Letter to the Editor: Call your alderman and voice your support for the arts

The city budget passed in April with $25,000 allocated to your arts council – 1.6% of the Economic Growth Fund – to advance community development and economic goals for arts and culture. The City Council tabled that invoice this week, and this investment is in doubt.

A number of umbrella agencies are advocating on behalf of Quincy and contributing to the overall quality of life and pride we find in our community. Few would argue that the dollars we invest in our Convention and Visitors Bureau, Economic Development Foundation or Park District aren’t well-spent. Those are fantastic agencies promoting the economic vitality and social well-being of our community. 

This community’s arts council is the first arts council in America – and our purpose is similar. We work to drive visitors to Quincy and to create opportunities for our citizens to engage in creative pursuits that make lives better. We promote 55 partners in music, theater, visual arts, history and humanities and connect people to amazing shows, events and festivals that drive our economy.

Your arts council is connecting kids to opportunities the schools can’t afford – including providing a field trip for every K-5 student in the county last year. We’re working in low-income neighborhoods and for veterans and seniors. We’re beautifying our city with public art. We’re helping recruit and retain an educated workforce who expect arts and culture to be available in their community. 

Arts Quincy secured a $1.5 million grant to preserve the iconic History Museum on the Square and was awarded $50,000 to study a riverfront amphitheater. We are ready to compete for future multi-million dollar grant opportunities to transform the riverfront into an economic engine. 

The main argument brought against distribution of these already-budgeted funds is Arts Quincy’s status as a nonprofit. However, the City Council frequently allocates funding to both nonprofits and for-profits that are in the city’s economic interest through the successful “Bet on Q” program and in special cases, like the Adams County Bicentennial. 

The arts and culture sector drives more than $15 million in economic activity in Adams County and contributes more than $500,000 to the tax base. 

If the goal of the fund is economic development, then investing in your arts council is imperative.

We’re doing the work to make this community a great place to live, work and create.

Please call your alderman and voice your support for the arts. 

Laura Sievert Hesseltine
Executive Director, Arts Quincy
Quincy, Illinois