THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601060120
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 177 lines
WHEN THE Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission set out last spring to see if the arts were worth the money the city invests in them, the answer came back loud and clear.
Yes. Yes. Nine times, yes!
Old Dominion University was hired last year to study the economic impact of a sample of Pavilion performances and found that Virginia Beach received a $9 return on each dollar invested in the performances.
``We wanted to see if there wasn't something more to the arts than quality of life,'' said commission chairman Flo McDaniel, ``and we found there was. Nine to one, my goodness!''
McDaniel, who is development manager for Reservations Plus, is serving her last year of an eight-year term on the commission. The commission, appointed and funded by the City Council, serves as an advisory board.
Last year, the commission divvied up $210,000 among deserving non-profit, tax-exempt arts groups that serve Virginia Beach audiences, including the Virginia Symphony, the Virginia Beach Little Theater and the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts.
Last spring, the commission contracted with ODU for the economic impact study and found that the $97,000 in city funds doled out by the commission to local arts groups performing at Pavilion resulted in arts lovers returning close to $1 million to the city. The figure includes direct revenues to Virginia Beach like taxes and theater rental and estimated spending on such things as hotel rooms, dinners and shopping by those who attended the events.
In fact, Pavilion, alone, got a direct return of $99,337 in tax dollars and rental income. That in and of itself was more than the $97,000 worth of city grant money.
``Everything that happens in the city comes back to dollar amounts,'' McDaniel explained. ``We wanted to see if the money they gave us was worth it. Clearly it is.''
Once the commission heard the promising results of the economic analysis, members sat down in December for a day's worth of planning and goal setting led by Florida consultant Lyle Sumek. Sumek is the facilitator who has guided the City Council through several goal-setting and planning retreats.
Now, armed with facts, figures and a clear set of priorities for the next five years, the commission is ready to go public and ask for more support for the arts from both the city and Virginia Beach residents. ``Now we've done our homework,'' McDaniel exclaimed.
The commission has a list of four top priorities and six high priorities dealing with funding, organization and more commission involvement with the city in arts planning and decision making.
One of the commission's top goals is to have a reliable source of funding for the arts such as a yearly percentage of the entertainment tax collected by the city from paid admissions. The commission would like that funding source to generate $1 to $1.50 per resident a year.
``Now we must go and plead our case before City Council each year,'' McDaniel said. ``We'd also definitely like to get spending up to $1 per capita.''
The City Council has been allocating about 48 cents per capita a year for the past three years to the Arts and Humanities Commission. That's about $215,000, down from $400,000 in 1991.
In Hampton Roads, only Newport News and Chesapeake fund the arts at a lower level, according to an economic impact study commissioned by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads. Norfolk spends $1.16 per capita, Williamsburg and James City County spend $1.42. The average in Hampton Roads is 77 cents.
``Another top priority is the restoration of the Percent for the Arts funding,'' McDaniel said.
Percent for the Arts was the city program where 1 percent of the cost of capital building projects was spent on erecting art in public places. The kinetic sculpture in front of the Central Library and Pavilion's light sculpture were the only two pieces of public art funded by the program before it was axed in city budget cuts.
The commission also plans to seek some private funding from donors and grant sources to help with another top priority: expanded facilities for the arts. More and larger performance space is needed, McDaniel said.
``We're seriously lacking venues,'' she said. ``Other than Pavilion, which is around 1,000 seats, there's the Central Library and the Arts Center theaters. We don't even have a place where we can attract large performances like the `Phantom (of the Opera)' for example.''
The commission also wants the city to build a public facility where smaller arts groups could share an office, along with equipment like a copier and phone answering service.
``Most of the groups are all volunteer like the Virginia Beach Orchestra and the Little Theater,'' McDaniel explained, ``and they need some help like that.''
Building support for the arts and humanities in the community is another top priority, McDaniel added. The commission will work to inform the public about how important the arts can be not only to the well being of residents but also to the Virginia Beach economy.
``We want folks to let City Council know they want more funding for the arts. And we want the community to know they also can support the arts by buying a ticket or writing a check.''
The commission also wants to work with city departments to view the arts as a community asset, whether as a resource for economic development or as a tourist attraction.
``We are only 27 years old and I know young cities have to take care of infrastructure and other needs,'' McDaniel said. ``But when companies look at our area, they want to know what cultural activities are available.''
The commission also would like to be included more in city leaders' decision making. ``We're supposed to be an advisory group to council,'' McDaniel said.
They would like to be included in discussions such as whether to expand Pavilion or to build an amphitheater. They would like to have been included in the decision to install the colorful beach balls and marine creature sculptures along the renovated Boardwalk.
``We love all the art on the Boardwalk now,'' McDaniel said. ``But it was never discussed with the commission. We'd like to be a part of the process.''
Other priorities of the Arts and Humanities Commission include developing an endowment for the arts, developing more cooperation and programming within the schools and the expansion of multicultural programs, McDaniel said.
``We are all on the same wave length with our goals,'' she added. ``It was very exciting.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
After a positive study by Old Dominion University, the Arts and
Humanities Commission met at the Pavilion to set goals and
priorities for the coming year.
The Pavilion's ``light'' sculpture was funded by a program that set
aside 1 percent of the cost of capital building projects for
erecting art in public places.
The kinetic sculpture in front of the Central Library also was
funded by the city's now defunct Percent for the Arts program. Only
two such sculptures were erected.
``Everything that happens in the city comes back to dollar
amounts,'' says commission chairperson Flo McDaniel (also on the
cover).
Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Florida consultant Lyle Sumek acts as facilitator during a December
meeting in which the commission set priorities dealing with funding,
organization and more involvement with the city in arts planning and
decision-making.
Graphic
COMMITTEE'S GOALS
These five-year goals were set last month by the Virginia Beach
Arts and Humanities Commission:
Top priorities
Expanded and stable financial resources for arts and humanities
Expanded facilities for the arts: venues for performances,
offices for groups
Advocacy for arts and humanities in community
Cooperation of arts with city functions: economic development and
tourism, public facilities, planning
High priorities
Urban design for the arts: involvement in city planning/projects
Grant process: revision
Private funding strategy and action plan
City reorganization for arts and humanities
School cooperation and programming
Multi-cultural programs expansion
PER CAPITA FUNDING
Per capita spending in each city's 1994-95 budget for the arts
and humanities:
1. Williamsburg$1.42
2. Norfolk$1.16
3. York County$ .81
4. Suffolk$ .65
5. Hampton$ .58
6. Virginia Beach$ .49
7. Newport News$ .45
8. Chesapeake$ .36
Source: Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads
by CNB