Fred Bidwell, chairman of the Cleveland-based Arts & Culture Action Committee, wants reforms to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) before a campaign to place a new levy on the ballot can begin.
In an op-ed published in the Plain Dealer on Sunday, Bidwell said the board of the Assembly for Action, the 501(c)(4) sister organization of the local nonprofit Assembly for the Arts, voted to pause activity on the campaign to renew funding for the arts. A vote on November 4 resulted in a unanimous decision to halt plans in the current atmosphere of confusion and mistrust at the CAC.
“Dissatisfaction with CAC management of these critical taxpayer dollars (currently about $12 million in revenue annually) has been building in all corners of the artistic community for years,” said Bidwell.
While the op-ed was his personal point of view, Bidwell said in the phone interview that he offered to resign from the board pending conflicts with his message. They rejected his offer, and he remains board chairman. Asked why the Arts & Culture Action Committee did not issue a separate statement following their vote, he added, “There is no requirement for the Assembly for Action to publicize their actions.”
Bidwell said, bottom line, the tax needs renewal. Otherwise, it will be disastrous for the community. The issue is to get the artistic community to support the campaign.
“Right now, we do not have enough support to lead to successful fundraising. We cannot move forward without that campaign support.”
A successful campaign depends on two things, he added. First, money is needed to cover the cost of marketing and mailings. The last levy campaign in 2015 cost $1.5 million, and with current inflation, that number could easily be higher this time. Secondly, grassroots support is essential.
“We need people to go door-to-door and put signs on their lawns. We need the arts community to advocate, including individual artists together with small, medium, and large arts organizations. They are the ones that have to get out the vote,” he said. “We need to have a team on board, and right now, we do not have our team on board.”
The campaign money comes from foundations, corporations and arts organizations, with the larger organizations contributing and getting more. Individuals, including the board members of organizations, also contribute.
Bidwell said as of late Monday afternoon, neither County Executive Chris Ronayne nor members of the CAC board have reached out in response to him.
The current CAC policies are “tone deaf,” and not responsive to community needs, with a lack of willingness to hear what the community has to say and a drift in mission away from a funder towards a pro-active policy-driven funder.
“They write the rules and not connected to the real needs of their grantees and not responding to them,” he said.
Bidwell is looking for good news to help propel the campaign forward. Artists and organizations are looking for action, he said. An obvious quick win would be an increase in funding for individual artists. Allocation models need to be changed, and while he did not comment on the exact numbers, he added that something “greater than it now seems appropriate.”
If the levy campaign fails to launch anytime soon or meet the deadline for a November 2024 ballot, holding over instead to March or November 2025, as far as funding goes, a gap in funding is unanticipated. The current tax levy continues through the end of 2026.
“Funds are coming in and being distributed until the end of the current permissive legislation,” he said, “but the funds continue to decline. The sooner we get the new tax passed, the sooner we have increased funds coming in.”
Liz Maugans, an outspoken advocate for CAC reform, said she was not surprised by the Bidwell op-ed.
“Over the past year, I have learned that organizations like CAC, which limit public participation, are counterproductive to any vision I have for celebrating the individual artist, our cultural institutions, and the small organizations tucked into our neighborhoods that serve the community,” said Maugans. “I think this is the best time for him to express his opinion and let the dust settle.”
Read Bruce Checefsky’s reporting on Fred Bidwell’s statement here.
Bruce Checefsky is a filmmaker and photographer, and published writer. He is the recipient of three Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, and four CEC ArtsLink Fellowships.