Future of arts funding divides Rockford City Council before unanimous OK

ROCKFORD — A three-year deal that will provide the Rockford Area Arts Council $75,000 annually and a rent-free lease of the Shumway building divided City Council mostly along party lines.

Ald. Chad Tuneberg, R-3, said Republican aldermen were not opposed to arts funding. But they wanted to require the Arts Council to return to City Council each year for renewal.

Tuneberg argued with economic uncertainty, high inflation and a brewing pension crisis the city must examine financial agreements "with a fine-toothed comb." He opposed a multiyear agreement.

"It's not a big amount, but the city is definitely under financial constraints and with the economic environment that is looming right now, we have to look at our taxpayer dollars very closely," Tuneberg said.

Public art: Rockford Area Arts Council grant will fund new works of public art

An amendment Tuneberg introduced that would have required the City Council to renew the funding annually was defeated on a 9-3 vote Monday. All three aldermen who opposed a multiyear agreement were Republican including Tuneberg, Tim Durkee, R-1, and Frank Beach, R-10.

After the amendment was defeated, the three-year funding agreement was ultimately approved on an unanimous 12-0 vote including the three aldermen who had initially opposed a multiyear deal.

Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, said the amendment would have gutted the agreement and "left it as an empty shell."

"The reason to do any of this is that the arts are economic development," Bonne said.

Mayor Tom McNamara, whose sister Mary McNamara Bernsten is executive director of the Arts Council, supported the three-year agreement. He said that it will boost the arts organization's ability to win grant funds that support culture in Rockford and the region.

McNamara said the Arts Council — a regional arts and culture umbrella organization that serves a four-county area — has been especially successful in recent years. He noted it won a $150,000 federal grant to commission and install new permanent works of public art in underserved Rockford neighborhoods.

"Giving them a better opportunity to go after multiyear grants is really what that proposal is for," McNamara said. "It shows they have a three-year commitment and will be around."

Ald. Kevin Frost, R-4, broke from fellow Republicans to support the multiyear agreement. Frost, whose wife, Lisa Frost, and daughter, Libbie Frost, are artists, said that the city supports the arts as a cultural and economic development driver.

Frost said the city would have approved the annual funding for the Arts Council each year even without a multiyear deal. And he agreed that the three-year commitment bolsters the organization's ability to land larger grants that benefit Rockford.

He also noted that the agreement includes an escape hatch. If financial circumstances change for the worse, the city can terminate the agreement and provide less or even no funding.

"They work with our school systems to encourage youth and promote and educate them on the arts, they put on Art Scene twice a year," Frost said. "So they do great things for our community and I have no problem with it. It's a nominal amount of money."

Jeff Kolkey: (815) 987-1374; jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Some Rockford aldermen opposed multiyear funding for arts