Letter to Council Regarding CCAASE Funding Cut

January 10, 2019

Dear Telluride Town Council,

With all due respect for your time and the many considerations on your plate always, we are asking that you please take a few minutes to read this letter thoroughly as we are in danger of losing ground with the Arts District and are concerned.

We were dismayed to hear of the CCAASE funding recommendation and comments from commission members regarding Telluride Arts in the Telluride Daily Planet on Friday, January 4. 

Telluride Arts’ mission is to advance the goals of the Telluride Cultural Master Plan, and for all intents and purposes, we have undeniably excelled in this role. As you know from our annual reports, we have met or exceeded goals, become a twice-certified Colorado Creative District, and leveraged the Town funds for remarkable growth thanks in part due to new grants from the State Historic Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts. We do this through exhaustive planning and engagement to ensure alignment with community priorities at every turn. This is what distinguishes Telluride Arts, an Arts Council, from other arts non-profits. We are in service to all, and work in partnership with the Town to strategically advance common goals.

Two of the four priorities in the Cultural Master Plan are: Marketing and Space for the Arts (as well as Funding and Resources for Artists) and yet in the evaluation of our programs, Delaney Young is quoted as saying:

“I’m unwilling to give tax dollars to funding their building and advertising,” Young said.

She also remarked that she was disappointed there was not artist space or housing in the Transfer Building design plans.

This opinion disregards the hours and hours of exhaustive community planning that has been done over the past 7 years that provides the roadmap for our work.

For starters, the Cultural Master Plan was developed through professionally facilitated, meticulous community meetings where 70 people invested approximately 230 hours to develop a common vision and identify strategies that would advance the arts as a whole. A common concern during the meetings was that the plan would have no impact unless someone took the responsibility to implement it. Telluride Arts was empowered to provide this leadership with the Town line item funding.

It was these commitments by the Town that led to the Telluride Arts District being certified by the State of Colorado and enabled us to immediately access start-up funding to develop the brand and marketing plan for the District.

In our new role as administrator of the Cultural Master Plan, we went back to the community for another round of facilitated meetings of to put a finer point on short term goals in the four prioritized program areas: 1.) Marketing 2.) Space for the Arts (“develop an arts center”) 3.) Funding, and 4.) Resources for Artists.

When we developed the branding and marketing for the new Arts District, we re-engaged the arts community for guidance. When we developed a Wayfinding Plan, we did so in collaboration with the Town, Telski, the Tourism Board, Mountainclub, and Mountain Village.

When we became involved in developing the Transfer Warehouse, we went back to the community for more planning, this time, we hired ArtSpace as consultants to help us evaluate community needs and determine highest and best possible use for that building. It was with their help, and again, hundreds of hours of input from community members that we determined to make the building all public space—and not divide it into private houses or studios. Both housing and studios are being built right next door in the new Town/Ah Haa space.

When we selected the design for the building, we re-engaged the community for guidance and over 400 people participated.

In addition, our budget was reported as being “vague” in the article. For the record, our budget was completely overhauled with the assistance of Richard Betts from ASAP when we reorganized, has been calibrated by talented financial advisors, and was again refined with the help of the Telluride Foundation’s non-profit consultant Stuart Halpern in 2018. If there were confusions or questions on behalf of the board, we would relish the opportunity (and kindness) to answer them.

And finally, Sasha Sullivan’s comment “Do we tear the Band-Aid off now or next year?” is confusing. Funding for Telluride Arts was never intended to be a Band-Aid. It was meant to be an investment in advancing the Arts District in ways that would have a profound impact on the cultural life in Telluride over time. It includes an annual allotment of $10,000 for small grants to artists, which we reinstated with the line item, and is another priority in the Cultural Master Plan that has a proven track record of success. Accountability to the Town and community is a priority for us, and is demonstrated in our commitment to ongoing planning and our success meeting the goals of the Cultural Master Plan.

We hope the Council and the CCAASE commission will reconsider the value of the Town’s commitment to the Cultural Master Plan, and continue to empower Telluride Arts to advance strategic, grass-roots community goals. In spite of unprecedented growth, a tiny staff, and an extremely ambitious project developing the Warehouse as a public arts space, we have not asked for a funding increase. The $50,000 towards operating and $10,000 towards artists is a relatively small investment with an enormous impact. Please consider retaining our strong, well-founded partnership into 2019 and beyond with your continued financial support at the previously established level.

With the highest regard,

Kate Jones, Executive Director and the Telluride Arts Board of Directors, Penelope Place Gleason, Board Chair, Todd Brown, Douglas Bradbury, Ken Meridith, Leslie Trudeau, Eric Cummings, and Micheline Klagsbrun