City leaders are working to cut funding for public art in an effort to reduce Houston’s projected $187 million budget deficit ahead of a fall push to approve new taxes or fees on residents.
City Council last Wednesday approved a $15 million contract with the Houston Arts Alliance for the conservation and management of public art, as well as the creation of new artwork displayed on city properties. The unanimous passage came after several council members took issue with the contract’s original $25 million price tag over five years.
That vote was the beginning of a larger effort to cut Houston’s expenditures on public art, in part by reducing the amount the city is required to spend in concert with city construction projects, council members said.
“We need to look under every rock and around every quarter to see where we can save money because it’s really going to get serious in the next couple years,” At-Large Council Member Julian Ramirez said.
The city for years has given the Houston Arts Alliance funding to administer arts and culture grants for the city, curate the city’s public art collection and support local artists.
Additionally, a 1999 ordinance requires that 1.75 percent of the cost of some city construction projects be put toward the integration of public art projects to go along with the new construction. The art can be incorporated into the design or serve as an adjunct to a project.
The arts contract vote was the council’s first effort to reduce spending following the June passage of a $6.6 billion budget which runs through June 2025 and includes millions of dollars in leftover American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Balancing next year’s budget will require the city to eliminate a projected deficit of $187 million by cutting expenditures, raising new revenues or a combination of both. The deficit will more than double in five years if no new revenue streams are approved or expenses are not cut, according to a city budget analysis .
Whitmire has committed to reducing city spending wherever possible prior to a fall unveiling of a “creative financial plan” that he hopes will balance the budget.
The mayor repeatedly has declared “all options are on the table” with regard to potential new revenue sources. Among the possibilities he has floated: lifting the voter-imposed cap on property tax revenue, implementing a monthly garbage collection fee, and diverting some water and sewer utility revenue to the general operating fund.
Whitmire described the cuts to art funding as a piece of a comprehensive review of city finances.
The cost-saving exercise ahead of his financial plan in the fall largely is symbolic because most of the city’s largest expenses are tied up in personnel costs, employee pensions, bond repayments and critical city services.
Expenses for public art represent a fraction of the overall budget. In Fiscal Year 2023, just over $13 million in city funds were tied up in active civic art projects, according to the Houston Civic Art Program’s annual report for that year. The city’s overall personnel costs alone are projected at more than $1.8 billion.
Whitmire said he has tasked several City Council members with proposing changes to the ordinance this fall.
“The arts are a high priority for my administration, but I think we have to make sure we have the right priorities — arts versus public safety, arts versus flooding, arts versus street repairs,” the mayor said.
Artists say the value public art brings to the city is equally critical to building a city people want to live in.
Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee has used city funds to create works of art across Houston, including the 240-foot “Aquarius” mural in the tunnel connecting Terminals D and E at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, which has won international praise.
“Cutting funding makes no sense to me personally,” Folmsbee said. “You take back the opportunity to create and support voices that need to be heard and for messages that are positive.”
Public art first came under the microscope in late June when the Houston Arts Alliance contract came before the council. The $25 million price tag raised eyebrows among District A Councilmember Amy Peck and District E Councilmember Fred Flickinger.
Peck pitted the five-year contract against public safety, offering an amendment to exempt police, fire and EMS construction projects from the 1.75 percent ordinance.
“When we’re looking for every penny available for public safety, I’m going to look for any opportunities to move money around to put in to public safety because it’s my top priority, even if the other things we’re taking money from are also important,” Peck said.
Public safety makes up 57 percent of the more than $3 billion in general fund spending allocated in the current budget.
The contract was delayed to allow more discussion before its reduction and approval last Wednesday.
Janice Bond, a public arts administrator and owner of the Art is Bond gallery, said the effort to reduce spending discounts the economic impact public art has on a city.
“There’s an entire industry around civic art and design,” Bond said, comparing most large public artworks to a construction project involving a large team rather than a single artist.
Public art also serves as a public relations campaign for the city, Houston Arts Alliance CEO John Abodeely said.
“The Houston Arts Alliance fully respects the power and the position and the need of the city to prioritize,” Abodeely said. “We would also argue that a modest investment in the art is a very powerful investment in the brand of Houston.”
Council members said their effort is not limited to funding for public art. It is the start of a larger move to cut spending across the budget.
“The $10 million is a drop in the bucket. Well, these drops add up over time,” Ramirez said. “It’s not just one thing. It’s a number of things we need to look at. It’s a larger issue of how we need to save money.”
District C Councilmember Abbie Kamin cautioned her fellow council members against a piecemeal approach to reducing city expenditures.
“We can’t allow one particular item to be a scapegoat for fiscal responsibility,” Kamin said.
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