Hampton Branch Library
Austin Arts at Real Risk
RECEIVED Sun., Oct. 27, 2024
Dear Editor,
Recent changes to Austin’s arts funding grants don’t just “disrupt the city’s cultural ecosystem” ("City Arts Funding Skipped Established Arts Organizations. Will They Survive?" News, Oct. 25). They threaten to destroy it. Those responsible should be held to account. Questions to be asked include: Who decided to hire “Atlanta-based consultants MJR partners,” an entity that largely seems to consist of a single individual and whose minimal website lacks phone number, address, and any substantive information about former clients, projects, or any of its partners. How did the city end up with a funding process that is opaque, results in factual errors, and emphasizes the diversity of arts management at the expense of the actual communities being served? How did the city Arts Commission not know how the funding process was being implemented before critical decisions were made? Why were the decisions of city staffers not better monitored and reviewed? Should the funding process be overhauled now while emergency funding is provided to organizations unfairly excluded?
Austin’s status as a haven for the arts is deeply threatened. Institutions like the Hyde Park Theatre and the Vortex – which has hosted so many remarkable performances and run so many successful programs for the actual Austin community – may be shuttered. Will arts landmarks turn into yet more targets for property developers? Many scrappy little arts organizations that have run for years may disappear: Diverse Space Youth Dance Theatre is just one example – a tiny entity that has provided training, stipends, and performance opportunities to young dancers for over a decade on a shoestring budget, while hiring Austin musicians to play live original music by local composers, but whose existence is now at serious risk.
New artists and genuine innovation unquestionably deserve funding. But what a pity if established organizations that have been true gems in the Violet Crown disappear while city funds have been unwisely squandered on the very process that is wreaking such havoc.
Recent changes to Austin’s arts funding grants don’t just “disrupt the city’s cultural ecosystem” ("City Arts Funding Skipped Established Arts Organizations. Will They Survive?" News, Oct. 25). They threaten to destroy it. Those responsible should be held to account. Questions to be asked include: Who decided to hire “Atlanta-based consultants MJR partners,” an entity that largely seems to consist of a single individual and whose minimal website lacks phone number, address, and any substantive information about former clients, projects, or any of its partners. How did the city end up with a funding process that is opaque, results in factual errors, and emphasizes the diversity of arts management at the expense of the actual communities being served? How did the city Arts Commission not know how the funding process was being implemented before critical decisions were made? Why were the decisions of city staffers not better monitored and reviewed? Should the funding process be overhauled now while emergency funding is provided to organizations unfairly excluded?
Austin’s status as a haven for the arts is deeply threatened. Institutions like the Hyde Park Theatre and the Vortex – which has hosted so many remarkable performances and run so many successful programs for the actual Austin community – may be shuttered. Will arts landmarks turn into yet more targets for property developers? Many scrappy little arts organizations that have run for years may disappear: Diverse Space Youth Dance Theatre is just one example – a tiny entity that has provided training, stipends, and performance opportunities to young dancers for over a decade on a shoestring budget, while hiring Austin musicians to play live original music by local composers, but whose existence is now at serious risk.
New artists and genuine innovation unquestionably deserve funding. But what a pity if established organizations that have been true gems in the Violet Crown disappear while city funds have been unwisely squandered on the very process that is wreaking such havoc.
Hilary Sheard