When you visit a public place like a city park or a downtown square, you usually know right away whether or not the place has a good vibe – if there is energy from people coming together and sharing meaning in a space. The arts play a role in this by helping to build more dynamic, interesting communities where people want to be.
Public art projects can help enhance a city’s public spaces as well as support local artists whose work helps add to the local economy and the overall desirability of a place. For example, artists have been used to create or design park benches, manhole covers, murals, drinking fountains, sculptures, bike racks (as seen around Cincinnati) and other public amenities. These public art projects are often implemented in collaboration between many different city departments – such as parks departments and community development divisions – to incorporate art into projects that are not just aesthetic but sometimes functional.
While the City of Cincinnati has reduced its funding to arts organizations and projects during the economic downturn, I believe that it can find more creative ways to dedicate funds to support arts projects that will benefit the entire community. Specifically, I propose that the City of Cincinnati implement a public art program and explore new potential funding options to support the program.
To fund local arts programs, city governments commonly use sales and property tax allotments or percent-for-art requirements (specifying a percentage of public and/or private development projects that must be used for public art projects). But some cities have found other ways to fund these efforts, for example:
• The City of Toronto in Ontario, Canada passed a law imposing a billboard tax in which the proceeds go to arts funding.
• The city of Wilson, North Carolina uses late fees on utility bills to support local nonprofit organizations, including arts groups.
• In Aspen, Colorado, a real estate transfer tax supports arts and cultural organizations.
• Many cities use other tax revenue to support the arts, including hotel/motel taxes and other tourism-related taxes (e.g., rental cars), gaming taxes, and entertainment taxes (e.g., taxes on sporting tickets or movie tickets).
While not all of these options will work for Cincinnati, the City Council should examine different funding options to help support a public art program. Is there a way that we could use late fees on water bills to fund the program? Could we allocate some funds from parking fees? These are some of the questions that could be explored.
In developing the public art program, the City Council will need to work with the City Planning and Buildings division, Community Development Department, Cincinnati Recreation Commission, Parks Department, Public Services Department, and other divisions that could be involved in public art projects. The Council will also need to gather input from arts administrators and supporters, community leaders, artists and other stakeholders. Although there will be costs involved and time needed to develop the program – including the requirements of the accepted projects, the funding system, and the staffing needs – its impact could be tremendous.
Research has shown that the arts make a significant impact on local economies and communities. But the best way to see the impact of public art projects is to visit the places where public art has been used and see what you find. I bet they are lively and draw you in. Whether it’s a bus shelter or a neighborhood map to the street under your feet, the arts can be used in many different ways in Cincinnati to create a more engaging community.
- Aubrey Shermock
http://www.examiner.com/art-community-in-omaha/arts-trouble-try-billboard-tax-or-art-loans-at-least-a-positive-attitude
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/culturalcontracts/downloads/best_practices.pdf
http://www.plancincinnati.org/documents/working_groups/existing_conditions/AC%20Existing%20Conditions%20Supplement%2010-12-10.pdf
http://www.theartswave.org/about/research-reports
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