Controversy still dogs Charlotte arts funding plan, as private companies pledge $7M

Catherine Muccigrosso
·4 min read

The controversial Charlotte city arts funding plan has received an initial boost of over $7 million in pledges for marching funds from private companies, even as a group of local artists continue to demand that city leaders include them in the process.

Breaking from decades of past practice, Charlotte no longer plans to channel its arts funding through the Arts & Science Council, although Mecklenburg County still intends to work through the ASC. The city move has generated concern from some arts organizations that they do not have a voice in the major funding change.

“We are critical players engaged in this great creative experience... we deserve a place at the table!” Hardin Minor, performance artist and co-founder of OMIMEO Mime Theatre said in a statement to the Observer on Monday.

The city’s goal is to raise $18 million in private donations that will be matched by $18 million from the city over three years for the arts, for a total of $36 million. City Manager Marcus Jones is presenting the proposed budget later on Monday, May 3.

Also Monday, Foundation For The Carolinas said in a news release that $7.2 million in private commitments has been secured from several businesses for arts funding.

The goal is to have all or nearly all of the $18 million in private money committed by mid-June, when city council will vote on its new budget, foundation spokesman Timothy Hager said.

Private sector donations for the arts

So far, five companies have backed the city plan by agreeing to provide matching funds.

Bank of America, National Gypsum/C.D. Spangler Foundation and Trane Technologies committed $1.8 million each to arts funding, while Barings and JELD-WEN each committed $900,000, the foundation said in the news release.

“Our arts and science organizations have been hit hard by the pandemic, and we can’t stand by. The arts and sciences play a critical role in education, community inclusion and economic development,” Trane Technologies CEO and Chairman Mike Lamach said in the statement.

National Gypsum Co. CEO Tom Nelson said a vibrant arts culture helps with company recruitment and retention.

Why the arts plan is controversial

Under the plan, Charlotte will give $6 million a year to arts and culture groups, matched by $6 million from the private sector, for a three-year period.

The city would create its own arts board and hire an arts commissioner, which is expected to be a temporary position to help develop a long-term funding plan. The money would be administered through the Foundation for the Carolinas.

This breaks decades of tradition eliminating the Arts & Science Council as the pass-through agency to disburse arts and culture funding for Charlotte. The city plan comes after ASC apologized in February for upholding funding practices, leading to racial disparity, after the nonprofit released its Cultural Equity report.

Under the new city plan, ASC would receive $800,000 in the coming fiscal year. However, it’s unclear how much funding ASC will receive in the future or what role the arts organization will play.

Last week, ASC named Krista Terrell its president. Terrell has been acting president since Jeep Bryant resigned in January. In February, the ASC apologized in its Cultural Equity report for upholding decades of funding practices that it said perpetuated inequities against minority artists and groups.

The county, which funds arts initiatives in six towns in Mecklenburg, said last week it plans to continue to fund arts groups and individuals through ASC. County manager Dena Diorio is expected to present the budget proposal Thursday, May 6.

Some arts groups demand a meeting

Also Monday, over Charlotte 200 artists, clergy and other residents sent a letter to city council requesting a meeting ahead of the June 14 budget vote to talk about concerns over the proposed funding changes, ART Future (Artists Revisioning The Future) said in an email to the Observer. The group said it is advocating on behalf of independent artists and small organizations.

“We wanna be a city that artists want to live and work in and right now that is in danger,” said Anne Lambert, founder of Charlotte’s Off-Broadway, in the emailed statement.

The group, which has eight demands including more funding for independent artists and equitable distribution, wants the city to give additional time for more artists to be a part of the process.

“I am disheartened that in the current city plan, so little funding has been designated for creative individuals and emerging organizations,” Terrell said in the statement from ARTS Future.

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