By Roger McBain, Evansville Courier & Press
After years of successive, smaller cuts, state funding for arts organizations in Southwestern Indiana has plunged more than 25 percent this year.
The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, which redistributes state money from the Indiana Arts Commission, saw regranting funds for its seven-county Region 10 drop from $132,500 last year to $98,418 for the fiscal year that began in July.
The cuts stem from two factors - state budget reductions to the Indiana Arts Commission, which gives direct grants and doles out money to regional partner agencies around the state, and a new, per capita formula the agency has adopted to decide how much to pass on to each regional partner.
Every region felt the state budget cuts, but even so, the new funding formula delivered more regranting dollars to some recipients.
Region 11, a six-county area served through the Jasper Community Arts Commission, saw its allotment for area arts groups go from $26,963 last year to $28,140 this year.
Review panels decide how to distribute the money among applicants in each region. In Region 10, the panel spread the reductions pretty evenly among most grant applicants.
But other factors dealt dramatic funding cuts to two Evansville organizations - the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Koch Family Children's Museum of Evansville.
For the first time in years, the philharmonic did not receive direct funding from the Indiana Arts Commission. Without that, the philharmonic was left to apply for a smaller operating grant through the regional partnership.
Instead of the $64,699 major arts organization grant it got from the arts commission last year, the orchestra received only $12,371 through the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana.
And cMoe saw its regranting award drop to $2,020 this year after the commission ruled that as a children's museum, and not an arts organization, it was ineligible to apply for the $15,340 operations grant it received through the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana last year.
In both cases, the organizations had prepared themselves for the cuts.
"It's not like this was just dropped on us yesterday," said Gary Wagner, development director for the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. "We understand that when you have limited funding, some decisions have to be made, whether you like them or not."
As part of an overall strategy to weather this year's economic downturn, the philharmonic has consolidated some staff positions, the players have taken a pay freeze and Wagner is searching for alternate funding sources.
A representative for the Indiana Arts Commission has encouraged the philharmonic to reapply for direct funding from the state arts commission next year as well as for another regional grant, Wagner said.
"We've never taken for granted that we were going to get statewide money," he said. "We hope some of it comes back to Southwestern Indiana in the future."
Carol Young, executive director for cMoe, said she hadn't counted on a grant this year.
"We are just grateful that there were (arts project) grants available this year, and that we were eligible for some funding," she said. "Hopefully, as the economy improves, national and state funding for the arts will improve, and we and all of the organizations will be able to get more funding in the future."