Matthew Broderick of the Wichita Arts Council used his public-comment time to ask the City Council to protect arts funding in the upcoming budget process and to treat arts and culture as a driver of economic vitality.

Broderick said the Arts Council recently hired Connie Bonfey as executive director and has adopted a strategic plan focused on advocacy, education, engagement, marketing and fundraising. He urged council members not to identify the arts as an easy target for cuts, arguing arts investments help retain talent and support the city’s identity and economy: “We believe that with our strategic plan, we'll ... be based on 4 or 5 main pillars. That's advocacy, education, engagement, marketing, and fundraising.”

Broderick cited the sector’s economic contribution to the city’s nonprofit ecosystem when encouraging council members to consider long-term effects of cuts: “Just the nonprofit sector in the city of Wichita, contributes, like, over a $180,000,000, and that's just the nonprofit section sector.” He also referenced the city’s percent-for-art ordinance and asked council members to consider the city’s cultural appeal when balancing the budget.

Council member Tuttle, who identified herself as a member of the Arts Council board of directors and said she participated in its strategic planning, thanked Broderick and noted the council’s 2024–2028 Cultural Arts Strategic Plan alignment with the Arts Council’s strategy: “I just wanna say thank you for your leadership on the Arts Council. I'm a proud member of the Arts Council board of directors. The other thing is I've been involved with the strategic planning process and... I'm really proud of the way that the Arts Council came together.”

No formal council action was taken; the public agenda is for comments only and items were referred to the city manager as needed.