Another head-shaking loss for the arts in Kansas
It’s disappointing but sadly not shocking that Kansas could fail to receive $800,000 in arts funding in the coming year.
The administration of Gov. Sam Brownback and the Legislature is not adequately supporting the arts in the Sunflower State, and that decision has come back to bite them.
It all started when Brownback in 2011 signed an order to kill the Kansas Arts Commission. That stance embarrassed the state among the creative sector inside and outside its borders. Following a public outcry, state officials formed another group — the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, charged with getting money into the hands of community arts groups and others in Johnson County and around the state.
As a strong supporter of the jobs created by the arts, this newspaper has watched this slow-motion train wreck play out for years, always with the hope that lawmakers eventually would come to their senses.
But in the latest debacle, Kansas reportedly will fall $250,000 shy of spending enough this year to garner matching funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. That group wants to see whether states are serious about trying to promote the arts. Kansas isn’t.
“It’s very deflating to know that we are not playing on the same level playing field that arts entities in other states are playing on,” said Rodney Miller, the dean of the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University.
Well said. And by failing to meet the NEA requirement, Kansas will be suspended from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, which had provided $370,000 to Kansas arts organizations in the last year.
In a news release, Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said the governor “is focused on fostering economic growth and job creation within the creative community.”
Think how many jobs that $800,000 of matching funds — not money directly from Kansas taxpayers — could have helped create or keep in Kansas.
Hawley added that “it is disappointing that the Mid-America Arts Alliance is choosing not to join that mission” of job growth. Say what? The alliance, like the NEA, wants states to put skin in the game before they can get access to other funds. Nothing wrong with that stance, which often is embraced by conservative politicians like Brownback.
Kansas is underfunding too many of its public services right now, largely because of revenue shortfalls caused by the 2012 income tax cuts championed by Brownback and the Legislature.
Still, it’s especially disconcerting that Kansas lawmakers have missed out on opportunities to enhance the arts in the state.
This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Another head-shaking loss for the arts in Kansas."