By Norma Munn, Arts Advocate.

I believe the arts sector should embark on a new advocacy effort aimed at rebuilding the State Council on the Arts to the progressive and premier agency that it once was. Established in 1960 under the leadership of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the legislature crafted enabling legislation for the first state agency dedicated to public funding for the arts. Our state was not only first, but became a model both for the National Endowment for the Arts and the many state arts agencies that followed.

The primary focus of that commitment is expressed as follows:

to insure that the role of the arts in the life of our communities will continue to grow and will play an ever more significant part in the welfare and educational experience of our citizens and in maintaining the paramount position of this state in the nation and in the world as cultural center.

Immediately after that section of the enabling legislation is the following very unique aspect of the legislation:
It is further declared that all activities undertaken by the state in carrying out this policy shall be directed toward encouraging and assisting rather than in any ways limiting the freedom of artistic expression that is essential for the well-being of the arts.

For several decades, our State Council on the Arts remained at the forefront of innovation in funding, in the design of processes for decisions about applicant requests, and in the level of funding available to organizations throughout the state. That is simply no longer the case.  Nor is that loss of prestige and innovation merely about money.

Vision does not depend on funding. However, the State Council on the Arts faces a real dilemma.  It has fostered and assisted in the development of hundreds of arts groups around the state. Many are now mature artistically, but remain financially fragile, especially in economically depressed regions of the state, or the poorer neighborhoods of our cities. It is also simply a fact that private funding is very limited in rural areas and the history of private giving to groups of color is not commensurate with either their needs or their contributions to the cultural life of their cities and communities.  And in New York City, the sheer number of outstanding arts groups leaves many mid-sized and smaller groups, no matter what their quality, with little access to private dollars.

These mature arts groups still genuinely need funding from the State Council on the Arts, but the size and quantity of this segment of our cultural sector, leaves little room for the new groups. Council funding allocations are so diminished that it cannot adequately provide rational levels of support to any group. It has also been handicapped in developing new responses to the changed conditions of the last few years.

Our efforts this year during the budget session should start with a proposal that the legislature join with its arts partners throughout the state in committing to rebuild the State Council on the Arts to a grants funding level of $50 million over four years. That requires an increase of $4.5 million each year.

We must begin the process of sharing with the legislature ideas and concepts for re-imagining the State Council, both as we discuss this funding request and in the months ahead.  We believe that the arts build social capital essential to a civil society, that we transcend differences among groups and open the door to greater understanding between the incredibility diverse people of this great state. We believe that artists and arts workers have skills that are needed in the innovative industries of today, and many are already working in those industries.  We know that cultural activities and events are critical in bringing tourists to the state.  We offer as yet untapped solutions to assist with the economic re-development and job creation of this state.

As we have challenged ourselves, we are now asking the legislature to partner with us as the budget is developed, and to be ready to talk further with us over the next few months about re-imagining this state agency to better serve both the arts and the citizens of this state.

Norma Munn is the long time Director of the NYC Arts Coaltion and partners with local and regional arts agencies throughout New York state on issues that affect the arts and culture sector.

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