Art faces budget cuts in Indiana. The Indiana Arts Commission specifically could face a 50 percent cut, and the money that will disappear is money that is typically distributed in grants to Indiana’s counties. That means the artistic communities of a number of small towns and cities across Indiana who are dependent upon public donations and grants for their very survival and who are already hurting from dwindling donations because of a depressed economy face grave danger.
These proposed cuts from Governor Daniels’ budget come only two years after Indiana’s overall spending on the arts ranked fortieth in the United States. While poised to grow at that time to thirtieth as seen in Laura Moran’s article for ArtsEverywhere.org — see page 25 of the Spring 2007 issue — Indiana’s spending on arts remained insufficient. The success of an artistic community is dependent upon the funding it receives, and the success of a community is partially dependent upon the success of its artistic community.
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