New festivals fall by the wayside

Within days after the Sarasota County Commission put the final nail in the coffin of the "Festival of Firsts," another festival died. The organizer of the self-financed Vinyl Music Festival told the entertainment-oriented weekly Ticket he was shutting it down.

"We started Vinyl to show that there was a way to create a vibrant festival to attract young professionals to our area," Rich Swier Jr. told Ticket, "[We] should allocate some resources to supporting other people who want to do that in this town - not us specifically. There are a variety of people in this town who want to start festivals."

Anybody wanting a little help to start something new will be wasting their time going to county government. By a 4-1 vote, the county commission last week accepted a recommendation from the arts establishment to provide $665,000 to the Arts and Cultural Alliance's grant program and $200,000 to the Sarasota County Convention and Visitors Bureau for cultural tourism promotion.

The money comes from a one-time windfall realized nearly two years ago after an overhaul of the way tourist-tax monies were handled by the Arts and Cultural Alliance. The county commissioners had assembled a panel called the Festival Steering Committee to put the nearly $1 million to use by creating "something new."

The nearly two-year saga came to a close on June 29 when the committee's chair - Robert Warren - appeared before the commissioners with Jim Shirley, the alliance's executive director, to recommend the money go into the grants fund and marketing.

"We are making a proposal that is much more logical and equitable that will return bigger benefits to the community," said Shirley.

"Arts groups are working in survival mode," said Warren.



Can anything 'new' qualify?

Three county commissioners could not let go of the idea that some of the money should help start-ups.

"In your presentation to the Tourist Development Council, you said you would make funding to start-up groups," said County Commission Chair Nora Patterson, who also chairs the Tourist Development Council.

"I indicated, by allocating these funds like this, it would add more money to the fund, to accommodate new groups," said Shirley. "It would help us fund more of these people."

He noted that two new groups were given grants this year, but he admitted neither Gloria Musicae nor Mote Marine Laboratory was a start-up organization.

County Commissioner Jon Thaxton was not convinced of the validity of Shirley's proposal. "I'm not real secure in the wording. It says the increase 'could assist' new organizations. I'm looking for some better assurance of a percentage. There may ... be a need to establish a percentage to help start-up organizations," he said.

"The alliance does not feel we should alter the rules," said Shirley. "We are not implying that we would make a change to the rules as they currently stand."

The rules "as they currently stand" are not helpful to start-up organizations that want to apply for a grant. To qualify, a group must present incorporation documents as a not-for-profit organization with an Internal Revenue Service tax-exemption certificate. And the organization must present a current federal tax filing.

Another rule says any grant applicant must be a registered not-for-profit organization for at least one year. All this effort takes time.

For example, the Chalk Festival will need four years to meet these qualifications. For the past three years, it was ineligible to apply. This year it was late in providing a tax return, in part because the alliance requires the filing before the IRS does. If the Chalk Festival applies next year and receives a grant, it no longer will be a "start-up organization."

Commissioner Christine Robinson bored in more deeply. "Did you go through each regulation?" she inquired.

Shirley said, "There are only three. We asked, 'Does this regulation make sense?' The unanimous feeling was, it makes a lot of sense."

"And the one-year rule?"

"We looked at that," said Shirley. He later admitted two start-up organizations did apply this year for grants, "but neither qualified."



Promises, reservations

Commissioner Joe Barbetta made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Carolyn Mason, to accept the alliance's recommendations.

"The intent of the Festival Committee was to bring start-ups to the community and altering the barrier to entry," said Robinson. "I'm looking at the intent of why this came to us. I'd like to see a guarantee in there. I will not support the motion."

"I've served in this office a long time," said Patterson. "This is the first time I've seen the arts groups come together like this. I feel like my vote should be a pretty resounding 'Yes,' but I feel a little like Christine does." Patterson added, "One of the purposes of these dollars is to foster new products."

Robinson followed up. "No start-ups got money this year; that's troublesome to me. The purpose to was to create a new venture," she said

Shirley promised the commission's concerns would be considered by his board of directors. "You have my commitment we'll explore all these possibilities," he said.

The motion passed 4-1 with Robinson in the minority. Two days later, the Vinyl Music Festival folded.