A Festive Boost

The Olympic Arts Festival, which so marvelously complemented the 1984 Games, may well become a biennial event of autumn in Los Angeles --a lustrous addition to the expanding cultural activities of the city.

A first important step may be taken Wednesday, when the Amateur Athletic Foundation created by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee considers a change in its articles of incorporation to permit support of the cultural venture. Such a move would be consistent with the Olympic Games tradition and, it seems to us, a wise use of a portion of the foundation’s share of the surplus from the Summer Games.

The foundation will maintain its basic commitment to sports in Southern California. From the establishment of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in 1979 there has been a stated intention to devote the local share of any surplus to that purpose. The foundation is to receive 40% of the surplus, with the balance to be distributed to the U.S. Olympic Committee and to the national governing bodies for sports in the United States.

There are many opportunities to assist sports in Southern California. Consideration is being given, for example, to paying for extended hours of operation of playground programs, particularly in facilities serving low-income young people. Youth certainly should be the primary beneficiary.

The foundation board will now decide whether to include support of the Arts Festival in addition to the sports program. When its original guidelines were drawn, there was no way to anticipate the size of the surplus and the success of the Arts Festival. Clearly there is money enough for an effective sports program while also continuing the extraordinary success of the Arts Festival. The extension of the program to include the festival is an appropriate exercise of board discretion.

As matters now stand, the foundation may ultimately receive as much as $100 million, and may have at least $10 million a year to spend on local programs. It would seem appropriate to take a limited portion of that, perhaps 10%, for the festival. Those planning a biennial Arts Festival calculate that $2 million every two years from the foundation would create an adequate working base. Each festival would cost $8 million. Boxoffice receipts would provide $3 million. That, combined with a grant from the foundation, would leave $3 million to be made up from other sources, primarily local businesses.

The foundation is proceeding with appropriate care. It has received verbal approval from the U.S. Olympic Committee to change the 1979 agreement regarding use of the surplus funds. The office of the California attorney general has indicated that there is no legal obstacle to the change in its articles of incorporation. Now the foundation board is free to make a final determination. An affirmative vote on Wednesday would virtually assure a festival next year.