HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDkilec4Page 1 of 2
r
Council, SloCity
From :Karen Kile [kkile@sloartcenter .org ]
To :Council, SloCity
Cc :
Subject :Red file for Agenda Item at Tonight 's Council meetin g
Attachments :
Dear Mayor and Councilmen ,
The San Luis Obispo Art Center's request that the lease agreemen t
between the City of San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo Ar t
Center be renegotiated was for two reasons . One, we found that e-a nD cbPymajor donors are more willing to help build a new 26,000 square_ouNCi Lfoot facility on our location if the Art Center has a longer lease p.G nip C~CDD DI Ra-FIwith the City . And two, the Art Center is the only community C3'FI R DI RyE CHIE Fpartner to pay 5% commission in addition to the $1/year rent ..L1'ATTORNEY L3'PW DI RNeither the Children's Museum, Little Theatre, Hlstorical Museur LERK/ORIG Z POLICE CH FbEPT HEAD Sor Railroad Museum have such a requirement in their agreement L~'R-p C LJ1 I L
EC
DI R
DI R
We do not know why the first lease signed in 1967 included the lf~CI R
5% stipulation . While the 5% amounts paid to the City over the '~"S'-t-
past 43 years have been relatively small, in the range of $3,000 to Cary
$6,000 they have been significant to this non-profit organization ~~
that provides so much programming to our city residents an d
visitors on such a tight budget .
The Art Center's primary mission is to promote the visual arts wit h
exhibitions and educational components . It is not a commercia l
gallery . Over 40,000 people a year walk through free of charge t o
view the exhibitions as part of their enjoyment of the cultural life
of San Luis Obispo . Surveys show that most people are on thei r
way to shop or dine downtown, many are returning tourists tha t
make a requisite stop at the Art Center as part of their San Lui s
Obispo experience, and a significant number just happen to wal k
in because of our prominent location on the Mission Plaza .
Fundraising efforts such as the Plein Air Festival are importan t
cultural events on the City's calendar, as well as raising vital fund s
for the Art Center's operational budget . The Art Center consciousl y
chose an art related event as its major fundraiser to be in line wit h
its mission and purpose—to further the understanding of th e
visual arts, exhibiting the finest art, increasing the audience fo r
the arts, and creating new awareness and support for the Ar t
Center's year round exhibition and education programming . An y
effort to add a 5% commission to the art sales from this weeken d
fundraising event would be a hardship . It would also be unfair,
especially since the City does not add a 5% commission to th e
fundraising events of other community partners . If the Art Cente r
held 5k runs, golf tournaments or other such events, we don't
believe this idea would have surfaced .
Sent :Tue 2/16/2010 1 :21 PM
RED FIL E
-MEETING AGEND A
DAT /.t io ITEM #C y
https ://mail . slocity .org/Exchange/slocitycouncil/Inbox/Red%20file%20for%20Agenda%2 ... 2/16/2010
Page 2 of 2
We understand that there has been a suggestion of charging th e
5% commission to the City only on sales revenue over a certai n
amount, in anticipation of a bigger building's increased earnin g
power . Such a payment would be just as harmful proportionally t o
the operations of the new Art Center as the current 5% charge i s
to us now, since a bigger building will also have its increase d
costs .
On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and many volunteer s
that keep the Art Center a vital part of our City, please suppor t
tonight the lease agreement as originally submitted .
Sincerely ,
Karen Kil e
Executive Directo r
https ://mail . slocity .org/Exchange/slocitycouncil/Inbox/Red%20file%20for%20Agenda%2 ... 2/16/2010