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DEL.ICIO.USAtlantans discover how metro Denver supports the arts and culture
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since 1988, the metro counties in Denver have joined together to support the arts and culture throughout the region, including the major facilities in the heart of the city.
The level of regional cooperation in Denver for the arts and other issues intrigued Joe Bankoff, president of the Woodruff Arts Center. Bankoff called me this morning to share his thoughts on what he has been hearing on this year’s LINK trip to Denver.
About 110 metro Atlanta leaders are in Denver for three days to study how it approaches many of the same issues that we face in our own region.
Bankoff said that voter throughout Denver have overwhelmingly approved a 10th of a penny sales tax to support all levels of cultural facilities, including the Denver zoo, the major museums as well as host of smaller arts groups in the suburban parts of the region. Currently, that fraction of a tax generates about $40 million a year in funding for all these organizations.
“The region supports an ecosystem for the arts,” Bankoff said, adding that suburban voters support the tax even if they don’t visit to major facilities located in the city of Denver because they recognize the value those attractions bring to the region.
The Atlanta delegation has been taking note.
“The refreshing thing to me that I”m hearing from my colleagues on this trip is: “Couldn’t we do something like this in the Atlanta region,’” Bankoff said.
Denver actually has several regional initiatives where the counties have come together to support funding for the arts, transit and sports facilities, among other efforts.
“There’s a perception of regionalism here that is clearly a reason why some of these initiatives have been able to get done,” Bankoff said. “The difference between Denver and Atlanta is that we talk about regionalism. We need to get the leadership to work together in Atlanta in the same way that it has come together here.”
In hearing presentations from Denver’s leaders on health care, water, education and the arts, Bankoff said he’s been amazed at the quality level of leadership in the urban center of Colorado.
“We have really good leadership in pockets around our region,” Bankoff said of metro Atlanta. “We just need to work together more closely.”
Comments
By BPJ
May 2, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this
It’s ironic, because Atlanta’s arts community is at least the equal of Denver’s; the theatre scenes are roughly equivalent, Atlanta’s orchestra (and chorus) are better, and the visual arts offerings are comparable (the support for contemporary art is greater in Denver, but I don’t believe they have anything comparable to the Carlos Museum).
In order for a community to support the arts, there has to be widespread awareness of the city’s current art offerings, what the arts contribute to the city, and where the shortcomings (& growth potential) are. A city’s major newspaper plays a vital role in creating this awareness. Therefore, part of the blame for the lack of support for the arts in Atlanta has to be laid at the feet of the AJC. This paper has some excellent critics and reporters, but the top management appears to have decided that arts coverage is something of an embarrassment, to be hidden away. Reviews of plays and exhibitions sometimes appear weeks after the opening - imagine if the sports pages waited that long! Every week major arts stories from the print edition never show up in the online version. What’s the matter - are you guys afraid the online readership will be frightened off by anything more intelligent than the celebrity-of-the-week story?
To see how it’s done right, look at the arts pages in the Denver Post. Really, just try it: a couple of times a week, for the next month, look at the two paper’s respective arts pages online. The one in Denver presumes an intelligent, educated, curious audience, so the information is easy to find, and abundant. There are separate pages for visual arts, music, and theatre, and each has a considerable number of stories, often with photos. And the reader doesn’t have to guess what each story might be about - unlike at the AJC, where there is often some cryptic headline which could be about anything.
Here is the link to the Denver paper: text to be linked. Take a look, I challenge you. Then compare to the pitiful, incoherent mess on the AJC site. One is the work of a paper which respects its audience; the other is the work of a paper which at times seems to have given up.