Sign Up For Concentrate Speaker Series Event: Why Public Art Matters

In 2007 Ann Arbor adopted the Percent For The Arts program, which dedicates 1% of capital improvement projects toward public art. The program has been adopted by cities of every size across the country (and sometimes entire states), this local investment has not been without criticism and opposition.

Though new to us only an hour away you can find the oldest Percent for The Arts program east of the Mississippi. Toledo, OH implemented there’s in 1977. In fact, the entire state of Ohio went on to establish a percent for the arts mandate, providing millions of dollars to local municipalities.

Over the last three decades the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo has fostered support and conversation through arts funding at every level and discipline. From the  I-280 Bridge to manhole covers to art-covered city buses, the program has become both popular with residents and defining for a city, whose state struggles under the same economic hardships as Michigan.

Concentrate is very proud to welcome the commission’s executive director Mark Folk to our next Speaker Series Event. He’ll be talking about why it’s important for communities to invest in public art –in good times and bad– and how Toledo has benefited from its Percent For The Arts program. He’ll also take your questions.

The Speaker Series event will be held Thursday, August 5th in The Michigan Theater’s Screening Room (located at 603 East Liberty Street).

The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited so you must pre-register.

The event starts at 5 p.m. Mark Folk’s presentation will begin around 5:15 p.m. and run for roughly an hour. Refreshments (beer, wine, and bottled water) will be provided.

Discussion and networking afterward is greatly encouraged.

Concentrate’s Speaker Series is sponsored by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority