The city of Wichita announced its 2021 arts and cultural funding recommendations.
23 applicants were awarded a total of $391,245 in cultural funding operational grants and artist access grants at Tuesday's Wichita City Council meeting.
Council member Becky Tuttle gave thanks to all involved. “I really want to thank the committee for all of their work and their time, and then just another thanks to our arts community and all of our partners in the community who applied for this funding and the contributions that they're making for our community to be a better place to live, learn, play and pray, so thank you," she said.
Some the applicants include Exploration Place, who was awarded $64,354; the Wichita Symphony Society, who will receive $51,679; and the Kansas African American Museum, who will receive $10,284.
The council approved a $150 thousand contract with TranSystem, a company that will inspect about one-third of the traffic signals and overhead sign structures around Wichita. The city says they are unable to do a comprehensive inspection on a regular basis. This year's funding will come from the street maintenance general fund operating budget.
The council also approved $6.1 million in industrial revenue bonds for IH1, LLC, for the benefit of Cosmic Pet. IH1 constructed a 100 thousand square-foot building at the southwest corner of MacArthur and Seneca, which will be leased to Cosmic Pet. The city approved the letter of intent for the bonds back in August, 2019.