Arts Commission

Backed By Selectmen

By John Voket

Following 18 months of volunteer efforts, an ad hoc committee looking into the formal establishment of a local arts commission received the blessing of Newtown selectmen to move forward with the plan. The committee members concluded their exhaustive findings in a 21-page report, which was initially presented to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal during an informal gathering at The Meeting House in late May.

At that time, Mr Rosenthal said he was extremely impressed with the thorough reporting and justification for such a municipally backed and funded arts and cultural committee.

The ad hoc group’s co-chairs Jennifer Johnston and Brigette Sorensen told selectmen Wednesday during a special meeting that they would make both themselves and copies of their findings available for the Legislative Council’s consideration of the issue as well. The committee also included Newtown residents Joe Grasso, Sherry Paisley, and Paula Stephan.

While Ms Paisley was unavailable to attend the meeting, Mr Grasso told selectmen that after lengthy review and compilation of the data gathered, he saw significant value in creating such a formal municipal organization.

“With all the different arts groups in town right now, it could serve everyone better to speak with one voice,” Mr Grasso said. “This type of council is a way to bring everybody together.”

Mr Grasso said he envisioned possibly mounting a Newtown Arts Festival all organized by the central council, without taking anything away from the existing groups.

“An arts council would also support and promote independent artists who reside in town,” he said. “And having such an organization is a much more viable means of securing grants because it is an established and municipally supported group.”

Mr Grasso suggested one of the group’s first initiatives being the publication and maintenance of an annual arts calendar to enhance planning efforts and avoiding serious conflicts between organizations. And he said by establishing such a commission now, it would give interested Newtown culture and arts supporters a head start in researching need and, if appropriate, helping to establish a possible arts center at Fairfield Hills.

Ms Stephens said Newtown, which has seen a surge in new residents in recent years, deserves to have the kind of formal culture and arts management that newcomers may have experienced coming from larger cities.

“The time is now,” Ms Stephens told the selectmen. “The need is great. This council would be created for the enrichment of the entire community, especially the newer residents. Give them the prospect of having a culturally rich community. There are many neighboring towns that have one already, but we can catch up.”

“I always ask anybody who wants to do this, how much is it going to cost the town?” Mr Brimmer said.

Mr Grasso replied that in the committee’s research, members found annual budgets for such initiatives going from zero to $50,000.

“The communities that had a zero line, of course, had private or corporate underwriting,” Mr Grasso added.

Mr Brimmer said he though a formal arts commission would be a good thing for Newtown.

“After serving on Tercentennial Committee, I never realized how many different arts entities we have here in town,” he told the ad hoc members.

Selectman Joseph Bojnowski concurred with his fellow selectmen in endorsing an organization of this nature.

“I think it’s a good idea to have a model organization like this,” Mr Bojnowski said.

Following the selectmen’s presentation, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal directed the ad hoc arts volunteers to begin formulating the next steps in the process to become formally established.

“I suggest you create language that can be used to establish an ordinance, which we will review and pass on to the Legislative Council whose job it is to actually create the ordinance,” Mr Rosenthal said. “I want to congratulate the committee. It’s been 18 months since we asked you to start looking into it.”

According to Ms Johnston, the volunteers proceeded with their directive to study the state’s municipal and private arts organizations, and to interact with leaders from communities across Connecticut that already have established arts councils.

“The ad hoc committee also participated in the Connecticut Housatonic Valley Arts, Culture and History Assessment survey,” she told the selectmen. “This was an invaluable tool in learning what direction other neighboring communities in our region are moving, as well as the challenges and opportunities and needs facing these commissions.”

Ms Johnston and Mr Grasso explained that a municipally endorsed arts council would typically receive higher prioritization in the awarding of grants and among those representing public, corporate, and private sources.

Ms Johnston said participating in the regional arts study also provided a unique opportunity to tap into a new regional creative alliance, which was already working to strengthen existing resources available through federal, state, and local sectors.

“The goal of the assessment was to raise awareness of local arts and cultural activities, and to set a course for a unified effort in bringing Connecticut communities closer together,” she told the selectmen.

She also spoke about seed grants for programming that were virtually automatically awarded to municipal arts groups by the state, but only after such groups successfully completed two years of programming themselves.

In conducting its study, the Newtown ad hoc group consulted with established organizations in Bethel, Brookfield, Colchester, Danbury, Hamden, Milford, New Britain, New Milford, and Wilton.

In their final report, ad hoc committee members noted that a uniform questionnaire was circulated among members of each outside arts council. After compiling all the returned surveys the Newtown group determined that establishing a local council would help in delivering numerous benefits including:

Promoting community development

Drawing community members closer together by providing educational, historical, and artistic events that are entertaining, educational as well as participatory

Enabling residents and visitors of all cultures and backgrounds to meet

Bringing revenue and exposure to Newtown businesses by attracting local and out-of-town cultural patrons and participants

Providing support to existing nonprofit arts organizations in Newtown

Enhancing property values by improving the overall quality of life in Newtown

And doing all this at a relatively low cost to the community and its taxpayers.

While the selectmen suggested such a council could initially be funded by a modest budget through the town, they expected the council would become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.