In honor of Veterans Day, several computers today decided to take the day off. They approached the day uniquely, and so I am busy working on backups, recovery and diagnostics. Looks like a slow news day in the real world too. The Advocate is running an article on budget cuts for arts program funding grants. This follows up on a Governor Rell decision to change the arts grants programs from dedicated funding to a system where any arts program can compete for grant dollars.
“You can’t take an arts organization and just cut its funding dramatically in one year,” said Ken Wesler, executive director and chief executive officer of the SCA.
The group has been struggling to pay its bills since the new budget went into effect, Wesler said. “We’re going to all of our sources of funding and working very hard to offset that amount,” he said.
The budget for the Palace Theatre also was cut, from $810,000 to $500,000.
The budget provided the extra $4 million for the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism’s grant programs. It will be used to supplement general operating grants awarded in July and for new grant programs.
Organizations in Stamford that received the grants in July, including the Ballet School of Stamford, Connecticut Ballet, Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra, Curtain Call, the Namaskaar Foundation, Pro Arte Singers of Connecticut, the Stamford Symphony Orchestra, Stamford Theatre Works and the Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic, will see an increase.
The commission determined the amounts of supplemental awards Wednesday in a vote but would not release them before notifying the agencies.
“It’s not often that we have surprises, and surprises in such a positive way,” said Barbara Soroca, president and chief executive officer of the Stamford Symphony Orchestra. “We can always, always, use additional funding for programs that we do.”
The general operating support grants represent a smaller portion of total operating costs for some of the organizations than the state grant for the SCA.
The orchestra, which will have an operating budget of about $2 million this year, received more than $25,000 in July, or about 1 percent of its budget. Soroca said she hopes it will be increased by 50 percent.
The grant for Curtain Call in July was about $17,000, which represents about 3 percent of its total budget, Executive Director Lou Ursone said. Total state funds account for about 4 percent of its budget.
The Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic received about $7,000, or 4 percent, of its $170,000 annual budget, said Joyce DiCamillo, a director of the group.
The grants provide money for basic costs, such as replacing stage lights and salaries for stage hands. Many organization leaders said it was difficult to get that type of funding from other sources.
“One of the beauties of this particular funding program is that so many corporations and foundations won’t fund general operating expenses,” Ursone said. “It just means that we can breathe a little bit more. We operate on a very lean margin.”
Larger arts programs will have greater difficulty in operating with the yearly grant process cycle, lead times for major productions extend past a calendar year often enough. Nothing mentioned on the impact on any Norwalk program. The comments are open ot any and all.
source: The Advocate, State cuts grant to Stamford Center for the Arts, By Monica Potts, November 12 2007
