Research News

Artful Funding
Although many citizens feel that the arts play a vital cultural role in their community, there is no consensus on the role county government should play in funding these projects. So, when budgets are tight and revenues are down, many county governments look first to the arts, and parks and recreation for budget cuts. This leaves many arts supporters scrambling for innovative funding mechanisms.

This column will highlight two arts programs that have been particularly successful in finding funding by targeting their projects for special populations, using private donations and requesting transportation funding.

The Tucson-Pima County, Ariz. program called "Artworks" is an excellent example of an innovative program that accomplishes several goals. Through a summer job-training program, launched in 1993, Artworks provides basic curriculum and work skills to at-risk adolescents, while at the same time producing a project that benefits the community where these young people live.

This past summer, 10 participants constructed "Lazy Lizards," a picnic table, trail head marker for Pusch Wash Trail in Oro Valley, Ariz. The project was designed by sculptor Amy Novelli Pesqueira and is one of 12 completed during the summer of 1997.

To add even more value for participants and the community, photographs of the completed project were reproduced as postcards. These postcards, which are currently for sale, list the names of the young people who participated in the project.

As is the case with most Artworks projects, the Tucson-Pima County Arts Council worked with the community to identify a project, site and youths for the project. The Arts Council also recruits artist-instructors, provides supplies, and oversight and coordinates the dedication celebration for the completed project.

The "Lazy Lizards" project was also one of five projects that were funded through a $143,647 State of Arizona ISTEA grant for transportation markers.

The ISTEA funds paid salaries for the artist and youths and paid for materials and installation costs. For additional information, contact Dian Magie, executive director of the Tucson-Pima Arts Council: 520/624-0595.

Metro-Dade County, Fla. also has a very successful program called "Art in Public Places." Through this program, the county has completed several very successful activities funded by non/traditional sources.

The Ninth Street Pedestrian Mall is a local project that was financed with transportation funds obtained by the Metro-Dade Transit Agency and built on land acquired by the Department of Facilities and Development Management. The County Public Works Department managed design and construction.

The design for the Ninth Street Pedestrian Mall, which is located in the Historic Overtown community, was a collaboration between an artist, architect and the county and city departments. The goal was to design a linkage for a metro transit station and a formerly disenfranchised inner city neighborhood.

The project was specifically undertaken with the aim of reinventing public space to create a monument exploring the African American historical identity of the area. It used a community advisory panel and information obtained from the Black Archives Research Foundation. The important events and moments worthy of commemorating that were discovered through the research were incorporated into the artist's design for the mall.

Through this cooperative effort between the Dade County Arts in Public Places and the Metro-Dade Transit Authority, a formerly isolated, but culturally rich, community was connected to the downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

For additional information about this program and arts funding, contact Vivian Donnell Rodriguez, executive director, Metro-Dade Art in Public Places: 305/375-5362.

(Research News was written by Jacqueline Byers, research director.)