SEATTLE - A recent court ruling that Seattle City Light should no longer routinely pay for public art could have a major impact on Seattle's cultural life, arts advocates warned.

King County Superior Court Judge Sharon Armstrong this week held that most of the $2.8 million City Light spent on art was impermissible. Armstrong ruled that an ordinance requiring that 1 percent of the utility's capital project costs be spent on public art was invalid because it benefits the general public rather than ratepayers.