Interoffice Memorandum
DATE: September 19, 2024
TO: Mayor Jerry L. Demings and County Commissioners
THROUGH: Carla Bell Johnson, AICP, Deputy County Administrator
FROM: Vicki Landon, Administrator, Arts and Cultural Affairs Office
CONTACT: Vicki Landon
PHONE: 407-836-5540
DIVISION: Arts and Cultural Affairs Office
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Approval of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council’s funding recommendations for Arts and Cultural Affairs Grants for Cultural Tourism for FY 2025 and Blockbuster and Special Events Grants for FY 2025 (Arts and Cultural Affairs Office)
body
PROJECT: N/A
PURPOSE: The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council (“Advisory Council”) has carefully created an application procedure that complies with the statutory requirements for the use of Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funds and also meets the Advisory Council's goal of elevating Central Florida's arts and culture to a status befitting a world-class community. At the October 29, 2025 Board Meeting, the recommendations for Arts and Cultural Affairs grants for Cultural Tourism Funding will be presented.
The Advisory Council examined numerous issues, including matching requirements, caps on funding, partial funding, categories and access for funding, accountability, and the effects of the pandemic on arts and cultural nonprofit organizations. Twelve members of the Advisory Council served on the Cultural Tourism Review Panel (“Review Panel”) to evaluate and score the 40 eligible applications. The Review Panel members’ evaluations were complemented with financial analysis from a Certified Public Accountant, familiar with the nonprofit industry. After a thorough independent review by each Review Panel member and discussions regarding the impact to be made by the funds at a public panel meeting and subsequent Advisory Council meeting, the Advisory Council approved the Review Panel’s ranking and recommendations, with no votes opposing.
The Advisory Council created a Blockbuster Fund in 2015 utilizing a small percentage of TDT funds already allocated for arts and culture. The purpose of the fund is to encourage marquee arts and cultural blockbuster events in Orange County that will draw 500,000 or more people and can be the subject of community-wide collaborations with numerous arts organizations. The Blockbuster and Special Events Fund currently has a balance of $3,241,000. The Blockbuster and Special Events Committee recommended and the Advisory Council unanimously approved recommending that $1,000,000 from the Blockbuster Fund be used to support the IMMERSE festival by Creative City Project in 2025 and $1,000,000 to support IMMERSE 2026, and contingent on event performance, reporting, compliance, and sufficient future fund balances in the Blockbuster and Special Events Fund, that $1,250,000 be used to support IMMERSE 2027, $1,500,000 to support IMMERSE 2028, and $2,000,000 to support IMMERSE 2029, for a total of $6,750,000 over five years.
United Arts of Central Florida, Inc. will manage, disperse, monitor, and evaluate the use of these funds by the organizations and programs recommended in Exhibit A. In addition, United Arts will be paid from Accounting Line 4430-035-0990-3197 for the fiduciary agent services required for these and for the Arts and Cultural Affairs programs presented now and in the spring. The Advisory Council presents the following items for funding from Accounting Line 4430-035-0990-8610 FY25. Disbursements will be provided through United Arts of Central Florida, Inc., as fiduciary agent for the Arts and Cultural Affairs Office, on an agreed-upon schedule related to completion of the projects.
BUDGET: N/A