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Public commenters urge Boulder to direct dedicated arts fund to nonprofits and help keep artists downtown
Summary
Two public commenters told the Boulder Arts Commission that Measure 2 a dollars and additional city support are needed to keep local artists and cultural organizations viable in Boulder’s downtown.
Two people who signed up for public comment at the May 28 Boulder Arts Commission meeting urged the commission and city leaders to ensure voter-approved arts funds and other city resources benefit local artists and downtown venues.
Jan Bershuk, identified as an arts supporter and organizer of "2 a," said the ballot measure’s dedicated dollars should fund direct grants to arts and cultural nonprofits, professional artists, arts education, venues, workspaces, public art and multicultural programming — not be shifted into general fund overhead. "The dedicated fund should support the activities spelled out in the ballot measure," Bershuk said.
Marie Julia Byrd, founder of the nonprofit New Local, described two-and-a-half years of operating a West Pearl Street gallery, rehearsal and education space that offers free community programming and provides a showcase for some 250 local artists. Byrd said downtown retail rents and vacancy dynamics make it difficult for local visual-arts venues to survive and proposed a commercial-subsidy grant similar to existing performing-arts venue grants to keep public-facing visual-arts spaces downtown.
Byrd said subsidies could help with a roughly 30% downtown vacancy rate and enable artists and small galleries to pay modest rent to landlords. She also suggested the city consider a dedicated, collective gallery space downtown as a more durable solution to sustain a local visual-arts presence.
Commissioners and staff acknowledged the concerns and said the artists' feedback is being incorporated into ongoing planning work, including the city’s cultural-sector blueprint and upcoming grant-program reviews. Staff encouraged commissioners to continue advocacy in the community and said they would forward comments to consultants working on the blueprint.
