Sedona AZ (July 17, 2013) – On Wednesday, May 29th, in a special meeting the City Council voted 4 to 3 to eliminate the Sedona Arts and Culture commission and the Art in Public Places Committee (as well as, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Parks and Recreation commission, the budget oversight commission, the housing commission and the sustainability commission and committees).
They did this because, according to the City staff, the commissions required too much time, had a silo effect (the commissions did not communicate with each other) and they wanted to reduce the budget. The staff proposed eliminating the commissions, and hiring a part time Art & Culture Coordinator ( Requiring a High School Degree to manage Arts Education, the Mayors Arts Awards, Art in Public Places, 1% for arts program) and a part time volunteer Coordinator (to set up a volunteer pool of citizens for task force projects). Unless a re-vote occurs, This decision will go into effect on August 1st,.
Normally a City stably sits on three legs: The City Council who decides policy, and guides the direction of the City; The City manager and staff who engage in the daily work of running the City and following the council’s direction; and the Citizen Volunteer Commissions and Committees, who willingly and without pay, work for the city, and give the City Council and Staff feedback as to what the Citizens want in the City, and what is important for a city to have. By knocking out this citizen leg, they are knocking out citizen feed back and input.
If you love your city and want to see it flourish as an arts Community, we all need to take a stand here. We could together inspire some creative thinking in regard to this issue. Just getting back the commissions is not enough, a new proposal with city councilors, staff and citizens input needs to occur.
On July 18th, at 6:00pm at the Sedona Public Library The mayor and City Council invite the public to speak to how they feel about this decision. As a believer in the importance of a city animated by the Arts and having an Art Commission, I ask you to come and speak to this issue. It is important that we show up at this meeting and let the council know how we all feel. For those of you that are heads of a 501c3, you can speak to this issue as an individual, not a director. Since many people are on vacation in the summer, if you cannot come to this meeting, you could write a letter or email to the council. Their address is City Council, 102 Roadrunner Drive, Sedona, AZ 86336.
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4 Comments
My name is Sharron Porter. I am an artist and educator, and I have lived in the Village of Oak Creek for a mere three years.
During this time, however, I have become well-acquainted with the arts here in Sedona. I am an active member of the visual art community, being the Vice-President of SAGA (Sedona Area Guild of Artists), a member and former board member of the Sedona Visual Artists’ Coalition, Sedona Art Center member and supporter, an exhibiting, award-winning painter, and an artist mentor in the schools though SVAC and Gardens for Humanity. I also have had the privilege of being among a select group of individuals trying to build an art museum for our city (see sedonaartmuseum.org).
I moved here because of Sedona’s beauty and its reputation as a vibrant arts town. I am slowly becoming disenchanted. I attended last night’s meeting at the library, and was never given an opportunity to speak. So much was left unsaid by so many!
I wanted to speak about the fact that so many towns smaller than Sedona have one or more art museums, and that they are funded, if not totally supported by, the town/city itself. My husband and I stopped in Yuma last week on our way to San Diego (to go to the art museums there), and we saw the most wonderful Yuma Art Center, replete with immense gallery spaces(with art that wasn’t just for tourists), classrooms, a ceramic studio, a theater and gift shops, all under one roof! We talked with the director there, who told us that the city had built the space; it is artist-run and well-attended by the community as well as by tourists.
This is a story I have heard in many, many places- Mesa; Taos; Wickenburg; Prescott; Bowling Green,KY; towns all across Illinois, Florida- just to mention some. In Balboa Park, San Diego has donated its Spanish Village for Art Studios (6 art guilds, 37 galleries total, over 90 artists displayed). And it has been to the all the towns’ advantages economically. We know this. So why don’t our City Council members want to keep looking at this idea? Why is every challenge an excuse to not keep working toward the goal of “a city illuminated by the arts?” Right now, things are looking pretty dim!
It seems the new plan (?) is basically “every man/woman/organization for itself- first come- first served” and we have a whopping $150,000 to spread out among all of you. On your mark!
Artists don’t want to spend all their time running things; they would rather spend time expressing themselves through their various art forms and sharing their work with others. The disbanding of our art commissions , however, calls for serious action on the part of all of us who work and live here. We need to get together SOON, and let the city council members know they are not serving us well!
Sharron, well written. Suggest you send to all of the council and to the Mayor.
Sedona is losing its reputation as an arts destination. We must promote the arts and artists to restore our position. These actions of part of the Council would diminish rather than create a positive climate for growth and development.
I went to the arts and culture meeting at the SPL on Thursday evening as well, and was delighted to see the overflow crowd. After the first 30 minutes of updates on related topics, the remaining hour (plus an extension of time) was constant comments from the audience, with surpising cheers and applause constaintly.
I did learn the next morning that the commission vote is now being re-visited, based on that evening.