Category: issues

New Jersey arts groups are mobilizing protests in response to Governor James McGreevey’s proposal to eliminate state arts funding. Arts supporters plan a big rally for May 15 – about the time the state legislature is expected to vote on the budget. “A vocal supporter of the arts in the past, McGreevey has expressed regret about the need for his proposal to slash arts funding. He has urged arts leaders to come up with alternatives.”

Massachusetts’ governor will propose a state budget this week, and arts groups are fearful. Last August, former acting Gov. Jane Swift slashed the Massachusetts Cultural Council budget by 62 percent – from $19.1 million to $7.3 million – the most drastic cut to an arts agency nationwide. The agency eliminated 27 percent of its staff positions, dismantled eight of its 13 grant programs and cut funds distributed through the remaining programs by about 62 percent.” Now the state faces a $3.2 billion deficit, and further cuts are being planned throughout the state…

“Filling the top jobs at major cultural institutions has become increasingly difficult. The pool that you fish in is a very small pool, and that pool is shrinking. As the jobs become more difficult, there is a shrinking group of people, and the pool is not being replenished by people coming up from the ranks. At the same time, these posts have grown in visibility and importance to the local economy.” Oh yes – the salaries to run the big organizations are tiny compared to corporate America.

A fix-up of New York’s Lincoln Center is said to cost $1.2 billion. Many are skeptical the money can be raised and the designs agreed upon by the arts center’s many constituents. So maybe another way to get the project underway is to take a piece of it and make it real. With that in mind, plans are being developed to open up West 65th Street and make it more accessible and inviting. Even this plan costs $150 million, and in this fundraising climate…

“Slashing support for public colleges, of course, is part of the ebb and flow of economic cycles. In bad times, state lawmakers use public higher education to balance their budgets, knowing that the institutions can raise tuition rates. Then, in good times, lawmakers funnel money back to the colleges to make up for the down years. It has worked that way for decades. But this time might be different.” Is a wave of privatization of public universities in the works?

“Do the states have budgetary problems? Absolutely. Do they need to sacrifice because of the shortfalls? Absolutely. Do important programs need to be trimmed? Yes, without question. But wipe out arts budgets altogether? No. The arts are a medium into our future. They are our vehicles for introspection, enlightenment and pleasure. They can’t be manufactured, reproduced or legislated. We need to identify the new artists, nurture their gifts and support them, irrespective of how difficult it will be to afford them.”

A new economic impact study in San Jose “estimates the non-profit arts industry contributed $177 million to the San Jose economy during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The study also says the industry contributed almost 6,000 jobs.” So how come the city’s arts institutions are in such financial danger? The city’s arts leaders are meeting to plot a strategy.

“If you can’t be convinced that the arts deserve support for how they enrich our lives, how they feed the creativity that leads to the genius of high technology and other endeavors, or how they create a quality of life necessary to attract and keep a great workforce, consider simple economics.”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s third annual survey of “America’s most-generous donors” shows a huge drop in giving – the total for the largest 60 givers declined from $12.7 billion to $4.6 billion. “A troubling sign of the slowdown: a growing tendency among donors to make long-term pledges rather than outright cash gifts. Some donors also are delaying payments on previous pledges, and fund raisers see an increasing reluctance among wealthy people to make new giving commitments of any sort.”

Michigan arts groups appear to have escaped the full blow of the budget-cutting axe which has been decimating arts funding in other states, at least for now. In the first round of budget-cutting designed to balance the state’s books for the fiscal year already underway, the state will trim 1.5% from the amount allocated to the arts, and the state arts board plans to apply the cut evenly to all its grant recipients. But another, much larger, round of budget cuts will be announced in March, and as one arts administrator points out, “Arts grants can be very tempting to legislators.”