La Crosse Arts Board Meeting - March 3, 2026
La Crosse Arts Board Meeting - March 3, 2026
The La Crosse Arts Board met on March 3, 2026, at 14:30 UTC (transcript indicates 8:30 AM local time, a discrepancy). All members were present except Chair Chris Kahlo and Maureen Freeland. The board approved previous meeting minutes unanimously, introduced new member Alex Fowler, and considered one grant application.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of previous meeting minutes: Unanimously approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments or testimony were heard.
Discussion Items
- Small Project Grant (Item 260236): The board discussed a request from Megan Forge for a $750 small project grant to conduct an adult dance class or performance at the Pump House. Board members noted that the application lacked specific details such as location, cost, and plans. Andrew expressed concern about the lack of preparation. Dylan moved to not approve the grant, seconded by Eva.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Deny Grant: The board voted to not approve the small project grant for Megan Forge. The vote was 5 in favor of denying, 1 opposed (Andrew), and the chair abstained. The board will provide Megan Forge with the reasons for the denial.
Note: The meeting date/time from the instruction is 2026-03-03 14:30:00+00:00, but the transcript shows the meeting started at 8:30 AM. This may indicate a time zone conversion or a discrepancy.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, I am calling this meeting to order. It is March 3rd, 830 AM. Um, I have all members of the Arts Board present besides Chair Chris Kahlo and Maureen. Um I forget Maureen's last name. Freeland, yes. Um, so I'm gonna go ahead and um ask for approval of last meeting's agenda or motion to approve. Motion from first from Andrew. Second from Mary Kate. And before we get into our agenda items, uh, does anyone have any notices or discussions? Oh, sorry. Let's take a vote on the minutes. So vote to approve. Unanimous. All right, we're gonna move on to notices and discussions. Um does anyone have any specific other than that? We have a new member of the Arts Board joining us this morning. This is Alex Fowler is his last name. Um Alex, I'm just gonna have you introduce yourself and tell the board a little bit about you. Yeah, sound button. Is it working? Wow, very cool. Excited to be here. Um, thank you for having me on. My name's Alex. Um I uh lived downtown. My wife and I moved um out to La Crosse year and a half ago. Before that, we were I was in Boston for eight years. She was in Montreal finishing up school. Um we met um both studying music. I'm a cellist. Um is my main background. Um my time in Boston worked with um a lot of community music schools, taught a lot of um programs like that. Worked with a lot of um non profits. Um I've had a lot of um job descriptions that have the bullet other duties as assigned, as you were all used to. Um in um groups in Boston have done um marketing web design. Um that's part of what I'm doing here in Lacrosse. Now I'm working at Channel 8 and phase three digital uh doing um digital marketing. Well yeah, thank you all so much. Looking forward to this. Cool. Um I don't think that we go around and introduce ourselves either, but feel free to read about everyone on the board on the website, um, as well as just meet us in person. I think that's the best way. First agenda item is 260236. Request to approve Megan Forge for the small project grant for $750. Is Megan present to her hand if she's I didn't either, so I'm gonna open it up to discussions from the board on this project. Does anyone have any outstanding questions maybe that would be pertinent before we take a motion or vote? Mayor Kate. Would you be able to remind us the specifics of what the plan is? I believe it's a it's an adult dance performance or class at the pump house, but I wanted just a little bit of a reminder. Yeah, I briefly skimmed it before the agenda meeting because I've abstained from looking at any of the you know um grants.
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