Dear TRENDS Diary —
I believe in making sure that arts commissions work smoothly, support the arts broadly, and advocate. Having a well-functioning Commission is a way to show that the arts are important here, and see the impacts in your community.For example, when building the budget for this year, City Council proposed cutting the grant program by about $150,000. We as a staff had been connecting people in the arts community over time, helping to build relationships between the arts staff and board members and artists across Boulder. When the proposal arose, we stepped back and watched the arts community advocate. They were able to bring $100,000 back to the grants budget. It was inspiring and incredible to watch from the sidelines.It is useful to think of the arts in the broader circle of life. If you give a local artist money, they spend that money back in your community. They’ll buy materials and spend their money locally. Also, if one person goes to my organization’s event how much money does that actually mean in the economy? That ticket will also mean gas, a babysitter, and going out to dinner. It’s not just buying a ticket, it’s everything that the arts make happen. So that $100,000 investment can become several hundred thousand dollars of impact in Boulder.I am the Arts Program Manager for the City of Boulder Office of Arts and Culture. Beyond managing the grant program, I see part of my job as reaching out to the community to make sure that they know about the funding we have available. And on the other side, after you get a grant, I try to help promote all the amazing stuff that’s happening in Boulder.I’m also the chair of the Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission. We have 2,000 people and over 25 sculptures in town. That’s one sculpture for every 80 people! I grew up in a town in Kansas with 2,000 people and we did not have 25 sculptures in town. This is a rich and thriving arts community that I am happy to be a part of and support.As an artist myself, I know intimately the amount of time and energy it takes to make something and how important it is to have art in the world. And how important it is to have supporters and advocators for artists.Apply for the 2022 Grants Program at boulderarts.org/2022-grants-program
