Downtown Orlando could see another year of live performances as the city’s Downtown Development Board considers a $608,000 extension for the DTO Live program.
Launched in June 2024, DTO Live is an arts/tourism initiative overseen by United Arts of Central Florida and funded by the Downtown Development Board, with the goal of providing daily, free arts experiences in the downtown core. Last year, the initiative paid for over 1,000 live music and art performances in public settings around downtown – though hopefully this year they’ll focus on hosting that programming in the early evening and not just in the afternoon.
The program pays musicians a minimum of $250 for at least two hours of performance somewhere downtown, ranging from Church Street Plaza to in front of City Hall.
The DDB’s proposed extension underscores the city’s hopes to foster a thriving arts community and enhance the downtown experience for residents and visitors, and aligns with the mayor’s broader efforts to revitalize its downtown area in a family-friendly way.
According to their May Agenda, it seems the DDB will be dropping the public art component of DTO Live that paid for the Creative City Project to activate the Orange Avenue Pop-up Park (and those pigeons) and will focus on its busking initiative, its “flower flash” installations (see below), and a program that paid artists to decorate vacant storefronts (below as well). The agreement also includes an administration fee for United Arts in the amount of $91,333.
The City-sponsored Golden Brick Awards recognized DTO Live with this year’s “Game Changer” Golden Brick Award.
