The second in a series of open forums held by the Cuyahoga Cultural Leadership Taskforce, regarding the future baking and sharing of the Arts Pie, was held at the beautiful Trinity Cathedral on Euclid Avenue.

The conference hall was large enough for the purposes of an open forum yet the acoustics were less than optimal. After about 1/3 of the meeting had taken place Chairman Tom Schorgl invited the public to move up closer to the main conference table to somehow compensate for the echo and reverberation effects of the vaulted space!

It was unclear to what degree the members of this taskforce were exposed to the plethora of background research and other pertaining information that was provided just before the meeting started. A few minutes were given to read a 5-page handout, complete with tables and interesting statistics. In the exchange of opinions that followed participation was rather tepid since only about half of the taskforce members were actively engaged in dialogue. Few comments were made on the vision and the various surrounding definitions of the matter. The discussion quickly moved from the overall vision of this taskforce to the types of grants that could be considered.

A basic Q&A strategy by Chair Tom Shorgl seemed rather lackluster to sponsoring Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones. Perhaps one could blame the coffee from Café Ah Roma or Tom Schorgl's good-hearted shoulder shake of Jones whenever reference of the source of the imaginary money came into the conversation. The Commissioner though quickly became more involved as the discussion heated up. Big part of the conversation focused on what would be most appropriate to fund and what kind of grants could be implemented. Definitions of operating support and project support were bandied about and there was a comment about having specific guidelines regarding "special events" by Steve Minter.

Commissioner Jones' suggestion that no endowment funds were to qualify for the money was accepted. Also it was specifically argued whether funding should go exclusively to 501-C organizations or perhaps even to individuals. Capital improvements seemed to be on shaky ground and it was disheartening to hear very little about the needs of literary and poetic artists.

Creative individuals and artists were represented on the taskforce by artist Hector Vega who made several poignant remarks. Mr. Vega pointed out that the structure of the grants must allow for fair competition; he also continued to address the need for full-hearted support towards creative individuals who are currently living and working in our community. In retrospect the good turnout by individual artists most definitely acted positively on the course of this meeting. It also seemed that the taskforce was surprised by the spontaneous and unexpected participation of the general public since the first of the series was not well attended.

At the end of the meeting several individuals were given permission to speak. Amy Sparks made a valid point regarding established methods of providing grants such as the ones implemented by the Ohio Arts Council. The emerging Creative Cleveland Coalition (C3) provided some unusual yet interesting feedback. C3 founding member Thomas Mulready posted on the walls the large sheets of scribbled notes that were a summary of ideas and issues by individuals of this group. C3 convened in the Cafe at Trinity prior to the public forum. Mr. Mulready pointed out that the money given for grants should be for arts created in the region and that individual artists need more help and support with many basic needs. C3 was formed to give voice to all creative individuals engaged actively in the arts and culture of our community and bring awareness of the difficulties and problems that they face.

It is becoming increasingly clear that active participation by individuals in such unique opportunities to openly debate important issues can make a change. Even if what took place last Thursday may seem at this point to be a change in perceptions and appearances, it does provide an important precedent and a valid approach towards making the first steps and enabling practically anyone to contribute constructive ideas in the development of public arts programs and funding.

Artists and creative individuals shouldn't miss the next opportunity to contribute directly their opinions and ideas to the people who will be making serious decisions for the arts in our city. The next public forum will be at Karamu House on 9/25 at 3:30PM. The topic will focus more on the nuts and bolts of the grants and include important feedback on existing investment models adopted by other cities. The Creative Cleveland Coalition will be meeting at 2PM in the Library at Karamu to discuss the rough draft of the group's mission statement and the different models for funding individual artists. This is an important one, so please sign up at the C3 Yahoo Group for the latest updates. We hope to see you there! From Creative Cleveland Coalition members Niko Angelis info@studioangelis.com, Steve Goldberg steveg@ieee.org, and George Nemeth george@smartmeetingdesign.com (:divend:)