Fayetteville arts council endorses arts coordinator position

File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Artist Bumblebee of Los Angeles paints a mural July 24 at the Town Center parking garage in Fayetteville. The city's Arts Council is exploring ways to create an arts and culture coordinator position.
File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Artist Bumblebee of Los Angeles paints a mural July 24 at the Town Center parking garage in Fayetteville. The city's Arts Council is exploring ways to create an arts and culture coordinator position.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The city should include a position on next year's budget to serve as an intermediary on the cultural arts corridor project between designers, contractors, administrators and the public, the resident-led arts council decided Wednesday.

The City Council held its annual budget workshop Saturday and formally took up the $187.5 million operating budget Tuesday. Council members tabled adoption of the budget until Dec. 3 so the city's arts council could discuss the possibility of recommending a new position.

Council member Sarah Marsh during Saturday's workshop introduced the prospect of creating an arts and culture coordinator position on city staff. The person would have experience working in the arts professionally, and serve as a decision-maker for aspects of the project outside the scope of construction.

Duties could include implementing art-related action items from past city plans, pursuing grants and donations, and tracking art-related goals for the project, Marsh said.

Voters approved creation of the cultural arts corridor by passing a $31 million bond issue in April. The project will turn the Walton Arts Center parking lot into a civic green space and improve West Avenue and the Razorback Greenway. Turning the Fay Jones woods next to the library into a nature attraction also is part of the project.

Marsh said there was a lack of arts and culture-related objectives associated with the project from the beginning. The project so far has been about a park area with no emphasis on the local creative arts economy, she said.

"I think what we need at this point in the process is to say yes, this is something that's critical to the success of our arts and culture initiatives," Marsh said. "We need to find some money for it."

Marsh likened the role to that of a producer. She suggested the position fall under the city's economic vitality department.

Molly Rawn, executive director of Experience Fayetteville, said it was her understanding an organization such as a downtown association or nonprofit group will manage the arts corridor after it's built. There would be a point person for that organization, she said.

Experience Fayetteville has partnered with the city to help plan programming, marketing, operations and maintenance at the corridor. Rawn said the duties are broad, not to the point of scheduling events but to ensure designs will meet potential needs.

Rawn cautioned against creating a position without money for the person to use to do the job.

Marsh said the position likely would end up paying for itself. She suggested temporarily paying for it for two years from somewhere in the budget, and then working to find a sustainable source of revenue thereafter.

The council during Saturday's workshop discussed using $210,000 from the city's parking fund to pay for the position. Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker said there's no guarantee the money will always be there. He suggested hiring someone on a contractual basis for a set amount of time, if the council were to go that route.

The city's general fund is projected to have an $1.2 million deficit. Administrators anticipated having a deficit and using reserve money for a few years until sales-tax revenue growth catches up to the cost of employee raises, particularly for police and fire.

The arts council voted 6-2 to recommend creating the position. Chairman Bob Stafford said with so many entities and moving parts, the project would benefit from having someone whose sole job is to serve as central coordinator.

"We're at this point where all these things are happening at once, and we've got all these groups working on these things," he said. "There are a lot of parallel conversations, and we need to start making more cross-links."

Nick Zazal, who was one of the no votes, said the project isn't in a position yet financially or logistically for the new role to be successful.

"I'm not saying we don't get there," he said. "I'm just saying I don't know that's where we are at the moment."

NW News on 11/21/2019

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