Category: Art

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/

THE 3-MINUTE INTERVIEW: Robert Bettmann

by Emily Babay, Washington Examiner

Bettmann is the choreographer for “Quis Custodiet,” a security-themed dance his company produced to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

What is “Quis Custodiet”? “Quis Custodiet” is the title of the dance my company, Bettmann Dances, will premiere Sept. 2. The title was drawn from an old Greek phrase, Quis Custodet ipsus custodiet, which means “who shall watch the watchers themselves.”

How can you explore security through dance? As a choreographer I’ve made a number of choices picking the stories and relationships that highlight what I think are the most interesting aspects of security since 9/11. In one section, for instance, we retell Bible stories. In the Adam and Eve story, the video projections help place that story in the context of Julian Assange and “information is dangerous.” In another section of the dance, we physically explore limitation based on the preparation to strike. With my arm raised prepared to hit you, my body is limited, and I’ve created some dance developed from that pretty simple physical exploration.

How did you get the idea for this performance? I’ve been thinking about security a lot over the last decade. Are we making the right choices in pursuing security? Is the government making the right choices for us? … Security is not an infinite good. It’s inherently limited. I think we make decisions in emergencies that might not be the best long-term decisions, and I think now, on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, it’s an opportunity to remember. Security is critically important, and balance is important, too.

What challenges did you face in choreographing “Quis Custodiet”? The biggest challenge is finding the time. I started dancing in college and even though I danced professionally, that’s not how I earn my living now.

Where will it be performed? We’ll be at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW, at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2.

– Emily Babay

Original Publication URL: http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/117898#.UGWx-hg1YiU

Why Don’t Mary Cheh or Tommy Wells Support $10 Million for DC Arts?

Last week, arts advocates visited with District of Columbia City Council members to learn which policy-makers support an increase in arts funding within D.C’s FY 13 budget. Some members went on the record supporting a $10 million dollar (plus) funding level for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and several others, including Council-members Cheh and Wells, refused to take a position, stating that until the new budget was created, they couldn’t know the right number. Charles Allen, Chief of Staff for Ward Six Council-member (and arts supporter) Tommy Wells asked advocates to clarify why the ask was for $10 million, instead of $11 million. Government funding is critically important to local artists and arts organizations, but how much arts funding is the right amount of arts funding?

Two recent news stories highlight a common misunderstanding about U.S. government arts spending. Journalist Carl Franzen’s Talking Points Memo interview with online fundraising website co-founder Yancey Strickler stimulated conversation last week because of Strickler’s assertion that his site, Kickstarter.com, may distribute more money to the arts this coming year than the National Endowment for the Arts. Franzen quotes Strickler saying, “maybe it shouldn’t be that way… maybe there’s a reason for the state to strongly support the arts.”

The U.S. arts system is designed to be powered by the private sector, not the government, and Strickler’s website, which crowd-sources small donors, is an example of the rise of online game-influenced fundraising, not weak state support. The National Endowment for the Arts’ 2009 publication How is NEA Money Distributed affirms, “In contrast to the European models, the U.S. system of arts support is complex, decentralized, diverse, and dynamic… [In 2004] only about 13 percent of arts support in the U.S. came from the government… of which less than 1 percent came from the National Endowment for the Arts.” NEA funding is, by design, less than one percent of the total arts funding ecosystem.

One core arts support in the U.S. model is the non-profit tax deduction, created within the War Revenue Act of 1917. The most important part of the Act, when it was written, was a set of massive income tax increases. For example, individuals earning $100,000 of taxable income in 1917 saw their tax rate jump 22% (to 31%), while those reporting $1,000,000 in income saw a 50% hike, to 65%. According to an Internal Revenue Service history, the deduction “was conceived as a way to encourage charitable contributions at a time when income tax rates were rising in order to fund World War I.” When the wartime tax rates were rescinded the non-profit deduction stuck, and in 1936 corporations were additionally granted the deduction.

A January 25, 2012 New York Times story on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns asserted that Mitt’s taxes display, “the array of perfectly ordinary ways in which the United States tax code confers advantages on the rich.” Even some Conservatives were concerned about his overall tax rate of 15%, with an example article titled, “Do Romney Tax Returns Reveal Problems in America’s Tax Code?” The non-profit tax deduction is just one of the deductions the Romney’s used to reduce their tax burden, but it was a significant one.

A few months ago President Obama riled up non-profit supporters with a proposal to limit the charitable tax deduction for families earning over $250,000 a year. A Washington Post article reported that Obama’s proposal would, “limit those individuals to writing off 28 percent of their itemized deductions, down from 35 percent…. wealthier donors would save $2,800 in taxes on a $10,000 charitable contribution, instead of the $3,500 allowed under current law…. While such a change could cut donations to all kinds of charities — from food banks to homeless shelters to health clinics — arts groups are feeling especially vulnerable these days.” Of course anything that might reduce donations makes non-profits uneasy.

Government funding is a pittance within the overall arts economy, but especially in today’s economy, it’s a very important and powerful pittance. What is the right amount of government arts funding at the Federal, State, and Local level? There is no absolute answer, but on DC’s Arts Advocacy Day, March 14, 2012, the Local answer is: $10 million dollars. Government arts support in D.C. has been cut 69.88% from FY 09 to FY 12, and with a total DC budget last year over $11 billion dollars, as a percentage, funding for the arts was less than one half of .1 percent (0.034%.) A community petition to increase DC arts support to $10 million for FY 13 is live right now, and currently has over four hundred signatories.

Image from The Washington Post’s blog Capitol Voices; This blog post originally published on the Huffington Post here.