City Unveils 5-Year Arts Growth Plan

Los Angeles should increase its support of the arts to $30 million by 1996, according to a five-year master plan released Tuesday by Mayor Tom Bradley and the city’s Cultural Affairs Department.

The plan also asks the city to reallocate much of the existing arts money, spend an additional $2.7 million for the arts over the next three years and begin a $40-million construction project for four regional arts centers.

The Cultural Affairs Department’s 1990-91 budget, administered by General Manager Adolfo V. Nodal, is $10.5 million. It includes $5.8 million from the Los Angeles Endowment for the Arts.

The 10-part, 626-page report by Morris McNeill culminates five years of community meetings and smaller studies held to guide the expenditure of city arts money.

It will be distributed to city officials and arts organizations beginning this week, and will be used to determine arts priorities. The recommendations are not binding, but present basic priorities for the city to follow.

According to Nodal, the key goals presented in the plan include “distinguishing ourselves as a multicultural arts capital,” supporting individual artists and “presenting the city as a beacon of equity” in terms of funding and the presentation of various arts forms. Additionally, much of the report focuses on reaching younger and more ethnically diverse audiences and to provide more arts facilities in the city’s ethnic communities.

Among the plan’s chief recommendations are urging the city to increase its arts funding to $30 million annually and the proposed $40-million construction of four regional arts centers. But Nodal admitted that “economic realities” may make such goals impossible within five years.

“(The time line for implementing the master plan) will change every year based on budget realities and input from the community,” Nodal said. “It may be more like a seven-year plan than a five-year plan because of budget restraints.”

Although the plan itself did not require approval by the City Council or mayor, Nodal said he would need approval to implement many of its recommendations.

Nodal also said the plan will have effects outside of city-funded activities. He expects other funding agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council and private foundations, to also give priority to multicultural organizations and individual artists in their own programs.