Press Release: Chairman Mendelson Statement on Arts Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Sunday October 31, 2021

CONTACT: Lindsey Walton

WASHINGTON, DC — Chairman Phil Mendelson released the following statement about the controversy surrounding the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities:

“On Tuesday I will be asking the Council to approve two of the Mayor’s four nominees for reappointment to the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities.  My decision to not move the other two nominees is well-precedented; virtually every committee chair at one time or another has held back Mayoral nominees.  Over the last several years I have, too: I refused to move for reappointment Chris Landis to the Historic Preservation Review Board or to confirm for appointment David Franco to the Zoning Commission.

“Qualities I consider essential for reappointment are the ability for commission members to work together and, also, to work constructively with their stakeholders.  Unfortunately, many members of the Commission have complained to me about their divisiveness (“bomb thrower,” “cares not a whit about building a coalition,” “F*** White women,” “mean spirited,” “bully,” etc.).  Cora Barry and Natalie Hopkinson have antagonized and alienated their colleagues, and not in a good way, since I moved their confirmations in January 2020.  Moreover, the arts community feels polarized.

“The current commission consists of 17 members: 13 women and 4 men.  Nine are African American (including Barry and Hopkinson), 5 are White, 2 are Hispanic, and 1 is Asian American.  A year ago, the Commission’s Task Force on Equity and Inclusion made recommendations for improvement in arts funding; every one of the recommendations was adopted.  This past June I moved for confirmation of the chair of that task force to be the new Chairman of the Commission – and now he is.

“Integrity is also important.  Mrs. Barry’s vote on a grant to her own organization is a violation of our ethics and conflict of interest law.

“And a graphic making the rounds, entitled “The redlining of DC Arts Funding” is misleading.  It fails to acknowledge that the bulk of large arts organizations (and therefore grants recipients) are located downtown, and it fails to acknowledge that the ward with the highest number of individual artists’ grants is Ward 5.  It also ignores the significant resources the large arts organizations provide such as East of the River at THEARC.  Further, the “redlining” graphic depicts 2020 arts funding based on a formula the Commission no longer uses.

“If one wants to criticize arts funding before now, look to the Commission when it was under Mayoral control for decades.  In 2019 I moved legislation to make it independent, and since then the Commission has made significant strides to improve diversity in the arts and equity in funding.  But discord and bomb throwing are both unnecessary and counterproductive.”

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