Editorials

Editorial: Should town become an arts destination?

IslandPacket newsroom@islandpacket.com

December 1, 2015 4:49 PM

A committee, organized by the Town of Hilton Head Island, is providing important insight into what the local arts, cultural and history nonprofits think the town should do to grow the local arts scene and turn the town into a premiere arts and cultural destination.

According to a draft of recommendations released last month, arts groups say the town -- and the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce that serves as the town's primary marketing arm -- should:

Offer more financial help to arts groups. Specifically, the report states that small nonprofits are unable to apply for accommodations tax dollars from the town because they lack the skilled resources to apply. The committee would like to see nonprofits get other forms of financial help to pay for personnel and operating costs, programming support, marketing/branding efforts and more.

Hire a full-time experienced arts management director who would be charged with developing and marketing the nonprofits. While this person would report to a volunteer board of directors, it's a safe assumption that the salary would be paid by the town.

Address "venue issues," which are limiting the growth and success of many of the groups. The committee recommends that the town "support a research effort to address venue issues ... and define a path forward."

Other recommendations include creating signature arts events and public art projects.

We applaud the committee's work and look forward to a discussion by Town Council on how to proceed.

But before any commitment is made to put public dollars toward arts endeavors, these elected officials must answer some basic questions. Specifically, do town residents want to live in a premiere arts and cultural destination? And are they willing to pay for it?

While the arts are certainly important, committing public dollars toward showcasing the arts and helping them flourish is another matter entirely. Since the town's incorporation, it has relied primarily on individuals and businesses to support the arts scene. Are town residents ready to take on more of that responsibility?

And the town needs reliable financial figures on how much this plan would cost. Improving or creating new arts venues would likely require a multimillion-dollar commitment by the public. The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, for example, is grappling with a long list of repairs and upgrades. Are town residents willing to pay for these improvements? Or for a new facility?

It's time for Town Council to determine what the majority of tax-paying residents want. And discussions must include the fact that public dollars already flow to many nonprofits each year in the form of accommodations tax dollars. We're not convinced that the town fails to support the local arts scene already.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Editorial: Should town become an arts destination?."

Get unlimited digital access

#ReadLocal