Okay, we're ready to start for the uh our meeting is Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank.

And this uh board meeting has been is pursuant to the Indianapolis Indiana open door policy.

And so I'd like to call this meeting to order anybody the first part of agenda of the minutes from February 23rd.

Uh Mr.

Chairman, having read the minutes is presented, I would move their approval.

Do we have a root second?

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Approval of the minutes is passed.

Uh if anybody is going to talk today, please come up and sign in so we know.

There wasn't a signage date.

It's on the door.

Oh, it would only be at the board at questions.

Okay.

Do you want me to have to sign it?

So you got to thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um, so uh having approved the minutes.

Um the next item on our agenda is uh presentation from the India Arts Council.

Um I'd like to introduce um Judith Thomas, who is uh president and CEO of the Arts Council as well as uh Cabita Mahoney, uh who's vice president as you might remember as a part of the 2026 budget, the uh Indianapolis Bond Bank.

Um the budget included a grant of 500,000 dollars for uh Indie Arts Council initiatives for 2026.

So uh Judith and Cavita have come to talk about uh initiatives uh related to that this year for the arts council.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Good to see you all.

I'm Judith Thomas, uh CEO.

Let me redo that president and CEO of the Indy Arts Council.

That president has to go before the CEO.

I have no idea why.

And then I have with me, Kavitha, would you like to introduce yourself?

Sure, I'm Kavita Mahoney.

I'm the vice president at the Indie Arts Council.

I've been there for about two years, and Judith is coming up on her one year.

Yeah, it's coming up on uh year one, April 21st, as some of you may know as deputy mayor for about four or five, well, four years, I say about 20 years and dog years, but it was a great experience.

So I'm excited to be in front of you uh here today to talk about uh the Indy Arts Council, which is just an absolutely wonderful organization.

Uh so a little bit about uh the arts council.

Our mission, our mission is to champion arts and culture.

Uh, we believe that every resident in the city of Indianapolis should experience arts and culture in a way that nourishes and inspires them.

So the vision of a creative life for all is central to the work that we do, and it's all about supporting artists, arts organizations, and the community.

And you know they make this city come alive.

And so we do this with our guiding values, the three Cs we call them care, community, and creativity.

So as we look um into the advocating for the community, you know, funding and that support is necessary for a very thriving uh scene here in the city.

We're constantly pursuing and we're promoting ideas and programs to serve our artists, the arts organizations, and the community, and we connect artist audiences and businesses as well as foundations and organizations with opportunities to explore and expand Central Indiana's creativity creative vitality.

Also, uh many folks don't realize this, and we're on a marketing campaign to discuss and promote all the things that we do in so many unique ways, but we also uh own and operate two performance venues and exhibit spaces spaces.

Indianapolis Arts Garden.

Everyone loves the Arts Garden, it's been around for 30 years now.

Hard to believe, and uh Gallery 924, that's 924 Pennsylvania, where our offices are also located, but we have a beautiful gallery there as well.

Our online initiative is very exciting where we explore Indie Arts is what we call it.

This provides a comprehensive arts calendar featuring thousands of events throughout the years, throughout the year performances and exhibitions throughout Central Indiana.

Now that calendar is also shared with Visit Indy.

So that means not only do our residents benefit uh from all the programming that's taken place throughout central Indiana, but uh so are our visitors here.

So for several decades, the city has entrusted us with public funding to support local arts and culture organizations.

In 2025, our funding increased thanks to the Capital Improvement Board and to the Bond Bank.

So thank you.

We can't thank you enough, actually, for the generous support.

It means a lot.

These funds were used for our annual grants program, which provides general operating support for over a hundred organizations.

And we'll we'll get into details of through the years, but I I always emphasize the fact that we supported over a hundred organizations this past year, where in 2016 it was 49 organizations.

It shows the growth of the arts community in the city of Indianapolis and how we have to continue to support it.

We also worked with sector wide marketing, which connects residents to local art experiences and offerings in the city.

And our annual arts and culture project grants as well, which funded to artists directly and organizations to implement programs in public spaces like parks, libraries, community centers, and other accessible spaces.