Action Needed to Save NY Arts Funding!
URGENT UPDATEFrom the New York City Arts Coalition:
PROPOSED ADDITIONAL CUTS TO STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
Governor Paterson will include a proposed $7.2 million cut to the
State Council on the Arts in the list of possible cuts that he is
announcing at his 11:30 press conference.
Governor Paterson is providing the proposed list to the State
Legislature as it starts its special session November 18. That special session is
to deal with the additional $1.5 billion deficit in the current fiscal
year. The 6% cut ($2.6 million) from a few weeks ago was designed to deal with
the earlier projected state deficit, which has now grown
considerably.
NYSCA had on hand roughly $8 million in uncontracted funds after
the 6% cut a few weeks ago. Obviously an additional $7 million cut leaves
almost nothing for the applicants who had grants under consideration for
the October and December Council meetings. (FYI, October Council
meeting was postponed for those who might not be aware of it)
This is a list of possible cuts. The legislature can (1) do
nothing and leave the problem to the Governor¹s hands, or (2) change the list
by coming up with other cuts and taking some things off the list, or (3) pass
the proposed list as presented.
If the legislature does nothing, it is usually within the power of
a Governor to simply not spend money and thereby make the cuts
happen.
My understanding is that the list from Governor Paterson contains
some fairly severe cuts to social service programs, as well as other
areas, such as education, that will make it very hard for the arts to make a
case that NYSCA should not be cut. Bluntly put, we will not avoid some kind
of cut, but this cut would pretty much out NYSCA Œs funds, which I am
pretty sure is a more severe impact than on other agencies. The two cuts together
also equal about 20% of NYSCA¹s entire appropriation for grants.
ACTION TO TAKE:
Everyone should do the following quickly:
(1) Contact the Governor¹s office and object to the size of the
proposed cut, and pointing out that it pretty much eliminated the last half
of the year¹s funding for applicants at NYSCA, and that NYSCA is now
taking a 20% cut. (Faxed letters are best, but email is better than doing
nothing. Phone calls are least effective, but if you can organize a lot of them
and feel like doing it, go ahead. In short, protest politely, but firmly.
(Phone:518-474-8390; Fax 518-474-1513. No direct email. Go to http://161.11.121.121/govemail where you can sign on to
send an email.) (2) Contact your State Assembly and State Senator and let them know
how this impacts on you. Again, you should also point out the size of this
potential cut and impact on the agency. Letters are best, but if you know the
person or can talk directly to their Chief of Staff or budget person, a
phone call is OK. Email is not a good idea. There will not be enough of it
in most offices to make an impact. (And get your Board to do something,
please.)
Ask the Assembly and Senate members to decrease the proposed
cut significantly. Don¹t get dragged into a conversation about how
much, if you can avoid it. There is no right number, so trying to come up with
one is pointless. You might consider suggesting that waste in government
be eliminated before they go after funds for organizations that
squeeze every penny.
Lastly, if you got our survey a few days ago and have not filled it
out, please fill it out by going to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=z3jKIwuaEGLctwvIleyY8w_3d_3d.
I need the information about outside payments and current employment very
badly. This situation is just the beginning and we need that information
to make a better case for ourselves.
Norma P. Munn
Chairperson
New York City Arts Coalition
19 W. 44 Street, Suite 1108
New York, NY 10036
P: 212-246-3788
F: 212-944-1631
Email: information@nycityartscoalition.org ******** Here are some more good sources of information on the cuts and action steps you can take: DTW blogWNYC discussion: Tightening the Belt
Posted by Anna Brady Nuse at 12:31 PM - Permalink
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Dispatches from EMPAC's Grand Opening Weekend
I've written quite a few posts on this blog about the United State's one and only major supporter of videodance, EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center) at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY. After two years of construction, on October 3rd EMPAC officially opened the doors of their new magnificent state-of-the-art media and performing arts center, and celebrated with two weekends of non-stop performances, screenings, installations and special events. I was lucky enough to be able spend the day on Saturday Oct 4th, seeing this amazing facility for myself. I traveled with a fellow dance filmmaker, Sabine Klaus (aka CreationEditor on dance-tech.net) who was visiting from Scotland. We took in the sights and Sabine recorded much of what she saw on video to create the 25 min vlog post below. Many thanks to Sabine for letting me share it with you here.
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