The Haines Borough is considering a proposal to designate a percentage of municipal construction project funding to pay for public art. The proposal is similar to the Alaska’s One Percent for Art program, which requires that 1 percent of the cost for construction of public buildings be set aside for permanent artwork.
The percent for art proposal in Haines is being championed by the Alaska Arts Confluence.
Arts Confluence Executive Director Carol Tuynman said that generally public art in Haines is paid for by businesses and grants through non-profits. She thinks that a municipal percent for arts program makes sense because art is an important aspect of public spaces.
“Art is basically part of the public infrastructure. It increases the quality of life, the value of the property and it just helps generate better economic flow in the community because it treats artists as any other profession, whether it’s a plumber or an electrician,” Tuynman said.
The percent for art concept isn’t new to Haines. Tuynman said it was used to create public artwork at the Haines School when it was rebuilt ten years ago.
“All the permanent art. The etched glass that Rob Goldberg did and Carie Cohen did some of the art. Different artists contributed,” Tuynman said.
Those art projects were funded by Alaska’s One Percent for Art program. In 1975, the Alaska Legislature passed a statute requiring that one percent of the construction costs of public buildings be designated for installing permanent artwork. The statewide program only applies to certain projects that receive state funding, such as schools.
However, other municipalities such as Anchorage have created their own percent for art programs.
At the moment the local proposal is being considered by the Haines Borough’s Finance Committee. Assemblyman Tom Morphet serves on the committee. Although he supports the idea, he said there are still many questions about how this program would work in practice
“Do we want to make it an absolute requirement or do we want to make it a recommendation and policy?” Morphet said. “There might be some concerns with making it a requirement because when you require something you’re kind of locked in.”
Morphet also questioned whether the arts funding could be reserved specifically for local artists and exactly which types of municipal projects would require public art funding.
“In other words, if we’re only spending $10,000 to build a shed or to put in some basic utility building or what not, I don’t know that we want to be beholden to spend 100 dollars to attach some art to it,” Morphet said.
The finance committee was scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting Tuesday, but the meeting has been postponed.