The city of Davenport and Figge Art Museum have signed an agreement that will eventually raise the city's annual financial support.
Cindy Carlson, president of the Figge's board of trustees, says in 2003 they signed a 20 year agreement requiring the city to pay the museum 753,000 dollars a year. But with the term of the agreement ending soon, they needed to work out a new contract.
The new agreement runs from 2023 to 2030, with automatic, five-year renewals after that. And the city will start paying 800,000 dollars a year in 2026.
"It will really help us fundraise with more confidence. Because one of the things we've run into with donors is the question "where is the city in all of this ?" Because many of our donors knew there was a 20 year agreement, and that it needed to get extended."
Uncertainty in the past had discouraged some potential donors.
Carlson emphasizes the money is not city funding, but payment for services rendered - in this case for the storage, exhibition, and care of Davenport's art collection, now numbering more than 3,000 pieces.
