In August last year the Community Foundation of the Ozarks formed a committee of arts leaders (including yours truly) and gave us a challenge with funding attached:
Come up with a program that sustains the arts in Springfield. Part one went into effect on March 14….and it’s big!…
Pssst…paging Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), you might not have heard this but the economy is in the “tank” right now, so using the economic impact of the arts to convince the governor to not eliminate arts funding might not be the best tactic! It might make the arts go the way of the Sphinx…wait!…in fact Sphinx is actually the way you should go…..
A Secretary of the Arts? I have been reading about this idea and I think we are way ahead of ourselves, crossing the finish line before running the race! Building from the top down doesn’t work. The Arts have plenty of cheerleaders and advocates, we do not need an advocate in chief. That might be a feel good idea, but if the arts are truly to become a part of our nation’s narrative, we have to think much bigger….
I was sad to read that the Milwaukee Symphony are canceling 4 out of their 5 free concerts. It’s probable that many more orchestras might be forced to cancel free concerts as budget choices are made. In Springfield we usually do 2 free concerts each summer. They are not for certain since they’re connected with city festivals that are at this point are on hold. The NEA might be getting $50 million extra this year, so I’ve got a suggestion…..
Charleston, Virginia, Winston Salem, St Louis, Orlando Ballet, San Francisco Opera, plus many more organizations we don’t know about have financial issues! Millions of dollars have been wiped off endowment balance sheets. These are not rainy day funds, we all tap our endowment interest every year to help defray operating costs and shortfalls. So now what? I want to throw something out there…..
More fabulous news on the Arts front – from the daily updates from organizations around the U.S. that suddenly they’re looking at multi-million dollar deficits due to the worsening economy (muchas gracias, Señor Bush!) to the wonderful news that even the government of that bastion of Liberalism – Australia – has lost it’s collective mind. One wonders if you should start building the bomb shelter.
So when we at the Springfield Symphony (Missouri’s 3rd largest Orchestra) read the news last week regarding the ruling against the Kansas City Symphony’s lawsuit to restore funds into the cultural trust that were not put in during a certain period as the legislature felt the money at that time was needed elsewhere, our reaction was : Oh that’s right they filed a lawsuit! We had forgotten about it. Arts funding in Missouri has risen the last two years….under a Republican governor! I have a little insight into what happened and some personal experience with the whole thing including some interaction with the governor….