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RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING FUNDING OF THIRTEEN FELLOWSHIP AWARDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $150,000 TO SOUTH FLORIDA ARTISTS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS FISCAL AGENT FOR THE FY 2007-2008 SOUTH FLORIDA CULTURAL CONSORTIUM VISUAL & MEDIA ARTISTS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

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WHEREAS, this Board desires to accomplish the purposes outlined in the accompanying memorandum, a copy of which is incorporated herein by reference;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board approves the funding of fellowship awards to each of the following South Florida artists:

Miami-Dade County
Marie Mennes $15,000
Jennifer Stark $15,000
Ivan Toth Depena $15,000
Michelle Wienberg $15,000
Wendy Wischer $15,000

Broward County
Harumi Abe $ 7,500
Lou Anne Colodny $15,000
Janet Gold $15,000
Robert Nathans $ 7,500

Palm Beach County
Diane Arrieta $ 7,500
Carol Prusa $ 7,500

Martin County
Paul Aho $ 7,500
David Pollitt $ 7,500

from the Department of Cultural Affairs adopted FY 2007-2008 budget as fiscal agent for the 2008 South Florida Cultural Consortium and its Visual & Media Artists Fellowship Program. It is the intention of this Board that these fellowship awards will be administered by the Department of Cultural Affairs; in substantially the form of the agreement attached hereto and made a part hereof, and authorizes the Mayor or designee to execute same for and on behalf of Miami-Dade County; to execute amendments for time extension; and to exercise cancellation provisions contained therein.

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Date:

To: Honorable Chairman Bruno A. Barreiro
and Members, Board of County Commissioners

From: George M. Burgess
County Manager

Subject: Resolution Authorizing Grant Awards for the FY2008 South Florida Cultural Consortium Visual & Media Artists Fellowship Program

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board of County Commissioners approve $150,000 in funding support for thirteen fellowship awards to South Florida artists from the South Florida Cultural Consortium�s FY2007-2008 general operating funds for the Visual & Media Artists Fellowship Program. Attached is a list of the artists being recommended for fellowship awards.

Scope
The impact of this agenda item is regional, reflecting the five-county membership of the South Florida Cultural Consortium.

Fiscal Impact/Funding Source
The funding for each of the thirteen Visual & Media Artists Fellowship Awards is from the adopted FY2007-2008 budget for the Department of Cultural Affairs. The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs administers the Fellowship program and serves as fiscal agent for the South Florida Cultural Consortium�s contributed funds from member counties and from state grants secured for Consortium programs benefiting the South Florida region.

Track Record/Monitor
During the program�s twenty one-year history, all fellowship recipients have complied with their contractual requirements. Michael Spring, Director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and Chairman of the South Florida Cultural Consortium, is responsible for monitoring the contracts on behalf of the Department and the Consortium.

MANAGER'S BACKGROUND
The South Florida Cultural Consortium (an alliance of the local arts agencies of Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Monroe and Miami-Dade counties) conducted the 2008 Visual & Media Artists Fellowship Program, recommending the award of thirteen fellowships of up to $15,000 to outstanding South Florida artists. A list of the recommended artists and awards is attached.

Each member county of the South Florida Cultural Consortium receives benefits at least equivalent to its respective cash contribution. Grant funds secured by the South Florida Cultural Consortium provide additional financial and programmatic benefits to each of the participating counties. The attached list reflects the total amount in fellowships recommended in FY2008 to artists in each county:

Miami-Dade County $75,000
Broward County $45,000
Palm Beach County $15,000
Martin County $15,000
Monroe County -0-

The thirteen artists were chosen through a competitive process involving 361 applicants received from all five member counties and reviewed by two panels. One panel, consisting of regional arts experts, met on October 29 and 30, 2007 to review all of the submissions and to select a pool of finalists. This regional panel�s recommendations were forwarded to a national panel of four out-of-state arts experts that met on November 29, 2007. The national panel�s recommendations were approved by the Consortium�s Board of Directors on December 6, 2007.



_______________________________
Assistant County Manager

OTHER
SOUTH FLORIDA CULTURAL CONSORTIUM
VISUAL & MEDIA ARTISTS
FELLOWSHIP AGREEMENT

THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered this_________, 2008, between the South Florida Cultural Consortium, a coalition of the local arts agencies of Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, which in all matters in connection with this Agreement shall act through the MIAMI-DADE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS ("Department"), and__________________, ("Artist"), ______________________, Florida, as follows:

After a competitive process involving jurying by two panels of regional and national visual and media arts experts, the Department awards to Artist one $15,000 Visual and Media Artists Fellowship Award ("Fellowship"), solely on the basis of creative artistic excellence, to improve his/her artistic skills and to encourage Artist's career development, in consideration for Artist's agreement to abide by the following terms and considerations set forth in this Agreement.

This Fellowship is for use by the Artist according to his or her needs. Funding of the Fellowship will be paid from the South Florida Cultural Consortium's Operating Account for which the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs serves as fiscal agent.

The Artist hereby attests that he/she has lived in MIAMI-DADE COUNTY for one year at the time of the application deadline of October 1, 2007 and is over 18 years of age.

Artist further agrees to provide no fewer than five pieces of artwork for exhibition of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship winners during 2008. Artworks are to be mutually agreed upon between Artist and the Exhibition Curators. Artworks are to be original works created by the Artist within the last three years. Exhibition will be held at a South Florida institution during the calendar year 2008 at no expense to the Artist. Artist will be responsible for the transportation of, and the risk of loss or any damage during the transportation of, the art works. Miami-Dade County will not be held responsible for loss, theft or damage to the art works.

This Agreement shall be in effect during the period January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2008. This Agreement may be extended by the Department for one year with a 30-day prior written notice to the Artist. A narrative final report addressed to the Department will be due 45 days after the completion of the project date.

It is expressly understood and intended that the Artist is merely a recipient of fellowship funds and is not an agent or employee of Miami-Dade County, its Mayor, its Board of County Commissioners, or the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

In the event the Artist shall fail to materially conform with any of the provisions of this Agreement, the Department of Cultural Affairs may withhold or cancel the award giving (15) calendar days' written notice to the Artist, and the County shall have no further obligation to the Artist under this Agreement, and Artist shall repay to Miami-Dade County all portions of the Fellowship which have been received. In the event that this award is canceled or the Artist is requested to repay award funds because of a breach of this Agreement, the Artist will not be eligible to reapply to the South Florida Cultural Consortium�s Fellowship Program for a period of five years.



Attest: MIAMI-DADE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS




By:_______________________ By: _______________________________ Assistant County Clerk Mayor/Designee

Date:______________________________



Witness:


By:_______________________ By:_________________________________ Artist

Date:____________________________

S.S.#____________________________


________Approved by County Attorney as
to form and legal sufficiency

Date:________________________________





FY2007-2008 SOUTH FLORIDA CULTURAL CONSORTIUM
VISUAL & MEDIA ARTISTS FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

The following South Florida artists are recommended to receive awards through the FY2008 South Florida Cultural Consortium Visual & Media Artists Fellowship program:


From Miami-Dade County:

Artist Fellowship Award

Marie Mennes $15,000
1700 NE 105th Street, #214, Miami Shores, FL 33138

Ms. Mennes has exhibited in Florida at the Ringling Museum of Art, Scope Miami Art Fair, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art and ArtCenter/South Florida, among other locations.

Jennifer Stark $15,000
6600 SW 49th Terrace, Miami, FL 33155

Ms. Stark graduated in 2005 from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She attended New World School of the Arts in Miami from 1998-2001. She has exhibited in Florida, New York, Chicago and LA.

Ivan Toth Depena $15,000
2740 NW 47th Street, Miami, Florida 33127

Mr. Depena studied at the Pratt Institute, the University of Miami, and received a Master�s of Architecture from Harvard University. He recently exhibited at the Miami Art Museum, where his work was acquired for their permanent collection.

Michelle Weinberg $15,000
2200 Bay Drive, #2, Miami Beach, Florida 33141

Ms. Weinberg studied at the School of Visual Arts at Carnegie Mellon University and received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She has had numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout Florida and currently teaches at Florida Altantic University and University of South Florida.

Wendy Wischer $15,000
1146 SW 22nd Terrace, Miami, FL 33129

Ms. Wischer has exhibited at various locations throughout Florida and recently received a Pollack-Krasner grant. She has work in the permanent collection of the Miami Art Museum and teaches at New World School of the Arts.


From Broward County:

Artist Fellowship Award

Harumi Abe $7,500
1943 Wiley Street, Hollywood, FL 33020

Ms. Abe received a BFA from Miami International University of Art and Design and is pursuing an MFA at Florida International University, where she is also a teaching assistant. She has exhibited throughout South Florida and received the Women in Visual Arts Scholarship Award in 2007.

Lou Anne Colodny $15,000
5910 Quiet Oak Lane, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312

Ms. Colodny was a founding director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami. She has exhibited throughout Florida and has work in the permanent collections of Miami Art Museum, Miami Dade College and the Southeast Museum of Photography.

Janet Gold $15,000
10253 Vestal Court, Coral Springs, FL 33071

Ms. Gold received an MFA from Miami International University of Art and Design. She teaches at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and in 2003 received the Boca Museum of Art Curator�s Choice Award.

Robert Nathans $7,500
700 Northeast 21 Drive, Wilton Manors, FL 33305

Mr. Nathans received an MFA from the University of South Florida and has exhibited his work throughout Florida for over twenty years.


From Palm Beach County:

Diane Arrieta $7,500
367 Beacon Street, Tequesta, FL 33469

Ms. Arrieta received a BFA from Florida Atlantic University and has exhibited in Florida, New Jersey and California, and currently serves as the Library Gallery Curator for Florida Atlantic University.

Carol Prusa $7,500
952 NW Eighth Street, Boca Raton, FL 33486

Ms. Prusa has work in the collections of the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Art Museum of Fort Lauderdale and the Arkansas Arts Center, among others. She has exhibited in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, and has received funded research from Florida Atlantic University. She works as an artist and an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University.


From Martin County:

Paul Aho $7,500
1385 North East Meyer�s Terrace, Jensen Beach, FL 34957

Mr. Aho received an MFA from the University of South Florida and has exhibited his work throughout Florida. He has works in the permanent collections of American Express, Palm Beach Art in Public Places, Boca Raton Museum of Art and Volusia County Art in Public Places.

David Pollitt $7,500

8879 SE Marina Bay Drive, Hobe Sound, FL 33455

Mr. Pollitt attended the Juilliard School, where he earned a BS. He has completed 4 documentary films and has conducted with the Tallahassee Symphony, Greenville Symphony and Arlington Symphony Orchestras. He is a Fullbright Scholar and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Italian.