11/22/2011

Arts Commission disbanded as appointed Town board

Cape Elizabeth will ring in 2012 without an Arts Commission.

The Town Council voted Nov. 14, 2011 to disband the commission as an official Town board.

The Arts Commission has struggled over the years, Town Manager Michael McGovern said in a memo to the Town Council. The struggles have been financial, with minimal funds available annually from the Town budget, as well as a struggle to maintain membership.

The seven member board was established 25 years ago by Town Council vote, McGovern wrote, but was never formalized as part of Town ordinance. Over the years the group has coordinated gallery exhibits at the Thomas Memorial Library; sponsored arts prizes, grants and events; and has chosen the art work the Town Hall purchases each year at the Engine 1 Fort Williams Park Labor Day Weekend Art Show. Recently they completed an inventory of Town art holdings.

During the last seven years, however, there has been an average of two resignations from the commission a year, and few members who have finished a first term apply for a second. Citing the council's 2011 goal to review the function and mission of each Town board, the council voted to discontinue the Arts Commission as an appointed board, and to encourage the creation of an independent citizen group to promote arts in the community.

At the council's meeting Nov. 14, Arts Commission member Julia Bassett Schwerin said the commission empathizes with the council's decision, and asked for future help from the Town in establishing 501(c)(3) non-profit status for the new, independent citizen group.

Councilors stopped short of promising that without knowing the exact cost, but did say they would consider an allocation in next year's budget as recommended by the town manager. The Town provided similar support to the Fort Williams Charitable Foundation, McGovern said at the meeting.

The commission has $902 left in its $1,000 budget for 2011-2012, $500 of which had been earmarked for a grant award. The commission could put some of the remaining $402 toward the cost of establishing 501(c)(3) status, McGovern said.