Tuesday afternoon the Jasper Community Arts Commission discussed in house topics, budget items, and heard from personnel about summer programs and projects.
Jasper’s Arts Director, Kit Miracle, discussed the commission’s upcoming 2017 budget and reviewed a number of certain changes which included an increase in cost of programming for students.
Currently there was a charge of $2.50 per child for school programs and Miracle recommended that the commission raise that amount to $3.00 due to increasing expenses. Miracle says this would aid in covering some of those expenses.
Jasper Arts Commission Board President, Mike Jones, raises a question as to when these changes will be implemented noting it could be an inconvenience to implement this change in January of next year since it would take place in the middle of the next school year.
The board discussed the topic and felt it would be in the best interest to make a decision at Tuesday’s meeting in time to propose the change as some school corporation’s budget schedule is discussed between the months of January and June.
The board approved to adjust the educational rate per student from $2.50 to $3.00 per person effective July 1 of this year.
Also reported was the progress of the Jasper LEADS Community Capital Campaign that was launched since it’s announcement back on May 11th. Arts Commission Board Secretary, Linda Kahle, gives an update on her participation in Library Enrichment and Arts Downtown as a representatives of the Jasper Community Arts Commission.
Kahle says its been a great experience to be part of the Library Enrichment and Arts Downtown team.
She says efforts the team are collaborating on are centered on a campaign to raise dollars for the Library Enrichment and Arts Downtown effort that serves as the acronym for LEADS.
Jasper LEADS is an approach to investing in the community’s enhancements of the downtown Jasper area and in the Courthouse square, the Astra Theater, and proposed Jasper Cultural Center for the Library and Arts.
To learn more about the community campaign visit their website at www.jasperleads.org .
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business last night Miracle also mentioned to the board that Jasper Art’s Program Coordinator, Corina Mack, arranged to welcome visitors from Decatur, Illinois who made a visit to Jasper on Monday to learn about the success of the Chalk Walk and to learn more about how the arts center was formed.
Miracle explained to the visitors that the center has run programs throughout the 40 years of existence and that it’s best to gradually start with a small amount of programs at a time and not all at once.
Miracle says she looks forward to continue conversations with others about the Arts center’s experience especially with the future it can hold with the potential implementation of the Jasper Cultural Center.
