City of Houston Cuts $10 Million in Public Arts Funds

Last month, Houston’s City Council approved a $15 million contract with Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) for the management of the City’s public art, a $10 million decrease from the originally proposed multi-year contract.

According to its website, HAA is a nonprofit agency that primarily implements the City’s “vision, values, and goals for its arts grantmaking and civic art investments.” It works with the City through contracts with the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA), but also manages privately funded projects and conducts research on the state of the arts in Houston. Recently, the public art contract between the City and HAA has been a point of discussion among the City Council.

John Abodeely, CEO of HAA, explained to Glasstire that, “During the two months in which the City civic art investments were debated by [the Council], there were suggestions that public safety departments be removed from the civic art program, and there was discussion of the city eliminating arts investments in favor of diverting funds to public safety.”

MOCA’s website notes that the City’s Civic Art Ordinance, which requires that 1.75 percent of the budget of city-funded construction projects be allocated to integrate artwork into public spaces, has been in place since 1999. Through this program, the City has commissioned hundreds of site-specific pieces across Houston. Recently, City Council members have discussed adjusting the ordinance as the City faces a projected $187 million budget deficit. 

At a City Council meeting on Wednesday, July 17, Councilmember Fred Flickinger suggested the following: “The total allocation of the contract agreement or other undertaking approved and authorized hereby shall never exceed $15 million, unless or until this sum is increased by ordinance of City Council.” He mentioned that various people were part of discussions that resulted in this compromise. Mr. Flickinger did not respond to Glasstire’s questions seeking further clarification about the compromise.

Councilmember Abbie Kamin spoke up to clarify that, “should additional funding be required, that [the ordinance] can come back before Council to increase [the amount].” 

Mayor John Whitmire noted that more conversations would be had in the future regarding art funding to “reconcile some of the differences about what [the City’s] priorities are and the impact it has on the arts and how they can be used and funded.”

Councilmember Julian Ramirez, who originally brought up a desire to revisit the contract last month, also spoke at the July 17 meeting to note that the City’s administration is considering revising the Civic Art Ordinance. Mr. Ramirez expressed concern that the ordinance is not consistent with state law, though he did not provide details. He told Glasstire that the Houston ordinance “requires that no less than 1.75 percent be spent on acquisition or conservation of art” and pointed to Texas Local Government Code Section 444.029, which states that, “any county, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state… may specify that a percentage not to exceed one percent of the cost of the construction project shall be used for fine arts projects at or near the site of the construction project.”

Councilmember Martha Castex-Tatum noted that public art has economic power and impacts Houston communities. She referred to artists hiring engineers and others to assist on projects, which ultimately supports the local economy. She stated, “I do think we have reached a compromise, but every industry also hires people and makes an impact in our community. And while I know that people are frustrated about infrastructure, I don’t want us to nitpick the small things that won’t make an impact on their infrastructure and cause a problem for the economy and the economics for the people in another industry that may not be as important to you.”

Ultimately, the City Council voted 14-0 to pass the budget change. According to a summary of the agenda item, the contract is authorized “for two years with three one-year options to renew between the City of Houston and HAA.” This is the same contract timeline that would have been in place if the proposed $25 million was approved. However, Mr. Abodeely told Glasstire that the previous contract was for five years and included an up-to amount of $24 million.

Mr. Abodeely explained, “This contract change reduces the amount of the current public art allocation that can be spent through this contract, so we expect it will shorten the life of the contract by a year or two, and then require the City to resume its current discussions about whether or not it should support the arts.”

When asked about the scope of work covered under this contract, Mr. Abodeely stated that it, “includes new commissions of site-specific new artwork, conservation of existing artwork, and acquisitions of existing artwork.”