Nearly two dozen arts organizations in Tallahassee/Leon County (and many more statewide) are figuring out their next steps after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed state arts grants.
The total cuts are worth close to a million dollars locally, a significant hit for this community.
Some of the impacted groups were already trying to recover from damage caused by the May 10th tornadoes. Now, their fate is uncertain.
One of the regional groups that lost funding is the Council on Culture & Arts, known as COCA, which also provides local grants.
“These 23 organizations and the industry itself, we’re resilient. We’ve been resilient for the last few years through COVID. We are still coming out of some of that recovery as far as the financial recovery,” says COCA Executive Director Kathleen Spehar. “So, to give this kind of veto now when momentum has only been going up is a real blow.”
DeSantis vetoed the funds from the upcoming state budget using his line-item veto power. “Some of the stuff I don't think was appropriate for state tax dollars,” he said during a budget signing event in Tampa. Across the board, all of his vetoes totaled nearly a billion dollars.
The money for local arts groups would have come from the Division of Arts and Culture, part of the Florida Department of State.
“They were vetted through a really strict program,” Spehar says. “Everyone that applied for a grant had to go through a panel review, a very stringent application process.”
Even the division’s website states, “The arts are a vitally important economic industry, generating revenue, creating jobs and developing communities.”
Spehar says many local groups are holding fundraisers and looking for grants elsewhere. They also need help from the community, and COCA has three suggestions:
- Show your support for impacted groups by donating, subscribing, and purchasing tickets.
- If you or your foundation/business has a grant or sponsorship opportunity, contact COCA at kathleen@tallahasseearts.org or 850-224-2500 x2.
- Ask the City of Tallahassee to allocate non-TDT (tourism development tax) general support to COCA's local community grant program.
Spehar says she is already working to get funding back next year. That includes communicating the need with the Governor's Office.
"We've got an opportunity right now to help inform the governor and to get him to understand what kind of impact these programs have on the state," Spehar says.
Click LISTEN above to hear more of the conversation.
