Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411180067
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROSS WEEKS JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
That's good news, but the job is not completed. The blue-ribbon "strike force" needs to set forth a positive rationale for taxpayer support of these institutions and programs not owned by the state. It needs to recommend development of clear guidelines for determining which ones merit support, and how much.
For the current fiscal year, this support is only $4.6 million in a multibillion-dollar budget. Roanoke-area organizations received more than 20 percent of the funding.
In state-government offices in Richmond, public funding for museums and other cultural programs has long been regarded as "pork-barrel fat'' that ought to be diverted to other activities. The commission tinkered with that notion for a few weeks.
Those elected by the taxpayers, the stockholders of state government, ought to pay closer attention to the nonprofit museums and cultural organizations. This is especially true for institutions struggling to serve rural areas removed by geography and social character from Virginia's cities and tourist meccas.
If the legislators took a closer look, they would likely find dozens of underfunded, understaffed and undermaintained organizations dedicated to public service and tourism development. These institutions are spread across the commonwealth, from the Eastern Shore to the coalfield counties.
Funding is so scarce that some cannot open on a regular basis. When they do, it is because volunteers are available. In all of Virginia southwest of Roanoke, only three staffed museums or cultural institutions are open year-round; one is state-owned.
Why does the commonwealth subsidize its state-owned museums at $9 to $15 per visitor, and spend next to nothing on smaller, nonprofit institutions in the towns and rural areas where people show devotion to their local attractions? Consider:
In the late '80s, the Wakefield Arts Center in Southside Virginia opened in an abandoned school with the help of local donors. It received a modest state grant to employ a director and became a real cultural force in a multitown area of Sussex and Surry counties.
State support was eliminated during the Wilder administration, and the arts center gradually closed. The organization has folded, and the building is now empty.
The Historic Crab Orchard Museum & Pioneer Park in Tazewell, the museum for which I am responsible, is the leading man-made tourist attraction in Far Southwest Virginia. Visitation from all over the world is up 80 percent over two years ago. We serve a faltering local economy by attracting attention to this out-of-the-way place.
Our two-year-old living-history educational outreach serves classrooms from Bristol to Blacksburg, and from Wythe County to Mercer County, W.Va. We strive to do away with the old stereotypes about Appalachia's life and heritage in our classroom programs, and later we provide on-site experiences dealing with the rich cultural heritage of this region. These programs are in considerable demand from social-studies teachers.
We are grateful for state support for maintenance and marketing - equivalent to about 90 cents per visitor - but cannot get the commonwealth to respond to support our model educational thrust. Until now, it has been supported by nonrenewing foundation grants.
Private annual support for our day-to-day museum operations, not counting foundation and corporation giving, is running about $4 for every dollar the state provides. The county adds to our budget $3 for every state dollar. Visitors themselves pay another $2 per each dollar of state support.
But because there are no guidelines covering state support for nonstate entities, some grants make less sense than others:
One well-staffed institution charges no admission, rarely makes the effort to greet visitors, and certainly does not count them. It has a fine program of changing exhibits and serves its community, but has not taken part in any program designed to attract tourists to that community. Its annual state grant amounts to some $15 per visitor, if the visitor estimates it publishes are accurate.
Another organization, run entirely by volunteers, is called a ``museum'' but has no exhibits or interpretive materials, and is not a member of the American or Virginia Association of Museums. In reality, it is a park serving an isolated community as a playground and as a place to have picnics and reunions. The volunteers are engaged in a worthy effort, but not one that qualifies as a museum or cultural organization. Its state grant as a ``museum'' will go to picnic facilities and parking.
If the commission and state-agency staffers are paying so much attention to $4.6 million, and the General Assembly will be dealing with how to apportion scarce dollars among competing museums and related institutions, surely Gov. Allen's administration could break with the past. Not only could it popularize the notion that worthy museums and cultural agencies deserve public support (and support from private and philanthropic sources), but the administration also could define ``worthy'' in objective terms.
Funding guidelines based on program quality, real value of collections and historic structures, scope of service, economic and tourist impact, and educational endeavors are long overdue.
George and Susan Allen are indeed committed in different ways to Virginia's educational and economic advancement. They are in a position to make it clear that in Virginia, worthwhile institutions, both state-owned and private nonprofit, are recognized and supported as the third - and most accessible avenue - in our overall educational system.
Collectively, Virginia's museums provide an amazing variety of life-long learning opportunities not available through the public schools or the colleges and universities, the other more visible and well-organized branches in education.
Coincidentally, while serving our own population, young and old, our branch of education manifestly enhances the economy, inviting tourists and assisting economic growth by making localities more livable for prospective employers and their executives. We long for state acknowledgement and definition, and we deserve an objective basis for requesting and earning public financial support.
Of all states, Virginia has a heritage that demands careful attention to quality of life and to opportunities for cultural growth for all.
Ross Weeks Jr. is executive director of the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park in Tazewell.
by CNB