Spokane mayor’s plan to restart city arts office faces skepticism, concerns from Spokane Arts, commission

Six months after Mayor Lisa Brown announced she would revive the city’s arts office, folding in much of the Spokane Arts nonprofit that spun off when that city office was closed by former Mayor David Condon, the Spokane Arts Commission has recommended against moving forward.

Spokane Arts is funded by a tax on event admissions, which Brown had recommended diverting back to a renewed city arts office staffed with people shifted from the nonprofit. Spokane Arts’ funding had been up for its regular five-year renewal, but was instead extended only a year during the transition process.

But on Tuesday, the Spokane Arts Commission, which advises on the use of those funds, voted to recommend instead that the Spokane City Council fully renew Spokane Arts’ funding for another five years, raising significant concerns that the transition would not be in the long-term best interests of the local arts community.

“All the commissioners present came to the conclusion that it just doesn’t make sense to continue down this path,” Spokane Arts Commission co-Chair Audrey Overstreet said.

Commissioners initially were excited about the proposal, Overstreet said, but ultimately felt that Spokane Arts’ current success could be jeopardized if it was brought into the city, particularly under future mayors.

“Not every mayor is going to feel the same way about the arts,” Overstreet said.

“Yes, Mayor Brown is an arts mayor, and she’s proven that time and time again, but what happens after Mayor Brown leaves? There’s no guarantee the next mayor won’t immediately decide it’s a waste of money.”

In 2011, amid budget concerns, then-Mayor Mary Verner threatened to eliminate the city arts department and its $160,000 budget, which Condon made good on the following year, creating an external nonprofit, Spokane Arts, that received half as much funding.

A portion of the tax on admissions to events in the city was diverted to Spokane Arts in 2016 to significantly boost that slashed funding and today represents a central pillar for the organization’s ability to operate.

“It just doesn’t make sense to jeopardize the work Spokane Arts is doing by bringing it back into the city when we can’t guarantee that it will be sustained in the future,” Overstreet said.

Spokane Arts Executive Director Skyler Oberst also raised concerns that the transition is being proposed during a time of uncertainty over funding from the state and especially the federal governments.

For her part, Brown isn’t ready to give up, she said in an interview Friday.

“I intend to make (an arts office) happen, and I’m pretty sure it will, and I think it’s going to be a win-win and there are a lot of folks that are very supportive of that,” Brown said. “I’m committed to this discernment process, and the discernment process is far from over.”

She noted that her administration still intends to present further proposals for the transition and that she had been and will continue to fill open positions on the Arts Commission.

Her administration still believes it can find new grants and funding sources that Spokane Arts won’t get on its own, she added.

“Isn’t this a tough environment with federal grants potentially disappearing in state and federal budget cuts? Yes, it is,” Brown said. “I mean, all the more reason I think that, at the city level, we are not pulling back, we are looking for ways to enhance our commitment to the arts.

“Having an arts office is an essential part of that.”

But Spokane Arts, at least, has signaled it wants to go in a different direction, proposing that the city-focused organization expand regionally and attempts to contract with organizations and cities around the county.

“There is a plan to position ourselves to find more funding sources outside for the city,” Overstreet said.

“The city stuff won’t change, but we want to amplify Spokane as a regional arts hub.”

If the City Council approves another five-year contract to send Spokane Arts admission tax funds, that could limit the city’s ability to launch an arts office without dipping elsewhere for funding.

At least one council member, Councilman and council Arts Commission liaison Paul Dillon, has said he is not ready to approve that new contract, nor give up on Brown’s proposal to create a city arts office with that funding.

“I think there’s a way to do this as a more small-scale, in-house arts team while maintaining some of the status quo for Spokane Arts,” Dillon said.

“I don’t think there’s anyone to blame here, but I do think it does need more time addressing the scale and funding,’ he added.