The City of Tyler is proposing to cut the Tyler Museum of Art out of their 2012-2013 budget. However, there will be a public hearing in regards to the budget on August 22 at 9:00 a.m. at Tyler City Hall at which squawks can be made!
Tyler Museum Budget on the Chopping Block
4 comments
This is shameful. Cut the MUSEUM out of the budget? Why don’t you just cut the heart out of your city? This is short-sightedness magnified x 10.
Why? That’s the first question I’d want to know. Even IF the museum is self-sustaining on it’s own without city funding, it should contribute in some form since the museum helps unite the people of Tyler in a necessary part of education as well as entertainment and support for the arts… it makes the community richer and people happy. Everyone benefits. This is a very short sighted plan of the city.
This mentality is a prime example of Tyler’s is seen to have limited vision & small minded attitude towards it’s community.
I’m dismayed to read this. It explains why their director Kimberly Tomio resigned last month (https://glasstire.com/2012/07/20/tyler-museum-of-art-director-kimberly-bush-tomio-resigns/).
Tyler has consistently been a beacon of great art in East Texas, where the pickings can sometimes be very slim. When we would work on the Spring and Fall Previews for Glasstire we’d almost invariably include something from Tyler because their programming has been so strong.
There were plans for a rather grand building which have presumably been scuttled, and maybe that’s a good thing in the context of cripplingly expensive vanity museum projects.
But Tyler should take note that their strong museum has been a signal to others in Texas that this town was smart and sophisticated. Hopefully they will keep this important space afloat, and also work to find another director who will bring the kind of vision and energy to the space as Tomio did.
Kim Tomio was a visionary in the sense that she believed in the FUTURE of the museum and what it could do for the city of Tyler. To be summarily rejected by “austerity” measures is reason enough to leave. The wealthy Tyler-ites have the private funds to do more, to make a statement, about whether their city is going to be great or second-rate. I have never seen the new museum plans as a “vanity project” but a way to present Tyler as strong supporters of the arts. Cities who put ART high on their list of things they consider important, are always winners in the long run.