by Bruce Checefsky
Documents received by CoolCleveland, provided by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture after a public records request, reveal that between 2017 and 2022, Cuyahoga County artists missed out on unspent individual grants totaling $1,080,000.
The Support for Artists (SFA) Grants (2018-2023) history report shows that $400,000 went unspent from individual artists’ grants in 2017, while the Support for Artists Planning Team (SfAT), a group of 10 county-wide artists selected by CAC, was tasked to revamp the Creative Workforce Fellowship program, which came under public criticism for lack of diversity. The Support for Artists Planning Team included Donald Black Jr., Bryan Bowser, Gwen Garth, Letitia Lopez, Liz Maugans, Vince Robinson, Jake Sinatra, Mr. Soul, Marc White, and Jordan Wong.
Mark G. Chupp, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences of Case Western Reserve University and founding director of the Community Innovation Network, was hired by CAC to oversee the planning team process. In December 2017, a 12-page report, Recommended Approach To Supporting Artists In Cuyahoga County, was submitted to the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees received the plan, but it was never adopted.
“The recommendations were not immediately accepted,” said Chupp in a phone interview with CoolCleveland. “It was a big disappointment. Some artists on the planning team had no faith in the CAC board. They were very disappointed by the lack of affirmation.”
Chupp also said that everyone involved with the process understood the unspent $400,000 individual artists’ grants would later be used to fund the new initiative.
“Those funds would not be gone, but they would be invested according to the recommendations and used for individual grants,” he said. “When the recommendations were not adopted in 2018, the suspension was very unfortunate and should have gone back to how it was funded in the past and not diverted to some other purpose.”
Chupp said community sessions during the planning committee process gathered systemic input from the broader community of artists to guide the successful implementation of the agreed-upon changes and work on putting our recommendations in place.
“The report was rigorous, challenging and very valuable,” he said. “It was sad the way the CAC received the recommendations. It could have been a national model.
In April 2018, CAC Executive Director Karen Gahl-Mills announced her resignation. Jill Paulsen, then deputy director, served as interim director. A reunion of the Support for Artists Planning Team and CAC staff took place later the year, where Paulsen committed to moving the plan forward, according to Chupp, who was at the meeting, but she never explained how or when it might take place. No individual artists’ grants were made during the year, leaving another $400,000 unspent. Paulsen was promoted from interim to executive director in 2020.
CoolCleveland asked Paulsen about the unspent 2017 and 2018 individual artists’ grants. Jake Sinatra, the director of grant-making strategy and communications, replied in an email:
“Mark is incorrect,” said Sinatra. “The Board did not approve an allocation in 2017 for $400,000. The $400,000 figure was a placeholder based on what was roughly granted each year to the former Creative Workforce Fellowship program. Those funds were used to pay the local artist planning team members, to gather broader artist input at public events, and to facilitate Support for Artists Planning Team process, including paying for CWRU’s (Mark Chupp and his team’s) work. The Board never voted to ‘set aside and roll over’ the funds.”
A review of CAC minutes from December 12, 2016, show the board approved investment in 2017 at the same level as 2016 for General Operating Support and individual artists, or $400,000 for individual artists’ grants.
Sinatra said the unspent funds do not “roll over” and are not held for specific grant programs.
“They go back into the budget to support CAC’s future work. It takes time to plan for, launch and finish a new grant opportunity, especially when it’s designed by the community: The artist planning team wrapped up in late 2017. CAC issued a request for proposals from nonprofits interested in providing artist programs in early 2018. Grant applications were reviewed by an external panel of experts (including artists) in the summer of 2018. The first grants were approved in fall 2018.”
Under the leadership of Paulsen, individual artists’ grant funding went unspent again in 2021 and 2022, from $400,000 to $260,000, leaving $140,000 for each of the two years, adding another $280,000 to the total. At a regular board meeting last December, Paulsen said grants went unused because there were not enough qualified organizations to handle the Support for Artists grantees program. CAC does not provide the artists grants directly to individual artists but works with nonprofit partners. The last time they solicited the community for proposals was in 2018.
Sinatra explained that in 2021, CAC spent less than its budget because grantees requested extensions due to the pandemic and program delays.
“In 2022, CAC spent less than its budget because Assembly did not submit a grant application for 2022 funding. Assembly did submit a grant application for $140,000 in December 2022 for 2023 funding.”
It remains unclear how CAC spent the individual artists’ grants totaling $1,080,000.
Note: earlier reporting on this issue appears here:
UPDATED: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Board Bickers While Artists Wonder Where They Fit In: https://coolcleveland.com/wFaD6
And a related CoolCleveland COMMENTARY appears here: https://coolcleveland.com/uhsrn