Protest Proposed Budget Cut in the Arts

Posted from the FW Area Artists blog:

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Arts Advocacy Alert: Proposed State Budget Slashes Arts Funding

Governor's Budget Slashes the Arts by 50%! Take Action!

Governor Mitch Daniels’s proposed budget, submitted to the State Legislature in early January, cuts the budget of the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) by fifty percent, or $2 million per year, for the next two years.

This 50% cut would drop per state capita spending on the arts to approximately 32¢ per citizen (the national average is $1.18). Already ranked 37th nationally, this cut would put Indiana in a dismal 48th place out of 50.

Yes, Indiana is facing a serious revenue shortfall. However -- the average cut for state agencies in the Governor’s budget is only eight percent.

The Arts Commission disperses nearly 85 percent of its annual budget to nonprofit arts and service organizations in all 92 counties of the state. In FY2009, the IAC made 428 grants that support projects, artists, and organizations, attracting more than 12 million visitors to all corners of the state.

What kind of state do you want to live in? Most of us don’t want to live in a state where quality of life is the last item on the list or where arts education isn’t provided for our children. Do we really want to live in a state where investment in the arts is lower than virtually every other state in the U.S.?

In his State of the Union address, Governor Daniels said that with the pro-business policies he is implementing, Indiana is poised for eventual growth and “No more will historians write that we are backward and out of step.” We hope he is right. But – cutting the arts is contradictory to a goal of a progressive image and growth for our state.

Such a drastic slash in state public funding for the arts could not only jeopardize significant numbers of existing jobs but could result in a major reduction or disappearance of cultural assets that contribute to Indiana’s attractiveness to new employers. Study after study has found there are hard-nosed economic reasons to invest in arts and culture. States and communities that rank low in quality-of-life amenities also rank low in attractiveness to businesses and to the technology-based workforce they need in a new global economy.

We urge you to ask your State Senators and Representatives to support a budget that is more equitable and that does not cut the Indiana Arts Commission budget by 50%.

Thank you! A message from Indiana Coalition for the Arts.
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Please take the time to send the little letter to your area representatives it only takes a moment.