Members from the City’s Cultural Arts Commission (CAC) met with the City Council for a joint work session Monday and gave an update on the group’s activities over the past two fiscal years. The CAC recommends grants to the City Council from hotel-motel tax fund dollars for local arts organizations, conducts workshops for the grant recipients and provides representation on public art selection committees.

Highlights of the report included:

  • $735,000 in grants were awarded to 29 different arts organizations in FY 18-19 and FY 19-20
  • From 2018-20, more than 273,000 audience members in Richardson were enriched as a result of arts grant funding
  • Five pieces of public art were installed in the past two years, including “Flow” at Fire Station 3 and “Sylvan Portals” at Spring Creek Nature Area, and two are expected in 2021

For 2020-21, $180,000 has been granted to 12 arts nonprofits, lower numbers than usual because of lower tax revenue related to the coronavirus pandemic.