Arts and Culture Commission Meeting Date: July 14, 2025
To: Commission Members
From: Natalie Draper, Director of Library Services
Title
Discussion of Potential Changes to Art in Public Places (Percent for the Arts) Program.
Body
Action Requested:
The Arts and Culture Commission discusses potential changes to the Art in Public Places (Percent for the Arts) Program.
Summary Report:
At the May 13th work session, at the request of City Council members Beumer and Dahlen, staff presented on the Art in Public Places program and engaged in a discussion with council about potential changes to how much is contributed to the fund. Taking their input, as well as discussions with the ACC into consideration, the following change was proposed at the July 1 meeting:
Budgeting and appropriation. All budgets for city capital improvement projects shall include an amount equal to one percent of the projected construction costs to be used for the costs of public art in accordance with subsection (e), but not to exceed $500,000 dollars, and eligible funds shall be appropriated by the city in the amount so budgeted to pay the costs of public art in accordance with subsection (e). No allocation shall be made for any city capital improvement project with an estimated expenditure of less than $500,000 dollars.
• Currently there is no upper limit to how much can be contributed to the fund, either per project or per annum
• Currently the minimum threshold at which a capital project would contribute is $175,000 (meaning nor project budgets under 175,000 would contribute to the fund). This figure is the current bid threshold for the State of Minnesota.
No action was taken at the meeting on the arts funding, but four members of council indicated support for the changes proposed by staff. Commissioners can watch the recording here:
• Agenda item 9 under Regular Agenda: <https://northfield.granicus.com/player/clip/2074?view_id=2&meta_id=208638&redirect=true>
o It is a long discussion-the portion dealing with the arts begins at 29:48
Attached supporting documents:
• Slides detailing the current forecast and the financial impact over the next five years
• The relevant text for proposed ordinance changes
Alternative Options:
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Financial Impacts:
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Tentative Timelines:
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