The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority unanimously approved a $12,145 budget for the 2013 Chelsea Sculpture Walk at its meeting Thursday morning.
The vote was taken Dec. 20 following a presentation by Board Member Patti Schwarz, who owns River Gallery and is the organizer of the walk. Previously, the artist’s stipends for displaying their sculptures was $350, but once the new DDA budget is approved that fee will be increased to $600.
Schwarz told the DDA board that the average stipend for artists exhibiting in equivalent sculpture walks is between $500-$750. In addition the $25 submission fee for artists will be eliminated this year.
She told the board that Chelsea Community Hospital planned to purchase one of the sculptures and that another sculpture was “put on hold.” The artist receives 60 percent of the sale price, 20 percent goes into a sculpture walk fund and 20 percent is paid as a commission to River Gallery.
“This is an extraordinary program … and the community is enriched because of it,” said Board Member Guy Sanville. “It sets us apart from other communities.”
He also commented that a 20-percent commission was “very low.”
Plus, this year, she said, there will be a special code on the sculptures, which people can use in their iphones to get more information about the artists.
