By Philip Haldiman, Independent Newsmedia

Funding for some West Valley arts organizations could go away if President Donald Trump’s 2018 federal budget is approved in its current form. Fallout could range from cuts to performing arts to a reduction in programing for youth and senior citizens.

The proposed budget calls for the elimination  of the National Endowment for the Arts, which receives nearly $150 million in funding annually from the federal government, well less than 1 percent of the federal budget.

The Arizona Commission on the Arts receives NEA funding, which it then allocates through a completive grant process to arts organizations and arts learning programs throughout the state.

Funds awarded by the NEA are matched by the state.

Last year, the Commission received $833,000 from the NEA, which was about 20 percent of its 2017 budget. Thousands of those dollars went to West Valley organizations — Theater Works, West Valley Youth Orchestra, Benevilla and WHAM Art Association, to name a few. If the NEA is eliminated those organizations would have to search out funding elsewhere.

Trump administration officials have stated in the media that federal funding would be better utilized for defense rather than arts.

West Valley Arts Council

West Valley Arts Council has received NEA funding for two decades. Executive Director Bernadette Mills said the elimination of the NEA will have a trickle-down effect and impact everyone in the long-run.

“I’m not able to pinpoint who all gets NEA funding in the West Valley, but most arts organizations in the West Valley do get Arizona Commission on the Arts funding and they work hand-in-hand with the NEA,” she  said.

West Valley Arts Council is waiting to hear back from the NEA about a $36,000 Art Works grant submitted last July to support an expansion of its performing arts programs across the West Valley. It is also working on an NEA Challenge America grant for its Gallery 37 program, which gives West Valley teens on-the-job training and college credits in the arts. She said the program has received NEA funding for about 17 years, most recently $10,000 annually.

“I can honestly say that if the Artworks grant doesn’t come through, then we will have to table an expansion of programs. Frankly, finding alternative sources to piecemeal and equal what the NEA could provide in one grant would take a lot of effort and time for our small staff,” she said. “The NEA funding also plays a big role in (the Gallery 37) program and we would be hard pressed to find an alternative if the NEA was cut.”

For several years West Valley Arts Council ran a nationwide program in Arizona called Big Read, which offered $20,000 annually to support the organization in developing community-wide programs to encourage reading. Ms. Mills said her organization programmed hundreds of literary, arts and music events in libraries, galleries, museums, schools, book clubs and stores, giving out thousands of free books during its six-year run.
“This is still a signature program of the NEA and it is sad to me that a program that promotes such great things as learning, literacy, humanities and the arts could be decimated,” she said.

Theater Works

Theater Works, Peoria’s resident theater company, receives $10,000-$22,000 from the Arizona Commission  on the Arts annually. Managing Director Cate Hinkle said before the Great Recession, Theater Works received $60,000-$70,000 annually, but the Commission remains a significant funding source.
However, Ms.  Hinkle said maybe worse is the message the president is sending to citizens — that arts and culture are not important.
“It’s hard to quantify the effect of that, and scarier to see the ripple effect of such a mindset,” she said.

Benevilla
Human services agency Benevilla has received a $2,500 grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts for the last two years.

President and CEO Joanne Thomson said it has been used to support their Memory Arts Bistro program, a series of intimate events held at the Surprise campus eatery, Birt’s Bistro, providing a creative, interactive and welcoming social environment for individuals with memory loss due to Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia diagnoses.

Families and caregivers attend and participate in mixed-media programs ranging from African drum circles to Ikebana and participatory art projects.

“It provides a safe environment, an opportunity to socialize, eat food and have fun while connecting memories with the arts,” she said.

Previously, grant monies were used to help fund creative aging processes through Benevilla’s Life Enrichment Programs, in which trained experts provide proven therapeutic methods to those with dementia.
Ms. Thomson said she is deeply concerned the NEA could go away.

“The elimination of NEA funding would seriously reduce desperately needed funds at a community level where they are vital to the care of our aging population,” she said. “Any reductions would deeply affect availability and access to programs, across many nonprofits,  similar to our Memory Arts Bistro and Life Enrichment Program.”

‘Significant’ funds

Rusty Foley, executive director for Arizona Citizens for the Arts, said on average public funding amounts to about 9 percent of an arts organization’s total budget, which is not a huge percentage, but can be significant to organizations that have depended on the money.

She said public funding for the arts is only one part of the funding model.

“The Commission and NEA take a look at how organizations are responding to local needs and if they are reflecting the community,” Ms. Foley said. “There is a lot of value in the NEA and the Commission. The strict requirements attached to those grants have the effect of letting other funders know that a particular organization is well-run and stable.”

Nationally, about 40 percent of NEA funding goes to arts councils like the Arizona Commission on the Arts and 60 percent goes to individual organizations like the West Valley Arts Council.

Ms. Foley said there is an aggressive effort by those in the arts community, as well as arts and NEA supporters to see funding does not get cut. Congress allocates funds and approves the budget, so it will be a bit of a long battle, Ms. Foley said.

“Elected officials need to understand that this is  important,” she said. “It will have a big impact on the local economy but at the same time doesn’t make much of a difference in terms of deficit reduction. It won’t solve that problem.”

Arizona Commission on the Arts spokesman Steve Wilcox said the Commission’s NEA funding varies from year to year — $833,000 or about 20 percent of their budget in 2017, and $797,000 or  about 33 percent of their budget in 2016.

He said there are so many variables and unknowns in play at the federal and state levels that he could not speculate on potential impact. However, Commission Executive Director Robert C. Booker released a letter stating the proposed federal budget is not the final word, but the beginning of a conversation, encouraging Arizonans to be active and enthusiastic participants in the dialogue.

“As a state agency, the Arizona Commission on the Arts does not design or coordinate advocacy efforts. Part of the Arts Commission’s mandate, however, is to ensure that Arizonans are informed about the potential and impact of the arts in every Arizona city and town. We invite you to look to us as a resource for information and continue to engage us as a connector,” he said. “Further, we invite you to embrace this moment as an opportunity to express your passion for the arts, articulate the impact the arts have had on your life and in your community, and actively engage in this process by which our nation proclaims its values and vision.”