During the 79th winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced the NEA Mayor’s Institute on City Design 25th Anniversary Initiative (MICD 25). This funding program would award 15 grants—from $25,000 to $250,000—to cities for projects and programs that maintain design standards to promote businesses and jobs. MICD, which was founded in 1986, is a partnership between the NEA, the USCM, and the American Architectural Foundation. It helps “transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities,” primarily through sessions that engage mayors and prominent design experts in solving urban design challenges.
The grants can be used to support any phase of the project—planning, development, design, implementation, or any other related arts process. Only cities that have had mayors go through MICD are eligible for a grant. This totals about 600 cities. The NEA will be looking for cities that create partnerships between multiple sectors—projects that engage arts organizations, design professionals, business owners, community foundations, developers, and more. They will fund planning projects, design projects, and revitalization initiatives.
Here’s a policy example that unites federal agencies with local governments, the private sector, and the voluntary sector. The NEA infuses dollars into the chosen projects while the cities that receive these grants commit large amounts of city dollars that essentially will promote the arts through city design. Landesman said, “Our intention is ambitious, but simple. We will start in a few selected communities where we can make a real difference, and find ways that federal agencies, in conjunction with significant private sector commitment, can build complete communities using the arts as a fulcrum.”
He used an example of how a city with an affordable artists housing project might get to consult with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Perhaps, the city of Cincinnati should consider my proposal for affordable live/work housing for artists and pursue a MICD 25 grant to support the initiative. Affordable artist housing or other projects could serve the purpose of the Revitalization of Over-the-Rhine or other government initiatives. Mayor Mark Mallory attended the 2006 MICD session in Charleston, SC thus making Cincinnati eligible for an MICD 25 grant.
It’s unfortunate that members of the Republican Study Committee do not value the importance of the arts and have proposed to eliminate the NEA. Initiatives like MICD 25 are clearly valuable. The economic, physical, and social effects this initiative will have on cities across the country will be vast. It promotes “diverse, sustainable, and livable communities,” which I think most people can value.
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Even if there is no intrinsic value for "diverse, sustainable, and livable communities," there's still the monetary value that stems from people wanting to live somewhere. Property taxes increase. The better a neighborhood the more people want to live there. The creation of demand can increase prices. Local economies get stronger because more people are coming through the area. Come on, Republicans! If money can't speak to you, what can?!
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