Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 28, 1992 TAG: 9201280484
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ARTS MONEY WILDER DOES NOT GET THE PICTURE YET
GOV. WILDER misjudged how important arts and cultural activities are to This state's residents when he cavalierly proposed to abolish the Virginia Commission for the Arts.The proposal would have made Virginia the only state in the nation without a free-standing agency to promote development and appreciation of artistic talents. Worse, as the National Endowment for the Arts quickly warned, arts organizations throughout the state - including several in Roanoke and Southwest Virginia - could lose federal funding, at least for a time.
Facing an uprising by arts supporters, the governor has retreated from the plan to eliminate the commission altogether and to have its work taken over by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
But it looks like he's still bent on nickel-and-diming the arts to death. His current plan is to cut state funding for the arts from $1.5 million to $500,000, and to cut the commission's staff from six to one.
"A staff of one is clearly not sufficient" to meet NEA mandates for planning and running projects and for handling procedures that are necessary to win federal grants, says Edward Dickey, the director of NEA's state and regional program. That suggests federal funding remains at risk, as do numerous advances that the arts community has made in recent years.
The governor still incorrectly figures that this issue isn't all that important. He doesn't get the picture: Citizens do care about having cultural and artistic opportunities available to them in their communities; and in addition to everything else, they bring multiplier economic-development benefits.
The legislature should airbrush over Wilder's proposed budget cuts and restore adequate funding for the arts commission to continue doing its job.