Stamford Mayoral Candidates Take a Trip to the Connecticut Ballet

Three of the four Stamford mayoral candidates gathered Friday afternoon at the Connecticut Ballet Center to talk to members of the arts community about the future of art in the city. 

Moderated by Connecticut Ballet Director Brett Raphael, the event focused on a number of issues relating to music, theater and art programs around the city, but the funding for the future of these programs and the next generation of Stamford artists was of particular interest. 

"Stamford should be a beacon for the art," said Raphael after the debate. "It needs a system in place to fire it up. We don't even necessarily need a visionary. We need practical, nuts-and-bolts folks to focus on fixing it. If you're a group being nickled-and-dimed, you're going to see nickle-and-dime results."

Raphael referred to Stamford as Fairfield County's acknowledged cultural capital and called back to the substantial loss of funding from the Stamford Coliseum Authority, which funneled a portion of hotel tax revenue to the Stamford Center for the Arts and local arts agencies. When the state took a regional approach to funding art programs, Raphael said the SCA funds disappeared. The Community Arts Partnership created to fill that gap eventually dropped funding from $150,000 to the current $50,000 to be split between more than a dozen groups, he said. 

Candidates responded to the concerns, but none outright guaranteed a fix. Mostly, the responses were variations of, "I want to fix the financing issue and I'll see what I can do when I'm in office." Independent candidate Kathleen Murphy said if Stamford is the cultural center for Connecticut, then the state should be pitching in a bit more to help if the city is putting on and hosting all the production efforts.

"What I think Stamford really needs is diversification of this revenue-based problem from hedge funds and office buildings and banks and being tied too much to the financial community," said Murphy. "And I think one of the ways of doing it [... is] we need tourist dollars. We need to make our place. We are considered the engine for the state [...] and I think we should be getting a little more back from the state."

Democratic candidate David Martin said arts generate economic activity within the city. Visitors coming to Stamford to spend time appreciating the arts stay here to wine, dine and shop, he said. He also said Stamford needs to find a way to appropriately appreciate it's "humanistic quality."

"The simple answer is yes," he said. "The more complex answer is I've got to see what the budget looks like, but that's my goal. I don't think it's going to make you feel any better to learn, and I;m sure you already know, that almost all of the non-profit organizations the city had a partnership with were cut back significantly [...] I say I'm going to start increasing but I probably can't do it all in the first year given the status of the budget but I want to start putting more back."

And it wasn't just money for the arts that supporters honed in on, but also for a foundation for a generation of students who have found legitimate, serious artistic pursuits to be lacking, which could create a shortage of artistic endeavors in just a few years down the road. 

In addition to making art more accessible to Stamford students, it was a priority that art be accessible to all students. But in making sure all groups were represented fairly, Republican candidate Michael Fedele said it was integral to make sure all arts were considered from the very start. 

"If there's anyone that understands diversity and working with immigrants in our city, it's me," said Fedele, a naturalized American immigrant himself. "I think it's important there be support for the mosaic of who we are as a people here in the city of Stamford, irrespective of the demographics. So I don't look at 'cultural dollars.' I don't look at dollars or help based on demographics or who you are. I think it takes all groups to be able to enrich who we are."

To see the candidates introduce themselves, check out the video above to hear what they had to say.