From Cols Dispatch/ New Outlook for the Arts.
New outlook for arts?
Columbus must do more to fund and promote its struggling cultural scene, panel says
Wednesday, April 4, 2007 3:35 AM
BY ROBERT VITALE
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
FILE PHOTO
Scorecard for the arts
A City Council-created task force charged with recommending a cultural policy for Columbus graded the existing arts scene on a scale of 1 (low) to 12 (high):
Places to go
Strengths: They're dispersed among neighborhoods.
Weaknesses: There's no plan to do more.
Things to do
Strengths: There's a range of festivals, performances, exhibits -- and a diverse audience.
Weaknesses: Information about them doesn't reach the masses.
Arts organizations
Strengths: There are several "flagship" arts and cultural organizations.
Weaknesses: There's little to nurture artists and creative professionals.
Funding
Strengths: None.
Weaknesses: Anemic efforts to gain corporate donors and public funding.
Leadership
Strengths: None.
Weaknesses: There's no cultural plan and no one guiding city policy.
Visibility
Strengths: None.
Weaknesses: Columbus and its arts community don't promote the city's cultural scene as a selling point.
Facilities
Strengths: There's an abundance of commercial venues.
Weaknesses: None.
Columbus has plenty of theaters and galleries, a few artsy neighborhoods, and a lot of people eager to be enriched and entertained.
It also has financially struggling groups that perform on local stages and other creative ventures that can't get off the ground.
It's time for Columbus to adopt a "cultural policy" that coordinates and guides the arts, ensures adequate funding to help them prosper, and nurtures young artists who otherwise might go elsewhere, a City Council-created panel says.
But those who'd adopt the policy -- Mayor Michael B. Coleman and council members -- are unlikely to entertain an idea some have proposed in the past few years: a tax to pay for it all.
Council aides say there's little if any support for a culture tax among city officials. Coleman spokesman Mike Brown said a tax to boost arts funding in Columbus hasn't been proposed and hasn't been considered.
Wayne Lawson, the retired Ohio Arts Council director who led the 11-month study by a group called the Creative Columbus Steering Committee, said there are other sources, including corporate donations and state and federal grants, that could help out.
The committee issued its final report to council members late Monday.
It calls for Columbus to join cities across the nation that have begun viewing the arts not just as a diversion but as an economic-development tool to attract new businesses and residents.
"I hope this jump-starts a new way of thinking," Lawson said.
Panel members -- business executives, educators and leaders of organizations such as COSI Columbus and the Columbus Museum of Art -- gave middling grades to the local arts scene but said there's a "solid foundation" upon which to build.
The report also was critical of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the agency that doles out millions in city hotel-tax money to arts groups and events.
It called for greater openness at the agency and more public input into its funding deliberations.
"A lot of the recommendations here are no surprise," said GCAC President Bryan Knicely. "It's a matter of how we move down that road."
Overall, the committee's new way of thinking is described as "one that sees the arts, culture and creativity as vital assets of a thriving city, the local economy, and places to live and work -- and thus worthy of serious public support and attention."
Among its 70 recommendations:
• Adopt a strategic plan to guide future development of arts facilities rather than the "uncoordinated and piecemeal efforts" now in place.
• Build the endowments of major arts organizations and create a fund to help others in immediate trouble.
• Develop small performance and exhibition spaces for young artists and create a business-incubator program for artists and arts-related businesses.
• Commission more public art throughout the city.
"We're not talking just about the Short North," Lawson said.
Councilman Kevin L. Boyce said he wants the committee's 13 members to meet with the City Council to discuss how the recommendations should be enacted.
One council member, Priscilla Tyson, served on the panel before she was appointed to the council in January. Tyson is president of Star Arts Limited, which promotes artists and sells their work.
"Our hope is that we will address the creative interests of the city of Columbus," she said.
Other reports also have been critical of local support for the arts.
In 2005, GCAC found Columbus last among seven similarly sized cities in endowments for local organizations.
A report issued this year by the Columbus Partnership found Columbus 15th among 16 cities in the number of arts establishments per 1,000 residents.
rvitale@dispatch.com
Committee members
Members of the Creative Columbus Policy Steering Committee:
• Beverly Bethge, chief
creative officer, Ologie
• David Chesebrough,
president, COSI Columbus
• Mary Jo Green, vice president, Time Warner Cable
• Stephanie Hightower, vice president, Columbus College of Art and Design
• Lisa Hinson, president, Hinson Ltd. Public Relations
• Chad A. Jester, president, Nationwide Foundation
• Wayne Lawson, director emeritus, Ohio Arts Council
• Jeffrey Lyttle, vice president, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Nannette V. Maciejunes, executive director, Columbus Museum of Art
• Robert H. Milbourne, president, Columbus Partnership
• Jerry Saunders, president, Africentric Personal Development Shop
• Priscilla Tyson, Columbus City Council member and president, Star Arts Limited
• Margaret Wyszomirski, art education professor, Ohio State University
This information is provided for your interest. Does not necessarily reflect the views of Gallery202, Partners in Art, Inc. or it's governing board.
Columbus must do more to fund and promote its struggling cultural scene, panel says
Wednesday, April 4, 2007 3:35 AM
BY ROBERT VITALE
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
FILE PHOTO
Scorecard for the arts
A City Council-created task force charged with recommending a cultural policy for Columbus graded the existing arts scene on a scale of 1 (low) to 12 (high):
Places to go
Strengths: They're dispersed among neighborhoods.
Weaknesses: There's no plan to do more.
Things to do
Strengths: There's a range of festivals, performances, exhibits -- and a diverse audience.
Weaknesses: Information about them doesn't reach the masses.
Arts organizations
Strengths: There are several "flagship" arts and cultural organizations.
Weaknesses: There's little to nurture artists and creative professionals.
Funding
Strengths: None.
Weaknesses: Anemic efforts to gain corporate donors and public funding.
Leadership
Strengths: None.
Weaknesses: There's no cultural plan and no one guiding city policy.
Visibility
Strengths: None.
Weaknesses: Columbus and its arts community don't promote the city's cultural scene as a selling point.
Facilities
Strengths: There's an abundance of commercial venues.
Weaknesses: None.
Columbus has plenty of theaters and galleries, a few artsy neighborhoods, and a lot of people eager to be enriched and entertained.
It also has financially struggling groups that perform on local stages and other creative ventures that can't get off the ground.
It's time for Columbus to adopt a "cultural policy" that coordinates and guides the arts, ensures adequate funding to help them prosper, and nurtures young artists who otherwise might go elsewhere, a City Council-created panel says.
But those who'd adopt the policy -- Mayor Michael B. Coleman and council members -- are unlikely to entertain an idea some have proposed in the past few years: a tax to pay for it all.
Council aides say there's little if any support for a culture tax among city officials. Coleman spokesman Mike Brown said a tax to boost arts funding in Columbus hasn't been proposed and hasn't been considered.
Wayne Lawson, the retired Ohio Arts Council director who led the 11-month study by a group called the Creative Columbus Steering Committee, said there are other sources, including corporate donations and state and federal grants, that could help out.
The committee issued its final report to council members late Monday.
It calls for Columbus to join cities across the nation that have begun viewing the arts not just as a diversion but as an economic-development tool to attract new businesses and residents.
"I hope this jump-starts a new way of thinking," Lawson said.
Panel members -- business executives, educators and leaders of organizations such as COSI Columbus and the Columbus Museum of Art -- gave middling grades to the local arts scene but said there's a "solid foundation" upon which to build.
The report also was critical of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the agency that doles out millions in city hotel-tax money to arts groups and events.
It called for greater openness at the agency and more public input into its funding deliberations.
"A lot of the recommendations here are no surprise," said GCAC President Bryan Knicely. "It's a matter of how we move down that road."
Overall, the committee's new way of thinking is described as "one that sees the arts, culture and creativity as vital assets of a thriving city, the local economy, and places to live and work -- and thus worthy of serious public support and attention."
Among its 70 recommendations:
• Adopt a strategic plan to guide future development of arts facilities rather than the "uncoordinated and piecemeal efforts" now in place.
• Build the endowments of major arts organizations and create a fund to help others in immediate trouble.
• Develop small performance and exhibition spaces for young artists and create a business-incubator program for artists and arts-related businesses.
• Commission more public art throughout the city.
"We're not talking just about the Short North," Lawson said.
Councilman Kevin L. Boyce said he wants the committee's 13 members to meet with the City Council to discuss how the recommendations should be enacted.
One council member, Priscilla Tyson, served on the panel before she was appointed to the council in January. Tyson is president of Star Arts Limited, which promotes artists and sells their work.
"Our hope is that we will address the creative interests of the city of Columbus," she said.
Other reports also have been critical of local support for the arts.
In 2005, GCAC found Columbus last among seven similarly sized cities in endowments for local organizations.
A report issued this year by the Columbus Partnership found Columbus 15th among 16 cities in the number of arts establishments per 1,000 residents.
rvitale@dispatch.com
Committee members
Members of the Creative Columbus Policy Steering Committee:
• Beverly Bethge, chief
creative officer, Ologie
• David Chesebrough,
president, COSI Columbus
• Mary Jo Green, vice president, Time Warner Cable
• Stephanie Hightower, vice president, Columbus College of Art and Design
• Lisa Hinson, president, Hinson Ltd. Public Relations
• Chad A. Jester, president, Nationwide Foundation
• Wayne Lawson, director emeritus, Ohio Arts Council
• Jeffrey Lyttle, vice president, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Nannette V. Maciejunes, executive director, Columbus Museum of Art
• Robert H. Milbourne, president, Columbus Partnership
• Jerry Saunders, president, Africentric Personal Development Shop
• Priscilla Tyson, Columbus City Council member and president, Star Arts Limited
• Margaret Wyszomirski, art education professor, Ohio State University
This information is provided for your interest. Does not necessarily reflect the views of Gallery202, Partners in Art, Inc. or it's governing board.
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