Category: issues

Missouri weighs the consequences of zeroing out state arts funding. “The possibility of a future without a Missouri state arts agency raises basic questions: Is there symbolic value in a state arts council beyond the money it distributes? And at a time when both the federal and state governments face mounting deficits, should tax money be spent on the arts, which some lawmakers view as a luxury?”

New Jersey Governor James McGreevey is reconsidering abolishing state arts funding. A spokesman for the governor’s office says that “a decision has been made to find the means to provide funding for arts communities across the state,” and that “it would not be unreasonable for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to get back about half of the $18 million it lost.”

“In his budget address, Gov. McGreevey proposed eliminating $43 million earmarked for various cultural programs. Among the funds eliminated were $18 million in grant money for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, $10 million for the New Jersey Cultural Trust, $4 million in grants for the Historical Commission and $3 million in Cultural Enrichment Grants. Individual institutions also got cut, including $2.7 million for the Newark Museum.”

The economy might be down, but Cleveland-area politicians are talking about putting a new tax of the arts on a Novermber ballot, hoping to raise $14 million to $18 million per year for the arts. “I think it’s definitely time that we have to put our money where our mouth is with this particular industry. We’re trying to team up the arts-levy request with another popular issue. We thought a combination request would be an easier sell.”

What use is art as the world looks to be headed to war? Aren’t there more important things to be thinking about? “I agree that art is useless, but so is life, and it’s precisely our awareness of the ‘uselessness’ of life that makes us want to struggle to give it purpose, and to give that purpose meaning. We’re told that we’re engaged in a Manichean contest between ‘civilisation’ and ‘terrorism’ to create ‘a new world order’. If anything is to change, what we need is to understand ourselves better as well as understanding those who are different from us.”

A survey of executive salaries in Minnesota arts organizations reveals that top executives are well-compensated. “Some who watch the nonprofit world wonder why arts administrators tend to out-earn their peers in other nonprofit categories such as those related to health, social services and education. In the Twin Cities in 2001, median pay packages for directors of top arts and culture organizations was $273,125, compared to $177,708 in education, $215,557 in health care and $123,984 in social services. ‘These jobs are much tougher now than they were. It’s difficult to recruit good, experienced people for director positions, and for critical marketing and development jobs. This narrows the pool and increases the salaries of really good people.”

Minneapolis/St. Paul arts institutions are cutting back their operations in response to a downturn in funding. “The Guthrie Theater said it plans to pare its core staff by 10 percent or more within a few weeks. The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts said it has eliminated eight of its 68 jobs, half through layoffs. The Minnesota Opera Company will shorten its coming season, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts will start closing earlier on Fridays next week. Last month, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra cut 10 administrative positions from a staff of 45. Other leading arts groups, including the Minnesota Orchestra and the Walker Art Center, have reduced staff size through attrition and job consolidation.”

Chairmen of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities go to the US Congress to plead their cases for funding. “We cannot defend what we do not understand. But even as our country prepares for a possible war, numerous polls, studies and reports indicate that many students at both the secondary and university levels lack even a basic understanding of their country’s past. From my perspective this is a national emergency.”

Two enduring characterizations of Los Angeles – that it’s unintellectual and star-struck are only partically true. There’s no shortage of intellectual events featuring A-list names. But the attendees appear every bit as star-struck for the intellectual heavy-hitters as other crowds do for the movie stars. “The only thing wrong with intellectual life in L.A. is that people keep asking if there’s intellectual life in L.A. The last remnant of provinciality is asking that question.”

When Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty released his proposal last month to deal with a state budget deficit approaching $5 billion, arts advocates breathed a sigh of relief – the proposal cut the arts, but only by 22%. Still, a massive lobbying effort was launched to get the cuts down to what the state arts board sees as a more fair level, such as 14%. Apparently, the governor does not like being questioned: a revised draft of the budget slashes an additional $5 million from the arts board’s budget, bringing the total cuts to 40%.