Commission To Brush Up On Murals

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

In recent months, some members of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission asked hard questions about their semi-annual dole-out of cash to organizers of local and regional events. For example, they wanted proof it's worthwhile to spend a few thousand tax dollars a year to attract NCAA or SEC athletic events to the University of Arkansas. Those events often draw hundreds of competitors and thousands of spectators to local hotels and restaurants, precisely the reason for existence of the hotel/motel/restaurant tax that supports the commission's efforts.

Commissioners, with Alderman Matthew Petty in the lead, even changed the rules guiding how they hand out money to organizations. The new rules favor start-ups, requiring entities or events that have received money for three years to be put on an "exceptions list" that faces tougher scrutiny by the panel.

What’s The Point?

A proposal to fund murals with Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission funding should meet the standard of being capable of drawing thousands of visitors to town every year.

One could say the commissioners want to provide seed money rather than ongoing operational funding to established events. Another could argue it doesn't matter whether an event is new or established; if it puts heads in beds and posteriors in restaurant chairs, the commission's investment pays off.

Either way, the renewed scrutiny is certainly welcomed. It's good policy to want taxpayer dollars to be efficiently used and evaluated as to their effectiveness in attracting people to Fayetteville.

That's why we hope that higher level of scrutiny continues with Petty's most recent idea, revealed at a recent meeting where the commission had about $86,000 to give out for local events. Petty asked the commissioners not to hand out all the money because he had other plans.

"In the next month or maybe two months I'm going to ask you guys to approve a line-item budget for murals," Petty said.

Murals? As in artwork painted directly on a wall, ceiling or other permanent surface? Are murals supposed to draw more people to Fayetteville's motels, hotels and restaurants than, say, an NCAA indoor track championship?

Petty said murals that might cost around $20,000 could be painted in various public spaces around town. Other commissioners said they liked the idea.

We've long advocated for public art as a way to give communities character, beauty and unique flavor. What's not to love about murals -- like the great local history presented in the mural at Walker Park's handball courts or the now-gone "Lovely Mural" that adorned the old Washington County parking deck.

But, continuing the logic of the commission's most recent scrutiny of its own spending, the annual funding available for local visitor-attracting events and projects should meet a higher standard than just community improvement. It needs to draw people to Fayetteville, and the more the better.

We've seen some great murals, but short of the Sistine Chapel, it's hard to imagine murals drawing big crowds from outside Fayetteville. They're usually added to other features -- parks or buildings -- that might be made more pleasant by their existence, but the murals themselves don't draw hotel occupants or restaurant-goers.

It should be a good discussion when commissioners take up the matter of funding mural. We're just glad to know the funding won't just be handed out because a project feels good, but because it has a proven ability to bring visitors to Fayetteville.

Commentary on 05/20/2014