In February of this year, Bossier City Council proposed terminating its agreement with the BAC which granted them to stay in the Old Municipal Building rent free with utilities paid.
In February of this year, Bossier City Council proposed terminating its agreement with the BAC which granted them to stay in the Old Municipal Building rent free with utilities paid. Now, after 45 years living in the Old Municipal Building at 630 Barksdale Blvd, the Bossier Arts Council (BAC) has lost its home. Around October, it was revealed by a Louisiana Legislative Auditor that for the third year in a row, the BAC had been noncompliant with financial reports. This was shortly after the former president, Brittainy Pope, stepped down.
A council meeting was held on February 17th to ultimately determine the fate, but in the days prior, many local artists and even the BAC itself called for action online. Most notably and vocally, Shreveport-Bossier artist, Chang Liu, created a petition on change.org which at the time of the meeting had over 700 signatures, and now holds over 1,000.
During the meeting, the BAC Board of Directors chair, Nathan Hicks, acknowledged the wrongs of the arts council, yet, remarked how the small staff and ongoing search for a new president has caused great struggle. Hicks emphasized that he was not looking for anyone to forgive and forget, but rather give the council an extension period so they might get their affairs in order. While the city council expressed their appreciation for the arts, they also acknowledged that taxpayer dollars should not go to an organization unable to do things by the book.
Councilman Joel Girouard remarked, “We are not a private organization that gets a lot of leeway. We’re a public government that has to protect those tax dollars.” In a 4-3 vote, the BAC was granted an extension until the next council meeting, with the hopes that a plan could be made to solve the financial crisis, and prove tax dollars were being put to good use. At the next council meeting on March 3, Bossier City decided to cut ties with the Bossier Arts Council, noting that despite their eviction, the building will still be used to host arts, just in other manners.
Even with the eviction and no longer receiving city funds, the BAC fully plans to remain an active organization, posting to their Facebook page on March 5, “Contrary to some claims, the Bossier Arts Council is NOT going away. We may need to vacate our building but we will persevere and continue to provide valuable programming to the community and beyond.”
While on the surface level this may seem like a loss for the local arts, if anything it was a win. This scary moment brought local artists together to fight for creativity to continue to flourish. In a crowd bigger than what the city council normally sees, people held signs reading “Save BAC,” “We heart BAC”, and more. People banded together in person, online, and showed that the local arts are not something to be glanced over. Hopefully, with the BAC being a high topic of Shreveport-Bossier news, more people will now be inspired and encouraged to incorporate local arts and events into their lives.
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