OpenStage
Co-founder Denise Burson-Freestone is fond of saying artists are the
largest sector of philanthropists in our community because they give
their time and their work away for free.
What artist or entertainer in Northern Colorado hasn’t been asked to donate something to a silent auction or perform for free at an event? And the return they are offered for this investment is the unholy grail of EXPOSURE!
Now I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but artists don’t need EXPOSURE! They need healthy bank accounts.
Local artist and Beet Street Board Member Amelia Caruso says she’s not just pissed at the organizations asking for freebies: Others are equally culpable, starting with the institutions and non-profits that see how well art sells, so they put on fundraiser auctions with the promise of EXPOSURE!
“That’s an insult,” says Amelia. These organizations pay for the food. They pay for the staff to run the event. They pay the art buyers by giving them a tax write-off. The only person that gets nothing is the artist or performer.”
The second group that irritates Amelia is the “gleaners.”
These people go to fundraisers and buy artwork for sometimes less than a quarter of the original price. Those profiting from the event have no investment in the artist so, even though the artist asks them not to sell their work for less than a specific price, they sell it at a lower price to get what they can.
Amelia recalls gleaners who have said to her face they collect her work, yet have never bought anything directly from her or her galleries.
The third group pissing Amelia off is the artists and entertainers themselves. “Why do they continue to donate like this?” she asks. “Why do they continue to devalue not only their work but everyone else’s in town.”
Why would anyone buy art at regular prices when they can find quality artwork at a price lower than it costs the artist to make it?
Amelia says, “Artists don’t understand how to value their work. If you can’t explain to someone how to properly price your work, then how can you demand that price and expect respect for that price?
Value and respect is what this is all about, according to Amelia.
Toolbox Creative Co-founder Dawn Putney experienced much of the same attitude during discussions with the Downtown Development Authority regarding the Old Town renovation.
The DDA approached Dawn’s ArtLab organization requesting artists and performers assist in drawing shoppers to Old Town during the renovation process by performing or creating their art in public.
When the topic of paying the artists came up, however, the DDA again played the EXPOSURE! card and suggested a range of $500 to $2,000 for a month-long participation. Ultimately, they raised that figure to $2,000 for “big ideas,” but had no idea how to identify these big ideas
In the end, the DDA developed a rather labyrinthian application process that may have scared away some artists and performers. Still several agreed to a payment of $2,000.
While researching payments for similar projects in major cities, Dawn was appalled to find Chicago, Los Angeles and New York all asked artists to provide freebies.
As Judy Garland famously said, “Glamour doesn’t pay the bills.” Enough is enough, particularly when you consider how much money the arts contribute to local economies.
Coloradoan Columnist and Cultural Mini-philanthropist Michelle Venus cited a Colorado Business Committee for the Arts study in her Nov. 20 column. The study concluded “arts, cultural and scientific organizations generated $1.85 billion in economic activity in 2013 for the Denver metro area.”
This includes money spent at restaurants, coffee houses, parking structures, etc., when people visit a museum, attend a performance or view art in a gallery.
It also includes salaries paid to 10,205 cultural workers, a figure that grew 9 percent in two years.
The local art council Beet Street ran a study in 2009 of Larimer County’s “Creative Vitality,” as compared to the rest of the United States in the same year. They found Fort Collins’ creative industry contributed more than $60 million to our local economy.
In addition, Beet Street found Larimer County artists, writers and performers contributed nearly $35,000 to our economy in 2009.
That’s an increase from nearly $16,000 contributed to our economy in 2005, according to a City of Fort Collins Economic Impact study of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations.
With so much money pouring into the city, thanks to our cultural offerings, there must be a way we can provide stability for the visual and performing arts that draw these audiences.
OpenStage Co-founder Bruce Freestone has had the answer for some time, and he’s been pounding the street to raise interest, but so far he’s received nothing but token support.
Bruce wants Fort Collins to vote on a Science and Cultural Funding District, or SCFD, so cultural non-profits will have a steady stream of financing. The SCFD model is similar to our Poudre Valley Library District in that it would distribute funds from a sales and use tax to cultural facilities.
Denver has had a highly successful SCFD since 1989, which largely operates on a 1/10th of 1-percent sales and use tax, which equates to one penny on a $10 purchase.
The funds support cultural facilities whose primary mission is to enlighten and entertain the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement and preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, natural history and cultural history.
Denver continued to support the SCFD in 1994 and again in 2004, by voting to extend the tax with 65-percent voter approval. Denver’s distribution budget to creative entities is approximately $40 million annually.
Bruce is looking toward placing an SCFD tax request on the 2016 ballot, but work has to start pronto if this is going to be accomplished.
Bruce told me everyone he’s talked to has supported the SCFD, but nobody has stepped up to the plate to actually lead work on research, polling, developing the ballot initiative language, gathering petition signatures and all the other requirements that must be met before the people have a chance of voting on our SCFD.
This funding would allow non-profits to add much-needed staff so they can grow their creative offerings, instead of just maintaining the status quo. Bruce suggested additions could include after-school programs, touring, outreach, and much more.
Well, I guess that’s enough pontificating for one day.
Thanks for listening, happy campers. Bye bye!
For more reviews, listen to Kate Forgach's Tattle Tales on KRFC 88.9
What artist or entertainer in Northern Colorado hasn’t been asked to donate something to a silent auction or perform for free at an event? And the return they are offered for this investment is the unholy grail of EXPOSURE!
Now I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but artists don’t need EXPOSURE! They need healthy bank accounts.
Local artist and Beet Street Board Member Amelia Caruso says she’s not just pissed at the organizations asking for freebies: Others are equally culpable, starting with the institutions and non-profits that see how well art sells, so they put on fundraiser auctions with the promise of EXPOSURE!
“That’s an insult,” says Amelia. These organizations pay for the food. They pay for the staff to run the event. They pay the art buyers by giving them a tax write-off. The only person that gets nothing is the artist or performer.”
The second group that irritates Amelia is the “gleaners.”
These people go to fundraisers and buy artwork for sometimes less than a quarter of the original price. Those profiting from the event have no investment in the artist so, even though the artist asks them not to sell their work for less than a specific price, they sell it at a lower price to get what they can.
Amelia recalls gleaners who have said to her face they collect her work, yet have never bought anything directly from her or her galleries.
The third group pissing Amelia off is the artists and entertainers themselves. “Why do they continue to donate like this?” she asks. “Why do they continue to devalue not only their work but everyone else’s in town.”
Why would anyone buy art at regular prices when they can find quality artwork at a price lower than it costs the artist to make it?
Amelia says, “Artists don’t understand how to value their work. If you can’t explain to someone how to properly price your work, then how can you demand that price and expect respect for that price?
Value and respect is what this is all about, according to Amelia.
Toolbox Creative Co-founder Dawn Putney experienced much of the same attitude during discussions with the Downtown Development Authority regarding the Old Town renovation.
The DDA approached Dawn’s ArtLab organization requesting artists and performers assist in drawing shoppers to Old Town during the renovation process by performing or creating their art in public.
When the topic of paying the artists came up, however, the DDA again played the EXPOSURE! card and suggested a range of $500 to $2,000 for a month-long participation. Ultimately, they raised that figure to $2,000 for “big ideas,” but had no idea how to identify these big ideas
In the end, the DDA developed a rather labyrinthian application process that may have scared away some artists and performers. Still several agreed to a payment of $2,000.
While researching payments for similar projects in major cities, Dawn was appalled to find Chicago, Los Angeles and New York all asked artists to provide freebies.
As Judy Garland famously said, “Glamour doesn’t pay the bills.” Enough is enough, particularly when you consider how much money the arts contribute to local economies.
Coloradoan Columnist and Cultural Mini-philanthropist Michelle Venus cited a Colorado Business Committee for the Arts study in her Nov. 20 column. The study concluded “arts, cultural and scientific organizations generated $1.85 billion in economic activity in 2013 for the Denver metro area.”
This includes money spent at restaurants, coffee houses, parking structures, etc., when people visit a museum, attend a performance or view art in a gallery.
It also includes salaries paid to 10,205 cultural workers, a figure that grew 9 percent in two years.
The local art council Beet Street ran a study in 2009 of Larimer County’s “Creative Vitality,” as compared to the rest of the United States in the same year. They found Fort Collins’ creative industry contributed more than $60 million to our local economy.
In addition, Beet Street found Larimer County artists, writers and performers contributed nearly $35,000 to our economy in 2009.
That’s an increase from nearly $16,000 contributed to our economy in 2005, according to a City of Fort Collins Economic Impact study of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations.
With so much money pouring into the city, thanks to our cultural offerings, there must be a way we can provide stability for the visual and performing arts that draw these audiences.
OpenStage Co-founder Bruce Freestone has had the answer for some time, and he’s been pounding the street to raise interest, but so far he’s received nothing but token support.
Bruce wants Fort Collins to vote on a Science and Cultural Funding District, or SCFD, so cultural non-profits will have a steady stream of financing. The SCFD model is similar to our Poudre Valley Library District in that it would distribute funds from a sales and use tax to cultural facilities.
Denver has had a highly successful SCFD since 1989, which largely operates on a 1/10th of 1-percent sales and use tax, which equates to one penny on a $10 purchase.
The funds support cultural facilities whose primary mission is to enlighten and entertain the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement and preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, natural history and cultural history.
Denver continued to support the SCFD in 1994 and again in 2004, by voting to extend the tax with 65-percent voter approval. Denver’s distribution budget to creative entities is approximately $40 million annually.
Bruce is looking toward placing an SCFD tax request on the 2016 ballot, but work has to start pronto if this is going to be accomplished.
Bruce told me everyone he’s talked to has supported the SCFD, but nobody has stepped up to the plate to actually lead work on research, polling, developing the ballot initiative language, gathering petition signatures and all the other requirements that must be met before the people have a chance of voting on our SCFD.
This funding would allow non-profits to add much-needed staff so they can grow their creative offerings, instead of just maintaining the status quo. Bruce suggested additions could include after-school programs, touring, outreach, and much more.
Well, I guess that’s enough pontificating for one day.
Thanks for listening, happy campers. Bye bye!
For more reviews, listen to Kate Forgach's Tattle Tales on KRFC 88.9
We went to the Children's Museum of Denver this weekend. The museum is funded using SCFD funds. I think our community needs to pursue this funding source.
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