Grants for local community arts and culture programs are threatened in 2010, as Governor Jennifer Granholm, February 12, called for the elimination of arts funding in her budget. The impact could be far reaching for music, art, theater, and dance programs offered in local schools, libraries, and venues like the Cheboygan Opera House, as well as summer concert series and arts scholarships.

Local programs that will benefit from Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs funding this year include the Bayside Live concert series at St. Ignace, Artist of the Week programs at Clark Township, Mackinac Island Community Foundation summer concert series, Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum at Naubinway, and Sault History Fest.

Grants that have already been awarded for 2009 will remain intact, said Ellen Benoit, assistant director of EUP Regional Planning and Development Commission. Her agency redistributes funds from the state's arts council to such community agencies as the St. Ignace Downtown Development Authority, Pickford Area Historical Society, Les Cheneaux Historical Association, Mackinac Arts Council, Chippewa County Historical Society, and community libraries. Each grant provides up to $4,000 for locally developed, high quality arts projects such as concerts and performances.

But the budget cuts will take effect in 2010, and Ms. Benoit and others in the arts community urge people to contact lawmakers now to voice their reactions to the decision. The proposed budget will be worked on by the legislature and the governor in the coming weeks and months.

"If you are interested in the arts, let your legislators know," Ms. Benoit said Thursday, February 26. There is a form letter available that can be sent to lawmakers from the Web site of ArtServe Michigan (www.artservemichigan.org).

At the Cheboygan Opera House, Pam Westover of the Cheboygan Area Arts Council is also encouraging people to contact their lawmakers to urge their support for arts funding. Her agency redistributes the arts council grants in seven counties. It had 13 applications for 2009, and re-granted $21,300.

"We're very concerned about it," Mrs. Westover said of the cuts. "The smaller organizations that apply for these grants don't really have anyplace else to turn. These are schools, museums, libraries, nonprofit organizations doing arts activities, and a lot of children's activities that otherwise wouldn't be available. All of these local areas are rural and underserved. There aren't big corporations here to underwrite these programs."

Michigan artists who make their living from the arts will suffer from the cuts, too, at a time when job creation is highly important, Mrs. Westover pointed out.

A planned August 1 performance by Garrison Keillor at the Opera House is one example of a community art program that will stimulate local business, she said.

"We will have 1,200 people in town who normally wouldn't be in town on a Saturday in August, because otherwise they'd be out at the lake," she said. "They'll see the show, they'll shop, and they'll eat dinner" in Cheboygan. "These do impact jobs."

"I remember in 1991 when Governor Engler made these cuts, and it took a long time to get the arts and artists back on their feet," Mrs. Westover said. "I even remember the date, I think, January 16. It was a terrible day."

Programs put at risk by the cuts in the Cheboygan area include management of the Cheboygan Opera House, dance classes in ballet, modern dance, and jazz, fine arts scholarships, the youth art show, summer scholarships for arts programs, and the Youth Arts Festival that brings student musicians from many northern Michigan and U.P. schools to perform at the Opera House. These and other programs are named in a letter the Cheboygan Arts Council is now asking Opera House audiences to sign for the governor.

According to ArtServe Michigan, an arts and cultural advocacy organization, during the Granholm administration, funding for arts and cultural grants has been cut from $25.5 million in 2002 to the 2010 recommendation of $1 million, even while the governor advocated for the creative industries as an economic driver.

In 2009, the arts council granted $7.9 million to organizations throughout the state, with more than $3.2 million of that funding given to hire and retain workers in support of local programming. The modest state investment leveraged more than $310 million in required matching funds committed by local businesses, foundations, and individual donors, ArtServe reports.

This year, organizations supported by the arts council reported contributing more than 17,000 employees to the state's economy, with 9,203 full-time employees, 2,206 seasonal employees, and 2,320 new hires directly related to these grants.
To contact lawmakers:
Senator Jason Allen
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
senjallen@senate.michigan.gov
(517) 373-2413
Representative Gary McDowell
S1486 House Office Building
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909-7514
garymcdowell@house.mi.gov
Phone: 517-373-2629
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Phone: (517) 373-3400
Phone: (517) 335-7858 -
Constituent Services