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From YouTube: Council Minute October 19
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides an update on the latest discussion regarding City financial support of Artistry, plus an overview of a visit from the Bureau of International Expositions as the United States looks to call Bloomington the host city of Expo 2027.
A
A
Hello
Bloomington
I'm
mayor
Tim
Bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
October
17th
on
Monday
night.
The
city
council
had
our
second
discussion
regarding
City
Financial
support
of
artistry
as
I'm
sure
you
know,
Artistry
is
an
Arts
organization
serving
Bloomington
and
the
region.
Artistry
is
also
an
important
partner
with
the
city
in
the
areas
of
Performing
Arts,
Visual,
Arts,
Arts
education
and
creative
Place.
A
Making
Artistry
provides
the
box
office
services
for
all
of
the
resident
Arts
organizations
that
use
the
Bloomington
Center
for
the
Arts
schedules,
most
of
the
stage
Productions
in
the
Schneider
theater
curates
the
Greenberg
and
Atrium
Galleries,
and
provides
Arts
education
programming
at
the
Center
for
the
Arts
in
the
community
and
in
schools
around
the
Twin
Cities.
Like
many
Arts
organizations,
Artistry
struggled
coming
out
of
coven
artistry's
revenues
have
historically
been
generated
from
theater
production
ticket
sales.
A
Typically,
around
60
percent
of
revenues
are
tied
to
Schneider
theater
Productions
no
shows
were
staged
during
the
pandemic
in
2020
and
2021,
and
the
2021-22
season
was
cut
short.
When
shows
did
run.
Attendance
was
only
40
percent
of
house
and
revenues
from
ticket
sales
brought
in
only
about
30
percent
of
the
projected
budget.
The
financial
impacts
of
the
pandemic
were
significant
and,
as
the
Artistry
chair
told
us
last
month,
poor
management
and
board
oversight
made
a
bad
situation
worse.
A
As
a
result,
Artistry
is
facing
a
significant
operating
shortfall
and
has
exhausted
its
reserves
to
absorb
losses.
Artistry
has
asked
the
city
to
assist
in
their
recovery
plan.
At
our
September
19th
meeting,
the
city
council
approved
a
150
000
grant
for
artistry,
as
a
condition
of
the
grant.
Artistry
was
asked
to
present
a
report
to
the
city
council,
outlining
the
actions
taken
to
date
and
outlining
their
business
plan
for
the
coming
year.
On
Monday
night,
representatives
from
Artistry
presented
that
report
to
the
council
and
requested
from
the
city
a
750
thousand
dollar
repayable
loan.
A
That
Artistry
believes
is
necessary
to
position
the
organization
to
become
a
sustainable
Arts
partner.
Once
again,
the
council
heard
on
Monday
that
since
our
first
discussion,
Artistry
decreased
their
Staffing
from
15
to
11
staff
members
hosted
a
successful
fundraiser
that
generated
forty
thousand
dollars,
created
an
audit
Committee
of
the
board
and
hired
an
audit
firm
and
started
their
fall.
Art
classes
they're
also
moving
forward
with
a
holiday
Stage
production
and
created
an
initial
outline
for
development.
A
A
But
if
you
listen
to
the
long
discussion
we
had,
you
know,
the
council
still
has
many
questions,
so
we
agreed
to
continue
the
discussion
on
Monday
October
24th.
We
asked
staff
to
frame
up
a
basic
Ledger
of
pros
and
cons.
What
would
happen
if
we
say
yes
to
this
request?
What
happens
if
we
say?
No,
we
asked
if
there
were
other
options
to
consider
and
what
the
Bloomington
Center
for
the
Arts
would
look
like
without
Artistry,
specifically
related
to
issues
like
management
of
the
box
office
and
space
usage.
A
A
The
bie
is
the
organization
that
determines
where
World
Expos
will
be,
and
they
were
in
town
to
learn
more
about
the
United
States
efforts
to
host
an
expo
in
2027
under
the
theme
of
healthy
people,
Healthy
Planet,
wellness
and
well-being
for
all
a
quick
review,
I
hope,
you've
heard
or
read
that
Bloomington
has
been
identified
as
the
host
community
in
Minnesota.
If
the
United
States
is
successful
in
getting
Expo
2027,
this
would
be
a
specialized
Expo.
A
A
smaller
and
shorter
type
of
Expo
focused
on
the
theme
of
wellness
and
well-being
for
all,
given
Minnesota's
World,
leading
med
tech
industries.
Health
Science
Education
and
medical
leadership
such
as
the
Mayo
Clinic.
This
state
is
the
perfect
place
to
showcase
the
future
for
healthy
people
and
a
healthy
Planet.
A
The
potential
Expo
site
is
in
the
South
Loop
here
in
Bloomington,
and
it's
a
split
site
just
to
the
east
of
the
Mall
of
America,
and
also
the
old
Thunderbird
Hotel
Site
Expo
2027
would
be
a
three-month
event
mid-may
through
mid-august,
because
heaven
forbid
should
we
get
in
the
way
of
the
State
Fair
and
it's
expected
to
draw
about
14
million
visits.
Obviously,
an
event
of
this
size
and
scope
will
take
a
lot
of
coordination
and
planning
both
locally
and
regionally.
A
We
are
all
on
the
board
of
directors
so
back
to
the
visit
by
the
bie,
the
bie
visit
was
basically
an
opportunity
for
them
to
kick
the
tires
to
see
if
Bloomington
and
Minnesota
are
capable
of
hosting
an
expo
I
think
we
showed
very
clearly
that,
with
a
great
site
with
infrastructure
already
in
place
like
the
airport
and
the
blue
line,
LRT
and
strong
Community
Support
Bloomington
is
very
much
Expo
ready.
The
beie
also
heard
presentations
and
asked
some
very
good
questions
regarding
attendance
projections,
sponsorship
models
and
finances.
A
They
were
here
to
thoroughly
evaluate
the
Minnesota
bid
and
they
did
just
that.
I
heard
one
person
describe
the
evaluation
as
a
pass
fail
kind
of
assessment.
We
didn't
get
a
letter
grade,
but
I
am
confident
that
Minnesota's
bid
passed
this
test
here
in
Minnesota,
the
group
met
with
Governor
Tim
Walls
and
lieutenant
governor
Peggy
Flanagan
Senators,
Amy
Klobuchar
and
Tina
Smith
representative
Dean
Phillips,
as
well
as
Minnesota
Expo,
chairman
Bob,
Clark
and
CEO
John
Stanek.
A
The
group
then
went
to
Washington
D.C,
where
they
met
with
Secretary
of
State
Anthony
blinken
U.S,
Surgeon,
General,
Dr,
Vivek
Murthy
and
National
Security
advisor
and
Minnesota
native
Jake
Sullivan,
with
the
number
of
visitors
expected
from
across
the
United
States
and
across
the
globe.
The
event
itself
will
be
fantastic
for
the
Bloomington
hospitality
industry
from
a
regional
standpoint.
A
I,
think
everyone
agrees
that
the
primary
proposed
site
just
to
the
east
of
the
Mall
of
America
is
a
prime
site
for
development.
But
it's
been
a
parking
lot
for
30
years.
It's
used
for
bus
driver
training
and
snow
plow
rodeos
folks,
that's
not
the
highest
and
best
use
of
that
land
thoughtfully
and
effectively
and
sustainably
developing
that
site,
along
with
the
northern
site,
where
the
Thunderbird
used
to
be
could
be
transformative
not
only
for
Bloomington
but
for
the
entire
Twin
Cities
and
ultimately
Minnesota.
A
That's
why
this
effort
has
received
such
strong
bipartisan
support,
support
from
the
last
three
presidential
administrations
and
support
from
every
member
of
the
Minnesota
Congressional
Delegation.
We
still
have
a
ways
to
go
on
this
project.
The
final
decision
won't
be
made
until
next
June,
so
there's
still
a
lot
of
work
to
do
and
I
know.
There
are
a
lot
of
questions
and,
frankly,
some
misunderstandings
about
this
effort,
so
I've
asked
staff
to
put
a
full
update
on
an
upcoming
Council
agenda
likely
in
mid-november
stay
tuned.