Arts & Culture Committee - September 2025
Disclaimer: These committee notes are my own, taken live, may lack some of the details of the meeting, and represent my own perspective on the discussion. They are not official minutes.
Gould Park RFP
Staff sent the request out for LOI (letters of interest) for engineering drawings/plans for Gould Park, and 8 firms responded. Staff plans to select a consultant and negotiate the contract in time for the October meeting.
Mayor Nelson asked how they’ll decide who to work with. Kurt Seiler explained that staff will review the responses based on their project managers, team, and approach to the project. For engineering drawings, you have to make qualifications-based selection. Some of the responses received were partnerships between multiple agencies, which is common.
Arts & Community-Building Process
Councilmember Bennett brought a topic to the committee, in light of the ongoing discussions and disagreements between councilmembers about how to proceed with funding for the Mason Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
She suggested that council consider a new process for supporting the arts and community projects with city funds (which are taxpayer dollars). She talked about some of the research she did to see what other cities are doing. Many have established a grant process for organizations to follow to request funding. These processes have clear criteria and timelines, qualifications, etc.
Councilmembers and staff agreed that the process needs to be more transactional so the city isn’t delving into the operations of each requesting organization.
Examples Bennett cited for why we need to update/overhaul the process:
East Main Music Fest (EMMF)
The costs for closing the road added up to $5,000 and the volunteer-led organization chose not to do this because they found out too late in the planning. Their funds were already allocated for other things.
MSO - the discussions happening now are very late in the year when some are suggesting a significant reduction in funding
We discussed multiple options for disbursing: service agreements, grants, sponsorships. Bennett pointed out that the city has a policy on these that we could change/overhaul.
The current limit on service agreements is $8,000 and hasn’t changed since 2000. If we were to keep up with inflation, the amount should be doubled to $16,000.
Mayor Nelson and Councilmember Haake expressed interest in considering this further, while also sharing they have questions and concerns that we be intentional about the criteria.
Bennett proposed the following process and said she would work on it before the next committee meeting.
Step 1: Define the purpose.
Step 2: Set an amount in the budget for that purpose.
Step 3: Spend the next year developing the process.
As part of the discussion, Bennett asked how we got where we are today with Red, Rhythm, and Boom (RRB) – currently a half-million-dollar event! Staff explained that it started with Sunshine Music Series, later added fireworks, and the event grew. Council made a conscious decision many years ago to make it a large regional event (with some economic development potential), while keeping our Mason Heritage Festival as a local event.
Update on East Main Music Fest
Bennett asked Kayra Fuster, one of the volunteers organizing the East Main Music Fest, for an update on the event.
They have signed up more than 20 artists this year (who play for tips only, so bring cash or prepare to tip via Venmo!)
In discussing closing Rt 42, Fuster said they surveyed businesses about closing the road. All were supportive, though Whippy Dip mentioned their drive-through. They weren’t really concerned, though, since they did brisk walk-up business during last year’s festival.
Resident Gina Sanders, who attended the meeting, mentioned the Cincinnati Music Accelerator (Kick Lee - organizer) gets artists placed at events in Cincinnati.
Good Neighbor Trailer
Staff let us know that the trailer has been reserved by two individuals and used by Acting Up for a c community service project!
