3-28-08
IAC Budget Cuts Have an Impact
73.4 percent of arts organizations have had to reduce education and outreach programs and cut staff due to IAC's 23 percent budget cuts.
In January the Illinois Arts Alliance (IAA) submitted a questionnaire to member organizations statewide to assess the economic impact of the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) budget cuts. The results were disheartening for Illinois’ arts community, as a majority of organizations (73.4 percent) reported that they would need to reduce or eliminate their education, outreach or free public programs to accommodate the reduction in funding.
Here’s some background, just in case folks weren’t following the drama last fall: Due to petty playground politics, Gov. Rod Blagojevich cut everything that had anything to do with House Speaker Michael Madigan. (Simplistic, but accurate.) Since the IAC is run by Madigan’s wife, Shirley Madigan, the infighting resulted in a 23 percent cut in the IAC budget for FY08, from $19.7 million to $15.2 million, leaving many small to mid-sized arts organizations statewide in a budget crisis.
Perhaps “crisis” is a bit strong. Marcelle McVay, managing director of Victory Gardens Theater, feels that it’s more subtle than a crisis, but it is important that everyone in the industry pay attention to what is happening now. State funding has an effect on other funding by indicating that an organization is in good enough standing that others may feel comfortable investing their donation dollars. Priorities of the state become priorities for other people as well.
“It reflects that commitment to arts as a central part of life,” says McVay.
In the report put out recently by the IAA, “Assessing the Impact of FY08 Budget Cuts,” executive director Ra Joy says, “This unprecedented cut to the Illinois Arts Council’s budget is jeopardizing valuable arts education opportunities in Illinois schools, limiting access to free or reduced cost arts programming for those needing assistance, and stifling creativity statewide.”
It also puts Illinois 21st out of the 50 states in arts funding.
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Minnesota all spend more state dollars on the arts than Illinois now. Illinois is the fifth largest state in the U.S. with, arguably, one of the most vibrant arts communities, which is why for FY09 the IAA would like to see the IAC budget at $24 million. This would put Illinois in the top 10 states for per capita arts spending, at less than $2 per person.
“We believe that fully funding the IAC at $24 million will ensure that all people in all walks of life will be able to participate and experience the arts,” said Joy in an interview. “An investment in the arts is an investment in the cultural and economic life of the state. The arts enhance our quality of life—it sharpens our state’s competitive edge. The arts are the fuel of a knowledge-based economy and keep our state competitive. I think nationally more and more states are recognizing that connection.”
He noted that for FY08, 45 states increased investment in the arts. Only three states decreased their arts funding.
“The two goals we’re focusing on this legislative session are to increase IAC funding to $24 million and to increase our state’s investment in the arts and foreign language program to $8 million,” said Joy.
The arts and foreign language program is run through the state board of education. It was a program started by Gov. Blagojevich and then cut completely. However, Joy met with the Governor on March 6th and Blagojevich said that he is interested in restoring funding to that particular program at $4 million, saying “All Illinois children should have access to an education that includes the arts, as well as reading, writing, and math. Arts education not only contributes to the cultural richness of the state, it alsohelps childrenlearn to think creatively, develop ideas and solve problems, all of which are skills that are essential in today’s competitive economy.”
Of the companies that responded to the survey, the largest percentage (30.4 percent) are companies with an annual budget of $100,000-$499,999. The next largest category, at 24.2 percent, are organizations with an annual budget of under $49,999. It is these small organizations (defined by the IAA as having budgets less than $1 million) that tend to rely more on IAC funding, making their stability uncertain. In the report, the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council is quoted stating they “can not accommodate the demand for [Ballet Folklorico] dance classes without IAC funding. Any reduction in funding directly translates into neighborhood children without an artistic after school activity…”
The unique thing about the IAC is that it is one of the few organizations in the state to provide general operating support. This funding makes up between 1 percent and 10 percent of the annual budgets of the majority of organizations responding to the survey. In the case of Victory Gardens, when they were at their height of IAC funding, it made up slightly less than 2 percent of their annual budget. However, that 2 percent was about $50,000.
In order to balance their budgets, the study found that arts organizations will be taking the following steps:
Scale back or cut programs for children and the community.
Modify programming (for example by producing more well-known plays) and raise prices.
Reduce or cut some programs entirely, while looking for additional support from corporations, foundation and individual donors.
Cut staff in addition to reducing artistic programs.
McVay noted that Victory Gardens will likely cut cast sizes, scale back technical elements of their plays and find ways to cut overhead rather than cut entire programs in order to balance their budget. One would think that a theatre of the size and quality of VG would easily be able to find other sources of funding. However, in this economy that is not the case, and it looks like this year they may be running a deficit that they will not be able to pull out of.
The Hypocrites are looking for additional sources of funding. Executive director Heather Clark said they “got lucky” this past year. They had taken a year off from Driehaus funding, and upon hearing about the 50 percent reduction in their IAC grant, they went back to Driehaus, which is helping to fill the gap.
No matter what the particular challenges are to your organization, there are opportunities for people to get involved in this issue. By the time this goes to print, the Illinois house will have held 20 budget meetings throughout the state. However, you can still take action by contacting your state senator or representative and visiting the IAA Web site for more information (www.illinoisartsalliance.org).