Letter to Kansas Secretary of Commerce

To Secretary of Commerce Pat George,

I write this out of frustration and concern. Artists, arts advocates, and legislators fought a difficult battle to have public funding for the arts reinstated this past term, and now it appears that the Department of Commerce cannot or will not account for how those funds have been or will be used.

As an artist, teacher, and taxpayer, I demand that the Department of Commerce account for the $700,000 appropriated for the Kansas Creative Industries Commission. Allowing that a small portion may be used for administration, the majority of these funds must be distributed to non-profit arts agencies across the state. Funding Kansas cultural and creative endeavors is the purpose of these funds, and it is needed desperately.

Art, in all its forms, contains, and is the catalyst for, the stories of our heritage and dreams for a better tomorrow. Stifling the Arts means stifling the song, the poem, and the dance of Kansas. We are better than that. We have $700,000 in the bank to help encourage, inspire and support our creative spirit. Please, make those funds available to non-profit arts agencies now.

Sincerely,
Dave Loewenstein, Lawrence

Arts Commission faces tough questions

Today in Topeka, members of the newly formed Arts Commission were asked about how the $700,000 in state arts funding for this fiscal year was being used. Their answers were less than encouraging. Read the Wichita Eagle article here.

http://www.kansas.com/2012/09/25/2503743/new-kansas-arts-commission-plans.html#storylink=cpy

Kansas Arts Funding in Jeopardy

Artists, Educators, Arts Advocates, and Arts Administrators, 

The future of public support for the arts in Kansas is in jeopardy. Your action is needed now.

In order for Kansas to receive funding in FY14 (July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014) from the National Endowment for the Arts and Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Dept. of Commerce must submit an partnership application to the NEA by October 1st. If they do not, Kansas will not be eligible for this funding until FY15 at the earliest. We must demand that Secretary of Commerce, Pat George, submit this application by October 1st.

There is a second problem. Although the legislature appropriated $700,000, there has been no plan given or public accounting for how these funds have been or will be used. We must demand an accounting for these funds and insure that a large portion is going to non-profit arts programs around the state. If these newly appropriated funds are not used for arts programs, the governor and others may cite this inaction as cause to move the funds to another agency and kill the possibility of renewing public support for the arts in the foreseeable future.


Please contact Secretary of Commerce, Pat George, immediately and urge him to:


1) Submit the partnership application to the NEA by October 1st.


2) Account for the $700,000 appropriated by the legislature for the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission in the current fiscal year. Demand that it be used for non-profit arts programs.


Secretary of Commerce Pat George

email -

pgeorge@kansascommerce.com

phone - (785) 296-3481
 

Kansas Department of Commerce

1000 S.W. Jackson St.
Suite 100
Topeka, KS 66612

"Art Lives" Exhibition in Wichita

"Art Lives" A collaborative exhibit sponsored by the Feminist Art Project

CityArts  http://wichitaarts.com/Exhibitions/
Wichita, Kansas
Opening Friday, March 30th 5:30 - 9pm
March 29-April 21

Collaborative piece by Lora Jost and Erika Nelson

About the show:During the past year, artists, arts educators, galleries, museums, and other arts organizations in Kansas have sustained serious, sometimes fatal, blows. And yet, art is still alive! Kansas artists and arts advocates have rallied in unprecedented force to campaign for the importance of art and funding for art.
This inaugural exhibition of the Kansas Chapter of The Feminist Art Project, staged one year after the state budget cuts, connects artists across the state in a collaborative endeavor as we seek to move forward despite constraints. Artists have been paired with colleagues across the state, enlarging each artist’s community and strengthening the Kansas arts network. The two dozen participating artists contribute artworks created independently and in collaboration with their artist-partners. Each artist addresses the theme of Art Lives! and offers serious reflections on the state of the arts in Kansas. In a time of economic crisis when funding for the arts is one of the first things to go, collaboration may be one of our best tools for survival.
 ~ Rachel Epp Buller
Coordinator of The Feminist Art Project, Kansas

Reject Brownback

Capitol Police Break Up Art Resurrection

Artists upset with Gov. Brownback's line item veto of funding for the Kansas Arts Commission, gathered at the Capitol this afternoon. Capitol police soon intervened, but not before an impromptu Art Resurrection was performed. The group handed out a flyer (text below) to explain their purpose. On the reverse of the flyer was a take-off on a popular iPod advertisement with John Brown holding a fiddle and paint brushed under the text iSupport the Kansas Arts Commission.

You’ve heard the story-

The B-back disparaged me and called me names,

said I was unimportant.

He tried to abolish me, but was turned back by his own

party in an embarrassing defeat.

He fired my allies and stripped me of my supplies, but the

People would not be silenced and soon my name and modest

budget were reinstated.

So then, in a desperate and cowardly last ditch effort and

Hiding behind a long weekend, he tried to kill me once and

for all with a line-item veto.

He probably thought that would be the end, but we know

better, Governor…

You can’t kill Art.

Art lives! And will be here long after we sign your pink

slip to talking-headland.

John Brown Supports the KAC