Q: On many occasions while driving to Fair Park, I’ve noticed the circle of rose-colored granite pillars at the corner of Canton and Exposition streets. I know it’s a monument of some sort, but a monument to what?
A: Etched into the side of one of the pillars is”Sesquicentennial Plaza 1986 in honor of Texas’ 150th birthday.” On the other side is etched “Exposition Plaza,” followed by a list of contributors to the monument’s construction. From a passing car, it’s hard to make out the mysterious markings on the light posts, but a closer look revealed the symbols are the number 150.
Q: Now that federal arts funding is dring up, are there any private efforts to make up the difference?
A: It’s an old dilemma: Arts and arts education increase quality of life and boost economic development, but who’s going to pay ?The state of Texas has put a challenge on the table: Through the nonprofit Texas Cultural Trust, the state will ante up $2 for every $1 of private money donated to the Texas Commission on the Arts. The goal is to raise $2 million in private contributions by 1997-and $100 million by 2005, money that will be reinvested to provide an ongoing source of arts funding and to allow the Trust to be self-sustaining. The 1993 legislation creating the Trust was the first of its kind in the nation and now serves as a model for 14 other states that are eyeing the same kind of private-public partnership. For more information, call Dee Smith at the Trust’s Fort Worth fund-raising office, 817-332-7929.
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