Arts support doubles; BAC credits community, council

BOULDER — The Boulder Arts Commission (BAC) will receive double its tax support for the current year.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the city council supportive of the arts,´ said Donna Gartenmann, the BAC liaison.

In 1993, the Boulder instituted a tax of 0.15 percent that was earmarked to support community organizations and services. With percentages ranging from 8 percent to 20 percent, Parks and Recreation, Housing and Human Services, and Youth Services took the biggest pieces of the pie. The BAC 4 percent.

In 1998 that tax was due to expire. For the past two years, the BAC has been urging the city to increase its percentage. With charitable donations, the BAC should exceed its 1999 budget of $220,000.

Gartenmann attributed the BAC’s increased tax revenue to the arts community. “They spoke in one, united voice in support of the arts. The city council’s Economic Sustainability Goal Committee also provided a lot of support,” she said.

The BAC recently was awarded a grant from Americans for the Arts that will fund a study on art’s impact on Boulder’s revenue. Such studies are conducted to analyze how various art disciplines bring in visitors and encourage locals to get about town more. The study will cost about $30,000, Gartenmann estimates, and she hopes that it will demonstrate the BAC’s value to Boulder and help it maintain its positive standing with the city council.

“They came up with four goals for the city,” Gartenmann said of the goal committee. “Three were related to the arts. The city council is great.”

This kind of enthusiasm from a city council was a first for the 13-year veteran arts supporter. The goals committee’s first goal is economic stability.

“We’ve been preaching this for years,” Gartenmann said. “The arts do bring in tax dollars.” Even if an event or exhibition is gratis, the arts are profitable for Boulder. Most people attending a play or concert go out to dinner or have coffee out as well. Some even stay overnight if they are traveling from another city.

The second goal, affordable housing, also relates to the arts, or at least to artists. “We’ve been working with the planning department to look at affordable housing such as live/work spaces for artists,” Gartenmann said. “It’s almost impossible for artists to find studio space.” Financially, leasing both a home and a studio is a “double whammy.”

A public art project, the third goal, is directly involved in art. The Canyon Culture Corridor started as a new way of looking at the city. A cultural district usually is a means of revitalizing a stagnant downtown area; however, Boulder’s downtown is thriving, Gartenmann said. This project’s goal is to stimulate the community’s interest in art.

The Cultural Corridor is an area between 8th and 30th streets on Canyon. The dozens of art venues include The Museum of Contemporary Art on 13th Street, the Boulder Theatre on 14th Street, Handmade in Colorado on 10th Street and the Colorado Music Festival office on Spruce Street. The Cultural Corridor also highlights attractions not in the immediate area, such as the Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art on Longbow Drive.

One of the most important aspects of selecting the arts resources that comprise the Cultural Corridor is a public element, a place where people can see a performance, and not a private art class. Gartenmann said, “I’m blown away-there’s so much here. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Boulder’s Hop and Skip public transportation buses will carry advertisements to promote awareness of the Cultural Corridor. “Audience development is a big issue for the Arts Commission,” Gartenmann said.

The BAC will soon launch a revamped site, www.artist.bldr.net. Art lovers will be able to look at any art discipline to check on performance times and locations, sample audio/video clips, see virtual galleries and find out on where to get lessons. For complete audio and video recordings, the Boulder Library keeps copies.

Beyond art’s minimal public interest, another challenge is the need for places to perform and display. Not only the plight of residents and retailers, Boulder’s dearth of space limits the arts. Or, as Gartenmann pointed out, it makes artists apply their creativity.

Performing concerts at churches, for example, has helped out. Church buildings are constructed with musicians and their acoustical needs in mind. Many provide a beautiful and historical setting. They are a part of the community that may be more familiar than a concert hall.

This aspect is important for increasing the number of arts patrons in Boulder and surrounding areas. The BAC has been in Boulder for a long time, but it’s hard to generate new patrons. Our goal to change that, Gartenmann said.

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