FAYETTEVILLE -- Advertising and Promotion commissioners will have plenty of options to choose from next month when they divvy up tourism tax dollars among various festivals and community events.
Twenty-three event organizers and nonprofit groups made their pitches Monday for $233,350 in hotel, motel and restaurant tax money. Commissioners will have $80,000 to distribute next month, about one-third of what groups requested, said Kym Hughes, executive director of the commission.
Funding requests
The following event organizers and nonprofit groups requested $233,350 this spring from the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission. FAwards will be made next month.
EventDateAmount Requested
Jason Jones MuralN/A$30,000
Little Craft ShowDec. 4-5$22,500
Last Night FayettevilleDec. 31$16,000
ArtosphereJune 15-28$15,000
Lights of the OzarksNov. 20-Dec. 31$15,000
Offshoot Film FestivalSept. 10-12$13,100
OktoberfestOct. 18$11,400
LifeSource International BanquetApril 28$11,000
Artists Laboratory TheatreN/A$10,650
Bulldog Classic Basketball TournamentDec. 15$10,000
Celebrate the Buffalo banquetSept. 26$10,000
Hero Half MarathonOct. 10$10,000
Northwest Arkansas Hispanic Heritage FestivalOct. 10-11$10,000
Hooten Publishing Football ClassicSept. 1$8,000
Outback in the OzarksOct. 9-10$7,350
NWA TechFestOct. 9$6,500
Banded Suffering Bike RacesOct. 17$6,000
Last Saturday Variety ShowLast Saturday of the month$5,000
TheatreSquared Gala for EducationNov. 15$5,000
Seven Hills Homeless Center BanquetOct. 10$3,500
Banff Mountain Film FestivalSept. 17-18$3,350
Tri-State Volleyball ChallengeSept. 12$3,000
Square to Square Bike RideSept. 12$1,000
Total**$233,350
Source: Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission
The money comes from a 2 percent tax on hotel stays and food purchases in Fayetteville restaurants.
The requests include several first-time events and other staples that have received money for years.
The largest single request, $30,000, came from Jason Jones, the Fayetteville artist who has painted murals in the University of Arkansas' student union, at Washington Elementary School and on utility boxes in the downtown square.
Among his most recent work is a "Shop Local" mural on the side of Four-Legged Bird, an indie craft shop at 275 S. Archibald Yell Blvd.
Jones wants to continue the "Shop Local" theme with three new murals: on the west side of the Executive Square building, next to Fayetteville Town Center; on piers supporting the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad bridge above Center Street; and on the David McKee Architect building, next to the Frisco Trail crossing on Center Street.
"I picked places you could see from the road and the trail," Jones said Monday.
His designs are subject to change, but, as presented Monday, they'll include three messages: "Play Local," "Ride Local," and "Explore Local."
"They'd almost be like advertising for the city," Jones said.
And, he added, they'll be painted in a way that they shouldn't require any maintenance for at least 10 years.
A new event, a "Square to Square" bicycle ride, is a partnership between the Fayetteville and Bentonville Parks and Recreation departments. Tiffany Gaulke, recreation program manager in Fayetteville, said the event will be in September and May of each year and will highlight the new Razorback Regional Greenway. Gaulke said $1,000 from the Advertising and Promotion Commission would help market the event.
The Northwest Arkansas Creative Arts Network is seeking $5,000 to help promote its "Last Saturday Variety Show" at the Fayetteville Underground. The monthly show features 10-minute performances by a range of artists, including jugglers, magicians, dancers and a "word war" poetry slam that attendees can participate in.
"The goal of the show is to bring in all of these people that nobody knows and get them exposed to each others' audiences," said Houston Hughes, event organizer.
Other groups seeking funding for the first time include Outback in the Ozarks, a 200-mile team relay from Eureka Springs to Prairie Grove; Banded Suffering, a series of bike races benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; and charity banquets for Seven Hills Homeless Center, LifeSource International and several Buffalo National River advocacy groups.
Longstanding events and organizations back for more funding in 2015 include the city Parks Department Lights of the Ozarks holiday display; Walton Arts Center's annual Artosphere festival; Last Night Fayetteville; Fayetteville School District's Bulldog Classic basketball tournament and Tri-State Volleyball Challenge; Little Craft Show; and TheatreSquared's Gala for Education.
The $80,000 commissioners will award represents surplus money in the commission's 2014 budget.
Commissioners typically base funding decisions on festivals that need a boost getting started or events expected to draw tourists to town, thus replenishing the commission's hospitality tax revenue.
State law sets rules for how hotel, motel and restaurant taxes must be spent. Money for the arts, constructing, maintaining or repairing a convention center and "advertising and promoting the city and its environs" are all allowable expenditures.
NW News on 04/21/2015