Austin Opera leaders aim to turn the organization’s new headquarters and performance space into a bustling hub for arts groups increasingly pressured for space in Austin. Last week the group, which holds its major performances at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, announced the purchase of a 16,000-square-foot facility in Southeast Austin near Montopolis […]
Cultural Arts Division
Posted inAustin
Black arts collective wants progress on city’s African American cultural district
An East Austin arts nonprofit is looking to organize musicians, artists and other creatives for job opportunities and to put pressure on the city to move forward with building out plans for the African American Culture and Heritage District that were approved by City Council in 2021. The East Austin Creative Coalition is seeking members […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
EDD previews changes to Cultural Arts funding programs ahead of consultants’ reviews
The Economic Development Department is moving ahead with a handful of adjustments to its pilot programs for Cultural Arts grants, with more changes likely to result from a comprehensive review from three outside consultants. At this week’s Arts Commission meeting, staff from the Cultural Arts division gave an update on the funding process for the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Artists decry delay in city grant payments, putting some projects and events at risk
Arts commissioners have joined local artists in criticizing the city for the prolonged rollout of one of its newer grant programs, which has left some recipients without funding ahead of events they’d organized with expectations of using the city funds. Last week’s Arts Commission meeting in some ways resembled this month’s Music Commission meeting, where […]
Posted inAustin
Budget shortfall forces Austin Music Foundation to suspend operations
The Austin Music Foundation nonprofit group has suspended activity and laid off its employees in response to a budget shortfall of nearly $200,000 from its planned budget of just over $300,000. At least $85,000 of that shortfall is the result of AMF not receiving a Cultural Arts contract from the city for one of the […]
Posted inCity Council
Council signals plans to review, revise new Cultural Arts grant program
City Council’s approval last week of nearly $4 million to fund a new Cultural Arts grant program came with an indication that the evaluation and allocation criteria may get a hard review and revisions to address loud concerns from arts groups that didn’t receive any awards. Council unanimously approved the Cultural Arts Division’s plan for […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
New cultural arts awards bring opportunities, disappointment for applicants
Staff in the city’s Cultural Arts Division prepared themselves to hear some frustration in response to the selection of the first recipients of a radically structured system for awarding arts contracts. During last week’s Arts Commission meeting, staffers reviewed the steps involved in scoring and selecting the 35 recipients of $3.8 million in funding dedicated to […]
Posted inBudget
City’s hotel tax on the upswing after pandemic
The city’s Arts Commission heard an update last week on the status of the Cultural Arts Fund and Hotel Occupancy Tax collection numbers for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2022-23. After a rough showing during the pandemic, there are signs the revenue source is again on the rise. The Hotel Occupancy Tax – the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Staffing issues cause slow rollout of arts, historic preservation programs
The Economic Development Department plans to wait until fall to begin spinning up three programs for music, arts and historic preservation that are funded by proceeds from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax. Portions of those programs aren’t slated to become active until mid-to-late 2023, with some contracts not expected to begin until the 2024 fiscal […]
Posted inCity Hall
Cultural Arts continues revisions for arts contracts funded by hotel tax
The city is moving ahead with further revisions to its process for awarding contracts for Cultural Arts funding, with the rollout of the first phase of a three-tiered pilot program expected to take place in October. Cultural Arts staff members gave an update last week to City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee on their progress […]
Posted inCity Council
Council moves forward with arts funding plan, promising relief for nonprofit grant applicants
Following the recommendations of the Arts Commission, City Council has approved funding for cultural arts programs with plans to significantly expand its nonprofit relief grant program. That’s good news for the program’s applicants, who can all expect to see checks by the end of the year. Continuing its effort to support institutions impacted by Covid-19, […]
Posted inCity Hall
Tovo eyes historic preservation funds for undisclosed property negotiations
The grant program that uses Hotel Occupancy Tax money to help improve historic sites could be put on hold for a year so the city could use its funding to purchase historic sites. At City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee meeting this week, Council Member Kathie Tovo said her objection earlier this year to approving […]