Orlando, Florida – The Coral Gables Art Cinema will cost more than $100,000 this year. About $150,000 suddenly disappeared from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s budget. New Miami Drama also has an unexpected $150,000 budget hole.
Across Florida, arts groups are struggling Republican Governor Ron DeSantis unexpectedly vetoed $32 million in funding for the arts on June 12, eliminating all state subsidies for these organizations in a move that advocates say will devastate arts and culture in the Sunshine State.
“What perplexes me is that Florida has been trying to attract business from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and what message are we sending if we cut funding to our cultural organizations?” said Michel Hausmann, artistic director and co-founder of Miami New Drama in Miami Beach. “Are you going to attract people to a state where arts and culture are not valued? They are a city’s lifeline.”
Arts leaders across the state say it’s the first time they can recall a Florida governor eliminating all subsidies for arts and culture, and it comes at a time when arts organizations survived COVID-19 pandemic closures are still recovering with lower attendance and revenue.
For the more than 600 arts groups and facilities that were competing for state grants, DeSantis’ veto came as a surprise because the Legislature approved arts funding even though what lawmakers approved was less than half of what was initially recommended by the State Division of Arts and Culture. Florida arts organizations have planned their budgets accordingly.
When asked at a press conference on Thursday why he vetoed arts funding in the state’s $116.5 billion budgetDeSantis said some of the money went to programs that many taxpayers would find objectionable due to their sexual nature or other reasons.
“When I see money being spent this way, I have to stand up for taxpayers and say, ‘You know what, this is an inappropriate use of taxpayer money,’” DeSantis said. reassess how this is being done.”
Most arts groups are still assessing the impact, but some may have to cut programs or staff.
“We are appealing to the community to help cover some of the budget shortfall and are exploring other funding opportunities in the private sector,” said Brenda Moe, executive director of Coral Gables Art Cinema. “We need to be creative to plug this hole.”
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will cut expenses, look for a way to increase revenue and hope county and city officials will fill some of the gap, said Karina Bharne, the symphony’s executive director.
State grants accounted for 10% of the Coral Gables Art Cinema’s budget, more than 3% of the Miami New Drama’s budget, and about 2% of the Orlando Philharmonic’s budget.
PEN America, a free speech nonprofit, compared arts funding cuts to legislative measures priorities driven by the DeSantis administrationas laws that limit what can be said in classrooms about sexual orientation and gender identity and prohibiting the teaching of an academic framework that describes the ways in which systemic racism is part of American society.
“DeSantis is taking his war on culture to a new level,” said Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America’s Florida office. “This decision will not only devastate the arts, but also add to its legacy of censorship and disrespect for art, literature and knowledge. .”
State grants are important to Florida arts groups, not just because of their monetary value, but because they can be used for salaries, rent, insurance and utilities. Often, private donors make gifts with strings attached to certain programs or performances. Ticket sales cover just a third of some arts groups’ budgets.
“It hurts us dramatically in our ability to pay rent and pay salaries,” said Robert Kesten, executive director of the Stonewall National Museum Archives. & Library in Fort Lauderdale, which was expecting $42,300 from the state this year.
To overcome shortcomings, arts groups may have to explore alternative fundraising strategies, such as attracting new Floridians who have not donated before, or collaborating with each other by sharing staff, spaces, costumes or sets, said Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of United Arts of Central Florida in Orlando.
Florida’s arts and culture industry generates $5.7 billion in economic activity annually, including $2.9 billion from nonprofit arts and culture organizations, and supports more than 91,000 full-time jobs, According to a study of Americans for the Arts in collaboration with the State Division of Arts and Culture and Citizens for Florida Arts Inc.
“We have a huge impact on quality of life. We make the state more attractive and we don’t cost money,” said Hausmann. “There is no justification for this cut unless it is an attempt to make a political statement. It’s not economical.”
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Associated Press reporters Cody Jackson in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Fla., contributed to this report.
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Follow Mike Schneider on social platform X: @MikeSchneiderAP.
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