Artistry's Financial Crisis & Questionable Priorities - A Taxpayer's Burden?
January 21st, 2023 Submitted by Pam Pommer
On Monday, January 9th, the city council approved a grant to Artistry in the amount of $250,000.
Generally, I’m very supporting of the Arts. Every year, I encourage the city council to continue to approve funding for the annual Cultural Arts Grants Funding that it provides to the city’s resident arts organization for a total of $178,457 in 2021 and $171,398 in 2022. Coincidentally, January 9th opened 2023 Grant applications to the city for more capital outlay pending approval.
The seven resident arts organizations include: Angelia Cantanti, Artistry, Bloomington Chorale, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, the Continental Ballet Company, the Medalist Concert Band and the Noteable Singers.
As I started to pay more attention to this in recent years, however, I was surprised that Artistry typically received almost 50% of the total amount awarded. I soon learned, that was just the tip of the iceberg.
A little history is in order:
Back in 2016, Artistry asked for a $1.1 million grant from the city to be paid over five years. The city was told then that Artistry’s problems were “immediate and have long-term implications.”
Executive Director at the time, Andrea Specht, told the council that they have operated on a “break-even for a number of years.” She said that private supporters cannot do this alone, and that it will require a public/private partnership for the future. Former Mayor Winstead voiced concerns if this would be an ongoing need beyond the five years involved in this grant. He was also concerned that city staff on the board would not have voting rights.
Nevertheless, the council approved the grant 6-1, with Winstead opposing.
Fast forward to COVID when many organizations struggled to survive. The city signed an agreement with Artistry to provide $50,000 a year from 2021-2024.
In 2021, Artistry also received $600,000 from a US Small Business organization Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.
Then in September, 2022, Artistry received a $150,000 grant from the city for emergency payments of past due bills. It had also asked for a forgivable loan in the amount of $350,000. A month later, the request ballooned to $750,000 for a repayable loan from the city. Amazingly, the city council denied that request.
Artistry then went begging to Propel Nonprofits for money and guidance on how to get back on track. After receiving $50,000, Artistry came back to the city with a “reduced” request for a grant of $250,000. The city approved that on January 9, 2023.
Artistry will still be eligible to apply for the annual Cultural Arts Grant but the Supplemental Cultural Arts grant of $50,000 annual funding by the city has ended.
So it appears that Artistry has not been a successful organization for at least seven years. When Andrea Specht left Artistry in July 2019, Kevin Ramach took over and by all accounts, made matters much worse. Yet despite all these past requests for assistance, somehow the eighteen member Board of Directors didn’t pay any addition to the financial status of the organization until August of 2022. And that board included City Manager Jamie Verbrugge and City Councilmember at Large, Nathan Coulter. I’ve often heard the excuse with other nonprofits that board members are volunteer positions and not paid, which somehow is an excuse for not doing their job.
I have many concerns about the future of Artistry. Yes, Artistry has scaled back its ambitious agenda and its current Acting Executive Director, Kelli Foster Warder, is doing the job pro bono. But I fear this latest grant is yet another band aid on a much more serious problem.
I also have concerns about their mission and driving principles:
Artistry seems more concerned about expanding “artist opportunities” than by providing shows that the public wants to see.
It stresses its commitment to “inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility and anti-racism” and the “artist experience is at the center” of their decision-making process.
Sadly, Godspell has been postponed until next summer while Holidays with Bing was totally cancelled.
In January, MPR News wrote about “Artistry in Crisis”. They asked Foster Warder about refunds for season ticket holders. She said they have the option of donating the funds or possibly transfer them to a future show. POSSIBLY? What about all the money the city has given them? Why shouldn’t their expenses be covered?
Foster Warder replied that it says “right on the tickets that they are non-refundable”. I would have read that to mean that if I decide not to attend, I could not get my money back. I never would have thought it meant if THEY cancel the productions, I’m out of money while the actors get paid. That was a very cavalier response.
And so, after taxpayers have given them many hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last seven years, the future of productions and concern for their patrons remains uncertain.
