SR-305-005-02
City Council Meeting: November 12, 2002 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Acceptance of a Grant from the California Arts Council’s Arts in Education
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Demonstration Project and Contract with the 18 Street Arts Complex to
Coordinate the Granted Project.
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the Council accept a grant of $116,760 from the California
Arts Council’s Arts in Education Demonstration Project to continue implementation the
Santa Monica Arts Education Plan developed by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs
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Division and the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) and the 18
Street Arts Complex. It also recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to
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negotiate and execute a contract with the 18 Street Arts Complex to coordinate the
granted project.
BACKGROUND
In 2001, 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. The 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, schools and communities can emulate these
models. The City has received a grant of $116,760 to continue implementation of the
SMARTS in the Schools Program, pursuant to the original grant application approved by
Council on June 11, 2002. This represents the second year of funding through this
program. The City was the recipient of $130,000 in Fiscal Year 2001-02.
Working with both City and SMMUSD staff on this project is 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 SMARTS in the Schools since its inception in 1996.
The goals of SMARTS in the Schools are:
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to provide students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District with a wide
range of experiences in the arts;
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to create a community of arts and arts organizations committed to providing arts
education to students in the public schools;
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to structure a network that will solicit school needs and organizational offerings and
facilitate educational partnership;
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to assist students in developing creative literacy, enabling them to understand and
express themselves through the visual, literary, and performing arts.
DISCUSSION
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City staff and the SMMUSD will work in partnership with the 18 Street Arts Complex to
oversee implementation of the second year of the SMARTS in the School Project. This
project was designed as a blueprint for a partnership between the Santa Monica arts
community and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). In FY
2001-02, SMARTS in the Schools (http://arts.santa-monica.org/SMARTS/) initiated 17
ten-week-long artist residencies in eight Santa Monica schools. Approximately 416
students were able to work with artists on a wide array of artistic disciplines, including
theater, ceramics, drawing, photography, dance and poetry.
In Fiscal Year 2002-03, this grant, along with additional funding from National
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Endowment for the Arts and the Dana Foundation obtained by 18 Street Arts Complex
from, will enable up to 30 teachers to work with an artist or arts agency they select from
the SMARTS in the Schools Directory, a compendium of Santa Monica artists who are
qualified to work with teachers to present classroom-based professional arts training
programs for students. Each teacher/artist collaboration will result in a ten- week
residency during the 2002-03 school year, with the artist spending at least two hours per
week with students. As was done in FY 2001-02, 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.
BUDGET FINANCIAL IMPACT
The program does not require any City matching funds. To begin the program
immediately, an appropriation of $116,760 needs to be made at account
#01560.555060 and an increase of $116,760 at revenue account # 20560.403880. In
addition, a technical change is necessary to increase reimbursement to the General
Fund at account #01695.578360 by ($116,760) and increase the transfer at account
#20695.578360 by $116,760.
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
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negotiate and execute 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