City working on master plan for the arts
Consultant to craft longterm strategy will be chosen by arts-group committee.
Bastrop is beginning to reboot its cultural arts scene with the hiring of a consultant to craft a long-term plan for the city that will leverage tax dollars to promote the arts.
“Over the last decade, there have been several attempts to form some kind of cultural arts council to provide input and plan for all of our different arts entities and destinations,” said Bastrop Main Street Director Sarah O’Brien. “For a variety of reasons, the effort never came to fruition.”
Bastrop believes now is the time for officials to put out a request for proposals to develop a cultural arts master plan that will guide policy decisions and programming relative to the arts in the years to come.
Bastrop was named a cultural arts district in 2012 and is home to a variety of arts groups, attractions and events, including the First Friday Art Walk, Lost Pines Art Center and the Bastrop Opera House, as well as the city’s Bastrop Art in Public Places board, which has promoted public art for several years.
These groups, however, have never successfully organized toward a common vision.
O’Brien said it is important to get people on the same page to help leverage hotel occupancy tax revenue, which is often directed toward the arts, and get the biggest bang for the city’s buck. The end goal is to increase tourism, enhance quality of life and boost sales tax revenue, which accounts for about 41 percent of the city’s general fund, she said.
“Bastrop has a very strong arts presence and history,” O’Brien said. “There are lots of different organizations and groups and even unofficial groups. But there hasn’t ever been that successful effort to get people to join forces to get the greatest economic impact. We have to work a lot smarter with our time and of course our tax dollars.”
The Bastrop Art in Public Places board met this week and will again Feb. 6 to assign a committee that will review proposals from consultants looking to work on the master plan, which are due to the city by Feb. 8.
The committee will be made up of about 13 people, including a representative from the board, the Bastrop Opera House, the Lost Pines Art Center, Visit Bastrop, as well as from the film, culinary and music industries.
It may be that a similar committee sprouts from the planning process to become a permanent city commission, O’Brien said. The plan could also change the way arts organizations and projects are funded in the city.
City Manager Lynda Humble said her hope is to see funding tied to the master plan instead of to individual projects. In the meantime, this year, some organizations could see limited hotel occupancy tax funding until the master plan is approved.
Additionally, some major projects have been put on hold, including a planned $3 million culture walk and heritage trail at Bob Bryant Park.
“We need to see what the highest-priority projects are with the biggest return before we go and spend that money,” O’Brien said.
City officials hope to kick off planning for the cultural arts master plan in April but do not have a timeline on how long it will take to complete. The city will have to approve a budget amendment to pay a consultant to develop the plan.