The proposed FY27 Missouri budget recommends a 37% cut to arts funding across the state – about $3.7 million less that would go towards arts education, programs and events. The governor’s proposed cuts to the arts are part of an austerity initiative for Missouri that prioritizes fiscal discipline and smaller government, according to reporting done by KCUR.
Michael Donovan, executive director of the Missouri Arts Council, spoke at a House of Representatives budget meeting last week, saying that the cut is close to 50% of their funding.
“Every district here, every district of one of your colleagues has arts funding, and its all designed for community resilience and economic impact,” he said during the meeting.
Donovan referenced a study done by Americans for the Arts, which found that the arts make up $1.7 billion of economic impact in Missouri. He added that the arts provide about 13,000 jobs in Missouri and that the cut would affect four million adults and children who participate in the arts.
Leslie Forrester is the executive director of the Springfield Regional Arts Council. She said last year the Missouri Arts Council received $10.1 million in funding, and this year the recommendation is about $6.2 million, which she said could cut funding for community arts initiatives in half.
“This coming fiscal year, a 40% cut to the Missouri Arts Council translates to about, on average, a 32% cut to the grant funding your favorite arts organization might already be getting,” she said. “And that's on top of a 20 to 25% cut we’re working through this current fiscal year.”
Forrester explained that this impact would not only hit local artists and programs, but it would minimize the reach of local art education. She said a big portion of the Springfield Regional Arts Council’s funding goes towards arts education programming for children.
“Our ability to provide those things for free, and to as many kids as we can possibly reach, will be diminished. Our ability to pay teaching artists will probably have to pull back, we won’t have as much money to spend on arts supplies,” said Forrester. “Because not only are we teaching kids art, we’re giving them the tools and materials to keep making art when we don’t have an artist in the space with them.”
However, Forrester said, this doesn't have to happen because the funding is already there. She explained that because of the Nonresident Professional Athlete and Entertainers’ Tax, athletes and entertainers that play and work in Missouri are required to pay a 2% tax on the income they make while they’re here.
“We’re on track this year to generate about $40 million through that tax. Sixty percent of that is supposed to be going to the Missouri Arts Council, and if you remember, we are getting $10.1 million,” she explained. “So there is a dedicated funding stream, we're not asking for the legislature to go find money, the money is there. It just has to be allocated in the way the statute outlines it to be.”
But, Forrester said, the arts are no stranger to tough budget cuts. She said typically, the arts are first on the chopping block.
“It’s perceived that the arts are supposedly the easiest cut, but it’s the thing that communities feel,” she said. “No matter the size, whether you’re one of the metropolitan organizations that are huge, down to your local community festival that happens once a year, everyone’s going to feel the cut.”
She added that there’s art everywhere, even in things we don’t think to consider as art.
“Did you listen to the radio on your way to the office? Because that's art. Did you drive in a car? Because someone had to design that car. Your favorite movie? That is an artistic piece. Somebody had to write that script, somebody had to direct those cast members,” she said. “Its not as segregated from everyday life as we might think it is. It’s so much more intrinsically a part of who we are as human beings, than just about anything else.”
Exposure to the arts, Forrester added, is crucial for children in our community. She said the arts build life skills that translate into other fields, adding that they should not be limited to those that can afford it or access it easily.
“They’re not all going to become Picasso, or the next Misty Copeland and dancing on stages. Nor are they going to want to do that,” said Forrester. “But what they’re going to learn through those experiences are things like being able to work as part of a team. They’re going to be able to problem solve in a creative way, thinking outside of the box.”
The arts, she said, even directly benefit other local businesses by generating business for them through their own initiatives.
“Whether its restaurants or coffee shops or the dessert places or even the babysitter that I hire in order for my husband and I to go see a show together,” she said, "that is direct spending that may not have happened in our community, had that event not happened.”
Forrester said that a big part of the Springfield Arts Council’s job is to advocate for the arts. She said they, and the Missouri Citizens for the Arts, a state advocacy organization, travel to Jefferson City for a few days each year to meet with legislators during session. They recently went on February 4, which is also Arts Advocacy Week in Missouri.
“They’re representing us, and so that’s our day to go to them, talk with their staff members and hopefully talk with them, about why the arts are important, why they should care and why they should help us fight for that funding,” said Forrester.
She said they usually only have a few minutes to make their point, so they provide information, like a list of what’s been funded in their district so they can see the direct impact cuts would have on their constituents. They also offer to be a resource for them, which she said helps them to be able to keep having these conversations.
But, Forrester said, this isn’t the first time legislators are seeing them.
“We have relationships with our legislators, as anyone should,” she said. “Again, they’re representing us so we invite them to events, we check in with them. There’s lots of ways to engage with your folks before they're in Jeff City, before you need something from them.”
Forrester said the trip was encouraging. Arts advocates from all over the state joined them in the Capitol – about 200 people. She said there are a lot of concerns right now about where cuts might need to be made, and donating or showing up to talk with legislators makes an impact.
