DIA’s outdoor art coming to Belleville; sculptures coming, too

Belleville will be brimming with artworks next summer as the Detroit Institute of Arts Inside/Out paintings will be coming, as well as a half-dozen outdoor sculptures in the city, plus four more over the bridge in Van Buren Township.
At the regular meeting of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority on Nov. 18, chairwoman Rosemary Loria announced that the DDA has received a letter from the Detroit Institute of Arts announcing that Belleville will be included as a site for its 2016 Inside/Out exhibits.
The DDA hosted Inside/Out exhibits in September-November 2012 and then turned to outdoor sculptures for the last two years. This year they will have them both.
The seven framed artworks are clustered within walking or bike-riding distance of one another to form a “grand, open-air gallery,” according to the DIA website.
The artworks are loaned to the communities and erected without charge.
Although the DDA had considered dropping the Midwest Sculpture Initiative agreement for 2016 because now MSI requirement has gone up from the minimum six sculptures to eight sculptures, a partnership with the Van Buren Township DDA solved the problem.
Carol Thompson, Belleville DDA coordinator, said the VBT DDA had agreed to put two sculptures north of the bridge and now it is looking at four sculptures.
Thompson said since the total of sculptures would now be 10, MSI said this bumps Belleville up to a “mid-size” display designation.
Belleville’s cost is estimated between $12,000 and $13,000 to lease the six sculptures for a year and local donors help with the cost. The new sculptures will be put in place after the present sculptures are removed in June.
In other business at the 27-minute meeting, the DDA:
• Received copies of the proposed DDA Development Plan and TIF Plan for 2016-46, outling the amount of funds expected and the use of the funds for the next 30 years, as required by state law. Loria said they will wait to hear from their attorney on the draft and then, when it is cleaned up, possibly vote on it at the next DDA meeting Dec. 16. Then the document will go to the city council for a public hearing, which probably will be after the first of the year, and final action;
• Was informed the growth rate for the DDA in 2016 will be 4%, because the Davenport Center was added to the tax rolls. The growth rate for 2017 is figured at 0% and 2018 and 2019 at 1%. Total capture for 2016 is estimated at $733,278, most of it ($442,149) from the City of Belleville taxes;
• Heard reports from Belleville Area Council for the Arts president Doug Dalton on BACA’s fifth-annual ArtAffair on Main and the Music Lakeside event. The DDA had given grants to BACA for these events. Dalton said last year 3,000-4,000 people attended ArtAffair and this year it was 6,000-8,000 and the artists did better although there were fewer artists — 27. This year they pushed the event on social media and bought $3,000 (the entire DDA grant) in radio advertising, and he said, “Obviously, there was a connection.” Also, there were more food vendors this year and they had entertainment. Machine Gun Kelly has a local following, he said. Dalton said Music Lakeside is BACA’s “biggest win.” He said the two Garden Soiree fund raisers at private homes had liability because of the liquor use and so they came up with a new venue, BYC, which has good liquor liability coverage. There were nine acts this year with more than 3,000 total in the park and 106 boats participating in the lake. The entire DDA contribution of $2,500 was spent paying for the acts themselves. Since BACA is getting more funds raised by the soirees, the committee will look at getting more expensive groups to perform;
• Heard DDA Treasurer Sabrina Richardson-Williams suggest BACA do something to help improve the looks of Sam Kassab’s buildings at the entrance to the city, like putting something on his walls or windows. Dalton said he will take the idea to BACA; and
• Heard DDA Secretary Jim Higgerson say there are street lights out by the bridge. Thompson said they can’t be replaced unless concrete work is done.