A bill (download here) that would have created in the City of St. Louis a “Public Arts Trust Fund” modeled after those that exist in nearly 300 other cities, including New York, Seattle, Kansas City, MO; Columbia, MO; and in the St. Louis region through Metro’s “percent for the arts” policy died in committee Wednesday.

From an email sent to the local arts community by Roseann Weiss of the Regional Arts Commission:

There were 13 sponsors for a Per Cent for Art Bill 330 in Committee introduced by Alderman French. Aldermen Phyllis Young (7th Ward), Matt Villa (11th Ward) and Lyda Krewson (28th Ward) voted “NO” and the Bill died today in Committee and will not be voted on by the larger Board of Aldermen in this session.

The bill would have mandated that 1% of the budget on individual capital improvement projects, such as the construction of roads and new public buildings, would go into a trust fund to provide for public art at the site of the project and throughout neighborhoods. It would also make that same 1% requirement on any TIF the city gave to a private development.

Two of the “NO” votes came from committee chairwoman Lyda Krewson (28th Ward) and Phyllis Young (7th Ward), both of whom represent wards with many notable works of public art. The third “NO” vote came from Alderman Matt Villa (11th Ward), who before casting his vote apologized to the bill’s sponsor for having promised he would vote in support of the bill. Villa said he changed his mind after hearing testimony from an aide of Mayor Francis Slay who said the bill might harm developers.

The bill had among the widest support of any bill this session — 13 sponsors, including the President of the Board, who made a rare appearance at Wednesday’s committee hearing to cast his vote in favor.

Again, from Weiss:

Some things you might want to know about Public Art and Percent for Art Programs

• Philadelphia was one of the first cities to institute a percent-for-art program in 1959. Following Philadelphia’s lead were Baltimore (1964) and San Francisco (1967).
• Currently, about 300 cities, counties, states, federal agencies, and other government bodies have adopted percent for art programs including Kansas City (1986). Despite the current efforts of Alderman Antonio French (21st Ward) and President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, St. Louis City is not one of them.
• These programs in other cities have generated more than $200 million annually in public art support, resulting in the commissioning of thousands of public artworks.

Distinct advantages to funding public art through the percent for art mechanism include:

• Ensuring the level of artwork funding is commensurate with the size of the funding of the project.
• Protecting the artwork funds from budget cuts which can occur when public art funds are borne by a municipality’s general fund.

Public art benefits all communities and neighborhoods by:

• Promoting local urban and economic development
• Enhancing the cityscape, creating a sense of place and improving design qualities of public infrastructure
• Giving visual expression to local cultural diversity
• Creating community identity through unique functional elements such as bus shelters, tree grates, seating, paving, parking garages, etc
• Assuring that art is seen throughout the city and not just in affluent neighborhoods

Supporters promise to reintroduce the bill in April when the Board reconvenes for a new session.

A “CHANGE THE GAME” CALL TO ACTION:  JOIN THE FIGHT TO EXPAND PUBLIC ARTS IN ST. LOUIS. CALL OR EMAIL MAYOR FRANCIS SLAY AT (314) 622-3201 and CALL OR EMAIL CHAIRWOMAN LYDA KREWSON AT (314) 622-3287.

LET THEM KNOW IT’S TIME ST. LOUIS DID SOMETHING TRULY PROGRESSIVE WHILE HELPING TO IMPROVE THE IMAGES OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.