Recently, the Kansas Art Commission has been in danger of disappearing. Governor Sam Brownback has signed an executive reorganized order which would dissolve the Kansas Art Commission and re-assign its duties to the Kansas Historical Society. More specifically, The Commission's responsibilities would fall on a new private, non-profit group called the Kansas Arts Foundation, which would exist within the Historical Society.
A group of about 50 artists, art supporters, and students staged a funeral march in response to the order, hoping to drum up support against it. They went as far as to make cardboard caskets to represent the “death” of the arts in Kansas.
The order, which was introduced in an attempt to reduce the state budget, takes effect July 1st, unless the state House or Senate passes a resolution to oppose the change. Many fear that the replacement of a state agency with a nonprofit would put the new group in direct competition with others that the Kansas Art Commission previously benefited. Governor Brownback's plan would save an estimated $600,000 this year, and $200,000 in subsequent years, but the new “foundation” might lack the state agency's ability to procure and match federal and regional arts funding. The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee voted 7-2 against the reorganization, and even if the full Senate votes likewise, there will still be a significant challenge for the Kansas Arts Commission to secure funding within the state's budget, considering the fact that the state government tried to dissolve it.
http://imaginekansaswithoutart.blogspot.com/
http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/15/1763176/save-arts-commission.html
No comments:
Post a Comment