arts alert: Only One Week Left: Volunteers Needed
MCA href="http://www.mncitizensforthearts.org">www.mncitizensforthearts.org
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts
2233 University Ave. W. #355
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-251-0868 fax 651-917-3561
staff at mncitizensforthearts.org
Arts Action Center
May 12, 2009
**Less Than One Week Remains Until The End of Session**
1. Volunteers Needed This Week: Help Make Calls
2. FYI, These organizations would recieve very little new funding under the House position…
3. Take Action NOW – Ask Legislators to Support SENATE POSITION for Amendment Arts Funding
4. Arts Issues Background – Final Update
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1. Volunteers Needed This Week: Help Make Calls
With only one week to go before session ends, we have very little time to close the gap between our request to dedicate 50% of the Arts and Culture Fund from the amendment to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils, which the Senate has recommended, and the 17% recommended by the House. The Conference Committee will begin meeting shortly to start to hash out the difference between the two bills. Please help us make calls into the districts of the Conference Committee members to deliver the message to "Please Support the Senate Position of 50% of the Arts and Culture Fund to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils."
To help, please call Mark or Shaylie at 651-251-0868, or email staff@mncitizensforthearts.org. We need help over the next four days, any time from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you live in Greater Minnesota and would like to help, we can send you a list of names to call. Thank you!
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2. These organizations would recieve very little new funding in the House position:
The Senate position would give the Minnesota State Arts Board just over $16 million per year for grants to the field. The House position would give only $975,000 per year for MSAB grants to organizations (which is $1M minus adminstration). Split up among all of the grantees on a statewide basis of the Minnesota State Arts Board, the House bill would result in very tiny new grants per organization, particularly since it would also be expected to be used for all of the other kinds of State Arts Board grants such as for arts education. If your organization participated in the Vote Yes! campaign, you need to let your legislators know that the House position would mean your organization would receive almost no benefit. Your organizations provide access to the arts for millions of Minnesotans. If the House position holds, there will be very little new funding available for the following arts organizations from the Minnesota State Arts Board:
American Composers Forum, St. Paul / Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Red Wing / Artspace Projects Inc, Minneapolis / ArtStart, St. Paul / Asian Media Access, Minneapolis / Ballet Minnesota, St. Paul / Ballet of the Dolls/ Ritz Theater Foundation, Minneapolis / Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington / Cantus, Minneapolis / Caponi Art Park and Learning Center, Eagan / Cedar Cultural Center/MN Star Inc., Minneapolis / Center for Hmong Arts & Talent, St. Paul / Chamber Music Society of St. Cloud, St. Cloud / Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis / Choral Arts Ensemble, Rochester / Circus Juventas, St. Paul / CLIMB Theatre Company, Inver Grove Heights / Coffee House Press, Minneapolis / College of St. Benedict Fine Arts Programming, St. Joseph / College of St. Catherine /O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, St. Paul / Commonweal Theatre, Lanesboro / COMPAS, St. Paul / Concordia College Perf. Arts Series, Moorhead / Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro / Duluth Art Institute, Duluth / Duluth Playhouse, Duluth / Duluth-Superior Symphony Association, Duluth / East Side Arts Council, St. Paul / Elk River Area Arts Alliance, Elk River / Fargo-Moorhead Opera Company, Fargo / Fargo-Moorhead Orchestral Assn., Moorhead / Fergus Falls, A Center for the Arts, Fergus Falls / FORECAST Public Artworks, St. Paul / Franconia Sculpture Park, Franconia / Givens Foundation for African American Literature, Minneapolis / Graywolf Press, St. Paul / GREAT Theatre, St. Cloud / Greater TC Youth Symphonies, Minneapolis / Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis / Headwaters School of Music and Arts, Bemidji / Hennepin Theatre Trust, Minneapolis / Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis / History Theatre, Inc., St. Paul / Holmes Center, Inc./ Detroit Lakes CCC, Detroit Lakes / Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota, Rochester / IFP Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Paul / Illusion Theater and School, Minneapolis / In Progress, St. Paul / In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre, Minneapolis / Interact Center for the Visual & Perf. Arts, Minneapolis / Intermedia Arts Minnesota, Minneapolis / James Sewell Ballet/ Ballet Works, Minneapolis / Jawaahir Dance Company, Minneapolis / Jazz Arts Group, Moorhead / Jungle Theater, Minneapolis / Juxtaposition Arts, Minneapolis / Land of Lakes Choirboys of Minnesota, Elk River / Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis / Lyric Arts Company of Anoka, Anoka / MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis / Mankato Symphony Orchestra, Mankato / Marshall Area Fine Arts Council, Marshall / Matinee Musicale, Duluth / Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis / Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis / Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis / Minnesota Ballet , Duluth / Minnesota Bluegrass & Oldtime Music, Minneapolis / Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis / Minnesota Chorale, Minneapolis / Minnesota Fringe Festival, Minneapolis / Minnesota Guitar Society, Minneapolis / Minnesota Opera Company, Minneapolis / Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis / Minnesota Sinfonia, Minneapolis / Minnesota State University, Mankato / Minnesota Youth Symphonies, St. Paul / Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata / Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Minneapolis / Mu Performing Arts, Minneapolis / Music in the Park Series, St. Paul / Nautilus Music-Theater, St. Paul / New York Mills Arts Retreat, New York Mills / North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks / Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis / Northern Prairie Performing Arts, Fargo / Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield / Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis / One Voice Mixed Chorus, St. Paul / Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul / Owatonna Arts Center, Owatonna / Pangea World Theatre, Minneapolis / Paramount Arts Resource Trust, Inc., St. Cloud / Park Square Theatre, St. Paul / Patrick’s Cabaret, Minneapolis / Penumbra Theatre, St. Paul / Pillsbury House Theater, Minneapolis / Plains Art Museum, Fargo / Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis / Ragamala Music and Dance Theater, Minneapolis / Red Eye, Minneapolis / Reif Arts Council, Grand Rapids / Rochester Art Center, Rochester / Rochester Civic Music, Rochester / Rochester Civic Theatre, Rochester / Rochester Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, Rochester / Rourke Art Gallery Museum, Moorhead / Rural America Arts Partnership / Jon Hassler Theater, Plainview / Schubert Club, St. Paul / Skylark Opera, St. Paul / Southern Theater, Minneapolis / Springboard for the Arts, St. Paul / St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, St. Cloud / St. Croix Concert Series, Stillwater / St. Francis Music Center, Little Falls / St. John’s Boys’ Choir, Collegeville / St. John’s University Fine Arts Programming, Collegeville / St. Mary’s University Performance Center, Winona / St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul / Stages Theatre Company, Hopkins / Steppingstone Theatre, St. Paul / Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, Golden Valley / T.B. Sheldon Theatre, Red Wing / Tapestry Folkdance Center, Minneapolis / Ten Thousand Things, Minneapolis / Textile Center of MN, Minneapolis / The Lakeshore Players, White Bear Lake / The Rose Ensemble, St. Paul / The Soap Factory , Minneapolis / Theater Latte Da, Minneapolis / Theatre in the Round Players, Minneapolis / Trollwood Performing Arts School, Fargo / Tweed Museum of Art/UMD, Duluth / Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir, Brooklyn Center / Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, Minneapolis / UofM Morris/Campus Act. Cncl. Perf. Arts Cmte., Morris / VocalEssence, Minneapolis / VSA Arts of Minnesota, Minneapolis / Walker Art Center, Minneapolis / Wildwood Artist Series, Stillwater / Willmar Community Theatre (The Barn), Willmar / Women’s Association of the MN Orch (WAMSO), Minneapolis / Young Audiences of Minnesota, St. Paul / Youth Performance Company, Minneapolis / Zeitgeist, St. Paul / Zenon Dance Company & School, Minneapolis / Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theater, Minneapolis /
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3. Take Action NOW – Ask Legislators to Support SENATE POSITION on Amendment Arts Funding
The House and Senate have taken radically different positions on Amendment spending which could have a huge impact on the arts. They both passed their bills and sent them to a conference committee that will meet soon and must complete its work by May 18.
The House has recommended that only 17% of the Arts and Culture Fund go to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils, which we strongly oppose. The House bill would give away to other issues, such as zoos and libraries and "civic education," the arts funding we have spent seven years trying to get to the field. While meritorious, these organizations are NOT set up to deliver arts activities statewide, as are the grantees of the Minnesota State Arts Board.
In contrast, Sen. Tomassoni’s committee and subsequently the full Senate has recommended that 50% of the proceeds go to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils so that funding gets to every Minnesota county to support the arts. We are very happy with the Senate position. Credit goes to Dick Cohen and David Tomassoni who have been Senate heroes for the arts. In committee, before passing the bill, several legislators made brief speeches in support of this position, including Sen. Cohen, Sen. Tomassoni, Sen. Dibble, and Sen. Kelash.
Please contact your legislators by Wednesday, MAY 13 asking them to SUPPORT THE SENATE POSITION of 50% of the Arts and Culture Fund FOR THE MINNESOTA STATE ARTS BOARD AND REGIONAL ARTS COUNCILS. Even if you sent a letter before, this message is totally new so please take just five minutes to send the new one at the Arts Action Center.
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4. Arts Issues Background – Final Update
On election day, Minnesotans approved a once in a lifetime investment in the arts. Passage of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment is expected to create anywhere from $40 to $50 million annually to support the arts, arts access, arts education and history. The amendment also says these new resources should not be a substitute for traditional sources of funding. Unfortunately, the new money won’t be available for a while, although it looks increasingly likely that the state will begin to spend it in 2010. (The new tiny increase in the state sales tax, created by the Amendment, doesn’t start until July, 2009, and then the funds raised by the tax will need to accumulate in the new Arts and Culture Fund before they can be spent).
MCA had a huge leadership role in the Vote Yes! campaign to pass the amendment. We have devoted all of our resources for the last seven years to getting the amendment passed. Our position has all along been that the legislature should appropriate at least 50% of the new resources from the amendment to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Councils, so that it does indeed reach every MN county through their grants and services and is not diverted to some other, unknown purpose. It is for this reason we have led the arts community in this campaign for the past seven years. The legislature must finish by May 18, when session is supposed to end, or they will have to have special sessions this summer.
The House bill proposes to give the money away to libraries, zoos, and other non-arts entities for "arts access." They should be giving 50% of the fund, as planned, to the Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Council system, which is set up specifically to fund the arts, rather than giving the money to entities who are not in the business of supporting the arts. The Senate gives 50% of the Arts and Culture Fund to the MSAB/RAC system, as we requested.
There are smaller differences between the two bills. For example, within the House’s 17% to the MSAB/RAC system, there is about $500,000 per year for artist grants (which in the Senate is part of the larger grant pool, and which would also increase grants for artists), and the House also funds the RACs at a higher percentage of the MSAB/RAC funds than the MSAB (although the Senate position gives the RACs more actual money than the House position, because the funding levels are much higher).
Send your legislators a letter NOW at the Arts Action Center asking them to support the Senate position of 50% to the MSAB and RACs!
We are also working to protect regular arts funding in the state’s Economic Development bill, which has been about $10 million per year. The legislature has passed, and the Governor vetoed, this bill, which cuts regular arts funding by 16.6%. The legislature has taken the vetoed bill and removed other non-arts sections that the Governor didn’t like and have re-passed the bill, which he is expected to sign shortly. It was in this bill that the Governor had proposed cutting arts funding by half and eliminating the MSAB, neither proposal of which was accepted by the legislature.
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VIDEO LINKS
Check out two great videos from Arts Advocacy Day Held February 24, 2009:
Here’s a video of highlights from the Arts Advocacy Day kickoff rally on MN Stories by Chuck Olsen:
http://www.mnstories.com/video/376/Arts-Adcovacy-Day
…and a 3 Minute Egg arts show by Matt Peiken with interviews of attendees and some footage of meetings with legislators:
http://www.mnstories.com/video/374/3-MINUTE-EGG-Arts-Advocacy-Day
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RESOURCES
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ABOUT: MCA is a nonpartisan statewide arts advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure opportunity for all people to have access to and involvement in the arts. MCA organizes the arts community and lobbies the Minnesota State Legislature and Congress on issues pertaining to the nonprofit arts. If you are interested in learning more about how to advocate for the arts, or how to activate people in your arts organization or community to lobby for the arts, please call us at 651-251-0868 or e-mail