New arts audit shows clear leadership vacuum. Can Lexington overcome it? | Opinion
.png "Lexington artists Ben Sollee, Patrick Garr, Ada Limon and Wylie Caudill will be part of the Lexington Ballet’s 50th anniversary celebration performance.")
As I described a few weeks ago, Lexington’s vibrant arts scene has exciting potential amidst a lack of leadership, funding and organization.
A new arts audit commissioned by LexArts presented to a Lexington Fayette Urban County Council committee on Tuesday didn’t exactly clear up questions of how to improve the situation.
Ame Sweetall, the director of LexArts, said the report showed “there is great opportunity in Lexington,” and recommended gathering LexArts, Celeste Lewis (the mayor’s cultural and arts director), council members, and arts stakeholders into yet another meeting to “make a real master plan.”
(I’d link to it, but it hasn’t yet been posted anywhere.)
It seems like Sound Diplomacy — the same group that did the feasibility study for the Fund for Greater Lexington’s proposal to build a new performing arts center — laid out a clear plan: prioritize and better fund the arts. Establish oversight of the arts and cultural economy audit. Help people with grants that can fund the arts. Take stock of the programs and buildings Lexington already has, and what it actually needs.
It’s kind of low-hanging fruit. The problem is that as of now, there’s no one to make those things happen.
Despite its name, Sweetall said, LexArts does not have the personnel or funding to oversee this effort themselves. Mayor Linda Gorton likes the arts, as we all do, but in two terms has seemed uninterested in leading the way on them. Council members also seem detached, but to be fair, compared to issues like affordable housing or snow removal, the stakes seem low.
Speaking of council members, several of them were clearly skeptical of the report. Dave Sevigny pronounced himself “disappointed” that much of the data used by a London, England, consulting firm was from 2021. Others wondered why surveys included the larger metropolitan area around Lexington instead of staying inside Fayette County.
Still, everyone agrees on one thing: THE ARTS ARE GOOD. Good for Lexington, good for kids, good for economic development and quality of life. But no one can agree how to make them stronger, and no one seems to want to take charge. And no one wants a bunch more meetings.
A more vibrant arts economy could really help Lexington thrive, but it’s going to take a lot more leadership and energy than we’ve seen up to now.
