TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Beth Beatty, City Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Resolution Authorizing the City of Joliet to Issue a Request for Qualifications for a Poet Laureate for 2024 through 2026.
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BACKGROUND:
The City of Joliet Arts Commission has recommended that the City publish a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to hire a Poet Laureate for the City of Joliet. The selected Poet Laureate would be tasked with promoting cultural awareness, literacy, and literature among city residents. The Laureate will be required to create two original works for and about Joliet, read poems created specifically for events at ceremonial occasions, champion the art of poetry and spoken word art in-person and on social media, attend literary and cultural events as deemed necessary by the City's Cultural Affairs Manager, and give at least ten public readings and workshops that are free and open to the public.
The position term as proposed would be between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2026. The RFQ proposed an honorarium amount of $6,000 for the two-year term of service, with a $1,500 payment made after every six months of service upon review by the Joliet Arts Commission. Funding for the Poet Laureate position is proposed to be drawn from General Operating Support grant funds for the Joliet Arts Commission. The Commission was awarded a grant of $21,000 for 2024. If this grant is not awarded in 2025 or 2026, honorarium funds will either need to be drawn from another source, or the Laureate will serve in a strictly volunteer capacity.
The Arts Commission wishes to receive all nominations for the position by April of 2024. A finalist reading to determine the selected Poet Laureate is scheduled to be held at the Joliet Public Library Ottawa Street Branch on May 16, 2024.
Several peer cities in Illinois have recently adopted Poet Laureate programs, including Rockford, Highland Park, Urbana, and Elgin. Expected benefits from a successful poet laureate program include increase...
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