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The Florida Times-Union
May 21, 2007
Group paints
vision of arts in St. Johns
By DAVID HUNT, ST. AUGUSTINE - Chalky pastels and a head shot of pop singer Beyonce Knowles
got the kids, even if for just a moment, thinking about color and form,
duplicating and creating.
The lesson of the day was portrait drawing, working the creative side of the
brain for at-risk youth in the less well-to-do west side of town. But the
after-school class also was a small step toward a larger movement that's gaining
political momentum in a county bursting with growth.
Painters and performers alike are joining forces, looking to make local
theatre, music and art part of everyone's life, from the 170,000 residents to
the millions of tourists hitting historic sites and golf courses each year. But
the idea will take money - notably public money at a time county officials are
wincing at property tax reform debates in the Legislature.
Still, the St. Johns Cultural Council has doubled in membership and rallied
for the attention of the County Commission, which controls the purse strings of
an $182.5 million general fund. Arguing the arts could benefit education, reduce
crime and build a better sense of community, the cultural council has the
commission's ear, but the five commissioners have made no decisions whether to
respond financially.
"I'd hate to say this is a cart-before-the-horse issue, but it really is
because of the funding air ball we have in Tallahassee," commission Chairman Ben
Rich said. "We don't know where we are."
Rich said he sees merit in helping the arts flourish, but property tax reform
- far from the commission's control - could lower funds for everything from arts
programs to fire and ambulance services.
Vice Chairman Tom Manuel suggested redirecting tourism funding to help the
arts grow.
"Only good things happen when you have an active arts community," he said.
"The community becomes energized."
Cultural Council President Philip McDaniel said the group operates on a
shoestring budget with no financial assistance from the county. An analysis
provided by the council shows that out of more than $150 million invested in the
county's culture and recreation programs from 2003 to 2006, $254,000 went to
arts programing.
McDaniel said the goal is to gain a thicker funding stream to promote the
arts as the county grows, possibly by establishing a department of cultural
affairs at the county level.
First, the group has to get a better idea of what people want. From the
fast-growing northwest sector to the affluence of Ponte Vedra Beach and the
eccentricities of St. Augustine, each of the three major population hubs in St.
Johns County will have unique needs. McDaniel said community workshops, like one
that brought out more than 70 people last month, will continue as the group
searches for ways to enrich communities and get the financial help to do so.
Building identity
About half of the tourists who travel to Florida check out some type of
cultural activity while they're here, be it a museum, play or concert, according
to a state tourism study performed between April 2005 and April 2006. Half of
that group, or about 25 percent of the state's tourists, had no plans for the
cultural arts until they arrived and discovered what was available.
To McDaniel, that means building arts programs would keep tourists around
longer and boost the economy. But arts programs also could have an important
role in retaining the nearly 45,000 residents who have moved to the area since
2000 and enticing the thousands more expected to move there as time goes on.
Bill Cleveland, chief executive of the Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based Center
for the Study of Art and Community, said St. Johns County may be able to take a
lesson from California's Silicon Valley, the tech industry's boomtown.
"A lot of people were coming, filling their pot of gold and leaving," he
said. "It was a great place to make money but a terrible place to raise kids."
Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley was born in the late 1990s to research
ways to hold the community together through arts programming. A 2002 study
ranked the region near the bottom among 40 areas in terms of social capital, or
people's willingness to informally chat, volunteer or join civic groups. Among
the reasons, the majority of residents were transplants from other areas.
"A community isn't just streets and lights and shopping centers and police
cars," Cleveland said. "The things that make people connect to a place and love
a place are a little less tangible."
St. Johns Cultural Council Vice President Ryan Dettra, a Delaware native who
made St. Johns County home after graduating from Flagler College, said another
concern is brain-drain, the county's younger talents going elsewhere to set up
studios and take to the stage.
"People moving to areas are looking for arts, so it's an investment in
economic development," he said.
Learning process
One initiative sponsored by the cultural council brings local artists in
touch with at-risk youth in West Augustine and Hastings, areas a cycle of
poverty has trapped in time as the county develops.
McDaniel said the sessions are an effort meant to help kids develop a
creative outlet, heading off self-destructive behaviors.
"The potential here is amazing," he said during a recent session in West
Augustine, just before Jacksonville pastel artist Richard Jones demonstrated
color-blending and portrait drawing to a group of about two dozen children. "The
problem is they can only have so many teachers and so many students. If we had
more resources, everybody would have one."
The council puts up $50 a week to bring in the artists. That's about all the
group, with an annual budget of under $20,000, can afford, McDaniel said.
Such programs have received applause from the county's top lawman, Sheriff
David Shoar, and top educator, schools Superintendent Joseph Joyner.
Shoar said he's trying to drum up funds to start an arts program at the
750-bed county jail, which could further assist efforts like drug rehab in
sealing off what's become a revolving prison door for about 70 percent of
inmates.
"If it helps one life, it's probably worth it," he said.
Joyner said he'd like to work with the cultural council to schedule artists
for class instruction that would support existing arts programs throughout the
district.
"It's a high priority for me," he said. "It's a very high priority for art in
this community."
david.hunt@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4025 ARTS SUPPORT Some Florida communities have a long track record
of including the cultural arts among publicly funded activities. Here are how
two other areas handle money issues: Jacksonville The Cultural Council of
Greater Jacksonville is a nonprofit organization given $3.75 million from the
city budget annually to distribute to arts programs, such as the city's museums.
Deputy Director Amy Crane said being a nonprofit, rather than a city department,
helps de-politicize the decisions regarding how the money is divided. Broward
County Broward County's cultural arts division is a department within county
government, carrying a budget of between $6 million and $7 million annually.
Director Mary Becht said the department has been around for nearly three
decades, providing a comprehensive information hub for visitors and artists
about what's available while heading strategic planning initiatives to determine
what type of programming to have.
The Times-Union
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This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/052107/met_171537070.shtml.
