Staff recommends that Council accepts $21,340 in donations (cash and in-kind) in support of the "Mobilize the MAGIC City" project. 

The City of Billings was awarded an Our Town creative placemaking grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in support of its Mobilize the MAGIC (Making Art Grounded in Community) City Project. The grant from the NEA is for $50,000. This project is a partnership between the City of Billings, the Billings Arts Association, Healthy By Design, Triia (a subsidiary of the Native American Development Corporation) and the NEA. The grant from the NEA must be matched dollar-for-dollar. Part of the match will come from in-kind donations such as volunteer time from committee members. The other part of the match will be a cash match. This agenda item is to provide approval of five donations to the City in support of this project totaling $21,340 both in cash and in-kind donations. Visit Billings donated $1,500, Valley Federal Credit Union donated $500, and Phillips 66 donated $5,500. Mayor Cole and Anne Cole donated $1,000. Fischer Industries donated $5,050 worth of concrete and rebar for the project. Superior Concrete donated $7,790 worth of labor to install concrete and will help install the art pieces. 

With previous donations, these contributions total $28,910 raised by private donations given to the City. The RiverStone Health Foundation also applied for, and was awarded, $5,000 from the Billings Community Foundation for the project. RiverStone Health will use these funds to pay one of the project bills directly. The private funds directed toward this project therefore total $33,910 at this time. In addition, Billings City Council contributed $10,000 of contingency funds to the project.

Through the "Mobilize the MAGIC City" project, the City contracted with local artist Terri Porta as the City's Artist In Residence for a year. The project seeks to develop a process to involve art and artists in everyday civic life to improve economic development, road safety, health outcomes, and more. Project outcomes will include two placemaking hubs (community-informed public art) created by Terri, one creative placemaking hub focused on Indigenous identity by Lauren Monroe, Jr. and Mariah Gladstone, a Placemaking Playbook, and a Public Arts Committee Feasibility Study. 

City Council may:

• Accept the donations; or,
• Not accept the donations. Council previously approved the grant application to the NEA with the understanding that part of the match would have to be fund-raised. Not accepting this donation would be in contradiction to the Council's previous approval of the grant. 

If Council accepts these donations, they will provide $21,340 of cash and in-kind support to the "Mobilize the MAGIC City" project.