City Council Blasts Arts Council, New Exhibit

City councillors blasted the Cambridge Arts Council at their meeting Monday evening, saying the agency does not serve the needs of the community.

City councillors accused the Arts Council of not spending enough of its budget on local artists, failing to provide adequate facilities for artists and not placing artists-in-residence in local schools.

The attacks leveled against the council were in response to a discussion of a $50,000 project the Arts Council sponsored.

"Mobile Forum," currently on display in Cambridge, was created by artist Richard Bolton as a study of housing and development issues, such as rent control and zoning, in Cambridgeport and Central Square.

Annabelle Hebert, executive director of the Cambridge Arts Council, defended her agency from criticism yesterday.

"I was certainly concerned and disappointed at the comments," she said. Although she admitted there was room for improvement, Hebert said she thinks the council does "work well with the community."

Hebert said the arts council has enjoyed "good support" from the City Council for a long time. "Certainly we will address [their] concerns, and hopefully everything will work out," Hebert said.

While councillors criticized the "Mobile Forum" exhibit itself, they launched most of their attacks against the arts council, which has "failed to live up to the needs of the Cambridge community," according to Councillor Alice K. Wolf.

"I'd like the people to be able to direct the Arts Council to its needs," said Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72. "We are being under served by what we have. We need some additional creativity," he said.

Reeves added that the council "does not seem to understand the constituency" and that it is run by "very power-hungry individuals."

The councillors also questioned the "Mobile Forum" itself and said it is "low in quality and not even factually correct,"

Councillor William H. Walsh described the work as "just a painting on the floor of a van." He also said "it could be done by a grammar school student.

But City Manager Robert W. Healy questioned the ability of the City Council to judge the art. "One of the things we do is stay out of the arts," Healy said.

In addition to the attacks by the City Council, the mobile Form artist also attacked the Arts Council in a letter to Reeves.

Bolton said the Arts Council, which has thus far allocated $42,000 for the project, has made no effort to promote it in the community.

"In a last ditch effort to cover up their own ineptitude," Bolton wrote, "the Arts Council faxed me a couple of days ago and tried to cancel the presentations, hoping to postpone them to a later date when they could be better prepared."

Hebert said the Arts Council did not promote the project due to scheduling problems. "Our main concern was that given the time line...there was not sufficient time to promote the project," she said.

"Public participation-type activities are an integral part of the art itself," Hebert said. "This can only be accomplished with advanced planning."