A new five-year strategic plan published by the Indy Arts Council includes research that indicates 69% of households are supportive or very supportive of local government assisting arts and culture through public funding.
But the strategic plan—which surveyed nearly 3,000 participants in the first comprehensive, inclusive effort of this type in more than a decade—doesn’t place that majority sentiment in the spotlight to call for a tax mechanism to flow more money toward the Indy Arts Council.
Judith Thomas, who became the Indy Arts Council president and CEO in mid-April, is a former Indianapolis deputy mayor who’s familiar with the political landscape. It’s risky, for instance, to assume taxpayers are eager to spend more on anything. It’s also risky to count on politicians to be promoters of arts and culture.
Thomas said Indy Arts Council, central Indiana’s leading arts advocacy and services agency, should turn to the private sector for financial help.
“[Corporate support] hasn’t been tapped into much at all,” Thomas said. “The community definitely steps up during our fundraiser Start with Art. It’s wonderful what the corporate community has done. But who doesn’t know what we do and why we do it? Who can we collaborate with to do amazing things?”
It would be difficult to argue that the Indy Arts Council has adequate funding to fulfill its roles of overseeing the city’s public art initiatives, the Indianapolis Artsgarden and Gallery 924. Indy Arts Council also distributes grants to local arts and culture nonprofits.
The newly published strategic plan includes a segment in which the Indy Art Council’s budget is compared to similar agencies in U.S. cities considered to be peers. Indianapolis ranks a distant 14th out of 14 with $5.68 spending per capita. Denver is No. 1 with $103.64 spending per capita. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Des Moines rank No. 2-4 with spending per capita of $56.58, $52.76 and $42.98, respectively.
If the arts council had more resources, a proposed endowment known as the Arts and Culture Champion Fund would be established. The strategic plan also mentions the goal of a new downtown-focused high-visibility arts and culture festival.
Thomas suggests a global theme for such a gathering.
“Because of my time at the mayor’s office, I’ve seen how truly international Indianapolis is,” Thomas said. “How could we incorporate folks from various cultures who are here now but maybe their culture wasn’t as prevalent 20 years ago? The Haitian community, the Burmese community, the West African and Congolese. It could be, ‘This is Indy, and this is what’s cool.’”
Sustainable funding, everyday access to the arts and making Indianapolis a Top 10 arts and culture destination in the United States are listed among top priorities in the strategic plan.
At Indy Arts Council, Thomas succeeded Julie Goodman in the CEO role. Goodman, who now serves as chief advancement officer for entertainment venue the Cabaret, exited the arts council last November.
Although most work related to the strategic plan happened before Thomas joined the staff, she participated as a community leader providing information and perspectives for the survey. Her resume includes work at Visit Indy and the Madam Walker Legacy Center.
Thomas said the strategic plan wouldn’t be slowed by job transitions.
“Imagine how far behind they would be if they waited for a new CEO,” Thomas said. “The time is now. We needed it now, and it’s never up to just one person. It’s the staff, it’s the board and it’s the community. It’s a collective thing.”