Chalk Festival to be Canceled After Grant Denial

Chalk Festival director Denise Kowal says she has followed the city’s granting process for the past seven months. She has submitted the proper paperwork, she says, attended required meetings and turned in everything on time. But now that the festival is only seven weeks away, it appears the festival will be canceled due to a lack of grant funding.

City commissioners took a vote on new Community Redevelopment Agency grant guidelines Monday for the second time this year. This time, after a 4-1 vote, they set much stricter guidelines on who could receive those grants.

"You have just made the decision to have the [Chalk Festival] event canceled," Kowal said following the vote.

The CRA guidelines approved Monday night require organizations to be designated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for two years or be a partner with an organization that has. Kowal said the Chalk Festival has been a 501(c)(3) for one year and was a 501(c)(6) — referred to as a "business league" —  in the year prior. That designation may have cost the Chalk Festival the $25,000 it was applying for.

This is the second time in a month that guidelines for grants have been changed. City commissioners approved 14 grants, including the Chalk Festival, with the caveat that the organization submits a certified third-party financial statement that goes back at least one year.

Kowal said that since that action, she has spent more than $4,000 getting those documents ready.

“Now they go and change it again seven weeks before my event,” Kowal said.

The week-long Chalk Festival attracts international artists to Sarasota for street painting and was started in 2007.

Mayor Suzanne Atwell was the lone "no" vote Tuesday. She said she had no problems with the grant guidelines but it was unfair to change the rules for Chalk Festival, which is already in the middle of the process.

"I would like to keep the guidelines in as we move forward, but to me it just should not include the Chalk Festival in this," Atwell said. "I'm very concerned about pulling those this year. ... I have a lot of trouble especially with the Chalk Festival and what has gone into that, I can't accept that."

Kowal said she has followed the process until this point, but the stripped funding will mean no Chalk Festival. She has attended required meetings, received high scores for her proposal and submitted required documents. She presented documents stating those facts to commissioners on Tuesday and provided those documents to Patch.

No city commissioners or staff denied that Kowal and the Chalk Festival followed protocol. The only snag, staff said, was that the festival was not a 501(c)(3) for more than one year.

City senior planner Steve Stancel said the new plan is a good balance of ensuring money is well spent and that it will help startups.

"The requirement for two years [of audited financials] is more stringent than the county or the cultural alliance; both require just one year," he said. "We [however] are allowing for partnerships with a 501(c)(3), which neither the county or alliance do. It allows for startup agencies to connect with existing agencies to get their foot on the ground."

The Chalk Festival grant application was scored/ranked No. 1 by two separate committees reviewing the CRA grant applicants.

Earlier this year, Kowal and the Chalk Festival struggled with county and the Arts and Cultural Alliance to receive grant funding. The alliance had rejected the festival’s grant proposal because of 501(c)(3) status and a lack of previous audited financials.

Other Previously Approved Grants in Jeopardy

City staff outlined how the new guidelines would affect all 14 previously approved grants. Their report is below:

1. The following four organizations should meet all criteria

• The Players
• Boys and Girls Club
• Sarasota YMCA
• Friends of Newtown Estates Park

2. The following programs will likely meet all criteria

• Children's First (Downtown and Newtown Program)
• Sarasota Ballet

3. The following programs may meet approval criteria

• West Coast Black Theatre Troupe
• Brotherhood of Men
• Greater Hurst Chapel
• Trinity Youth and Family Services

• HOPE program