In its five years of life, the group has had more hits than misses. I think that's due to a certain distance from the people who are making art locally. Just look at the board of MPAC: There's not a single artist on the list.
Instead, there's a representative from APS, from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona, from the Salt River Project. There are accountants (three), developers (two), and even the CEO of a corporate recruiting firm.
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It's not surprising, in light of that, that in its five years of life, MPAC has done little to encourage actual art. Indeed, even though the non-profit says it exists to promote the "creative community," it's invested most of its capital in weird projects.
Yes, it's given $10,000 to the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation. But it spent 15 times that — $155,340 — to hire a Swiss firm to help "brand" the Phoenix area, according to its most recent tax return. (The Swiss apparently feel that Phoenix is an "opportunity oasis." Okay — now what?)
As part of its branding project, MPAC commissioned a whole bunch of studies. We now have studies to tell us that people don't think Phoenix is as cool as Austin or Seattle. We have studies to say we spend less on the arts than similar big cities.
Last year, MPAC spent $566,842 on its "Reaching New Audiences" program — culminating in studies concluding that the Latino community is an "untapped" audience for fine arts.
How much better to have spent that money on grants for emerging Latino artists?
I suppose these expenses aren't, technically, any of my business. MPAC is privately funded, likely by the same giant corporations that provide its board members. If APS or even SRP wants to spend its charitable contributions on projects this silly, well, that's up to them.
But it's an entirely different issue when we taxpayers are about to be wooed as potential donors.
It's fair to note that this tax would hardly affect the average citizen: One penny for every $10 is not a lot, especially since food purchases are exempt.
But a sales tax increase is the most regressive kind of tax increase imaginable, as any economist can tell you. It hits poor workers much harder than wealthy ones, simply because the poor have no choice but to spend a larger portion of income on purchases.
Speaking on behalf of my fellow working stiffs here, I can tell you that we're not entirely without compassion. A majority of Arizonans, I suspect, would vote for Governor Brewer's tax increase if only she could ever get the Legislature to refer it to the ballot. Most of us hate to see the cuts coming out of the (now-mortgaged) Capitol building. We care about the poor.
So as much as I personally feel pinched by stagnating wages and escalating expenses, if Governor Brewer asks me to help out, I will. If she wants one extra penny for every dollar I spend, I'll give it to her.
But even though MPAC plans to ask for one-tenth of that — just one-tenth of a penny for every dollar — they can count me out.
I've got bills to pay. I'm worried about the people in Haiti and the kids in South Phoenix. And I've got no interest in subsidizing the corporate recruitment strategies for a bunch of developers and accountants.
Let them eat their cake. When it comes to this ill-conceived tax plan, I'll hang on to my crumbs.
