State cutbacks put Georgia arts funds in jeopardy

By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The National Endowment for the Arts sent a letter warning that nearly $900,000 in federal arts funding falls in jeopardy if the Georgia Council for the Arts is eliminated.

The Georgia House on Wednesday passed a $17.8 billion state budget that would wipe out the GCA and transfer nearly $250,000 in granting funds to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to administer. The GCA operates with a $2.52 million budget this year and would have received $890,735 in Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposed budget before cuts were required.

In a letter to GCA officials, Patrice Walker Powell, NEA Deputy Chairman for Programs and Partnership, wrote, "We would need documentation addressing how the Georgia Department of Community Affairs would fulfill the responsibilities of the NEA Partnership Agreement. If the Department of Community Affairs is unable to carry out the Partnership Agreement, NEA support of $878,3000 for FY 2011 would be jeopardized."

The partnership agreement, among numerous prerequisites, requires that the administering agency be able to implement an NEA-approved state arts plan, make fair funding decisions that consider artistic excellence and merit "primarily through a panel process," and make the arts accessible to neglected communities.

Georgia would become the only state in the U.S. without an arts agency if the plan holds as the budget works its way through the Senate before going to the governor.

NEA funds typically are predicated on the funding commitment of state governments in a dollar-for-dollar match. However, an NEA official on Thursday declined to address a possible reduction in federal funding if the state cuts arts grants to $250,000.

"We have to see how this will play out before we can give a definitive answer," said Laura A. Scanlan, NEA director of state and regional partnerships. "But I think it’s safe to say that the funding is jeopardized at this point."

Scanlan described the GCA as a valued partner in historically helping the NEA reach all parts of the state with programming and in meeting arts education directives.

Meanwhile on Thursday, metro arts groups sent out multiple e-mails asking board members, staff and supporters to lobby state senators. Four legislative days remain in the session set to conclude April 29.

"If you believe in arts education, theater, dance, music, visual arts, museums, galleries and festivals, your voice is needed," read the e-mail from DeKalb County artist and activist Jan M. Selman. Its headline: "Now Is The Time For Action."