Grantmakers in the News

June 1, 2003

New York: Arts Funding in a Time of Budget Cuts

According to a recent article appearing on the GothamGazette.com Web site (http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/arts/), the value of the arts to society is debated anew in times of economic slowdowns and funding for the arts is traditionally the first thing cut from government budgets. Many financially strapped states have released budget proposals for fiscal year 2003 that have forced arts organizations around the nation to look for new and creative funding strategies and sources. New York is no exception, though the situation is less drastic than in some other states where state arts funding is proposed to be cut in half or eliminated altogether.

Below is a snapshot of state and city government funding for the arts in New York:

Department of Cultural Affairs

The preliminary budget for New York City proposes to cut the budget of the Department of Cultural Affairs by an additional 11.5 percent (on top of this year's six percent cuts), returning funding to 1999 levels. The 34 city-owned cultural organizations known as the Cultural Institutions Group (CIGs) would get $86.7 million. Assuming that larger organizations can better absorb the cuts and find additional sources of funding, Commissioner Kate Levin designed the budget so that 14 CIGs with budgets of $6 million or more would have their funding cut by 35 percent, and the 20 groups with budgets less than $6 million would be cut by 24 percent.

The Program Groups would have their funding reduced from $18.7 million to $12.3 million — to be shared by some 500 nonprofits, who typically receive grants in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $2 million. The Cultural Challenge Program, which rewards competitive grants, would be eliminated altogether.

Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, created in late February 2003, is described as "a cultural advocacy body." The Commission will function as a “working board” to assist the Department of Cultural Affairs in serving New York City’s nonprofit cultural community, providing assistance and advocacy in several areas of critical need affecting cultural groups. The Commission, whose members represent the broad diversity and strength of the City’s cultural community, will be chaired by Agnes Gund, former Museum of Modern Art director.

State Council on the Arts

In the last budget, the New York spent $44.4 million on the arts (more than any other state) through the New York State Council on the Arts. Now, with states everywhere facing financial crunches, Governor George Pataki proposes to trim grants to arts organizations by 15 percent, to about $37.8 million.

However, according to the Gotham Gazette, there is some relatively good news. First, the New York State legislature has had a long commitment to the arts, and is not likely to impose drastic cuts to cultural funding. In addition, when compared to the overall budget, arts allocations are so small to begin with (out of last year's total state budget of $89.6 billion, $44 million was designated for the arts — amounting to one-half of a tenth of one percent) that deep cuts will not produce much of a savings for the state.