NOTE: Links to stories often change as publications transfer stories to paid archives.

Arts Council To Give Arts Funding Big Boost The Arts Council of England says it will "nearly double" the amount it gives to individual artists, increasing spending to £25 million per year. The council also said it "would increase funding of the groups it already supports by a further £70 million, to £300 million by 2006. The Arts Council says the drive is designed to place 'the arts at the heart of national life'." BBC 02/12/03

Economy Cuts Into Manhattan Arts In New York, a down economy and cuts in arts funding are starting to make a visible impact on the city's arts institutions. "Museums, theaters, concert halls, opera companies, public gardens and zoos throughout the five boroughs are cutting performances, exhibitions, days of operation and staff members. This is only the beginning, arts executives say. 'It's like a patient whose health is slipping. The strong will reduce what they do and the weak will have to take more drastic measures'." The New York Times 02/11/03

No More Money - So Deal With It, Says Culture Minister Despite harsh public criticism in the past few weeks, the Scottish culture minister says there will be no injection of cash to help the arts. Nor will there be a bailout of the Scottish Opera, which is in dire financial condiction. And what of the National Theatre plan? That, says the minister, will still go ahead, and he hopes to attend first performances there while he is still in government. But with a static arts budget, observers are skeptical. The Scotsman 02/09/03

Massachusetts Arts Funding Cuts Make Impact Massacusetts' 62 percent cut in arts funding has had an impact on the state's arts programs. "How bad are things? The council asked the organizations it funds to detail the effects in a survey. The results: Cuts have eliminated programs, outreach, and jobs. One of the greatest blows is less access for students." Boston Globe 02/05/03

Arizona Also To Zero Out Arts Funding? American state governments are going after arts funding with a vengeance. "In Arizona, where the state Commission on the Arts has received $5.1 million in each of the last two years, a joint legislative committee on Jan. 27 proposed zeroing out that spending in 2003-04. The committee also proposed emptying the state's $7-million arts endowment and spending the money elsewhere." Los Angeles Times 02/05/03

New Jersey Arts Groups Brace For Cuts Cultural leaders are predicting that if New Jersey eliminates all its arts funding, as threatened, that 100 cultural organizations could fold. Arts groups would have to slash programs, and many would take a decade to recover. "The 20 to 30 arts leaders who sat through the half-hour meeting told the governor that the impact would go beyond quality-of-life issues." Studies have shown that the arts annually generates $1 billion in economic activity in New Jersey. Philadelphia Inquirer 02/05/03

• Previously: New Jersey Governor Proposes Elimination Of All State Arts Funding New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey has proposed elimination of the state's entire spending on the arts - $31.7 million in cultural funding in next year's budget. Cuts include "all $18 million from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts budget, as well as $3.7 million from the historical commission and the next $10 million installment for the New Jersey Cultural Trust, a public-private partnership meant to stabilize struggling cultural groups." Cultural groups are stunned: "We went to our own funeral today. We understand the fiscal crisis facing New Jersey. What we don't understand or accept is why we are being singled out (and) ... eliminated." Newark Star-Ledger 02/04/03

Thinking Big In Toronto "The Toronto Arts Council yesterday unveiled an ambitious, 10-year program designed to raise the level of awareness of the arts in Toronto and, more important, to put the city's struggling arts organizations on a more financially stable keel." A recent study revealed that there is a gap of almost CAN$45 million between what arts groups in the city have, and what they need to function. The new program will create an ambitious and large-scale fundraising structure which will hopefully close that gap by 2012, if all goes according to plan. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 02/05/03

That's Why They're Called "Non-Profit," Isn't It? Everyone knows that the American economy is in the tank, and that such times call for belt-tightening all around, particularly at non-profits. But John van Rhein is frustrated by the recent slew of defeatist cost-cutting measures at arts institutions across the country. "Arts groups get into trouble once they allow their marketing departments to shape their artistic programs. To pull back and stop taking calculated risks can only be counterproductive in the long run." Chicago Tribune 02/05/03

Another "Cultural Strategy"...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... This week, London's mayor Ken Livingston delivered a proposal for the city's "cultural strategy." And.... "I spent a dreary weekend ploughing through 'London: Cultural Capital's' 170-odd pages, all of them replete with the cliches of the current culturespeak. Meaningless pleas for excellence, creativity and access abound. Innocent trees have been felled to provide the paper on which Ken laboriously explains how he wants London to be green and prosperous, and its cultural diversity to be respected. The art of stating the bleeding obvious lives on in strategies and this one is jumping with it. Beyond the waffle, what is proposed?" The Telegraph (UK) 02/05/03

New Jersey Governor Proposes Elimination Of All State Arts Funding New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey has proposed elimination of the state's entire spending on the arts - $31.7 million in cultural funding in next year's budget. Cuts include "all $18 million from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts budget, as well as $3.7 million from the historical commission and the next $10 million installment for the New Jersey Cultural Trust, a public-private partnership meant to stabilize struggling cultural groups." Cultural groups are stunned: "We went to our own funeral today. We understand the fiscal crisis facing New Jersey. What we don't understand or accept is why we are being singled out (and) ... eliminated." Newark Star-Ledger 02/04/03

Bush Delivers Arts Budget Proposals President George Bush delivers his funding requests for the arts to Congress. "The president followed through on his support for improving Americans' knowledge of the country's history by proposing $25 million for a humanities endowment initiative called "We the People." The president is concerned about our lack of understanding ourselves, our historical amnesia. By contrast, funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that would help television and radio stations make the transition to digital transmission, supported in the past by President Bush, were eliminated in the new budget request." Washington Post 02/04/03

Missouri To Discontinue Arts Funding? Missouri Gov. Bob Holden's proposes to eliminate funding for the state arts council, which "distributed as much as $5 million in the flush year 2001 to organizations as varied as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to the family folk festival in St. Joseph, Mo. Holden proposes that the council pay for arts programs by dipping into the Missouri Cultural Trust, a state savings account that matches private donations with public money." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/02/03

Starving Scotland's Culture There's a cultural crisis in Scotland. Funding for culture is down, and there seems to be little commitment on the part of the government to make culture a priority. "The Executive responds by arguing that it needs to concentrate on health and education. The urge to fund anything cultural has been sapped by the overspend on the parliament building, heralding in an almost Covenanter-like distrust of frivolity." Scottish arts are healthy now. But does the Scottish Executive plan to "starve Scotland back into the cultural night that preceded the Act of Union - and what an irony that would be." The Observer (UK) 02/02/03

Scottish Arts Exec Calls For Arts Funding Inquiry After a disappointing announcement of flat funding for the arts by the Scottish government, "the chairman of the Scottish Arts Council has called for a public inquiry to stave off financial catastrophe in the arts and to nurture the sector for future generations." The Scotsman 01/29/03

Big Cuts In Scottish Arts The Scottish government's new budget hacks away at arts budgets. The Scottish Opera, "which has had a number of financial crises in recent years, said it was 'dismayed' last night to receive, in real terms, a budget cut and it is expected that it will have to cut the number of operas it has planned. All three of the other national arts companies, and the National Theatre plan, also emerged as cultural casualties in the new budget announced yesterday." Glasgow Herald 01/29/03

Art Or Money - Can't We All Just Get Along? The struggle between the vision of art and the business of art is neverending. But in tighter economic times, the battles seem more dramatic, more public. "What conclusion can be drawn from this eternal square dance between the powers of money and the powers of art? Artistic directors can't be slaves to money, but they can't be defiantly unrealistic, either." The New York Times 01/28/03

Scotland's Arts Crisis Scotland was supposed to be in the middle of a "Golden Age" for the arts now. And yes, theatres and concert halls are full. But underneath there's a crisis. "Devolution was supposed to herald a golden age for the arts in Scotland, but there has been no cultural renaissance. Plans for a Scottish national theatre have stalled, numerous arts organisations are being forced to cut their creative output to make ends meet, and there are fears of a talent drain to England, where regional theatre is benefiting from £25m worth of government funding." The Guardian (UK) 01/28/03

• The Boat Has Sailed On Scottish Arts "Scotland’s new government missed its historic chance to boost the arts; and now its error has been compounded by spectacular increases in arts spending in England - an 81 per cent cash increase since 1997, compared with 32 per cent in Scotland, further enhanced by the spending associated with the major push by Newcastle, Liverpool and other northern cities to be named European City of Culture 2008 - which in turn has led to fears of a new cultural exodus from Scotland to the south." The Scotsman 01/28/03

Packard Foundation Cuts Back Its endowment shrinking, the Packard Foundation is following other foundations and "is announcing today a more narrowly focused mission and a 2003 grants budget of $200 million. The organization gave out $616 million in grants in 2000 and $250 million last year. 'There has been significant investment in time and energy to talk with grantees about how to move forward in what is a difficult funding environment for everyone'." San Jose Mercury-News 01/27/03

Arts Are More Than "Targets," "Benchmarks" and "Outcomes" Where is Scotland's vision for the arts that is creative? As far as the government goes, "the dead hand of Treasury control has fallen on the arts, subjecting it to the same criteria that it applies to every other branch of public spending. A presumption has grown up that culture can answer to 'targets' and 'benchmarks' in the same way as hospitals and schools, that unless creativity can be measured against 'outcomes' and 'deliveries' then it does not deserve to be funded." Scotland On Sunday 01/26/03

Warhol Foundation Sends A Message - Now More Than Ever While many foundations are cutting back arts grants, the Warhol Foundation has increased the amount it is giving away this year by 20 percent. "It isn't that the foundation is such a smart investor, although putting lots of money into bonds has helped. And it isn't just that the foundation continues to profit from sales of Warhol's work. "We wanted to send a message. Even in bad times, a lot of people have a lot of money. Sometimes they can do more, spending some of that money in bad times than in more plentiful times." Los Angeles Times 01/26/03

Arts Funding Cuts In The Real World What does the 62 percent cut in Massachusetts' state arts funding mean in real terms? "Almost no arts organization - from giants such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra to the smallest local arts groups - has avoided the knife. While no group has lost all its state funding, each has been given less money. These include programs that provide after-school art classes and low-price tickets for students. Some of the toughest cuts are being felt at the council itself. Eight of its 12 core programs have been cut and it has laid off 11 of its 41 full-time employees." Boston Globe 01/24/03

London To Cut Arts Funding In Favor Of Sport London theatres are protesting the London arts councils' decision to drastically cut arts funding and give the money to sports. "The ALG, which gives £27 million a year to a wide range of community groups and social service providers, said the changes were necessary if it was 'to properly meet the needs of Londoners'." Arts groups say the cuts will force some groups to close. The Guardian (UK) 01/24/03

Slash And Burn In Massachusetts The state of Massachusetts made the biggest cuts in arts funding of all states in 2002 - slashing its budgest 62 percent. Now arts leaders are surveying the damage - reduced and discontinued programs, a few closings, and more difficulty raising money in the private sector...Arts groups just hope that this year's budget won't be cut even more. Boston Herald 01/21/03

Lots Of Buyers But Not Enough Funding - What's Wrong With This Picture? People are lining up to go to Scottish arts events. But there's a funding crisis. "What explains this bizarre paradox? Money is cascading into arts events, yet nothing is more wearisomely familiar at this time of year than ferocious in-fighting among arts organisations and angry rhetoric about 'mean' and 'philistine' politicians starving theatres, opera houses and galleries of vitally needed funds. Yet, all around, more money than ever is going into the arts. So what is going wrong?" The Scotsman 01/18/03

MacArthur Hands Out Some Expensive Party Favors "The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is giving special one-time grants totaling $21.5 million to 41 Chicago arts and cultural groups ranging from the city's largest museums to small community-based arts education groups." The grants come as the foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary, and includes a $14 million gift to National Public Radio, and $1 million each for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Lyric Opera, among others. The Plain Dealer (AP) 01/15/03

Big Arts Cuts In California May Shutter Some Arts Groups California state budget cuts will mean a 50% drop in grants to arts groups statewide, from $16.4 million to about $8 million. Although the state arts agency budget is a "relatively modest item among the $20.7 billion in cuts proposed by Davis for 2003-04, the effects, would be dramatic among nonprofits that have already seen donations falter from foundations, corporations and individuals. 'People will have to close their doors. Artists will lose their jobs'." Los Angeles Times 01/14/03

Tracking Down Those Arts Stats...(I Know There's Something Real There Somewhere) So - more people attend theatre in Los Angeles than buy tickets for professional sports. It's the kind of statistic that gets tossed around by those wanting to prove the relevance of an artform in the larger culture. But is it true? A LA Times reporter tracks down the truth. The real statistic isn't really about theatre. And it's an old one. Still, it originated from an actual study... Los Angeles Times 01/13/03

City Of Boston To Raise Private Money For The Arts Boston mayor Thomas Menino has announced a plan where the city's Cultural Affairs office will raise money privately and redistribute it to arts groups. "The mayor described the campaign as a 'two-pronged' public-private partnership that would 'streamline distribution of Boston resources, generate new revenues to support arts and culture, and raise the visibility of the arts in the city' at a time when public funding for the arts has been slashed in Boston, throughout Massachusetts, and across the country." Critics wonder if this now means the city will be in competition with them to raise money for the arts... Boston Globe 01/10/03

The Best Arts Charities In America Which are the best arts charities in the US? Worth Magazine ranks the top 24 in its annual list. Mind you, these are "best" in terms of how they run their non-profit status, not necessarily "best" for the art they produce... Worth Magazine 12/02

• Did Worth List Have Eastern Bias? Only four of the organizations on Worth's list reside west of Chicago, and the list of 24 is heavily populated with New York area institutions. "Did Worth's conclusions reflect an East Coast-centric view of the arts world?" Los Angeles Times 01/07/03

US Arts Funding Declines In 2002 A study by the National Assembly of Arts Agencies reports that for the second year in a row, state arts funding across America declined in 2002. This follows ten years of funding increases. "According to the study, 62% of the decline can be blamed on two states: California and Massachusetts. The study reports that, nationwide, legislative appropriations for fiscal 2003, including state appropriations, fell from $408.6 million to $353.9 million. California and Massachusetts had a combined loss of $33.9 million, making them the two states hardest hit by the faltering economy." Los Angeles Times 01/04/03

• Colorado - Worst State For Arts Funding After recent cuts in state funding, Colorado has fallen to last in the US among the states. "Arts funding in the state dropped from $1.86 million in fiscal 2001-02 to $1.04 million for 2002-03, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. That represents about 25 cents per resident. The national average is $1.22, down from $1.42 in 2001-02." The Daily Camera 01/03/03

Talking To The Funders Who Make The Decisions Toronto has a number of major arts projects currently looking for funding. In the current funding climate "is there enough money to go around and sustain all these projects? Or are at least some of them doomed to fail while others succeed? The answers to those questions will largely depend on two kinds of players — the arts philanthropists of Toronto and the professional fundraisers hired by various cultural organizations to lead their capital campaigns." Here's what they say... Toronto Star 01/05/03

Toronto's Unfinished Business The local and provincial governments serving Toronto have finally agreed to allocate a significant bit of cash for a grandiose set of architectural and cultural plans which aim to revitalize Canada's largest city. But even as art lovers rejoice over the influx of public money, observers are quietly noting that the government's CAN$232 million is a drop in the bucket compared with what's needed to stabilize the city's major cultural players. From the National Ballet to the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto's arts groups are still in need of nearly half a billion dollars of additional investment. National Post (Canada) 12/31/02

$120 Million To Americans For The Arts Ruth Lilly has given $120 million to arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts. "Over the years, Ruth Lilly has been a generous supporter of the arts and education. At her death, according to the Indianapolis Star, half of her estimated $1 billion estate will go to the arts and various charities." Washington Post 12/18/02

Scotland's Disappointing Arts Showing Three years of Scottish home rule have not been the benefit to the arts many had hoped. It had been thought that Scottish governments would be able to better promote Scottish culture. But "before you knew it consultants were being commissioned and committees being formed, passing the baton back and forward. Serious money had been announced, but when a funding crisis hit local theatres last year the till was raided and the enterprise delayed a full year." The Scotsman 12/16/02

San Jose Arts Groups Get Gift Of Status Quo With economic times being what they are, arts groups across the US have been bracing for government grab-backs of promised funding, and indeed, many cities and states do intend to slash arts funding in an effort to balance budgets. But in San Jose, the city council rejected a commission's proposal to cut all arts grants by 10%, and approved the full amounts previously guaranteed to 53 cultural organizations. San Jose Mercury News 12/14/02

American Dreaming Canadian arts funding is collapsing. So should arts organizations adopt more of an American system to survive? "In Canadian arts circles, the United States is often belittled for its laissez-faire, private-sector-driven approach to cultural funding that tends to emphasize artists' commercial viability over their innovation and ideas. Arts managers across the U.S. profess embarrassment at the woeful state of public support. But the U.S. is also a shining example of how an active, educated and very well-endowed private sector can serve as the primary benefactor for individuals and institutions." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/13/02

The Importance Of The Arts Patron "Popular opinion would have you believe that the classic arts patron -- the wealthy individual who forges private relationships to nurture a favourite artist as much as their own ego -- was long ago eclipsed by the equalizing power of the state. But there will always be a certain type of patron who quietly stands in the shadows, providing the financial means and emotional support that allows their hand-picked protégés to survive -- and sometimes thrive." The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 12/11/02

Ticket Tax Trouble Boston's mayor proposes a 50-cent tax on tickets to shows, and arts groups are howling. "Jeez, what a time to do that. If I thought my shows could have another 50 cents added to the ticket price, I would have priced them that way to begin with. I don't know where we'll get it. If the public has to cope with a larger burden, it would really be problematic." Boston Herald 12/10/02

Dodging The Buckeye Budget Ax In Ohio, where a massive state budget deficit and an arts-unfriendly Republican leadership threaten to leave arts funding in the lurch, the Ohio Arts Council is looking for creative ways to maintain their cash flow. The OAC budget has been slashed 21% in the last year alone, and further cuts loom, but council leadership insists that they will be all right if they can get at least a philosophical commitment from legislators. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 12/06/02

Atlanta Arts Cuts Fulton County, which is Atlanta's biggest arts funder, has proposed a $1 million cut in the arts budget next year. "The arts council's annual budget is $5.7 million; $3.4 million of that is granted to about 100 arts groups through the county's contracts for services program. The rest of the money goes to operate the county's school programs and five neighborhood arts centers." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11/30/02

Too Much Heavy Lifting Why must the British government try to coerce arts organizations who want funding? The arts get attached to education, to multiculturalism, to every social good of the moment. "There is a feeling across the performing arts that subsidised companies have been drained of vital energies during the Blair years - or, at the very least, have been distracted from their core function of creating art. A resentment has crept in. Many performers don't want to be educators." London Evening Standard 11/26/02

In Search Of Funding Earlier this year the Nova Scotia government disbanded its arts council, looking for "administrative savings." Now a group of arts supporters has formed its own arts support group. "The new group, Arms Length Funding for the Arts (ALFA), calls itself a 'broad group of concerned Nova Scotians' trying to restore funding for the arts." CBC 11/22/02

Is London Foundation Dumping Assets? Three years ago the British government decided to wean the Commonwealth Institute off its subsidies and privatize it. A plan was worked out for a dowry of £8 million, half of which was for repairing the roof of its prestigious London building. But even before the privatization is about to take place, the institute's "library is closed to the public, most of the staff on short-term contracts have been sacked and the unique collection of works is being put into vans, with the institute's art, for removal to the underfunded Museum of Empire and Commonwealth, in Bristol. The trustees and governors are accused of planning to sell off the organisation's prestigious headquarters for millions of pounds and dump its unique 50-year-old library." The Guardian (UK) 11/22/02

Bay Area Blues Northern California's East Bay arts groups are hurting in the economic downturn like arts groups everywhere. Ticket sales are down, government funding has been slashed, and corporate donations have slipped. Contra Costa Times 11/19/02

• And Minnesota Minnesota has traditionally funded the arts at a higher level than the rest of the country. But a new report says that foundation giving to the arts has been scaled back, and that small arts groups are hardest hit by the financial squeeze. Dance is the poorest-funded of all the arts. The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) 11/19/02

An Arts Mayor Has Difficulty Delivering When Atlanta's new mayor was elected last year, hopes were high in the cultural community. "She not only understood the arts, she consumed them, championed them and lived with them long before she reached the top job at City Hall. The business of running Atlanta, however, has stifled the artistic muse. The city's financial mess and archaic sewer system have prevented her from making arts and culture more of an official priority." Atlanta Journa-Constitution 11/17/02