City Newspaper Archives - 1/2008
ART: City's new arts policy has critics
Published by Tim Louis Macaluso on Jan 02, 2008
The city's new public arts policy is drawing criticism from the arts community.| The policy's intention is to boost the city's image by adding more public art to city streets and neighborhoods. But another intent of the policy, says City Council Vice President Bill Pritchard, is to provide artists, arts-related groups, festivals, and events promoters with guidelines for applying to the city for financial help. But under the new policy, arts organizations with operating budgets in excess of $1 million are excluded, as well as those that charge admission. | "There is an assumption that ticket sales mean the organization is making a profit or gets most of its money that way, which is not true," says Kevin Indovino, co-chair of Image Out's board of directors. "If ticket sales even amount to 50 percent of the revenue, that is doing exceptionally well for most arts groups." | Pritchard says he plans to review the policy with fellow Council members for possible revisions.
