All Eyes on the Arts Czar

The city sizes up Gary Steuer.

by Peter Burwasser

The buzz was palpable. It seemed that everyone had three or four e-mails forwarded from excited fellow members of the arts community for the press conference announcing the creation of the city's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. In last Friday's withering heat, scores of eager arts managers were told that there was no room left in the mayor's reception hall, and they were turned away. I saw a Curtis vice president and the directors of the Wagner Free Institute of Science and the Print Center among those numbers, as well as community activists. And yours truly.

The actual executive order is a nice collection of rather vague admonitions to "improve access to arts," and "support the growth and development of the arts," and so forth. What was missing from both the order and the subsequent press release was any mention of crucial lobbying for local arts groups in Harrisburg and Washington for increased funding. A phone call to the mayor's press office did not exactly clarify the issue. Duties of the office "will include identifying opportunities at the state and federal level." It will be great to have a strong leader in the bully pulpit, but most of our nonprofit institutions, of all sizes, need more than a hearty slap on the back. Many are currently in emergency operational modes, as the stinko Wall Street scene has led to negative income of endowments.

It is certainly encouraging that the new arts czar Mayor Nutter has chosen happens to be Gary Steuer, former executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts, a terrific organization that finds mutually beneficial relationships between the arts and business worlds, and one with an especially vibrant Philadelphia branch. And the executive order also re-established the Cultural Advisory Council, with Joe Kluger as the head. Kluger is former CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and knows a thing or two about arts funding.

The new office opens in October, within the mayor's suite. Steuer's background bodes well for the success of this new venture. The arts community will be following the developments closely, with an enthusiasm that will continue to be tempered by no little anxiety.

(p_burwasser@citypaper.net)