Hundreds rally to protest arts funding cuts

[Ian David]

Hundreds rally to protest arts funding cuts
By Jamie Gumbrecht
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Capitol steps erupted with activity Monday when musicians, actors and puppeteers gathered to protest arts funding cuts and the elimination of the Georgia Council for the Arts.

Hundreds of arts supporters chanted "art equals jobs" and carried signs that read "Look up, an artist created the gold dome," and "How could you be so art-less?" Drummers kept the beat while a violinist played along with chants, and dancers performed in circles around a statue of politician Thomas E. Watson.

A $17.8 billion state budget passed by the Georgia House last week would wipe out the arts council, which supports the arts statewide, administers grants and maintains the State Art Collection. Before the House voted to eliminate the arts agency, Gov. Sonny Perdue's fiscal 2011 budget cut arts funding to $890,735, down from $2.52 million this year. Georgia could be the only state without an arts council recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, unless the Senate restores funding cut by the House.

More:
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/hundreds-rally-to-protest-475035.html

See also:

Far-sighted advocates prove arts are good for business
Published: Monday, May 24, 2010 3:28 PM EDT

Up until the final days of the 2010 legislative session, Georgia was about to become the only state in the union without an arts council. The Georgia House had dropped all funding for the arts and it wasn’t until the State Senate under the leadership of Senate Appropriations Chair Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) stepped in and restored $860,000 for the Georgia Council for the Arts. That money will allow the state agency to qualify for federal and state matching arts grants.

Why support the arts when we are sucking financial wind every way imaginable?

Lydia Huggins Ivanditti, director of the Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton and a strong advocate for the arts, says, “We must expose children to the arts and help them see how the arts connect us to our past. Shakespeare and Rembrandt’s works still live after 500 years. The arts make us more creative, no matter what our vocation.”

The arts are also good for business.

Take Putnam County, east of Atlanta and near the Reynolds Plantation development. Ivanditti says, “About 75 percent ofPutnam County’s residents live in the Lake Oconee communities. Retail shops and grocery stores have been built to service those folks so there was little need to come into Eatonton until we created the Plaza Arts Center. Now after only two short years we are seeing an increase in traffic and an interest in opening new businesses. Our restaurants are thriving and the city is profiting from increased tax revenue as a result.”

More:
http://www.forest-blade.com/articles/2010/05/24/opinion/editorials/doc4bfac057991d1952729208.txt


Fulton Cuts Elementary Orchestra And Band
Fulton County School Board Voted To Cut Program To Save Money
by Katie Brace, CBS Atlanta News Reporter
POSTED: 11:13 pm EDT May 20, 2010
UPDATED: 10:04 am EDT May 21, 2010

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. -- The Fulton County School Board voted to cut elementary school orchestra and band.

On Thursday night, parents made a final plea to the board. Supporters of the program had an independent study done on the effects of cutting the program. They said cutting the program will mean fewer students will play instruments in the higher grades. They argued it means the school district will have to pay out more money to put those students in different classes.

Superintendent Cindy Loe disagreed citing their own music director’s recommendations. Dr. Loe said students who have not been in band or orchestra in elementary school tend to sign up in greater numbers in middle school.

She said the program receives zero state funding and cutting it saves the district $4 million a year.

The board voted 6-1 to cut the program. The dissenting vote board member Ashley Widener, who represents the northern part of the county.

More:
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/23628194/detail.html


Arts Funding Could Fall Short
By Susanna Capelouto
Updated: 2 weeks ago

ATLANTA — Georgia’s arts funding could fall short, because the state budget doesn’t include enough money for a federal matching grant.

One of the biggest budget battles this year was over funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts. The State house proposed cutting the funds altogether, but the State Senate restored some money after intense lobbying from arts community.

The arts council is Georgia’s officials agency to get federal grants from the National Endowment from the Arts.

Georgia was awarded about $878.000 dollars from the NEA in March. But it can only collect if the matches those funds. The budget includes only $790.000 falling $87.000 dollars short.

The NEA now has to decide whether whether to grant a waiver and award Georgia the entire $878.000 or just match the state funding. The Georgia council says it has no way to raise the extra dollars on it’s own.

More:
http://www.gpb.org/news/2010/05/12/arts-funding-could-fall-short

Via: http://twitter.com/Swoopy/status/14774875362