The Provincetown Cultural Council

December 1, 2005 at 4:00 p.m, Town Hall

Meeting Minutes

Called to Order: by Cherie Mittenthal – Chairperson at 4 pm.

Members Present: Marion Roth, Pasquale Natale, Patty Deluca, Amy O’Hara, Dorothy Antczak, Maryalice Johnston, Greg Anton, Frank Vasello, Mike Wright, Cherie Mittenthal – Chairperson.

Approve minutes:

Motion by: Marion Second: Pasquale

To approve the minutes of 11/15/05 with changes.

Yea: 10 Nay: 0

Provincetown Poet Laureate

The council discussed Jason Shinder as a possible poet laureate.

Cherie will speak with Jason and email the board if he accepts.

Revisit Dollars for public Space $$ through the VSB –

In High Pole Hill Park?

Cherie updated the board regarding her discussions with the Tourism Director. The $10,000 is still allocated and available, but the location is limited to the Lopes Square or Waterfront Park Area.

The Tourism Director suggested the council clarify if Town owns the parcel at HPHP. Pasquale clarified that he had a previous discussion with Keith Bergman that the town did, in fact, own the parcel.

Council members questioned the whereabouts/accessibility of the $3300 in matching funds received from VSB. Marion suggested tracing back through the BOS approvals of VSB grant funds, as the BOS had to approve the transfer to the Cultural Council.

Cherie will follow-up on this.

Board of Selectman meeting

Cherie sent note to BOS requesting time on the agenda. Keith responded with the suggestion that Cherie inform him of whatever the topic is when they meet for budget talks on 12/14 @11:30.

Pasquale emphasized that he has discussed the project with two BOS members and both of them informed him that the “next step” should be to get on their agenda. The council agreed to request time on the BOS agenda at their 12/19 meeting. Cherie will discuss the matter with Keith on 12/14 also. She will update the board members via email as this moves forward. She encouraged all members to attend both meetings if possible.

Mass Cultural Council Grant 05 / 06

Rejection letters went out on 11/21/05.

The secretary will send approval letters by 12/15/05, and make updates to the Mass Cultural Council website according to deadlines.

New Business

Cultural Council meeting with State Representatives on 11/21.

Cherie updated the council on the discussions with various lower cape cultural councils. Chatham solicits funds directly from residents throughout the year and has a budget of nearly $7000. They have little support from the Town. There was some discussion about the PCC raising funds directly. There is a separate account which has funds from the independent fundraising efforts. The council agreed that if there were a specific project which needed additional funding, they may re-visit the possibility of independent fundraising efforts.

Artist Studio Exemptions from Licensing

Mike updated the council on discussions with the Planning Board Chairperson.

The Planning Board is the board that would submit revisions on the licensing regulations to Town Meeting. The Planning Board would like to have discussions with artists regarding this topic sometime in mid-January. Mike will keep everyone updated on this.

Motion by: Mike Second: Amy

The Cultural Council will show support for the exemption for artist studios from the “retail” licensing regulations.

Yea: 9 Nay: 0

Cape Cod Chamber, Cultural Trail Guide

Cherie updated the council about the Cape Cod Chamber, Cultural Trail Guide. Very few people in Town have responded, due to very stringent rules. They want specific hours listed for each artist and were resistant to listing “by appointment”. Plus, the concern with the current licensing issues with the town adds to the artists hesitations.

Eight people from Provincetown have responded. Cherie is willing to continue the discussion with the Chamber to see if they will loosen some of the rules in order to include more artists in the guide. She would like it to be more representative of the community. Members discussed several reasons why it did not make sense for artists to participate. Marian suggested they offer a listing of artists and where they are showing their work. Cherie will offer this suggestion to the Chamber.

Motion to adjourn: Mike Second: Frank

Meeting adjourned at 5pm

The Council will coordinate via email to schedule the next meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Carla Anderson

Recording Secretary

Approved by ______________________ at the meeting of __________________.

Cherie Mittenthal, Chairperson