Copious Notes

LexArts has agreed to give Actors Guild of Lexington a $7,500 matching grant to hire an organizational consultant to help the theater navigate out of its financial troubles.

In June, the LexArts allocations committee decided not to give Actors Guild a general operating support grant from its 2009 Campaign for the Arts. The theater, which produces shows in the Downtown Arts Center on Main Street, has traditionally received funds from the campaign, which in part gives operational support to groups such as the Lexington Philharmonic and the Lexington Art League. Actors Guild’s allocation request for this year was $70,900, in line with previous requests.

In denying the request, and a subsequent appeal in July, LexArts said it was concerned about the theater’s financial management and troubles that dated back to 2005.

The matching grant came after a meeting between LexArts and Actors Guild leaders.

Granting the consultant funds, LexArts President and CEO Jim CLark said in a news release that, ”AGL now has an arts management professional leading the staff and board members focusing on financial progress as much as on AGL’s artistic and outreach mission.  Working with an independent consultant, AGL can confront a difficult challenge to emerge as a stronger organization with a larger community presence.”

AGL’s managing director Kimberly Shaw said, “In the last few years, AGL has expanded its public service programs and earned regional and national attention for its rising artistic excellence.  We are now on the road to having business practices of the same high professional quality.  AGL’s artists, audience members, donors, trustees and staff will all greatly appreciate that LexArts intends to join us on this journey.”

In the past, LexArts has helped groups such as the Lexington Children’s Theatre and Lexington Art League hire consultants when it had concerns about their business practices. Both groups still receive allocations from the campaign.

Earlier this month, Actors Guild did receive a $15,839 Arts Partnership Grant from the Kentucky Arts Council. Council executive director Lori Meadows said the state organization’s grants are independent of local groups — it also gave LexArts a $32,598 grant — with different criteria. She said the KAC review panel did not have the same concerns LexArts had about Actors Guild.

At its June meeting, the board of the Kentucky Arts Council drafted a resolution regarding artist pay.

“The Kentucky Arts Council believes that artists should be fairly compensated for their work,” the resolution stated. “Requests for donations for artwork, performances or products, and other business practices not in keeping with the Kentucky Arts Council values statement, are not supported by this state agency.”

Arts Council spokesman Ed Lawrence said the resolution was in response to artists persistently being asked to donate work and feeling uncomfortable saying no to such requests, particularly in the case of charitable causes.

The values statement about compensation says, “Gratis creative services and works, demonstrations, or performances should not be solicited as standard practice.”

In a news release, KAC executive director Lori Meadows said, “While this resolution seems to be stating the obvious, it is a constant challenge to educate the public and organizations that seek the services of artists, that workers in the creative industry should be paid as those in any other profession.”

As the Kentucky State Legislature is getting into gear, arts advocates will be descending upon Frankfort Wednesday to try to keep arts funding in the Commonwealth’s budget.

Kentucky's State Capitol Building. Herald-Leader photo by David Perry.

Kentucky arts leaders are emphasizing the importance of advocating for arts funding in light of the current economic crisis and a severely compressed stage budget.

Kentucky artists and arts groups are already taking a beating in the economic crisis with funding cuts and declining ticket sales and donations. Louisville, for example, slashed its arts funding in half for the current fiscal year, and the Kentucky Arts Council has been through several rounds of budget cuts, recently.

A message on the front page of Arts Kentucky’s website reads, “While the governor’s cuts have been even-handed and have not hurt the arts more than other important issues, we need to be evident in our support for continued funding. In addition, arts education issues are likely to need our support to keep arts in schools.”

The Arts Advocacy Day will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Capitol Rotunda with a rally, followed by meetings with legislators and workshops. Visit Arts Kentucky’s website for more information.