Newly elected Gov. Matt Bevin is set to unveil his two-year budget proposal Tuesday evening, and some in the arts community aren’t waiting to hear specifics before rallying the troops.
Bevin will unveil his proposal in Frankfort before a joint session of the General Assembly, outlining his plans for spending.
But it’s what the new governor might seek to cut that has captured much of the attention in the lead-up to his address. Bevin has already declared his plans to do away with Kynect, the state’s health care exchange enacted under his predecessor, former Gov. Steve Beshear.
Recent speculation has swirled around funding — or likelihood of deep cuts — to the Kentucky Arts Council, the 50-year-old state agency charged with fostering the arts in the commonwealth.
The worries are such that Nan Plummer, the CEO and president of LexArts, sent an emailed plea to supporters and called for an “emergency state-of-the-arts meeting” for Wednesday evening at ArtsPlace in downtown Lexington.
“This is an extreme and counterproductive strike at an industry that is vitally important to Kentucky,” Plummer’s email reads, citing unnamed sources concerning the governor’s budget plans. “The direct employment in Kentucky's creative industries, according to the recent Creative Industries report, is about 60,000, more than aircraft and auto manufacturing, and on par with information technologies and communications, as well as with transportation, distribution and logistics.”
The Kentucky Arts Council is part of the state Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and promotes arts statewide through a variety of grants, programs and services. In addition to state funding, the council receives funding from the federal National Endowment for the Arts.
Plummer’s email goes on to say deep cuts from the state would also imperil the NEA funding.
KAC grants go to a variety of Lexington’s artists and organizations. Among those receiving some of the larger grants in fiscal 2016 are Lexington Children’s Theatre ($30,682), Lexington Philharmonic ($25,809), LexArts ($20,200), Living Arts & Science Center ($16,675), Explorium of Lexington ($14,336), Headley-Whitney Museum ($12,142) and Lexington Art League ($10,700).