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M E M O R A N D U M

Date: November 9, 2009To: Raleigh City CouncilorsWake County CommissionersJ. Russell Allen, Raleigh City Manager David Cooke, Wake County Manager From: Michael Lowder, Executive Director Re: African American Cultural Festival Planning Initiative ExecutiveSummaryOn behalf of Artsplosure, thank you for giving us this opportunity to assist theAfrican American Cultural Festival (AACF) Governing Board with developing arealistic yet ambitious programming, organizational, and financial plan designedto launch a major “destination” festival for Raleigh and Wake County. We haveenjoyed working with the AACF Governing Board and learning about the pent-up demand for a quality-oriented African American arts, cultural, and heritagefestival. We wish the AACF Governing Board much future success.We also wish to congratulate you for your vision and commitment to thisinitiative. We believe this festival will become a unique opportunity for thousands of people, especially school-aged children, to experience someoutstanding art and cultural programs. It will attract audiences -- AfricanAmericans and others -- from near and far, thereby generating a significanteconomic impact, comparable to the economic impact of a major sportingevent.Working with the AACF Governing Board over the past six months, Artsplosurehas assisted the board in reaching a point where a festival can be successfullyrealized, if funding is available. Toward that end the following has beenaccomplished:

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Developed job descriptions, conducted searches, and filled twoessential AACF professional positions. (We urge the AACF GoverningBoard to retain the services of the current contractors, Mary Williams-Stover and Shana Tucker-Williams.)

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Actively engaged AACF Governing Board members in the planning andorganizational process. (We propose that the AACF Governing Boardexpand and diversify its membership to include more area businessleaders and arts professionals.)

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Gathered and processed input from hundreds of potential participantsand audience members.

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Conducted comparative research on successful African American artand heritage festivals in other cities.

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Identified and engaged potential partners, collaborators, and other stakeholders.

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Developed essential resource materials, including:

Program prospectus and template, with a proposed festivalschedule and a potential artist and performer roster.Fundraising and marketing materials, including a fundraising andmarketing case for support and key prospect list.Achievable administrative and presenting budgets.There are two scope of services deliverables that Artsplosure has not been ableto complete, because a decision on future funding of the festival is pending.Although we have identified key artists and confirmed their availability, we havenot “begun contract negotiations with such artists and production personnel,and made reasonable efforts, consistent with Artsplosure’s customarypractices, to conclude such negotiations.” Likewise, even though we haveconfirmed the availability of Fletcher Theater and Meymandi Hall for theproposed festival dates of September 3 – 5, we have not entered into a rentalagreement with Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts officials. Itwould not be prudent to negotiate contractual terms without a reasonableassurance that future funding will be forthcoming. More important, Artsplosuremay not be the appropriate contracting party.The AACF Governing Board is committed to and has taken some preliminarysteps to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) corporation. Although seeking nonprofitstatus from the IRS can often be a time-consuming task, there are several localorganizations who have the existing resources to nurture emergingorganizations like the AACF Governing Board and who may be willing to serveas the organization’s fiscal agents. If the AACF Governing Board incorporateswith the NC Secretary of State and formally seeks federal nonprofit status whileoperating under the auspices and tax-exempt status of an umbrellaorganization, Artsplosure could continue to provide counsel and logisticalsupport on a monthly retainer basis. In this role, Artsplosure will also makeevery effort to ensure that a clear and compelling artistic vision remains in theforefront.Please note that there have been several good faith attempts to develop afestival name that expresses the festival’s vision and key attributes, either literally or figuratively. Nevertheless, Artsplosure is not prepared to make arecommendation on a name at this time. We have, however, recently askedseveral noted African American artists to suggest some names.In summary, since May 15, 2009, Artsplosure has launched and coordinated amajor effort to engage and involve African American artists, arts presenters,likely audience members, opinion leaders, and other stakeholders in thevisioning and planning process. The comprehensive festival plan that will bepresented at next week’s meetings of the Wake County Board of Commissioners and Raleigh City Council is based, in great part, on theseparticipants’ input and aspirations, which will go a long way toward ensuring thefestival’s initial success.