Bangor Cultural Commission elects leadership, discusses TIF funding for arts

The Bangor Commission on Cultural Development welcomed new members and elected Samantha Schipani as chair and Kelly Chenot as vice chair. The group reviewed its financial status and discussed strategies to increase grant funding, including a proposal to request $40,000 from the downtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district for a cultural asset strategy.

Key points

• Samantha Schipani was re-elected as commission chair, and Kelly Chenot was elected vice chair.
• Jennifer Snow was appointed chair of the grants committee, and Kathy Elmore agreed to chair the cultural asset committee.
• Sundance Campbell was re-elected as chair of the Artober committee.
• The commission decided to request $25,000 for grants and $2,500 for Artober in the upcoming city budget.
• City staff recommended using TIF funds to hire a consultant for a comprehensive cultural asset and strategy document.
• City Solicitor David Szewczyk provided training on the Freedom of Access Act, emphasizing that commission communications are public records.

Next steps

• The commission will submit a budget request for $25,000 in grants and $40,000 from TIF funds by the end of February.
• The cultural asset committee will begin planning an inventory of public art in the spring.
• The grants committee will meet in March or April to review spring grant applications.

Read the full transcript