Article Photos

HANCOCK - Budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm that eliminate grants to nearly 300 artistic and cultural projects and groups statewide has left some area arts organizations wondering how they will make up the difference.

Keweenaw Krayons Director Susan Hallwachs said her organization is upset about the proposed cuts. Especially disheartening is Granholm's proposal to have a $1000 non-refundable grant application fee, up from $300, she said.

"(This) would totally put us out of the loop because that's a huge amount of money for us," she said. "Sometimes that's the amount of a whole grant for us. So we're losing money either way."

Additionally, not getting state money could mean a loss in federal funding as well.

"A lot of times non-profits like us use our state money as matching funds for federal money so if we don't get the state funds we won't be able to apply for the federal funds because we won't have the matching money," she said. "So again, that's a loss."

Hallwichs said her organization plans to do "a lot of fund-raising," a membership drive and apply for local grants from organizations like the Keweenaw Community Foundation.

She said it is important people realize the arts are more than a gallery display.

"People think, 'Wow, that's just going to be a few more pictures not up on the wall,' but it affects jobs and families," she said. "We buy all of our supplies locally, we hire local artists. If I'm not making money as the director, I don't have money to spend in the community. If I need wood, I'll go to a contractor and get some wood, if I need paint, I go to the paint store. It affects the whole community."

Calumet Theatre Executive Director Jim Lowell also sees an important connection between the arts and the economy.

He has encouraged employers in the area to write letters to government officials.

"You won't just lose the arts jobs, you may lose a lot of other jobs too because the arts community makes an area or a state attractive to employees," he said. "It's one thing for our governor to get a couple of letters from an arts organization, it's quite another if a large employer in the area writes the governor and says, 'Wow, we're trying to hire 100 people and if I don't have the kind of arts culture that allows me to make my area look attractive, I'm not going to be able to do that.'"

Lowell said the cuts would mean approximately $15,000 less for the theatre, or five percent of its annual budget.

"It's not insignificant, but it doesn't make or break us," he said.

"We have very generous local donors who help us to build a foundation and the money that we get from the state builds on top of that base."

The money from the state is like the icing on the cake, Lowell said.

"It allows us for example to hire a little better, a more visible performer," he said. "The money from the state will help us to do repairs to the building, it gives us the wherewithal to fix things up, make the building look a lot better when visitors are in town. It's stuff that we won't absolutely have to do, but would make a big difference to the community."

Copper Country Suzuki Association Executive Director Libby Meyer said the threat of state funding cuts are just part of the problem her organization is facing. She said because of the state of economy, donations are down and the organization's endowment is not yielding money.

In all, she anticipates 20 percent of her budget is in danger. She said scholarships that 20 percent of the association's 80 students receive may have to be decreased. Additionally, other changes may have to be made.

"(The cuts) will affect our ability to provide workshops, extra concerts," she said.

"Our mission has always been to make music available to everybody, and it just really hinders our ability to do that dramatically."

Still, she is optimistic that the association will be fine in the end.

"Our organization has been around for 35 years, we're not going anywhere," she said. "I don't see us folding, but some of these little arts programs, this could it it.

Once they're gone, they're gone, it's not like they're going to come back in five years when the economy is better."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included $50 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, but that will not undo the damage of the proposed grant cuts.

In this year's state budget, those grants totaled $7.9 million.

Mike Latvis, Director of Public Policy for ArtServ Michigan, the statewide nonprofit that promotes the arts, said Michigan would not see a huge amount of money from the NEA.

"If the NEA were to give it out right now, it would go to the states' arts agencies and Michigan would only probably receive $235,000 to $300,000, so there isn't a bailout coming from the NEA," he said.

Layla Aslani can be reached at laslani@mininggazette.com.