Grants dry up for museum, arts
Posted August 21, 2007
The bad news is Blue Water Area arts groups did not receive from 30% to 75% of the state funding they were expecting this fiscal year due to cuts aimed at resolving Michigan’s budget crisis.
The worse news is things aren’t likely to be any better when the 2008 fiscal year begins in October.
Organizations such as the Port Huron Museum and International Symphony Orchestra have weathered the financial storm so far - thanks mostly to private donors - but officials said it is only a matter of time before the cuts start to affect the festivals, concerts and services they offer.
“It’s a handicap in terms of limiting the programs we can do,” said Dennis Zembala, president of the Port Huron Museum, which received only $12,400 of the $50,000 it requested.
“Cultural tourism is an announced goal of (Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s) administration,” he said. “On the other hand they’re cutting support to arts and culture organizations. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Citing a $3 billion projected budget deficit, Granholm in March issued an order freezing all grants paid by state agencies, including $7.5 million of the $10.1 million promised by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
The moratorium was lifted in June, but only after the council’s budget was cut by $3.6 million.
According to the advocacy group ArtServe Michigan, the decrease means Michigan’s funding for the arts has fallen from fourth in the nation in 2001 to last among all 50 states.
Tough times
The Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens redistributes state money to organizations in Macomb and St. Clair counties through the council’s mini-grant program. Its second round of mini-grants was cut by 36%.
“It’s tough already for small nonprofits or art programs,” said Michael Gielniak, the center’s executive director. Eliminating funding “in the middle of the year ... is, I think, fiscally irresponsible.”
St. Clair County programs affected by mini-grant cuts include the Black River Powwow and a diversity celebration at St. Edward’s-on-the-Lake Catholic School, both of which received 44% of what they were awarded.
Zembala said it’s hard to say what effect cuts have had on the museum because it “is in a state of flux as it is.”
No event or exhibit has been canceled for purely economic reasons, but the museum has started to scale back. Fewer complimentary passes were given out for this year’s Feast of the Ste. Claire, for example.
The museum also has started looking for more private sponsors and partners. Zembala will meet with St. Clair County Community College to see if it can co-sponsor some events.
Sponsors step up
The Port Huron Area School District had to forfeit the mini-grant it was awarded to buy materials for its Picture Person program, in which parent volunteers visit elementary and middle school classrooms to make presentations on such masters as Michelangelo, because the moratorium was not lifted until the very end of the school year.
Assistant Superintendent Ron Wollen said the district was able to continue the program through financial support from donors.
That’s also what allowed the Lexington Arts Council to finish its Music in the Park concert series, which received about $2,000 of the $3,000 mini-grant it was awarded by the Huron County Economic Development Corp.
The Lexington group also is expecting to see only about $7,000 of the $10,500 it was promised by the council for the upcoming Lexington Bach Festival. The group has been courting festival attendees and asking them to consider becoming sponsors.
The International Symphony Orchestra received 15% more donations from individuals than it expected for its 2006-07 season, allowing the group to overcome a $3,000 shortfall in state grants and finish the season in the black.
“We just don’t know what’s going to happen this next season,” executive director Ann Brown said. “We will go forward with or without Michigan Arts Council funding. It likely will mean dipping into reserve funds.
“If there isn’t going to be funding from Michigan, our programming will have to reflect that,” she said. “It may mean one entire concert would be eliminated.”
The orchestra isn’t the only group that has had to put together an uncertain budget because Michigan hasn’t finished its budget yet. The Anton Arts Center already approved the first round of mini-grants for next fiscal year, even though there has been no word on funding from the state.
“We don’t know if there’s going to be drastic cuts, we don’t know if funding is going to be eliminated,” Gielniak said. “I think the state should be able to plan their budget better than that.”
Originally published August 20, 2007 by Bill Chapin in the Port Huron Times Herald