DESPITE her expressed love for the arts Bass Coast Mayor Cr Rochelle Halstead has been unable to find additional funding for public art in this year’s council budget.

A new public art framework adopted by Bass Coast Council has allowed for CPI indexed increases in annual arts funding but no additional money.

With the CPI currently sitting at 2.1% that’s good news for a council trying to rein in costs but bad news for the Bass Coast arts community.

“I’m pleased it is in line with CPI,” said Cr Halstead.

As former Chair of the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee Mayor Cr Halstead said she went to as many arts events as possible.

“Down the track I would like to consider an increase in arts funding,” said Cr Halstead.

“It’s tough at the moment with so many things in the budget.

“We need to keep mindful of that in the next budget talks.”

Bass Coast’s annual budget allocation for the arts of $50,000 will be transferred into a public art reserve with future allocations determined on a biennial basis.

Voting in support of the framework Cr Mat Morgan said public funding for the arts in Bass Coast had not increased for over a decade, nor was it indexed.

“Moving it from $50,000 a year to $100,000 every two years is not an increase and there's actually been a real term reduction over the last 10 years,” Cr Morgan said.

“I'm glad to see that we're finally indexing it to CPI.”

Public art creates a sense of place and identity according to Bass Coast Council.

Council officers have been authorised to access the arts reserve for public art projects valued at up to $150,000 possibly augmented by external grants.

‘We are committed to celebrating our stories, enriching our built environment and defining our local identity through a signature public art commission program.’

Bass Coast Council has commissioned 10 public artworks across the Shire since 2014.

The Bass Coast Public Art Framework 2025-2035 can be found at basscoast.vic.gov.au/assets/agendas-minutes/attachments/8.11-Public-Art-Framework-2025-35.pdf