Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Art topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
TIDA board presses to preserve arts funding after staff report shows zero arts line in draft budget
Summary
Board members urged staff to find savings to fund the Treasure Island arts program after staff noted no new art fee revenue; the board approved the overall TIDA budget and directed staff to prioritize arts funding from savings where possible.
The Treasure Island Development Authority board on Feb. 12 discussed the authority'funded arts program and asked staff to make arts funding a higher priority after staff told the board the draft budget did not include a funded arts line for new installations.
TIDA'backed art on Treasure Island has been paid from a 1% art fee tied to vertical building permits; Bob (TIDA staff) told the board the authority has collected about $3.6 million in art fees to date but said the board'established expenditure authority for the program is larger (roughly $4.3 million) because prior budgets established continuing appropriations in expectation of future building permits that have not yet been pulled.
Mary (Arts Commission staff) described completed and planned works: Hiroshi Sugimoto's Point of Infinity on Panorama Park, a multi'photographer documentation project (2022'23), and a planned installation by artist Ned Kahn called Canopy of the Sky for Cityside Park. Mary said Canopy of the Sky is planned for May and that installation costs have been estimated; Bob told the board that completing the Cityside Park installation may require up to $180,000 in additional funds because of changes to the foundation design.
Several board members said public art is central to Treasure Island's identity and economic vitality. Board President Sen called having $0 in the arts line "unacceptable" and urged the board to find money in the budget. Director Richardson said the arts program has historically supported community activation and is key to the island'wide identity that TIDA is creating.
During approval of the overall authority budget, the board adopted a directive asking staff to "seek and preserve any budget savings" with the explicit intent of furthering the Treasure Island arts program. TIDA staff said they currently have about $700,000 in existing expenditure authority available for arts awards but that expenditure authority exceeds cash on hand because the program's full proposed appropriation was set in anticipation of vertical permits that have not yet produced additional art fee revenue.
Bob told the board that to commission future new permanent installations either new market'rate vertical construction would need to proceed (generating new art fees) or an outside source of funds would have to be identified. He said the upcoming Cityside Park installation would likely exhaust currently accrued funds unless alternative funding is secured.
Board members asked staff to return with options for using budget savings and for exploring outside funding sources and temporary public art solutions to maintain program momentum while vertical permits and developer contributions remain limited.
Quoted material in this article is taken from the meeting transcript and attributed to named speakers present at the meeting.
