February 7, 2020
Report to Nassau County on the Activities of Arts and Culture Nassau for the Period of December 13, 2018 to December 12, 2019 from Marge Powell, Chair
Arts and Culture Nassau:
Dear Michael Mullin, [Nassau County Manager]:
On behalf of Arts and Culture Nassau, we thank you and your staff as well as the County Commissioners for your support over the past year. The mission of Arts and Culture Nassau is to promote the awareness, appreciation and interest in all types of arts and culture to the entire community within Nassau County as well as to facilitate cooperation and communication among all those involved in the arts and culture community.
Toward those ends, Arts and Culture Nassau (ACN) was involved in the following activities in the period from December 13, 2018 to December 12, 2019:
1. Met with Adrienne Burke from the county regarding possible public art locations on county property relative to the county’s growth plan. While we approved the installation of permanent public art at Egan’s Creek Park in Fernandina Beach in 2018, that project appears to have never been executed and we have rescinded our approval
2. Received six grant applications for our ongoing Youth Accelerator grant;
3. Because the Book Festival forfeited their 2018 grant, we decided to award five grants this year instead of four. All six applications were forwarded to the County for the selection of five grant awards. The county selected five grant recipients:
Amelia Community Theater
Amelia Island Book Festival
Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival
Nassau Alcohol Crime Drug Abatement Coalition
Amelia Island Jazz Festival
The Amelia Community Theater forfeited their grant because they were reorganizing after the retirement of their executive director and were unable to assign resources to the project for which they had requested the grant. Grant recipients have until 2/29/2020 to submit their grant close out form which initiates the grant payment. Failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the grant.
4. Held a training session for board members on using Facebook and our website to promote arts and culture in Nassau County
5. Did a presentation to the County Commissioners, many of whom were new since our last presentation, on the role and activities of Ars and Culture Nassau
6. Held a community forum at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Fernandina Beach on October 5, 2019 which included presentations by member organizations and participative events for children. Over 100 people attended the event.
7. Created a budget for fiscal year staring 10/1/19
8. An additional grant program was instituted to help fund new programs for senior citizens. The grant submittal deadline was November 15 and three grant applications were received from:
Council on Aging
Chamber Music Festival
West Nassau Historical Society
As we anticipated awarding four $500 grants and all applicants met the criteria for acceptance, the county awarded the grants to all three applicants. These grants will follow the same closeout procedure as the youth grants.
9. Grant application forms for 2019 were updated to include a table of program participation demographics.