City Council Member LAURE QUINLIVAN answers Art in Cincinnati Survey 513-520-4809. laurequinlivan@gmail 1. Describe any positive or negative experiences you have had personally with Arts education (Visual Arts, Music, Theatre, etc). I have had many positive experiences with arts education. My favorite thing to do in kindergarten was fingerpaint, so it started early! I performed in choirs and chorale groups all through school, including college. I was a theatre major at Miami U. and acted in theater productions in grade school, high school, at Miami, and I’ve done community theatre in Toledo, Ohio, Nashville, TN and Wilmington, NC. I am married to an artist and art educator, Greg Ruthman. He sculpts and paints and teaches K-8 art at St. Joseph’s in the West End. 2. What is your Arts & Culture policy or public platform? How much money (as an elected official) do you plan to allocate for arts funding on the next budget? What line items do you plan to add? My vision for Cincinnati is “Cleaner, Greener & Smarter” and a vibrant arts scene is a “smart” investment and an important part of that platform. The arts are an economic driver and help us retain and attract the “creative class” to our city. Most importantly, the arts improve our quality of life. I have led support for arts funding in Cincinnati since my election in 2009. I was responsible for directing $150,000 in capital support to assist in the revitalization of the Emery Theater. I started the Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellowship program in 2012, which awards $6000/year to seven artists from any discipline chosen by the Cincinnati Arts Allocation Committee, which is appointed by the Mayor. This is a substantial award for an artist and helps us retain and attract artists to the city. I pushed for art and public space to be part of the budget for the new west side police station and downtown grocery store/tower, and am convening citizens to participate in the public input for those projects. My plan is to lead the effort to devote a percentage of our budget to public art. 3. Do you believe that the arts strengthen the local economy? Why or why not? Yes, the arts are a proven economic driver, as reported recently by ArtsWave, which conducted some major research on this point. 4. Did you support the return of the Arts Ambassador Fellowship program? Why or why not? Yes. I have been very disappointed in some of my colleagues apparent reluctance to embrace any funding for arts, even the paltry $50,000 for CAAF. The $50,000 for CAAF is only 0.01% of the city’s general fund budget and yet a majority of council members refused to include it in the budget that was passed in June. I’m fighting to have the CAAF funding restored when we vote in September, but some council members decline to show any public support for this effort. 5. Did you experience any of the art works or performances created by the 2012 Arts Ambassador Fellows? If so, please describe. Yes, I acted as emcee for both of the public performances of the CAAF artists, one at Memorial Hall and the other at Clifton Cultural Arts Center. I also came to the dedication of Shark Girl by the Sea by CAAF artist Casey Riordan Millard and visited Terri Kern’s studio at Pendleton, and attended one of the public performances by cellist Nat Chaitken’s at the Centennial II theatre. 6. How do you envision the City using the arts as a tourist attraction and attracting artists to the area? The city is already a tourist mecca because of our arts scene, though we should do a much better job of promoting and highlighting our arts and culture. My idea in 2012, when we were hosting the World Choir Games, was to promote our city as “The City that Sings.” It was a start in focusing attention on the arts. I am building support to tell the story of Cincinnati’s Musical Heritage on an art wall to be constructed with city funding across from the casino. This will be a tourist attraction that educates citizens about our arts-rich offerings, including local residents. I expect it to become a tourist attraction as well. 7. What is your personal interest or investment in the arts, and list the arts-related events you attended in the last year. I am a longtime subscriber to Playhouse in the Park, I attend shows at Ensemble Theater and I go to openings at art galleries and unveilings of ArtWorks murals. I attend musical performances of every kind at Music Hall, the Taft, the Emery, and at local bars and restaurants. I include musicians and artists in my campaign events as I run for re-election. If I listed every performance I attended in the last year, I would run out of room. 8. Do you sit on any boards or act as an advisor to any arts organizations? As Chair of Strategic Growth, my committee oversees arts and culture. I give arts groups the opportunity to tell their stories and promote special events by appearing in my committee and presenting to council members. The meetings are videotaped by city cable and go out to a wide audience. I am the city’s representative on the Board of the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, and I advise the Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellowships. This year I was on the advisory committee for the Pendleton Art project administered by ArtWorks, which will not be installed until next Spring. This public art project is somewhat of a first for the city, devoting some of the casino area improvement funds for public art, as well as improved streetscapes, lighting, etc. 9. What is your position on supporting public art, and how would you fund it? I support a 1% of capital funds for art ordinance to fund the creation of public art whenever we’re spending city money on major capital improvements. I also have an innovative plan (not yet public) for a public-private partnership to fund creation of public sculpture and live performances on key streets leading from the casino to other downtown destinations. 10. What role did you play in the 2012 World Choir Games? What should we do to attract similar events? My role was the unofficial “head cheerleader” for the WCG on city council. My committee oversaw the preparations by the city and the private sector, and we voted to incorporate “Cincinnati, the City that Sings” into all signage and materials that were being prepared for the WCG with city funds. Unfortunately, we didn’t get full cooperation from the WCG organization, since they had already decided that their theme was “Share Song, Make Magic” (or something like that…it wasn’t very memorable). I raised more than $25,000 in private funds to produce a music video with Cincinnati celebrities who agreed to perform for free to promote Cincinnati as “The City that Sings” for the WCG. They included Nick and Drew Lachey, Bootsy Collins, Jerry Springer, Eben Franckowitz (American Idol), comedian Gary Owen and the Naked Cowboy. I purchased rights to the song “Proud Mary” and wrote lyrics for Cincinnati used in the song. If you’d like to see it, go to YouTube/citythatsings. Now that we did such a great job hosting the WCG, we are working to attract similar big events, including regional singing competitions, and the Olympic trials for the marathon. 12.The city owns cultural facilities/buildings in need of capital funding. What is your plan to support/repair these facilities, and do you support a cultural facilities tax? I voted in favor of using $10 Million of city capital for Music Hall renovation and I believe it’s important to care for the arts facilities we own. I would support a cultural facilities tax and I’m open to other ideas on how to fund the repair/maintenance.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 19:21:40 +0000
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