The Ann Arbor City Council has approved a new public arts ordinance to replace the controversial "Percent for Arts" program.
Mayor John Hieftje says continuing to find ways to fund public arts is the key to making the city a place where people want to live and businesses want to be. “Things like art have been found for decades to enhance the livability of cities to make them more interesting and more pleasant places to be” says Hieftje.
Under the new public arts ordinance, city officials will decide which capital projects would benefit from having public art “baked into” the project, instead of automatically setting aside 1% of the budget for all Ann Arbor capital projects for public art.
Mayor Hieftje says the ultimate goal of the new public arts ordinance is “to get public input and public response with funding to fund a public arts project.”
The Ann Arbor "Percent for arts" program pooled more than $2 million from various capital projects into an art fund between 2007 and 2012. At the moment, there is $845,000 in the art fund that is uncommitted and will be used under the new ordinance for future art funding in the city.
-Lindsay Hall, Michigan Radio Newsroom
