Civil and Municipal - Jan 22

12 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 of applications that must be read and scored. Panelists include artists, arts managers, community leaders with engagement or passion for the arts, arts audience members, and other members of the arts community. Panelists, like grantees, cannot be employees or board members of HAA, nor their family. Panelists must remove themselves from scoring if they have a financial or other meaningful conflict of interest with any application. The competition process is reviewed in full by the Grants Committee of the Board of HAA, voted on and then advanced to the Board of HAA for its review and vote. Once Board review is complete, the results are sent to the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs as a packet of recommended grantees for the City’s approval. Due to the pandemic, in partnership with Houston Arts Alliance, the City responded to calls from the arts community for a compassionate, strategic response to the impact of the pandemic on our lives and our work. Specifically, the City’s Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue, which funds City arts grants, was depressed by 50% in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. To provide critical, continued support to artists and nonprofits negatively impacted by the pandemic, HAA extended 2020 contacts into 2021, using 2021 HOT income to ensure 2020 grantees were able to complete their important arts programs for Houstonians and visitors. With City support, HAA also provided maximum flexibility to all grantees to adjust their grant-funded programming in scale, scope, type, or format. Grantees were encouraged to re-envision their grant-funded work to meet limitations suddenly created by the pandemic’s impact on personal health, community connection, the economy, and their artistic vision. About the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) The City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs guides the City’s cultural investments with policies and initiatives that expand access to arts and cultural programs in the community, attract visitors and leverage private investment. www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs About Houston Arts Alliance Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) is a local arts and culture organization whose principal work is to implement the City of Houston’s vision, values, and goals for its arts grantmaking and civic art investments. HAA’s work is conducted through contracts with the City of Houston, overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. HAA also executes privately funded special projects to meet the needs of the arts community, such as disaster preparation, research on the state of the arts in Houston, and temporary public art projects that energize neighborhoods. In short, HAA helps artists and nonprofits be bold, productive, and strong. Visit www. houstonartsalliance.com. Freneticore Festival