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Re: State Arts Board Registry
Posted:
May 28, 2003 9:27 AM
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At the risk of being too overtly political, I send a message to all artists, arts organizers, and art lovers in the state of Minnesota.
My fellow Minnesotans, it is the duty of everyone who loves the arts in our state to stand up and make every effort to resist the current political atmosphere. In particular, artophiles, consider sending your support, in the form of a letter or a donation or some other gesture, to the Minnesota State Arts Board; and send letters, emails, or other messages to your state representatives with messages in support of this organization. Our State Arts Board, which was founded as the Minnesota Arts Society in 1903, is one of the oldest and most respected such state organizations in the country. According to the National Association of State Arts Agencies (N.A.S.A.A.), the Minnesota State Arts Board has also been one of the nation's most consistently innovative, and a model in terms of broadening the appeal of arts across the state. A spokesperson from N.A.S.A.A. cited the MN State Arts Board's involvement with the scenic byways project as an effective and innovative project that agencies around the country hold up as a model. Our state arts board also brings art programs to out-state regions and to public buildings across the state, thus bringing the beauty of art to all of our citizens.
For those who have not yet heard the news, the MN State Arts board had its budget cut last weekend by 32 percent (more than twice the budget deficit of 14%). Tthis means over the next two years there will be 30 percent less money for artists, and 60 percent less administrative money for the Board. Though Pawlenty would call me a doomsdayer for saying so, as a result Minnesota will lose much of the status as an arts-friendly state that has taken nearly a century to build. In fact, this is already happening. According the director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (whose state refused to cut funding to the arts despite the same level of deficit as ours), people across the nation are aware of what's happening to the arts in Minnesota. "It's definitely something that state arts agencies are watching," she said recently, "and are troubled by--especially since there are so many reasons for funding the arts, such as educational and economic development." In Pennsylvania, she added, a bipartisan consensus has supported arts funding over the past two governor's (one Republican, the other Democratic) administrations because of the proven ability of arts to bring development and cultural tourism to a region. In the past years, Philadelphia has had a large part of its downtown rebuilt through arts funding, and the resulting economic development has transformed much of the city.
So now I wonder: When exactly did Minnesota forget its basic principles? When have we decided to let the rest of the nation pass us by in cultural innovation? When did we decide that guns take precendence over paintbrushes? Please, I implore you: Do everything you can to recapture the Minnesota promise--to make a better society for all.
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