Detroit schools paid big for art
$1.6 million in funds could have gone to repairs
February 24, 2007
Detroit Public Schools spent at least $1.6 million in
bond money -- funds taxpayers approved for building
or repairing decaying city schools -- on professional
artwork for the district.
While spending bond money on art is not illegal, it is
highly unusual. School officials in Chicago, Philadelphia
and other large cities -- as well as in some wealthy
Detroit suburbs -- say they don't spend large sums on
art for their schools.
The purchases identified by the Free Press -- made
through the same Detroit gallery since 2002 -- raise
questions again about the cash-strapped district's
spending decisions. Earlier this month, the Free Press
reported that the district spent more than $1.3 million
in the past year on travel, meeting and catering expenses
even as it closed schools to cut costs.
Most of the Detroit art was purchased under former
schools chief Kenneth Burnley, but the payments
continued after William F. Coleman III was named
chief executive officer of the district in July 2005. It's
unclear how many art pieces were bought, or where
these works are today. Despite repeated requests by
the Free Press, the district has not released an inventory
of the art or invoices for the purchases.
"We are in the process of gathering the data," district
spokesman Lekan Oguntoyinbo said Friday. "We just
don't have it yet."
Coleman did not respond to the Free Press.
But Oguntoyinbo said the art deals were "awarded
under the Burnley administration," even though more
than $280,000 of the art was actually paid for and
delivered on Coleman's watch.
District records obtained independently by the Free
Press show the $1.6 million was paid to the Sherry
Washington Gallery. Washington, the gallery owner,
has sold
contemporary and African-inspired art in downtown
Detroit since 1989, with paintings and other objects
costing thousands of dollars apiece.
While the spending is only a sliver of the $1.5 billion in
bond money taxpayers approved, critics say the
$1.6 million could have been used to patch leaky roofs
or spruce up rickety gymnasiums.
"It's unbelievable, the waste, the absolute waste,"
said Janice Schippert, a first-grade teacher at
William Beckham Academy.
Bobbi Avington-Johnson, mother of two children at
Kosciusko Elementary, which is on a list of schools
that might close, said:
"What are you looking at artwork for when kids need
bathrooms,
roofs and books, and computers in the schoolroom? ...
Really what they're doing is they're stealing from the kids."
John Musso, executive director of the Association of
School Business Officials International in Reston, Va.,
said school renovation and construction projects typically
include funds for furniture and other amenities.
"I've not seen it done, in my experience, relative to artwork,"
Musso said.
Burnley, now a senior resident fellow at the University of
Michigan's School of Education, said he did not
recall approving any contracts with Washington or
her gallery.
"I don't think I specifically authorized that," said Burnley,
who left the district in 2005. "I was aware that she was
commissioned to handle things, was well respected in the art community."
The purchases were made as Detroit Public Schools began
repairing and replacing aging buildings in 2001 with the
bond money. Robert Francis, the district's deputy chief of
facilities and capital improvement at the time, said he
recommended Washington to Burnley.
"Sherry was the only art consultant I knew of with a
prominent corporate portfolio who both lived in Detroit
and had her business there," Francis, now an associate
vice chancellor at the University of Massachusetts,
wrote in an e-mail. "More than anything, she had a
keen grasp of contemporary urban art and artists.
That's why I recommended her."
Francis said Washington also consulted on art for the
district under a "personal service agreement" not
competitively bid.
Washington said Thursday that, although she appraised
art for the district, including art from her own gallery,
she was not a consultant. "I'm a private art dealer," she said.
Washington said she supplied art and artists to the
district for commissioned pieces, and delivered and
installed them. In some cases, she stored the art
until schools were finished. She said she took a 20% to 50% commission, depending on the artists and the artwork.
At Cass Tech High School, for example, artist Nora
Chapa Mendoza was commissioned to create work
showing the school's legacy of excellence. One piece
depicts past principals. Cass also has artwork
commissioned from Dominic Pangborn, the
internationally known artist who has a studio in Detroit.
Washington defended the district's art spending, saying,
"I think kids need to see these symbols. ... You have to
sometimes bring the museum to them."
Virginia Cantrell, president of the Detroit Federation of
Teachers, responded that although art is important,
meeting basic needs should come first.
Detroit Public Schools is in the deepest financial crisis
of any urban district in the country. It has lost 60,000
students in the past decade and has closed roughly three
dozen schools in the past three years.
"A lot of our elementary schools do not have art or music,
and children are entitled to it," Cantrell said. "Any
money that is supposed to be earmarked for school
buildings ... that's where it should be spent."
School board President Jimmy Womack agreed.
Art is inspiring, Womack said, "but do we have that
luxury as a district? Currently we don't. Did they then?
Apparently they thought they did, but look at where we
are today."
All but roughly $12,000 of the art purchases were made
before the current board took office -- and gained
authority over spending -- early last year. Jack Jennings,
president of the Center on Education Policy in Washington,
D.C., called on Detroit school officials to provide specifics on
how art money was spent. "It's taxpayer money, it's not
private money," he said.
Education experts say most districts display students'
art, not professional artists'.
"It's unusual for a school district to go out and buy art,
especially in large numbers," Jennings said.
Marcia Wilkinson, spokeswoman for Birmingham Public
Schools, said art purchases never came up as the district
planned how to spend a $102.8-million bond approved in
2003.
"Considering the amount of money it takes to renovate
and improve facilities, it's not been a topic that's been
considered," she said of art purchases.
Dave Bolitho, assistant superintendent at Northville
Public Schools, which is using $35.7 million in bond
money to repair schools, said no art was bought.
However, when the district built a new $52-million
Northville High School in 2000, Bolitho said it hired
a brick mason to complete a wall that features a
raised mustang, the school mascot. An art teacher
designed the wall.
New York City, however, requires city-funded projects,
including schools, to spend 1% of the costs of a new
building on art, with a cap of $400,000.
But New York City officials who oversee art commissions
typically deal directly with the artists, and the process
includes input from the community, said Sara Rutkowski,
a city spokeswoman.
Contact JENNIFER DIXON at 313-223-4410 or jbdixon@freepress.com. Contact CHASTITY PRATT at 313-223-4537 or cpratt@freepress.com. Free Press data analyst Victoria Turk contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
PHOTOS
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(CHASTITY PRATT/Detroit Free Press)
One of the Detroit district's commissioned pieces hangs at Cass Tech High School, whose new building opened in 2005.
What other public school districts spent
Detroit Public Schools' spending on artwork compared with others:
Detroit
Project: $1.5-billion bond to build or renovate schools.
District enrollment: 119,000.
Art: At least $1.6 million since 2002.
BirminghamProjects: $102.8-million bond to rebuild or renovate 11 schools; $32-million bond to improve indoor athletic facilities at two high schools.
District enrollment: 8,158.
Art: None.
NorthvilleProject: $35.7-million bond for improvements to one high school, two middle schools and six elementary schools.
District enrollment: 6,829.
Art: None.
ChicagoProject: Construction of $60-million Little Village Lawndale High School campus, which includes four small high schools in one building.
District enrollment: 415,000.
Art: Functioning sundial, about 40 feet tall and 30 to 40 feet wide, was included in project. Its cost was incorporated in the total price of the building, officials say.
PHILADELPHIA
Project: $1.5-billion construction and renovation program.
District enrollment: 195,000.
Art: None.
DenverProject: Ground breaking this year for two high schools.
District enrollment: 73,399.
Art: None.
Cleveland
Project: $1.3 billion to build and repair schools.
District enrollment: 55,000.
Art: None, but funds can be used to salvage from existing buildings art and architectural elements that have historical or community value.
New York City
District enrollment: 1.1 million.
Art: Most of the art in schools is Depression-era Works Progress Administration murals and other pieces. City law requires that 1% of the budget for new city buildings, including schools, be spent on art, up to $400,000 per project. The city seeks community input on art projects.
Jennifer Dixon
Access to records
More than two weeks after the Free Press requested records detailing Detroit Public Schools' purchase of $1.6 million in art, the district still has not provided the records.
District officials said Friday they hadn't finished collecting them. The district previously refused to provide the vast majority of records related to how it spent $1.3 million for conferences, travel and catering.
Herschel Fink, the Free Press' lawyer, has said state law allowing access to public records requires agencies to file and keep records in a reasonable way so that they can be assembled quickly.
1 comment:
The district and students would be better served if "student/faculty" art were displayed for all to appreciate the talent in the city.
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