District (SMMUSD) and the 18 Street Arts Complex. It also recommends that Council
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authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with the 18 Street Arts
Complex to coordinate the granted project as per the original grant application approved by
Council on January 23, 2001.
BACKGROUND
The California Arts Council (CAC) issued a request for proposals for local arts organizations
and school districts to develop demonstration projects addressing arts in education. CAC
sought projects which aspire to make the arts basic to the school curriculum and that define
workable models describing why and how they are successful so that other interested parties,
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schools and communities can emulate these models. The City has received a grant of
$139,500 to continue implementation of the Santa Monica Arts Education Project (SMAEP).
The purpose of SMAEP is to create a long-range plan that promotes and plans for the
integration of local community arts in the core curriculum of every school in the Santa
Monica/Malibu Unified School District. The need for such a program was clearly seen in the
Santa Monica Cultural Arts Master Plan:
"The critical need for arts education to be considered an integral component of a well-
rounded K-12 curriculum and as a tool to develop future arts audiences has been a
primary concern of both the original Master Plan and Update cultural planning
processes."
DISCUSSION
As described in the proposal made to the California Arts Council, City staff and SMMUSD
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will work in partnership with the 18 Street Arts Complex to oversee implementation of the
Santa Monica Arts Education Project. This project is intended to be a blueprint for a
partnership between the Santa Monica arts community and the Santa Monica-Malibu
Unified School District (SMMUSD). SMAEP will enable up to 30 teachers to work with
an artist or arts group they select from the SMAEPP Directory, a compendium of Santa
Monica artists who are qualified to work with teachers to present classroom-based
professional arts training programs for students. In addition, the project will seek
additional Santa Monica-based artists and arts organizations to expand the directory
with new artists and arts agencies. Each teacher/artist collaboration will result in an 8-
12 week residency during the 2001-02 school year, with the artist spending at least two
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hours per week with students. When this project is complete, the process and the
outcomes will be evaluated fully by a professional education evaluator in accordance
with the California Arts Council’s guidelines for assessing arts education programs.
Working with both City and SMMUSD staff on this project will be a Steering Committee
composed of community members who have served on the Arts Commission’s Arts Education
Committee; parents, students, teachers, and artists who have demonstrated their interest in
arts education; administrators and educators from the School District; and representatives from
local arts organizations. This Committee has been overseeing the development of SMAEPP
since its inception in 1996.
California Arts Council funding has supplemented City funding to create many successful
programs. Funds from the Arts Council's Organization Support Grant Program have paid
artists' fees for the Santa Monica Festival since 1991. The Cultural Affairs Division is also the
recipient of grants under the Council's State/Local Partnership Program for such projects as
the development of the ArtSea brochure promoting arts and cultural opportunities in the City,
for the Cultural Affairs Division’s web site highlighting the City’s cultural opportunities, and
another for the Santa Monica Economic Impact Report of the Arts.
BUDGET FINANCIAL IMPACT
The program does not require any City matching funds. To begin the program
immediately, an appropriation of $ 116,000 needs to be made to account
#01560.555060, a revenue budget increase of $ 116,000 needs to be made at account
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#20560.555060, and technical implementing appropriation changes are also needed
for $(116,000) at account # 01695.578360 and for $116,000 at account #
20695.578360. Necessary budget changes for the remaining $23,500 will be submitted
as part of the FY 2001/02 Proposed City Budget.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff respectfully requests that the Council accept the grant from the California Arts Council’s
Arts in Education Demonstration Project, authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute
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a contract with the 18 Street Arts Complex to coordinate the granted project, and make budget
changes as described in this report.
Prepared by: Barbara Stinchfield, Director, Community and Cultural Services
María Luisa de Herrera, Manager, Cultural Affairs Division
Hamp Simmons, Coordinator, Cultural Affairs Division
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