Geneva Cultural Arts Commissioners resist prospect of being dissolved

City officials faced with legal imperative

Hundreds gathered in Geneva's Island Park on Saturday, July 18, 2015, for Shakespeare in the Park. The Midsummer Theatre Troupe performed "Twelfth Night."

GENEVA – The Geneva Cultural Arts Commission is behind multiple arts endeavors in the city, including the RiverPark Summer Concert Series, Shakespeare in the Park, Geneva Write Now Writing Contest, Steeple Walk Concerts and the Art on Fire Hydrant Paintings.

But after 17 years, city officials are faced with a legal opinion that requires them to dissolve the commission. As a city entity, the commission is prohibited from soliciting funds or raising money for its programs. It received $10,000 from the city for the past three fiscal years and it can receive donations, but they are not tax-deductible, officials said.

State law forbids municipalities from forming nonprofits. Commission members independently formed the Geneva Foundation for the Arts in 2013 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit so it could legally solicit and raise funds. The foundation operates independently of the city. Its purpose is to collaborate with the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission.

Economic Development Director Cathleen Tymoszenko said at a May 4 commission meeting that the two arts groups with their similar missions could merge into a single organization – which would be the Geneva Foundation for the Arts – because of its fundraising capability.

According to Tymoszenko’s notes on a future memorandum of understanding, the commission would be dissolved in recognition of its mission having been met and the commission would complete its next two events in July and August.

But the prospect of dissolution and being offered the opportunity to join the Geneva Foundation for the Arts did not sit well with commission members.

Commissioner Kent Gallagher argued for keeping both organizations because their duties are not the same.

If the commission was not there to organize and set up all its events, city staff would not be able to continue carrying them out “to the detriment of the civic life of Geneva,” Gallagher said.

“The foundation is a fundraising operation, basically,” Gallagher said. “The Geneva Foundation for the Arts was never meant to replace the commission, but to work in tandem with it.”

Commissioner Mike Ploszek also objected.

“From my perspective, you’ve got two entities. The one in existence 17 years has proven its ability to execute what needs to be done to accomplish what has been asked of it,” Ploszek said. “The one that has been in existence for about 10 years has struggled. And if people are being honest, they have been ineffective. … The one thing that they tried to accomplish was the Arts Center, which [closed]. Why would I take the entity that has performed well and has proven its ability and consolidate into the entity that, frankly, hasn’t proven its ability to accomplish anything?”

The Geneva Center for the Arts on Stevens Street opened in October 2021 and closed in April for lack of funding, board president Doug Holzrichter said. The foundation will use the lobby of the Geneva Public Library to continue showing its art exhibits, he said.

Tymoszenko said being part of a municipal structure has been holding the commission back and being part of a nonprofit will expand its abilities.

“The thought process is that you’re … coming together as a group, releasing some of the binds that tie and hopefully emerge as a stronger organization, unified,” Tymoszenko said. “There are some duplications of efforts and there’s only so much strength to go around in Geneva. And coming together – maybe that strengthens the core mission. Your missions are not too far apart.”

The commissioners also seemed peeved that the foundation, in calling for new board members, said commissioners would have priority consideration if they apply.

“Quite honestly, this was like throwing a flame thrower at the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission,” Ploszek said

Tymoszenko said Holzrichter calling for new members marked “an opportunity for us to come together under one umbrella to strengthen the arts.”

“It was not meant to be an insult,” Tymoszenko said.

“None of the people in this room want this to happen,” Commissioner Dana Teichart said. “Does that matter?”

“No,” Tymoszenko said. “We will need to figure out how the commission continues under the restrictions that are there.”

In an email, Holzrichter wrote that in light of the May 4 meeting, commissioners “don’t seem to have an appreciation or understanding of the GFA’s accomplishments, mission and future goals.”

“I hope their frustration was not directed toward GFA,” Holzrichter’s email said. “It’s our understanding that the city’s proposal to unite the commission and foundation was done with the best intentions of city officials. If it makes sense, the Geneva Foundation for the Arts is willing to cooperate in line with its mission.”

Mayor Kevin Burns said the city is “in the nascent stages of a process to ensure the arts community continues to thrive” but that no determination has been made about what form it would take.

Burns said he was surprised by the Cultural Arts Commission’s “tone and tenor.”

“The central goal – the shared goal – is advancing the mutually agreed upon mission of a healthy, robust, provocative and welcoming arts scene in our community,” Burns said.

Commission Chairman Timothy Vetang said the May 4 meeting was the first time commissioners were made aware of the plan to dissolve the arts commission.

“I told them I could not speak for the arts commission, I could only speak for myself,” Vetang said. “I made it clear at that joint meeting with Doug Holzrichter and city officials [that] I was not in favor of dissolving it. I thought they should keep the arts commission for the purpose of public art and art advocacy.”

The Cultural Arts Commission’s next meeting is 7 p.m. June 1 in the City Council chambers.