DEPARTMENT: Department of Arts & Culture
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Debbie Racca-Sittre
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All Council Districts
SUBJECT: Briefing on Arts & Culture programs
SUMMARY:
The Department of Arts & Culture continues to manage public art projects, promote the work of our arts delegate agencies and has developed two programs to help non-profit arts delegate agencies impacted by COVID-19.
a. The Public Art Program managed by the Department of Arts & Culture is funded by 1% of eligible capital project allocations and continue to operate and move forward with public engagement, design and construction of multiple projects. This item provides a briefing on projects across the city.
b. The Department provides operational funding for 46 non-profit Arts Delegate Agencies, many of these agencies have pivoted their programming to online offerings as a result of COVID-19. This item provides a briefing on upcoming events.
c. "Donate to the Arts" is a way for the community to donate to all arts agencies contracted by the City through the Arts Funding Guidelines. This item provides a briefing on this new initiative.
d. "SA CARES 4 Art" grant program proposes to utilize $2.6 million of the City's portion of the Coronavirus Relief Fund to provide grants to non-profit arts agencies to assist with costs of business interruption caused by required closures and costs related to required social distancing. This item provides a briefing on this new initiative.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On March 16, 2020 Mayor Nirenberg issued the first Emergency Declaration for San Antonio limiting crowd sizes to curtail the spread of the global pandemic of COVID-19. Mayor and City Council have updated and extended those orders seven times to date and most arts organizations remain shuttered. As a result of dwindling Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) revenues, the City Manager made the difficult decision to reduce costs to the arts budget; furloughing eleven staff in the Department ...
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