Civic Lubbock Inc. (CLI) is a 501(c)(3) established in 1956. Their mission is to foster and promote cultural, educational, and entertainment activities, to include the visual and performing arts, for the citizens of Lubbock and the surrounding communities. CLI and the City of Lubbock continued their 67-year partnership by entering into a license agreement in July 2023. The agreement defines the relationship between the City and CLI. The Lubbock City Council is responsible for appointing the CLI Board of Directors.
As part of this license agreement, CLI administers an allocation of the Hotel Occupancy Tax that is used to underwrite local visual and performing arts programs. The Cultural Arts Grant Program (CAGP) is funded through a portion of the Hotel Occupancy Tax allocation and those funds are used in making grant awards to local established non-profit organizations, for the encouragement, advancement, improvement, and application of the arts and the promotion of tourism in the Lubbock community.
The total allocation paid to CLI for the 2024 Program was $578,145.04, which represents 5.92120% of the hotel/motel tax collected at the end of FY 2022-23. Of that allocation, the following amounts have been deducted: 10% ($57,814.50) for the Public Art Program and ($11,800.00) for the 2024 Airport Arts Program. This left $508,530.54 available for the 2024 Cultural Arts Grant Program. In addition, interest of $40,218.64 from prior year and current year funds, unused grant funds of $890, and a carry-over of $0.62 from 2023 funds provided a total of $549,639.80 available for the annual cycle of Cultural Arts grants. CLI elected to absorb all administrative expenses incurred for administering this program. Therefore, the entire amount available for the 2024 CAGP was $549,639.80.
A Grant Workshop was held on May 2, 2024, for first-time applicants wishing to apply for a Cultural Arts Grant. Thirty (30) applications were received by the June 1, 2024 deadline. The CAGP Review Committee and the CLI Board recommended full or partial funding for all thirty (30) applicants.
The CLI Board of Directors approved the grant award recommendations at their June 26, 2024 meeting. These recommendations were presented to the Lubbock City Council at the July 23, 2024 meeting. Among the recommendations, CLI recommended the City award a grant to the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA) in the amount of $25,600 to assist in funding for marketing, artist and musician fees, security, wayfinding, and trolley service for the First Friday Art Trail (FFAT) described by the Cultural Arts Grant Review Committee as a free self-guided art trail through the Cultural District that presents a family-friendly evening of arts education in visual art, music, and dance over 20 different venues.
LHUCA, in their application to CLI for a Cultural Arts Grant Program grant, provided the following information regarding the FFAT: (i) FFAT is a program administered by LHUCA that is “a free, self-guided art trail through the Lubbock Cultural District that brings together the South Plains community and beyond to enjoy visual art, live music, dance, and more”; (ii) LHUCA hires four trolley/buses to transport visitors to other trail venues in the Lubbock Downtown and Depot District at no charge to the visitors of FFAT; (iii) LHUCA advertises the FFAT through numerous social media and electronic outlets including a nationally recognized arts website, state websites such as Tour Texas, and targeted social media advertisements across Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico; (iv) last year FFAT attracted approximately 63,000 people of which 10,710 people were described as out of town guests or tourists; and (v) LHUCA expects FFAT to attract approximately 64,000 people in the next year.
On a 5-2 vote by the City Council, the City Council denied the funding requested by LHUCA as recommended by CLI believing that the funds would be used for purposes or activities that were not family friendly and promoted/advocated a political movement or position and as such should not be supported by public tax money.
After the July 23, 2024 City Council meeting, additional information was provided by LHUCA clarifying the type of programs and activities supported with hotel occupancy funds by LHUCA and that the majority of the funding requested by LHUCA from the Cultural Arts Grant Program would be designated for general marketing of FFAT, the free to the public trolley service as well as security for FFAT.
Based on the new information provided by CLI and LHUCA, the City Council finds that the FFAT has a positive economic impact on tourism to the City of Lubbock, generally marketing the FFAT as described by LHUCA and as recommended by CLI is an appropriate use of hotel occupancy funds and that providing a free trolley service and security at the FFAT is a benefit to the health and safety of the public. |
