Vice Chair Krista Fabian DeCastro conducted the April 16 meeting of the Evanston Arts Council, during which the main order of business was a review of applications for the 2024 Special Projects Grants, which are $2,000 each.
Applications are reviewed three times a year instead of all at once, as has happened in previous years. DeCastro announced that there were many more applicants for this first session than expected – 13 – whereas in all of last year, only nine awards, of $1,000 each, were given.
Applicants were invited to make brief presentations in person, but only four attended and did so. Council members asked questions and discussed the merits of each project.
All 13 proposals were discussed, and members were then sent home with “grading” forms that were tabulated and reported on Friday, April 26.
Only five applicants were awarded funds:
- Kristin Nelson from the Evanston History Center was awarded $800 for “Refashioning History,” an exhibit, programming and event to show the center’s extensive costume collection. New designs, inspired by the collection and submitted from 32 designers, will be juried down to four and exhibited as well.
- Alan Teller, a professional photographer, was awarded $1,500 for “The Collected Image,” a collaborative exhibit of photographs of 12 elderly Evanstonians still engaged in their work, photographed among their works and in their working environment.
- Artist Jim Parks was awarded $1,500 for a large, 3-D welcome sign at the Levy Center.
- A Chicago organization, Dance in the Park, represented by Katie McCann, will receive $1,145 for a free performance event and picnic at the Ridgeville Park District this summer.
- And $2,000 goes to Rabbit Foot Puppetry, a collective of gender queer and LGBTQ+ artists. They will bring a touring performance of “No Strings Attached,” a family-friendly puppet circus pageantry program, to Burnham Shores Park in Evanston on Aug. 10. They will also provide puppetry workshops at the Evanston Public Library and possibly at the WasteShed, 1245 Hartrey Ave. in west Evanston.
What was not discussed at the meeting, but is a serious problem for the council and the city, is the resignation of new Cultural Arts Coordinator Joyy Norris. Norris was hired part-time in April 2023, promoted to full-time in January of this year and submitted her resignation this month, at the end of exactly one-year’s employment.
Norris follows in the wake of Rosie Roche, who resigned from the same position, after only four months of tenure with the city. This should force questions as to why: Is the job impossibly difficult? Maybe boring? Poorly paid? Unsupported?
Without a cultural arts coordinator, what doesn’t fall through the cracks falls on the already-weighted shoulders of Tasheik Kerr, assistant to the city manager, including attending evening meetings of the Arts Council and its subcommittees, taking minutes, facilitating all projects, and executing payments and contracts.
The Arts Council is a hard-working, creative and diverse group of 12. The term of service is three years and can be renewed once. If you love art, the work is interesting, I can testify. Unfortunately, four six-year members of the group will be going off at the end of this calendar year, leaving the council eager for qualified new members.
The mayor reviews the applications and appoints the new council members. If you are interested in applying to serve on the Arts Council, you can apply online.
Having served on the former Public Arts Committee and subsequently having spent two years dealing with an appointed art czar (who was subordinate to the city manager at that time), to donate two sculptures to the city, I can only imagine the red tape entangling every decision and the ensuing frustration not only by applicants but also by the person in charge. Two years to give the city sculptures was certainly an exercise in both red tape and frustration for me!