The performing and visual arts are an important economic catalyst to our region and to Spokane's urban core, as Marla Nunberg, acting president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, so aptly stated recently.

They also are a key contributor to the quality of life here.

That's why it was so encouraging to hear late last month that a partnership had been launched to promote the arts throughout Spokane County. Nunberg's comment was in support of that effort.

Under the new structure, which will replace the city of Spokane's arts department, the city will join DSP, the Spokane Public Facilities District, and Visit Spokane to pool resources for art-related promotion and planning.

The Spokane Arts Fund, a nonprofit entity that had served as a funding mechanism for the city-appointed Spokane Arts Commission, will be the governing body for the partnership, and all five funding agencies now have representatives on the Arts Fund board.

The new partnership is set up for three years, with the ability to be renewed at the end of that period, and will be supported through contracts ratified by the various partners. A preliminary verbal agreement between the partners will bring funding and in-kind support for the arts to more than $160,000 for 2013.

The city, which budgeted nearly $155,000 for its arts department this year, will contribute $100,000 to the partnership next year, $80,000 in 2014, and $60,000 in 2015. Meanwhile, the other organizations each have pledged lesser amounts, and Visit Spokane also is providing office space.

The structure, the partners say, is designed to allow the Arts Fund to stabilize and expand funding options over the next several years. It will explore what grants and other funding sources are available, whether to hire staff, and what specific programs to offer. Karen Mobley, who has been the city's arts director for 15 years, will work with the Arts Fund through the transition as interim executive director and says that—although many organizational details have yet to be worked out— she likely will apply to fill that position on a permanent basis.

Additionally, under the plan, the Arts Commission will serve as an adviser on the arts.

The city arts department, which in recent years employed only Mobley, worked collaboratively with the Arts Commission to coordinate cultural projects and activities that promoted the visual and performing arts, cultural heritage, and the acquisition of artwork for city-owned buildings.

Given the city's ongoing budget challenges as it strives to trim expenditures and focus on core responsibilities in response to still-weak economic conditions here, Spokane Mayor David Condon earlier this year rightly advocated the closure of the arts department office. To his credit, his office then supported efforts led by City Council President Ben Stuckart to establish a coalition of agencies to take over the office's functions.

Brooke Kiener, who chairs the Spokane Arts Commission and also is a member of the newly constituted Arts Fund board, told the Journal earlier this week that she's enthused about the partnership that's sprung up to support the arts.

"In terms of fundraising, there will be certain pots of money more available to us that there were before," Kiener says.

A member of the Arts Commission for eight years, she notes that the city arts department had been on the chopping block repeatedly and treated as somewhat of a "political football" in city cost-cutting discussions. Through the new coalition, she says, arts proponents should be able to devote more of their time to programs, rather than lobbying for survival.

Adds Kiener, "I am very optimistic about our chances for success."