I was glad to see this story today in the Argus Leader about the SF Arts council;
Sorenson is impressed that the council plans to take the lead in the city’s new cultural plan.
“The leadership just changed, and with Tim stepping up, we look at it as an opportunity to further the relationship between city and the Sioux Falls Arts Council, to bring the arts alive in our community,†Sorenson said.
“The citizens know that arts takes on many shapes: Performing art, cultural arts, visual arts, and so forth. The council serves as an overall umbrella arts organization to make it available to the citizens.â€
As DaCola reported, the Arts Council spent only about 10% of their budget on ACTUAL programs last year. I hope with new leadership this figure will change in the coming year.
As I understand it, people who contributed to the Arts Council might have been confused, thinking they could now just give to the Pavilion which would then give to the Arts Council. That probably did not happen. This why I always thought it was a bad idea to move to the Pavilion, but maybe they have learned their lesson and that is why they moved. Besides having to pay rent at the Pavilion, I think they were seeking independent space also.
I hope the SFAC wasn’t paying too much rent at the Pavilion, considering its office was about the size of a broom closet. In fact, I believe it may have been a broom closet prior to Nan Baker moving into it.