On the first day of its release, 29 artists in Cortez responded to an artist registry survey from the Cortez Public Art Advisory Committee, leaving Sonja Horoshko surprised.
“The responses so far are very interesting to me,” Horoshko, CPAAC chair, said. “There are a lot of people in it so far that I don’t know, and that’s unusual — I pretty much know everybody.”
From Jan. 14 through February, CPAAC has invited artists of all stripes in Cortez to fill out a 10-question survey seeking basic information like the artist’s preferred genre, contact information, level of education or teaching, website, level of volunteerism and their ranking of the most essential art needs in Cortez.
Horoshko said CPAAC — now entering its second year of existence — needs a current directory of all artists in Cortez and what they need to flourish. From the administrative side, Horoshko said CPAAC needs data to apply for grants.
“The kinds of questions we’re asking are the kind of data that foundations and corporations ask for when they’re looking at contributing to your cause,” Horoshko said.
She said the responses will help CPAAC determine the path forward in 2019 and beyond. She said a goal of the advisory committee is to help create an environment where artists can thrive economically, benefit from selling their work and build a “critical mass” of engagement with art consumers.
From the responses so far, Horoshko said local artists are concerned about the lack of dedicated gallery and exhibition space as well as affordable studios. Someday, she said she hopes Cortez can attract gallery owners to set up a business downtown.
Other small communities could provide models for Cortez, she said. If there is an empty building or vacant business in town, she said there could be a way to incentivise landowners to turn the space into a gallery for a year or two. Something like that could even eliminate blight, she said.
“If we can incentivise people who own property to support the arts, then eventually that empty space would eventually have some value and be contributing to the overall economic revenue streams in a town like ours,” Horoshko said.
Fifteen miles east, Mancos has a head start on Cortez. The Mancos Creative District, created in 2016, provides the art community in Mancos with access to grant funding and other benefits to support local art.
Horoshko said organizations typically need three years of activity before they can apply for grants, so it could be another two years until CPAAC can try to identify funding. It will take time and help from artists and nonartists to build the arts in Cortez, she said.
“It’s a two-way street,” Horoshko said. “You put it up in your community, you care for it, and pretty soon people are coming to you not just as visitors and tourists, but as professionals.”
The survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/SKPSBQT.
sdolan@the-journal.com