Category: issues

Think censorship isn’t alive in America? Just look around, writes Linda Winer – a movie of an opera doesn’t make it to TV, an talented actress gets blackballed for her political views, a movie about Castro gets canned…

If states like New Jersey eliminate their arts funding it will be inconvenient for large arts groups. Most small groups won’t notice because they’re small, have small budgets, and don’t count on public funding. But for mid-size groups… it’s a life-threatening situation.

Arts funding across America is declining – in some states being cut altogether. “Although national state arts funding for fiscal year 2004 won’t be known until current legislative sessions conclude, it is almost sure to be less than the $354 million in 2003, which was already 20.8 percent smaller than the high of $447 million in 2001.”

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger blasts the BBC for the state of its arts coverage. He said “the BBC had experienced a ‘terrible failure of nerve’ in its commitment to the arts and he laid the blame on the corporation’s board of governors.”

Does writing about Britney Spears in the newspaper diminish appreciation of “high” arts? “It is evident that many people working in – and treasuring – the serious arts still feel embattled. It seems to them as if there is a widespread philistinism around: a remorseless drive in favour of the predominant commercially successful mass culture.”

“Here and there around the United States, you may occasionally find the odd modern dance in a derelict hotel, a theater production on a city bus, or a concert on a public park carousel. But in Los Angeles these things happen regularly – if not quite predictably – thanks to a handful of committed practitioners who have built careers around the making of site-specific theater, dance and music.”

States across America are cutting their arts budgets – last week Colorado whacked its budget by 90 percent. A number of states are in danger of not qualifying for money from the National Endowment for the Arts this year…

New Jersey’s secretary of state is Regena Thomas, and she’s fighting for her department. “The secretary of state, appointed by Gov. James E. McGreevey, is in charge of promoting and preserving the arts, history and culture in New Jersey. But in the $23 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the governor has proposed that her programs be largely abolished. The budget proposal calls for the $47 million allocated to her office to be cut by 87 percent. This will effectively shut down the State Council on the Arts, leaving New Jersey the only state without one, according to Ms. Thomas’s office. It will also mothball the Historical Commission and the New Jersey Cultural Trust, although, like the council, each would continue to exist in name.”

The National Endowment for the Arts want to fundraise privately, but one of New York’s most important arts advocates – Norma Munn Chair of the New York City Arts Coalition – is strongly opposed. “As a matter of principle, I’m opposed to government using fundraising in the private sector to supplement an agency budget at the city, state, or federal level. It means they’re competing directly with not-for-profits for precisely the same funds; and their clout and ability to publicize their efforts is a lot greater than other arts groups. It’s a substitute for public funds and a move for privatization of funding that isn’t appropriate.”

New York State lawamakers have cut the state’s arts council grants budget by 15%, or $6.6 million. “Legislators also cut NYSCA’s administration budget by $196,000. The funding was contained in the education portion of the budget bill. Gov. George Pataki is expected to approve the cuts because he had recommended them in his proposed state budget introduced in January.”