LEXINGTON, KY - Classical music, childrens' theater and support for local visual artists are among the big winners in LexArts' allocations of funding for the 2009-2010 budget year. Local theater was not so fortunate and, as a result may now be struggling to continue.
Recipient organizations announced in a Lexarts press release include the Lexington Philharmonic - $165,000; Lexington Children's Theatre - $120,000; Living Arts & Science Center - $101,250; Lexington Art League - $62,000; Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras - $20,000.
Conspicuously absent from that lineup is the Actors Guild of Lexington (AGL) which received $72,500 --15 percent of its budget-- for FY 2008-2009. AGL will not receive LexArts funding in the coming fiscal year, according to the arts organization.
"We were faced with a very difficult situation," said LexArts president and CEO Jim Clark. "In this economic climate, after a four year effort of working with Actors Guild to help them develop a sustainable organization it became clear to our allocations committee, in the information that was supplied to us that the situation had grown untenable in terms of our ability to continue to support them. The committee really labored over this and this would be the fourth year in a row that they've labored over this and felt that as stewards of public and private money that it was time to make this decision."
"The review panel holds each organization accountable to the priorities set the year before with a particular eye to management of the organization, diversity, community outreach and artistic quality," said Barbara Edelman, LexArts Board Member and Chair of the Allocations Committee in a statement that did not mention AGL."I was impressed by how the five organizations that received allocations have distinguished themselves through sound management and planning."
Funding for organizations that were allocated money for the coming year was raised by the 2009 Campaign for the Arts. Lexarts board members speaking off-record said each of those organizations made "stellar" presentations on behalf of their missions while AGL had failed to submit a formal application.
Major support for LexArts programs and services is provided by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports LexArts with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In a statement, The AGL executive committee said it "will submit a comprehensive letter to LexArts addressing the decision to discontinue funding AGL, as well as the inaccurate statements made to board members and the media. We will make our letter public after LexArts board members have had an opportunity to read it."