La Crosse Arts Board Meeting - April 7, 2026
La Crosse Arts Board Meeting - April 7, 2026
The La Crosse Arts Board met on April 7, 2026, at approximately 2:30 PM. Commissioners Friedland and Black were excused. New member Alex Fowler was welcomed. The board approved previous meeting minutes, received updates on a name change and budget, and voted on a grant deadline extension.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the previous meeting by unanimous voice vote.
Discussion Items
- Board Name Change (26-0353): Mayor Washington Spivey proposed renaming the Arts Board to the Arts and Culture Board to expand its purview and qualify for additional grant opportunities. He stated that the change would not immediately alter the board's scope or increase operational funding, but could allow future cultural grants to flow through the board. The item was informational only; no vote was taken.
- Budget Update (26-0354): Staff member Jackie reported on the current grant cycle. To date, $19,000 in community impact grants and $3,500 in creative development grants had been awarded. Remaining funds include $14,000 allocated for four creative development grants and five small project grants. Jackie indicated that approximately $23,000 remains in the total grant pot, leaving an estimated $9,000 after all scheduled grants are disbursed. She noted that Letty Mural carry-over funds had faced a hurdle but were expected to be approved by the full council on April 9. Mayor Spivey encouraged the board to seek external funding sources, including grants and private donations.
- Grant Deadline Extension (26-0355): Jackie requested that the board deny her earlier proposal to extend the April 1 grant submission deadline to May 1, as two applications were received on the final day. The board moved to deny the extension.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on Deadline Extension: The motion to deny the extension passed 6–1 (six in favor, one opposed), maintaining the April 1 deadline.
- No Action on Name Change or Budget: Both items were informational updates; no votes taken.
- Upcoming Events: Artist Letty will begin a mural at the La Crosse Public Library on April 26, with related public workshops and university engagements.
Meeting Transcript
Are you all good? Testing, can you hear us online? I think so. Yes, I can. Thank you. I think that's better. Thank you. She's gone. I think Jenny Jenny coming. Yes. Okay. She'll be doing it at home. She said she'd be here. Thank you. Okay. I'm assuming you just put it on. You we don't actually worry about that. Oh, okay. You don't do any of that part for our sounds good. Oh, you don't either? Yep. I thought I had to put them in here. So yeah, we pretty much just go through just the show jobs. I am calling to order this meeting of the Arts Board of the City of La Cross. It is April Seventh. I hope I have the day right. Um committee members are here with the exception of Commissioner Friedland and Black, and they are both excused. I can motion to approve the minutes. Okay. And a second by Mary Kate. And any discussion changes, deletions, discussion. And seeing none, all in favor of approval of the minutes. Or hands up. Okay. The mo the minutes are approved unanimously. Notices and discussion. Any commission members or staff? Any items. Yes, go ahead, Jackie. Well, I'll start with this flyer that somebody dropped off for Festival of Voices. It looks like it's in the a free event at English Lutheran Church. Um April 10th. So I'll leave these up here if anybody's interested in those. So Letty will be coming in two weeks. Everything's in order. She'll be spending, she'll be starting the mural. She arrives on the 26th of April and starting the mural that week. She will also be going to UWL and working with UWL students there, doing critiques with them as well as an artist talk. And I'll get all that information out to you guys in case you want to attend those activities. The artist talks over at UWL are usually pretty good.
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