State funding for arts in jeopardy
March 28, 2011
Government funding for the arts is falling on hard times amid the state’s multibillion budget shortfall.
Gov.
Some lawmakers also want to scale back or repeal a separate program the agency runs that sets aside one-half of 1 percent from the construction of state-owned buildings to commission works of art displayed in public buildings and public spaces.
“”The budget challenge is the biggest that we’ve faced in decades,”” said
The amount of money involved is modest: The state now spends about
The proposed cuts come as no surprise to artists and arts advocates, who have seen state support for art decline nationwide during the economic downturn. In
The program that acquires public art is funded through the state capital budget, which pays for construction projects. The arts commission and its grants are funded through the operating budget — which pays for schools, prisons, health care and other services — along with federal money and private contributions.
Gregoire suggests cutting the commission’s state share this coming fiscal year by 80 percent — from
The state money makes up less than half of the agency’s budget, but federal funding is expected to drop as well. Gregoire’s proposal also would eliminate the agency and move its core functions to the state
“”She absolutely sees the importance of publicly funded art, but it’s hard to fund art when at the same time you’re eliminating people off of health care and other social services,”” said
Construction dollars
Most of the state’s arts spending goes to public art funded by construction dollars.
The program has enjoyed strong support in
“”Art is nice frosting on the cake, but when we cannot afford the cake what are we investing in frosting for?”” said Sen.
The program was approved by
Artists from the Western states and
About 40 percent of the nearly 4,600 pieces paid for through the program are by artists who don’t live in
The pieces range from a
The outdoor sculptures, installed last year in
One bill sponsored by Carrell, SB 5100, would exempt the state from allocating money from the construction of prisons and halfway houses to public art for the next two years. Another bill, SB 5109, would eliminate the public-art program altogether.
The chair of the
“”It think that’s a strong Democratic tradition and one that we need to continue,”” Murray said.
Artist
Although he’s from
He is nearing completion of a
Inspired by the idea of collectively shared space, the cast aluminum and basalt sculpture of the seven most prominent peaks in the
Financial limbo
While state support for art is debated, the arts commission is in financial limbo.
State funding for the agency dropped 25 percent in the 2010 fiscal year and is down at least another 27 percent this year.
Commission officials worry that in addition to the deeper cuts proposed for the next budget, merging the commission with another agency, or eliminating it altogether, could jeopardize funding it receives from the
Most of the agency’s
The commission has put the grant program on hold for now.
Tucker, the commission’s executive director, said she’s worried about how a loss in the agency’s role in grant making could affect its recipients.
“”Our relatively small grants effectively leverage other funding so an individual who wants to contribute to an arts organization in the community will look for our logo or grant on a list of other funders for the organization as a stamp of approval,”” Tucker said.
The commission has awarded
Jack Straw’s executive director,
“”The state 1/8funding3/8 for us works as a base and then we would apply for additional grants, or try to get additional individual support to augment it,”” Rabinowitz said. “”We’ll all keep trying to make it work, but it feels a lot harder to do without the
Meanwhile, Tucker says the agency is looking at other ways to fulfill its mission.
“”There is going to be an evolution in how we as a state agency can best support public participation in the arts,”” she said. “”It’s unrealistic to expect even a generous Legislature in the next three months will restore our funding to our current level.””