By Jessie Gorges, photo/graphics editor

Publicity isn’t cheap. That’s why the Friends University fine arts division asked the Wichita City Council for help.

“Some people don’t know how excellent our fine arts program is,” said Tom Cook, chairman of the division of fine arts.

The city council granted $14,000 for Friends to publicize its choral, ballet, drama and visual art programs. Publicity includes Friends fine arts brochures/calendars and event posters.

“The full color brochure costs nearly half of the budget,” Cook said.

The $14,000 has been spent for the year 2009, and Cook placed a grant proposal for the next year. Cook asked for more than last year’s $14,000 to further the art program’s publicity in 2010. He would not disclose the amount of the 2010 grant proposal.

This is not the first time that Friends has received a grant from the city of Wichita. Friends received $5,000 in 2008. Michael Wilder, former chairman of the division of fine arts from 2005-2008, sent several grant proposals during his stay at Friends, Cook said.

Like Friends, Wichita State University received a grant from the city’s Division of Arts and Cultural Services. WSU received a $20,000 grant for the Ulrich Museum, a modern art museum on campus.

Although the arts and culture council decides what organizations to fund, the council does not get to decide how the organizations spend the money. The city gave Friends $14,000, and Friends decided to use the money on publicity.

“We fund operations. We don’t fund programs,” said John D’Angelo, arts and culture services director.

The grant could be used for something as broad as general operations or as specific as funding a youth program that an arts program oversees, D’Angelo said.

For an arts organization to receive a grant, a representative must send in a proposed amount and give a presentation informing the arts council about the organization.

To distribute city funds, the arts council looks at numerous criteria like the following: records of strategic planning, financial stability, more than one source of revenue and contribution to the Wichita art community.

This year, D’Angelo is seeing more fine arts programs seeking funding than in years past. He is not sure if the recession is a direct cause of the need.

Like Cook, D’Angelo sees the importance of funding Wichita’s art programs.

“We see the benefit of having a strong art community,” said D’Angelo. “That’s why Wichita made the investment.”