In the past two days, I’ve posted diaries about the budget bill that was passed last week by the Georgia State House, which in a bone-headed move eliminated the Georgia Council for the Arts (GA-Pics of protest and GA House: State Arts Council on guillotine). Within two days, a grass-roots group formed to publicly demonstrate, form phone chains, and throw everything we had into a hail-mary play.
Today the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $17.8 billion budget that includes money the House had stripped from the arts council. The GCA, which provides seed money for start-up arts-related organizations, will not be wiped off the face of Georgia.
Yay!
It’s a magnificent win, even if the budgeted amount is much lower than the $2.52 million it received in FY 2010, which was much lower than in FY 2008, when it received $4.18 million.
In a statement today, GCA chief Susan Weinersaid Tuesday,
Georgia Council for the Arts is thankful ... Georgia will not lose its federal and regional funding. Though our state funding will be down 88 percent from fiscal year 2008, GCA can continue to support our highly productive nonprofit arts industry.
Anyone want to figure out how much that will be? I’m not good at math.
And this whole hoo-haw was going on because the Appropriations committee was misinformed that the GCA awards grants mostly to educational arts programs for teachers and students across the state.
And since teachers are already getting so much (!), there was no need for an arts council that was doing the same thing. Huh? Per Laura A. Scanlan, NEA director of state and regional partnerships,
[A grant from the NEA] requires not only a financial commitment from the state but also the infrastructure and expertise to effectively address the unique needs of the broad expanse of arts and cultural resources within the state.
In other words, it takes people with appropriate education and experience to run this kind of program and you can't just hand it over to people who don't.
Now, for all you people who are jumping up and down about why the government is involved in the arts in the first place, and why should they be paid for out of tax dollars, let me give you an example:
In Colquitt-Miller County, a community theatre called Swamp Gravywas given a $700.00 grant for start-up under the "grass-roots grants."
Swamp Gravy became a tourist attraction that draws people off the highways to this town that collapsed when the highway was built. Since the theatre opened, fourteen new businesses have opened on that town square and more are coming. The town’s economy not only recovered, but their budget soared into the millions. All because of one $700.00 grant at the grass-roots level.
This is not an uncommon story.
And not all of it goes to arts organizations – a lot of it goes to festivals (like the smashingly successful Dogwood Festival held just last week); preserves historically and culturally important causes like the Gullah, or Conyers’ "Olde Towne" project to restore the historic neighborhoods; supports summer reading classes in north-east Georgia; and classes at Columbus State University.
A grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts is the first one every organization applies for, because once it’s granted, once they get that seed money, they can create a board of directors and apply for all other applicable grants. The board is, naturally, the major fund-raising body of the organization, bringing in a good percentage of its budget.
Should our tax dollars pay to support arts and culture? I dunno, is a good deal to get a return of millions from an investment of $700? And to see that happen across the state? Across the country?
Remember also that if the state level organization closes, so will every local arts council in counties, cities and towns across the state. More jobs lost, tourism lost, service industries lost. And wait until commercial galleries and productions realize Georgia is not friendly to the arts and move to places that are. Lost taxes, more empty buildings, and no more board members raising money.
We at Daily Kos talk a lot about supporting grass-roots efforts, and cheer when they succeed. Organizations like the Georgia Council for the Arts use your tax dollars to invest in start-up businesses, often with dazzling results.
If this isn't grass-roots, I don't know what is.