Wednesday June 6, 2012

BRATTLEBORO - The Town Arts Committee is probably not going to ask the Selectboard to create a public arts fund, but the group is continuing to work on creative ideas to find money to fund new public art in Brattleboro.

The committee was discussing whether it should ask the Selectboard to commit 1 percent of its capital budget, and 10 percent of the town’s local option rooms and meals tax, into an annual public arts fund.

But after meeting with Town Manager Barbara Sondag, who said she would not support the fund, Arts Committee Chairwoman Kate Anderson said the group should probably come up with other ways to leverage town funds, or "in kind" work, toward public art.

According to Anderson, Sondag recommended that the Arts Committee come up with specific proposed projects that the board could consider.

The committee met Tuesday and decided to begin working on a public arts project at the Union Station development project. The committee wants to find the money for art-enhanced bicycle racks on the Union Station site.

The committee talked about finding the money within the Union Station budget, and suggested that a portion of the funding could be matched with private money.

The Arts Committee expects to meet with members of the Union Station Committee in the coming weeks to present its plan.

Before deciding to focus on the Union Station idea, the committee looked at other municipalities around the country

that maintain public arts funds such as Seattle and Northampton, Mass.

The committee members also talked about introducing public art into the budgets for public development. The committee was not willing to completely give up on the idea of establishing a public art fund paid for with tax money.

Arts Committee member Doug Cox, who supports the proposal, said he did hear from a resident who opposed the fund. Cox said he understood that in the current economic climate it was going to be hard sell, though he said he was willing to keep the idea on the table.

"This is not something we should expect to be approved the first time around," said Cox. "We should expect push back. This is probably going to be a multi-year project."

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or at 802-254-2311 ext. 279.