Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Chad Swiateki
Arts committee members, along with local artists, criticized the protracted rollout of one of the new grant programs and the lack of funds ahead of events that some recipients had planned in hopes of making use of city funds. are doing.
Last week’s Arts Committee meeting was similar in some ways to this month’s Music Committee meeting. There, Live Music Fund grant recipients said they were at risk of not being able to hold events due to delays and a lack of communication from the Long Center. The Department of Performing Arts manages several programs overseen by the Department of Economic Development.
At issue is a Department of Arts and Culture program known as Elevate, one of three new grant programs recently created.
City officials said work is progressing with the Long Center to finalize the award contract and make payments in September or early October. Delays in amending the vendor contract with Long Center by the City’s Purchasing Department added several weeks to the process and slowed the activities and applicant information gathering needed to ship contracts to 200 grant recipients. Ta.
The delay has left artists and organizations burdened, saying they have used all available funds and resources to prepare for events scheduled in the coming weeks, but without any updates or timelines on when payments will be made. are forced to.
As of last week, the program had paid out just over $1 million from a $6.25 million budget.
Luis Ordaz, executive director of Proyecto Teatro, said: “Many of us are currently in a situation where we are two and a half weeks away from our contracted activities and we still haven’t received any funding or even an agreement. “It’s there,” he said. . “We are extremely dissatisfied with the lack of communication from the Long Center, particularly regarding specific deadlines and timelines for understanding, changing, redirecting and preserving contracted activities.” I feel that.”
EDD staff said they meet regularly with Long Center to track recipients’ contract terms and payment completion status. Payments are typically completed within one business day after all paperwork is completed.
EDD Director Silnovia Holt-Love said the city has contacted Texas Business Community Lenders to arrange for emergency gap loans to be given to recipients at risk due to late payments. Ta. The department also plans to release a memo this Friday detailing plans for how to improve three grant programs: Elevate, Thrive and Nexus. Areas of concern include the application portal user experience and language access to the program by non-English speakers.
“As coach, I take full responsibility, but we are working to move this process forward and right the wrongs that have occurred,” Holt-Love said. “I received my own email and met with some community members, so my word is that we will strive to make this user experience better.”
The commission took no action regarding program issues, but individual commissioners blamed staff for delays and poor communication after it became clear that recipients were not receiving their funds when they expected. .
“Had we had time to notify the 200 claimants that their payments would be delayed, many of the issues we are hearing in the community would have been alleviated,” Commissioner Faiza Kracheni said. “As the City of Austin Department of Arts and Culture has a clear focus on racial equity, it is extremely important that we remain transparent on this matter. The group in question doesn’t have an executive who can provide a $25,000 bridging loan.”
Photos are available through a Creative Commons license.
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