LexArts Finance and Equity Presentation

In Tuesday’s Budget, Finance, and Economic Development (BFED) Committee Meeting, President & CEO of LexArts Ame Sweetall will present an overview of LexArts’s finances and their efforts toward investing in diverse artists and arts organizations.

LexArts is the combined united arts fund and cultural council for Lexington. They use a combination of LFUCG funding and private fundraising to invest  in other arts organizations in Lexington and in their own programming. Their goal is to create new opportunities for Lexington residents to engage with local arts, and to provide local artists with opportunities to create and showcase their work.

Vice Mayor Dan Wu placed this item in Committee after LexArts faced blowback for an incident involving the selection of all white artists for an art placement project with Commerce Lexington. LexArts did not select the artists, but shared the announcement on Facebook and drew criticism for a historic lack of investment in artists of color. In placing the item in committee, Vice Mayor Wu also cited concerns about the organization’s finances.

The presentation does not include any information about their previous fiscal year budgets, but does show a detailed chart of their $2.7 million revenue goal for FY25, and a list of grants they are awarding to various arts organizations in FY25.

Republished from CivicLex.

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