US State arts agencies threatened with budget cuts

IFACCA/Artshub, 18 February 2003, USA

This item was first published in the New York Foundation for the Arts' newsletter, 'Current', available at: www.nyfa.org STATE ARTS AGENCIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY THREATENED WITH BUDGET CUTS; NEW JERSEY, ARIZONA, AND MISSOURI ZERO OUT MONEY FOR THE ARTS In each of the 50 states and six jurisdictional governments, State Arts Agencies work to support artists and arts organisations; to develop, promote, and sustain programs which reach rural and underserved populations; and to foster alternatives for at-risk youth and arts education. They also act as catalysts for economic development. Their budgets are oftenrelatively small compared to other state programs. From Vermont, where Thetford writer Grace Paley has been named the new Vermont State Poet, to Idaho, where an exhibition of fellowship recipients is on view at the Pritchard Art Gallery, State Arts Agencies bring the work of their state’s artists and arts organisations to a wider audience. In an era when the Federal Government has withdrawn individual fellowships for artists in most categories, many state agencies not only support a myriad of cultural organisations in their state, but also award fellowships to individual artists, whose voices lift spirits in times of trouble and/or creatively address societal problems and foster discourse. But – despite the contribution of the arts to society, education, and the economy; despite the large numbers of people employed in the arts sector and the often low income status of artists – states including New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, and California, have drastically cut back the arts in their new budgets. Whether penalising agencies which worked hard to stabilise arts support in their communities through the bipartisan creation of a cultural trust or using the arts as a political football to demonstrate budget difficulties, some states – including New Jersey, Missouri, and Arizona – have proposed zeroing out funding for the state agencies which foster and support the arts. In New Jersey, Governor James E McGreevey has completely defunded the arts in his budget. In Missouri, Governor Bob Holden’s FY03-04 [financial year 2003-2004] budget would eliminate funding for the Arts Council, which has had funding cuts in the last two years. In Arizona, the joint Legislative Budget Committee’s budget proposal zeros out the Arizona Commission on the Arts. But – because State funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is based on each state’s priorities in areas such as arts education; because NEA Challenge America funds must be matched at least dollar-for-dollar; because State Arts Agencies (SAAs) often offer a general operating support seldom available from other sources; because grants from private foundations are often on a matching basis; because many states provide fellowships to artists no longer available nationally and available to only a few through private foundations – the result of state defunding of the arts could be devastating to the visual artists, writers, dancers, and musicians whose work integrally contributes to the culture of their states and to the arts organisations who exhibit, perform, and present the work of artists of all kinds. ‘This is shocking and horrible news for everyone in New Jersey,’ says Ann Marie Miller, Executive Director of ArtPRIDE New Jersey. ‘The elimination of arts and history funding threatens every single cultural organisation in our state. Many groups will close, perhaps hundreds. Those that survive will be forced to significantly reduce their programming.’ ‘We understand the fiscal crisis facing New Jersey,’ she continues. ‘What we don’t understand or accept is why we are being singled out and not cut proportionately, but eliminated.’ ‘One of the hidden costs in cuts to SAAs is the loss of leveraged private capital, as well the turmoil that cuts cause in the budgets of razor thin operating lines of cultural organisations’ – Kimber Crane, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Arts funding is now threatened in states where the arts are important to rural and or under-served urban populations and/or where large populations of artists and arts organisations are an important constituency. In New York, for instance, cuts of 15% for grants to the field and 3.7% for administration have been proposed by the Governor. In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council has been given a 62% budget cut. In California, a 50% reduction for local assistance grants from the California Arts Council has been proposed. In Washington state, Governor Gary Locke’s 2003/2005 biennium budget, would have $2.2 million cut from the Washington State Arts Commission Budget – a 39% percent reduction in state funds. In Virginia, although the budget information has not yet been completely analysed, it appears that the Virginia Commission for the Arts has been cut 45% – a much higher percentage than any other Virginia state organisations. ‘... we understand the budget problems facing the state and are willing to take our fair share of the burden. While we are still analysing the budget information, it does not appear that this is the case,’ said Virginians for the Arts in an advocacy alert. ‘SAAs are one leg of a public funding network designed to leverage private investment in the arts and culture,’ emphasises Kimber Crane at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA). ‘One Federal (NEA) dollar will be matched at least 11 to 1 by state local dollars by the time it reaches the arts community. The majority of SAA grants are for general operating support, which is not an item that foundations or the private sector supports. One of the hidden costs in cuts to SAAs is the loss of leveraged private capital, as well the turmoil that cuts cause in the budgets of razor thin operating lines of cultural organisations.’

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