States slice funding for arts as feds raise endowments slightly

WASHINGTON -- Cash-strapped state governments have slashed funding for theaters, museums and performance groups by nearly one quarter, while federal spending on the arts has edged up slightly.

Congress increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to $122.5 million, up from $115.7 million, for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

At the same time, however, state arts spending plummeted from $354.5 million to $272.4 million, a drop of 23 percent.

In some states the decline was even more precipitous: California cut spending by 90 percent and Missouri eliminated appropriations for the arts.

The $122.5 million NEA appropriation is the largest for the agency since 1995, when it came under attack in Congress for supporting what critics said was obscene art. The appropriation was slashed from $162.3 million for 1995 to $99.5 million for 1996.

Contributions from state governments have fallen from a peak of $446.8 million in 2001, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

"We know that when funding is cut, arts organizations lose jobs that directly reduce their capacity to create, which in turn affects their bottom line," Jonathan Katz, the assembly's chief executive, said in a statement.

Three states showed the biggest declines, the organization reported. California, normally one of the biggest contributors to the arts, dropped its spending from $20.3 million in 2003 to $1.9 million for 2004. Michigan's arts budget was cut nearly in half, from $22.5 million to $11.8 million. Florida, in 2003 the biggest spender on the arts after New York, went down from $30 million to $6.7 million.

New York's spending dropped from $51.5 million to $44.7 million, but it remains at the top of the list of states.

Missouri made no appropriation at all for 2004, but authorized spending $3.5 million from a state-funded cultural endowment.

The NEA's twin organization, the National Endowment for the Humanities, supports scholarly undertakings, such as the collection of President Madison's papers, and organizes courses for teachers on cultural subjects like English and history. Its appropriation has been rising slowly in the new century and reached $136.1 million for 2004.

This year's money for the NEH includes $9.9 million for a new program called "We the People," focusing on American history and culture.

Sums contributed to the arts by local communities, corporations and individuals are much larger than government appropriations. Unofficial estimates for these sums often lump together money for the arts and for the humanities.