Why is Charlotte sitting on local art plan as nonprofits, Mecklenburg move ahead?
Charlotte leaders still haven’t decided whether to join a plan to overhaul arts funding.
A year after the Charlotte City Council adopted an “Arts and Culture Plan,” questions remain about the future of arts grants and who will award them. City leaders’ indecisiveness comes as Mecklenburg County and a pair of nonprofits move forward with another plan the city hasn’t firmly committed to.
The city plan approved in November 2023 called for a steady stream of arts money and a new model for how it’s handed out after COVID-19 upended the local arts and culture scene. But it was light on specifics.
A specific-laden plan appeared months later from the Foundation for the Carolinas and the Arts and Science Council, which proposed a new governing board for arts grants, including appointees from the city and the county. The foundation has since formalized its partnership with the ASC. And county commissioners moved forward this week with their first appointments to the new board.
But the Charlotte City Council still hasn’t voted to accept the nonprofits’ model. It’s debated the proposal several times.
City Council member Malcolm Graham, who chairs the committee that voted for the governance model months ago, expressed surprise the full council has yet to make a decision.
“It’s time that we move forward with the thing,” said Graham, who supports the Foundation for the Carolinas’ proposal.
Where did arts plans come from?
Charlotte put a major focus on arts funding after the pandemic cratered private donations and shut down venues.
The city shifted long-standing money typically awarded by the ASC into a three-year “Infusion Fund,” a break with the county and long-standing practices, after voters rejected a referendum for a quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund the arts.
The city also developed an arts plan for the future after hiring an arts and culture officer, Priya Sircar. While the plan didn’t specify a funding request, Sircar said at the time the minimum expected to be needed was $12 million annually. Sircar left the city in September when her contract ended, and she won’t be replaced, city spokesman Lawrence Corley confirmed.
“From the beginning the city never intended to manage arts long term,” he said.
The Foundation for the Carolinas and ASCs’ plan, first announced in April, called for $21 million in annual public funding: $10 million from the county and $11 million from the city. Both matched those levels in their latest budgets.
The nonprofits and the county have made additional progress on their plan.
On Tuesday, county commissioners nominated four people for the new Arts, Science and Cultural Council. That board is intended to include seven county appointees, five city appointees, three foundation appointees and two appointees from a new Arts & Science Council Grants Board.
Charlotte’s economic development committee did vote in favor of the Arts, Science and Cultural Council model in September 4-1, with Council member Tariq Bokhari the only “no” vote.
Since then, council members have debated at two recent meetings whether to join in on the board at all and raised questions about who should be managing arts grants and how much public money should be allocated.
Multiple members shared concerns at September and October meetings about whether the new board is structured fairly, whether it will give the city enough control over city money and if the plan does enough to support equity and diversity in the arts. Some also questioned the administrative fees the foundation would collect.
“I have a fundamental issue with the way we’re setting this up,” council member Victoria Watlington said at an Oct. 14 meeting.
What’s next for Charlotte’s arts plan?
Asked for an updated timeline on when the City Council will vote on arts governance and funding, Corley directed the Observer to the council’s Oct. 14 meeting.
“Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte and other stakeholders including the Foundation for the Carolinas and the ASC will work to determine the future governance and funding models,” he said.
Council members discussed arts funding during that October meeting but did not vote on any related measures. A slideshow presented by staff at the Oct. 14 meeting indicated the council could vote on the governance structure Oct. 28. But no arts-related items were on the council’s Oct. 28 agenda.
Graham said he’d like to see a vote “sooner rather than later.”
“We need to ensure that the arts, at least from a governance perspective, is finalized,” he said.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
