Florida arts organizations face cuts in state funding in new budget

Arts organizations in Florida still recovering from the impact of the COVID pandemic that forced them to shut their doors for extended periods and led to reduced attendance, will get only a portion of the money they qualify for from state funding grant programs approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The state budget includes $43.3 million in three categories within the Division of Cultural Affairs budget. That represents a roughly $16 million reduction from what was allocated last year when the state doubled funding from the previous budget. With about $9 million in specific funding initiatives for six special arts-related projects, total allocations were slightly more than $52 million, about 12% less than the $59 million awarded during the last budget cycle in an election year.

The Legislature approved about $15 million in special project funding for 17 different programs, but in vetoing more than $500 million in overall spending DeSantis rejected 11 of those projects that cost about $5.8 million. Among the rejected projects were $750,000 for the Center for Arts & Innovation in Boca Raton, $500,000 for a digital concert hall planned by the Florida Orchestra and $750,000 for expansion of the Military History Museum in Osceola.

Among the projects that survived are $750,000 for repairs to the Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers, $850,000 for renovation to the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg, $5 million for the African-American Arts and Cultural Center in Miami Gardens, and $1.4 million for the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in Dania Beach.

The bulk of funding for arts organizations comes from $32.4 million in the Cultural and Museum grants category, which provides general program support to 577 organizations, from music and cultural arts programs to museums, theaters and dance companies. The total represents a $14 million cut from last year.

Under long-established procedures, organizations submit applications for funding of up to $150,000, based on their operational budgets. They are vetted and ranked by review panels. Organizations that qualify for $150,000, would receive slightly more than $100,000 this year, according to estimates provided by the Florida Cultural Alliance.

Once again, the Legislature provided no funding in the cultural endowments category, which can provide money to help organizations build their reserves. $4.6 million had been requested.

The Culture Builds Florida category, which provides grants of up to $25,000 for individual artists and small organizations, was fully funded at nearly $3.5 million to cover 145 grants, including the Charlotte County Art Guild, the Shakespeare Troupe in Palm Beach, the Jazz Club of Sarasota and the Ghostbird Theatre in Lee County.

The budget also includes nearly $7.4 million for cultural facilities grants, which will fund 18 of the 33 requests on the list. Among the recipients are $500,000 to the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach, $250,000 to the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Sarasota County, $500,000 to the Gulfshore Playhouse in Collier County, $400,000 to the Titusville Playhouse in Brevard County and $208,500 to the Pensacola Little Theatre. The total represents 63% of what was requested and a cut from $10 million allocated last year.

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“I’d say it’s a good year,” said Jennifer Jones, president and CEO of the Florida Cultural Alliance, which works with arts organizations across the state and lobbies for funding. “I always want to do better than the previous year. We had 100% last year, and I would love to do that every year.”

But looking back over past years, when funding only reached 20 or 30% of what organizations qualified for, “to maintain this level of support for a non-recurring line item, I’d say it’s pretty solid. Maybe this means we’re gaining some ground,” Jones said.

Other arts leaders agreed. Rebecca Hopkins, managing director of Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theatre, said, “Things went fine this year. We’re very grateful for how much we are getting. We wish we were getting 100% as we did last year, but I think we did pretty well by getting 67%. I do feel with the state being in such a robust shape, we should have gotten 100%. The arts are still important. We’re still building out after the pandemic and we’re pretty strong and we’re an economic driver.”

In years past, arts and culture funding was almost guaranteed in the state budget, but arts leaders can now never be certain what they might receive, no matter how well they ranked in the state-approved system. Full funding one year may be followed by major cuts the next depending on legislative priorities.

“It’s unfortunate that the political process, being as difficult as it is, we’re never sure from year to year how much that’s going to be,” said Richard Russell, general director of the Sarasota Opera. “At one time, there was a fair certainty of the number, but now it’s based on political priorities and whatever is going on in Tallahassee. So we all have to cross our fingers and bit our fingernails.”

Russell said he budgets conservatively in advance of a final state budget, particularly now as his company is “struggling to get back some of our audience who have not returned” since COVID. “Fortunately, we have lots of new residents who are helping to make up some of the difference.”

State funding for arts and culture organizations in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties approved in the Cultural and Museum grants category

Estimates provided by Florida Cultural Alliance

Sarasota County

Art Center Sarasota, $45,629

Artist Series Concerts, $60,414

Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, $48,499

Asolo Repertory Theatre, $100,690

Choral Artists of Sarasota, $28,586

Circus Arts Conservatory, $100,690

Embracing Our Differences, $66,442

EnsemblenewSRQ, $14,648

Florida Studio Theatre, $100,690

Hermitage Artist Retreat, $100,690

Key Chorale, $57,290

La Musica di Asolo, $11,411

Perlman Music Program/Suncoast, $60,414

The Players Centre, $89,725

Sarasota Ballet, $100,690

Sarasota Concert Association, $46,989

Sarasota Cuban Ballet School, $59,669

Sarasota Film Festival, $46,698.

Sarasota Opera, $100,690

Sarasota Orchestra, $100,690

Sarasota Pops Orchestra Inc., $16,781

Save Our Seabirds, $60,414

Selby Botanical Gardens, $100,690

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, $100,690

The Venice Symphony, $38,967

Venice Theatre, $100,690

WSLR, $30,207

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, $100,690.95

Manatee County

Art League of Manatee County, $60,414

Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, $100,690

Florida Cultural Group (Manatee Performing Arts Center), $100,690

International Ballet of Florida, $26,850

Reflections of Manatee, Inc., $11,076

Southern Atelier (Miano Academy of Art), $26,850

Charlotte County

Charlotte Chorale, $5,881

Military Heritage Museum, $60,414

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida arts groups face reduced state funding in new budget