Restore the Civic Arts Coordinator position to full-time (1.0 FTE) for FY 2009 and identify sufficient revenue to support the position permanently

Transcription

1 City Council Darryl Moore Councilmember District 2 ACTION CALENDAR March 25, 2008 To: From: Subject: Members of the City Council Councilmember Darryl Moore Mayor Tom Bates Councilmember Laurie Capitelli Councilmember Kriss Worthington Restore the Civic Arts Coordinator position to full-time (1.0 FTE) for FY 2009 and identify sufficient revenue to support the position permanently RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the Mayor s June 2007 Budget Recommendation to: 1) Maintain the Civic Arts Coordinator position at full-time (1.0 FTE) effective FY 2009 and 2) request the City Manager identify a funding source outside of the Public Art Fund in the amount of $60,000 necessary to support the position effective FY 2009 and on a permanent basis thereafter. BACKGROUND: The Civic Arts Coordinator is the only arts professional in the city government and is responsible for the Civic Arts Grant Program, the Public Art Program, marketing Berkeley arts, overseeing the 4 city galleries, overseeing the Public Art Collection worth over 2.5 million, fundraising, technical support, acting as the City s liaison to over 125 Art Leaders in the Berkeley community, managing the Civic Arts office, serving as Secretary to the Civic Arts commission, acting as Project Manager for all facility and arts service contracts, developing the Civic Arts web presence, maintaining the Civic Arts and Public Arts budget and assisting in developing policy for the Arts. The Civic Arts Coordinator helps to nurture the City s 130+ arts non-profits, which not only help to enrich residents quality of life, but also serves as a major economic driver in the form of cultural tourism. It is crucial to the City s arts industry to maintain a full-time the Civic Arts Coordinator, not only to continue serving in the aforementioned capacities, but also to administer and continue to attract grants to the City. Reducing the Civic Arts Coordinator position to half time would indicate to foundations and private donors that the arts are not a city priority and may undermine funding proposals that are currently being considered. It is also 2180 Milvia Street Fifth Floor Berkeley CA TEL: (510) FAX: (510) dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us WEB:

2 recommended that the funds to maintain the Civic Arts Coordinator position as a fulltime position come from a source besides the Public Art Fund because the Public Arts Fund is intended to primarily fund public arts projects rather than personnel costs and administration. Drawing additional administrative costs from the Public Arts Fund would bankrupt the fund, allowing for little or no public arts projects to be funded. Restoring this position to a full-time career position from an alternative funding source would allow the Civic Arts Coordinator to more readily concentrate on administering the Civic Arts and Public Arts programs and other related duties and would satisfy the position s initial and ongoing purpose since its inception. During the budget discussion last year, the Civic Arts Coordinator was encouraged to make significant progress in securing outside funding and resources, and increased promotion of community arts events. Since these discussions, the Civic Arts Coordinator has really bolstered the City s Civic Arts Program by: 1. Partnering with the East Bay Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation to submit a grant to the James Irvine Foundation to support the East Bay Cultural Corridor (attached), which would run over 3 to 5 years and provide $60,000 to promote artists and art organizations. 2. Being selected to serve on the San Francisco Bay Area Grant Makers for the Arts Loan Board, which is made up of the major art program officers of all of the Bay Area s granting foundations. 3. Negotiating with the East Bay Community Foundation about the possibility of donating $100,000 to the City of Berkeley Public Art Program. 4. Assisting the San Francisco Foundation to distribute grants to West Berkeley, which resulted in five separate grants to West Berkeley artists to do community art programs. 5. Helping to conduct the West Berkeley Artist Inventory, which resulted in a square footage measurement for artist studio space in West Berkeley, and has subsequently been asked by the Foundation Art Program Officers of the GrantMakers Loan Board to present to these findings in May FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: $60,000 CONTACT PERSON: Councilmember Darryl Moore, District Two Mayor Tom Bates Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, District Five Councilmember Kriss Worthington, District Seven Attachments: 1 East Bay Cultural Corridor grant proposal 2 Organizational Chart of the Civic Arts Program 3 Arts and Cultural Plan 4 Awards List 5 List of Bay Area Cities with Art Programs 6. How Cities Fund the Arts 7 Published article in League of California Cities State Wide Magazine

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