‘Beloved community event’: Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail loses funds after city council meeting

LUBBOCK, Texas — After the Lubbock City Council made a decision to cut $30,000 in funding from the First Friday Art Trail, the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) said there was “no reason to cut this vital funding for a beloved community event.”

In a social media post on Wednesday, LHUCA said anyone who wishes to donate to support the FFAT can do so here.

During a regular meeting on Tuesday, City Councilman for District 3, David Glasheen, explained the grant money that the First Friday Art Trail (FFAT) receives comes from hotel occupancy tax funds. Glasheen raised concerns about the FFAT promoting what he described as “programs for promoting the LGBT agenda.”

Glasheen was concerned about drag performances being “subsidized and promoted by tax dollars.”

Glasheen said some artwork contained “LGBT talking points.” He said he was concerned about a state-wide trend of “sexualized LGBT events” in front of minors. Glasheen it was not appropriate for tax dollars to promote these events.

City Councilwoman for District 1, Christy Martinez-Garcia, said the FFAT brings about 20,000 people to downtown Lubbock.

“As this city grows, and as the interest of the city to build up downtown, I think we need to make it open for anybody and everybody,” Martinez-Garcia said. “I’m straight but I don’t hate.”

Martinez-Garcia said people with different interests choose different nights to attend the FFAT, and that each month is different than the one before. Martinez-Garcia said as members of the City Council, they don’t get to pick who they are representing and need to be inclusive of their community.

“We need to put the unity in community,” Martinez-Garcia said.

Mayor Mark McBrayer agreed with Glasheen, stating the “sexualized” content was problematic.

“I see some people shaking their heads in the audience, but the fact of the matter is, drag queen performances are sexualized,” McBrayer said. “We have no business spending tax money promoting that for an event that’s supposed to be, I believe, family friendly.”

McBrayer said by not keeping the performances family-friendly, it was a “slippery slope” and could “open the door to other things.”

The motion passed with five in favor and two against.

A statement from LHUCA, the manager of FFAT, said it is disheartened by the decision. LHUCA explained the performance in question was not held on LHUCA property, but at a separate entity that is “in control of their own creative programming.”

LHUCA said the funding would have gone to promote the event regionally and statewide. The grant money was funding a free trolley service during the event, security, live bands and artists.

“LHUCA was not consulted about the funding request nor asked about the LGBTQ+ programming in question by City Council before the decision was made,” a press release stated.

See full statement from LHUCA below.

The following is a statement from Civic Lubbock:

Civic Lubbock, Inc., through an agreement with the City of Lubbock, administers the Cultural Arts Grant Program. The grant program is funded through an allocation of hotel occupancy tax provided by the City of Lubbock.

The purpose of the Cultural Arts Grant Program is to provide funding to underwrite visual and performing arts programming for the encouragement, advancement, improvement and application of the arts and promotion of tourism in the Lubbock community.

The Cultural Arts Grant Review Committee, which is a committee under Civic Lubbock, reviews the applications and develops their grant award recommendations. Those recommendations are presented to the Civic Lubbock, Inc. Board for approval prior to going before the City Council for final approval.

The Underwood Center for the Arts submitted their grant application for the First Friday Art Trail that occurs monthly throughout the year. Funding requested was to cover the expenses for general advertising/promotion of the Art Trail, trolley service, wayfinding, musician/artist fees for those performing on the LHUCA campus, and security. There are 15+ venues that participate on the trail throughout downtown.  Each venue provides their own programming.

Statement from Jim Douglass, President
Civic Lubbock, Inc. Board of Directors

The following is a statement from Lubbock Pride:

Lubbock Pride is shocked and disappointed in the recent vote by a majority of city council members, including the mayor, to defund LHUCA and the FFAT by eliminating them from the organizations vetted and approved by Civic Lubbock for an allotment of HOT tax dollars.

This funding was previously utilized to provide public safety for the FFAT event as well as transportation by use of trolleys. This affects all attendees of the Art Trail and is clearly placing misguided blame on the Queer art community. This action is clearly being used as a punitive measure against something that is not illegal, but something that certain individuals feel is a political or moral issue.

The lives of human beings are not political. A large portion of art is inspired by politics and morality. To specifically point to the queer art community or drag performances as being political is creating a slippery slope with the threat of continued censorship in other areas.

Drag has been a performance art since the late 16th century, and for this to become a hot button issue just over the last few years brings question to the true motive behind these actions.

Lubbock Pride would like the council to revisit the issue and approve the funding that LHUCA was supposed to be allocated. This is a blanket punishment that is seen as a threat to the entire community, not even just the LGBTQ community. This is a threat to free speech for anyone who doesn’t align with the beliefs of a city council majority vote.

Watch the city council meeting here.

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