Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently approved around $32 million in cuts for art funding grants in the state.
Some Florida residents are decrying the impact this measure will have on the state’s local arts community, with many organizations relying on this funding likely to now have to make cuts and layoffs of their own.
DeSantis’ Cuts
DeSantis was pressed about the cuts at a news conference earlier this year, and said that he felt the state had lost control of how the money was being spent.
“So this is money [that we] didn’t have control over how it was being given,” DeSantis said in response to a reporter’s question. “You’d have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is a [inappropriate] festival… how many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that?”
Art Groups Scrambling
Now, hundreds of art groups across the state are on the clock to try to figure out a way to maintain their programs and projects after the sudden funding shortfall.
“It’s the first time anyone can remember that there was no money for arts organizations in Florida’s state budget,” said Wilkine Brutus of NPR.
Catching Everyone Off Guard
Phillip Dunlap, Broward County’s director of Cultural Affairs, expressed the shock the art community had experienced given that the funding had already been previously approved.
“It did catch everybody off guard because this is quite unprecedented,” said Dunlap. “What people didn’t count on is that the governor would veto the already-approved appropriations.”
Economic Impact
Dunlap, also published an open letter criticizing the cuts, noting millions of dollars in the local economy that was now at risk.
“This funding supports jobs, programming, tourism and contributes to a $386 million economic impact in Broward County,” Dunlap wrote.
Devastating to South Florida Community
Marjorie Waldo, the president and CEO of Delray’s Arts Garage noted that their organization faced a 5% budget reduction because of the grant veto.
“The impact of Governor DeSantis’ veto of arts and culture line items in his budget is devastating to South Florida. We all work all the time so hard to stretch every dollar we can,” said Waldo. “It is a five percent urgent cut — that is a significant cut.”
Limiting the Arts
Waldo felt that people and programs would now be on the chopping block, and that it would affect other considerations like tourism dollars.
“You are limiting our ability to provide a lot of the programming that is not only wonderful for our local communities but for the state because it drives tourism to our locations,” said Waldo. “The budget cuts in the state of Florida through Governor Desantis’ veto affect Arts Garage deeply. Looking at cutting programs and people —that is the only thing that can be cut. There is nothing left to do.”
Programming Affected
Waldo asserted that under the new budget pressure, everything the organization does will have to be re-examined.
“It’s going to potentially impact the quality of our programming. It’s going to impact the quantity of our programming,” said Waldo. “We gave out over a thousand free tickets in the last year. We’ll have to look at every dollar differently as a result of this.”
Fall From Grace
According to the Broward Cultural Division, the arts agency for Broward County, Florida, the state ranked third in the nation for arts funding less than a decade ago.
It has since fallen to the “middle of the pack” and the new 2025 budget puts it “squarely at the bottom.”
Not Easy To Account For
Executive Director of the Symphony of the Americas Steven Haines says the organization is now going to experience a $100,000 shortfall due to the cuts.
“It is very difficult to ‘make up’ this level of funding from one source. Period. Arts organization have few options to substitute this level of funding loss … Symphony of the Americas has been driving a three-year growth trend, with significant increases in concert attendance and fundraising. The state just forced us into a position of deficit fundraising,” Haines said.
LGBT Groups Affected
LGBT-specific groups like Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida will also be significantly impacted from the lack of grant funding.
“It is extremely difficult to run a non-profit organization when your income streams are volatile. Our programming for the year is in place. Halls are rented. Artists are contracted … now, we now have to identify new funding sources or begin to make cuts that will impact the artistry that we put on stage,” said Mark Kent, executive director of the chorus.
How Much Money Does Arts in Florida Generate?
An NPR report citing an analysis by the state of Florida found that arts and cultural organizations generate $6 billion a year in economic activity for the state.
According to National Endowment for the Arts, in 2022 Florida employed over 268,000 arts and cultural workers, who earned wages and benefits that added up to over $22.5 billion.
