The Hospitality Suite

This mornings email blast from the Colorado Council on the Arts (CCA) contained disturbing news about anticipated stimulus grants. We should be very concerned that 1) only a handful of employers are even eligible to apply for these funds, and 2) if utilized, may only enhance a travel getaway for musicians who summer in Colorado.

The opening paragraph was very promising: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 (”Recovery Act”) recognizes that the nonprofit arts industry is an important sector of the economy. The National Endowment for the Arts is uniquely positioned to fund arts projects and activities that preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn. As part of this important investment, the Arts Endowment has designed a plan to expedite distribution of critical funds for the national, regional, state, and local levels for projects that focus on the preservation of jobs in the arts.

I’m a supporter of the stimulus bill and also the NEA. But like most Americans, I want to know how federal stimulus funds will be disbursed in my industry … how will these funds affect my community?

The CCA email continued: “the National Endowment for the Arts has announced a deadline of April 2 for direct one-time grants to eligible nonprofit organizations as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Applicants for these grants must be previous NEA award recipients from the past four years. A list of Colorado applicants eligible to apply for direct NEA funding is included below:”

Arvada Council for the Arts and Humanities, Inc., Arvada CO

Aspen Ballet Company & School, Aspen CO

Independent Films, Inc., Aspen CO

Music Associates of Aspen, Inc., Aspen CO

Boulder County Arts Alliance, Boulder CO

Colorado Music Festival, Boulder CO

Frequent Flyers Productions, Inc., Boulder CO

International Tap Association, Boulder CO

Naropa University, Boulder CO

Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, Boulder CO

National Repertory Orchestra, Inc., Breckenridge CO

Colorado College, Colorado Springs CO

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs CO

Sprinkle Art Inc., Colorado Springs CO

City of Delta, Colorado, Delta CO

Central City Opera House Association, Denver CO

Clyfford Still Museum, Denver CO

Colorado Ballet Company, Denver CO

Colorado Council on the Arts, Denver CO

Colorado Symphony Association, Denver CO

Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver CO

Denver Film Society, Denver CO

Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, Denver CO

International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, Inc., Denver CO

New Dance Theatre, Inc., Denver CO

PlatteForum, Denver CO

Su Teatro, Denver CO

University of Denver, Denver CO

Western States Arts Federation, Denver CO

Fort Lewis College, Durango CO

National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Erie CO

Arts Alive Fort Collins, Fort Collins CO

City of Fort Collins, Colorado, Fort Collins CO

Fort Collins Museum Foundation, Fort Collins CO

Art Mobile of Montana, Grand Junction CO

University of Northern Colorado, Greeley CO

City of Lakewood, Colorado, Lakewood CO

City of Littleton, Colorado, Littleton CO

Littleton Center for Cultural Arts Foundation, Littleton CO

Anderson Ranch Arts Foundation, Snowmass Village CO

Emerald City Opera, Steamboat Spring CO

Bravo! Colorado at Vail-Beaver Creek, Vail CO

Among the three employers of musicians, Colorado Music Festival and Bravo! Colorado at Vail operate as summer festivals that import musicians at significant public expense. Consider qualifying criteria of each:

The Colorado Music Festival (Boulder, CO) offers a base bay of approximately $270/week (4 rehearsals and 2 concerts), which is well below prevailing wage in this industry. Directly relevant to this discussion is the fact that cost of living in Boulder is higher than in three of the five burroughs of New York City.

The statute specifically states: “Compensate all professional performers and related or supporting professional personnel on Arts Endowment-supported projects at no less than the prevailing minimum compensation.”

In my view the Colorado Music Festival was ineligible to apply for NEA funding initially, and therefore has no place on a short list of employers eligible for stimulus funds.

I strongly advise that CMF does not apply.

Bravo! Colorado at Vail-Beaver Creek is a product of philanthropic largesse. The Summer ‘09 festival will feature the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic as orchestras in-residence. They’re invited back because they bring extraordinary levels of funding to the table. Simply put, this is pay to play.

Importing three major orchestras for the exclusive benefit to one of the wealthiest communities in the world is certainly defendable as a commercial venture, but not when drawing on scarce pubic funding such as the NEA or the CCA. The prerequisite as stated by the NEA is “to fund arts projects and activities that preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn.”

Let’s accept for a moment that Bravo! experienced a decline in contributions. The Vail community can still satisy their ‘discriminating’ musical taste by importing just two ensembles. And, they can just as easily take the family for a short drive to experience and support a wealth of entertainment and artistic offerings that exist in their own regional community. Their recreation-based economy would suffer greatly if not for large numbers of Colorado residents who support them.

Similarly, I strongly advise that the Bravo Festival does not apply.

President Obama has assured transparency with this program so the public can follow and track how these dollars are spent and review jobs created. I anxiously await the report.

Pete Vriesenga

Pete Vriesenga Legislative, Local Discussion, National Discussion, Pete Vriesenga, Symphonic/Classical