Minnesota: Legacy Funding Up For Review

In 2010, the arts in Minnesota have seen a tremendous inflow of revenue due to the availability of Legacy Amendment funding. Voters approved a sales tax for arts and environmental projects in 2008. Unfortunately, the Legacy Fund distribution process is up for review in the 2011 Legislature.

Twenty percent of the proceeds from the 3/8th of 1% sales tax goes to the Arts and Cultural Fund, amounting to a total of $43 million in 2010. $30.5 million is distributed by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, while other regional arts councils distribute the rest. The amount might seem a lot, however it is spread in many different directions. Arts Board Executive Director Sue Gens said: "We received about 1,500 applications for grants last year, which is more than double what we would have normally received. And we were able to make about 650 grants."

In addition, some of the legacy funding went to promoting access to the arts. Rebecca Peterson, executive director of A Center for the Arts in Fergus Falls, said: "Through our regional arts council, we did a collaboration which allows us to bring artists and performers into our senior centers. We created a program that actually provides access for a lot of people who haven't had a lot of hands-on access to the arts." This program received a Legacy grant of $17,000.

Although many arts centers, museums, and theatres have benefited from the legacy funding, the distribution will still be up for re-examination, including whether the State Arts board and the regional arts councils will continue to distribute arts Legacy funds. This issue will be debated in the light of a looming $6.2 billion deficit. Although the arts act as an economic stimulus, I predict the legacy funding will undergo a hard and long battle.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/30/arts-legacy-amendment/