Tag: DC Advocates for the Arts

A Significant Increase in D.C. Arts Commission Funding? Not Exactly.

by Jonathan Fischer

Mayor Vince Gray‘s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 dropped today, and on first glance, arts boosters might be pleased with what they see: an increase to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to $7,635,142 from $4,798,246. Unfortunately for them, the boost is not what it seems.

For the current fiscal year, the arts commission divvied up a piddly $3.7 million in arts grants, splitting the money between more than 200 organizations and individual artists. Compare this to nearly $14 million, the amount the commission handed out in fiscal year 2009, before the first of several slashes to its budget.

Alas, the bulk, $2.5 million, of the fiscal year 2013 increase represents a transfer of a federal program, the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs grants, that already funds a number of medium and large D.C. arts organizations, like Dance Place, Arena Stage, and the Kennedy Center. NCACA has shrunk in recent years—to the point that Arena postponed a production in its season in anticipation of more cuts. President Barack Obama‘s proposed federal budget suggests moving the diminished program, currently administered by the federal Commission on Fine Arts,  to D.C. control.

If the transfer happens—and amid Congress’ testy budget deliberations, it may not—the additional $2,500,000 could conceivably aid more D.C.  groups. Right now, only off-the-National-Mall D.C. arts groups that raise at least $1 million a year for three years qualify for the grants. The funds are distributed according to a formula, not based on merit. But Lionell Thomas, the executive director of the arts commission, says that if the transfer goes through, his organization might ditch the current funding model in favor of a panel-review process similar to how commission grants are currently administered. The NCACA dollars would remain within a separate funding category, he says, although the qualifying criteria could change.

Take away the anticipated federal transfer, and that leaves $5,135,142 in city funds and other federal dollars—a smidgen more than last year’s approved budget. The increase to the D.C. arts commission includes funding for two new full-time employees—an arts program specialist within the arts commission and an executive director for the Lincoln Theatre. Late last year, the commission took over the troubled U Street NW venue. The executive director position is part of $350,000 within the commission’s budget that will cover the Lincoln’s operational costs. (The mayor’s budget also includes $1 million for capital improvements to the theater.)

There will probably be no increase in grant funding, Thomas said, adding that he supports the mayor’s budget—and that he was pleased the arts commission didn’t see any cuts this year.

Still, level funding is disappointing news to the local arts groups that lobbied over the past several months for an increase in the arts commission’s grant pool. “The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities cannot maintain arts service in all eight wards with one quarter of the funding it had three years ago,” writes Rob Bettmann, a local dancer and the advocacy chair of D.C. Advocates for the Arts, a group that helped lead a recent day of lobbying for increased arts funding. “I’m very disappointed by what we’re seeing today.”

Elsewhere, the Office of Motion Picture and Television Development got an increase of about $143,000, to $869,450 and the Office of Cable Television got an increase of $67,000, to $8,591,720.

Original Publication URL: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2012/03/23/a-significant-increase-in-d-c-arts-commission-funding-not-exactly/

D.C. arts advocates tell city that every dollar counts

By Maura Judkis

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities yesterday released its FY2011 list of grantees, with funds going to arts groups large (Shakespeare Theatre, National Building Museum) and small (Nicole Aguirre for Worn Magazine, School Sculptures with Kevin Reese). It’s a long list, but Rob Bettmann, chair of the D.C. Advocates for the Arts, wishes it could be a little longer and a lot more flush with cash. Bettmann and his board work to increase public funding for the arts, but working on a shoestring budget themselves, they’ve found a cost-free way to show the DCCAH the impact of their grants: Social media

“The strategy in these difficult economic times was, spread the money more broadly in order to have the biggest impact possible,” says Bettmann.

This means that there are many grants awarded, but often for less than what the grantee applied for. But even those small grants are in danger, says Bettmann, because arts funding is considered to be an “easy cut.”

“They think it doesn’t have an impact,” he says.

Bettmann has created a Facebook group called “D.C. Commission Grantees” and has posted a request that members post what their grant means to them. “We are trying to find a few examples to show what 2k, 5k, 7k, 12k etc in DCCAH grants returns to the city. If you’re a good example — please share it here.”

Some of this year’s grantees who have previously received city funding have already posted about the difference that just a few thousand dollars can make.

“Artists from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s “Shakespeare Steps Out” program and DC students have explored Shakespeare’s plays through hands-on activities, games, and performance that bring Will’s words and world alive … for our community’s youngest learners. It couldn’t have happened without DCCAH grants,” says Garland Scott, for the Folger Shakespeare Library, which is the recipient of 2011 funding. Katherine Jordan, the recipient of a Young Artist Grant for next year, posted that she premiered her new trio, “Charged Intuition” at the Eureka Dance Festival thanks to the DCCAH.

Bettmann and his board will continue to work with the city, especially in the coming months as the new mayor determines the budget.

“If we don’t make a strong case for the impact of every dollar, they think they can just keep cutting,” says Bettmann.

Original Publication URL: http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/2011/01/d-c-arts-advocates-tell-city-that-every-dollar-counts-6802.html

Rob Bettman Has Some New Ideas

by Ellyn Weiss for Pinkline Project

This is a story about a guy who does a whole lot of things and does them all well and about his newest project to create an evening-length dance in and of the community.

To begin: if you are an artist or a lover of art, Rob Bettmann has been working for you and it’s quite likely that you don’t know it. As Chair of DC Advocates for the Arts, Rob is the guy who pays attention to the arcana of legislation-speak that makes most of us feverish, and  spreads the news when the DC Council (or the U.S. Congress, for that matter) is considering something that is good or, in mist cases, bad for artists. He is the one – sometimes the only one – who shows up at the council hearings to speak for all of us. When the city was considering last year’s Healthy Schools Act he was there trying to make sure that dance was included as a P.E. offering for DCPS students, and when the Development Committee is discussing job training programs he is the one in the meetings arguing that arts administration training should be included.

Rob’s heart begins in the dance world; his pedigree includes the Alvin Ailey School, an MFA in dance from AU and two Young Emerging Artist grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He has danced with companies around the country and in 2009, he founded Bettmann Dances as a vehicle to develop his ideas in our community with local dancers. The company’s first full-length work, All Good Men, produced in 2009, was nominated for an award from the DC Commission.

In 2005, Rob started the arts magazine Bourgeon, now BourgeonOnline, www.bourgeononline.com, a journal that has carved a niche for artists in all kinds of visual and performing media to speak to each other and the public.

Now Rob is trying something new, or several somethings new at the same time. First, he has conceived an idea to develop an evening-length dance based on the theme of security in our post-9/11, post-Wall Street collapse world. The project is called Quis Custodiet – who will watch the watchers? (You may note that Rob has a penchant for meaningful but somewhat opaque titles.) Full disclosure: I serve on the Board of Day Eight, the new non-profit set up to oversee both Bettman Dances and Bourgeon)

Security is a concept that one rarely considered even a decade ago, in those innocent days before the creation of the colossal Homeland Security Department. Now, particularly in this city where even the most insignificant federal installation features visible armed guards, the issue is unavoidable. Quis custodiet will look at questions like: who decides what security requires, what does it actually mean in our personal lives, what does it cost us and other communities?

Second, the dance will be developed through free community workshops and one member of the community will be selected to join the group performing the dance in a number of East Coast cities. Tim Tate (no introduction needed) and Chanan Delivuk, a GW professor and multi-media artist, are doing video and set design for the project.

Third, Rob is trying to raise the funds needed to pull this off through Kickstarter, an Internet site established to bring creative and ambitious ideas to the online marketplace. If selected (and Quis Custodiet has been), the artist sets a goal – in this case, $4700, and a timeline for reaching it. If the goal is reached or exceeded, the online pledges are called and the money goes to the artist; if not, the money is never collected from the donors. The “all or nothing” aspect of Kickstarter is unique and, as you can imagine, quite anxiety-inducing. The deadline is Sunday, September 26. Stay tuned for results.

by Ellyn Weiss

Original Publication URL: http://pinklineproject.com/article/rob-bettman-has-some-new-ideas