Kansas Arts Groups Still Waiting for State Funding

I attended the Kansas Citizens for the Arts Legislative Breakfast in Topeka on Wednesday where I was pleased to see that the arts continue to have support in the Legislature.

Legislators I spoke to including Vern Swanson, whose district covers the northwest part of Geary County, were surprised about the turn of events for the state dollars that were dedicated to the arts last year. After having received support from the Kansas Arts Communities for the creation of the Creative Industries Commission, Gov. Brownback allocated $700,000 to that new commission with the promise of three full-time employees.

We should be happy to know that now, eight months after the commission was formed, the have their first meeting scheduled. I hope in that meeting we can find out what happened to the $700,000 that was allocated and when they plan to hire the three employees.

Unfortunately, even I, the eternal optimist, have serious doubts that anything productive will come from the Creative Industries Commission. I base that on the fact that the state arts plan does not address the needs of artists or non-profits, both of which are required for the Federal matching dollars. Kansas lost more than $1 million when the Gov. line-item vetoed funding for the arts in 2011. A move made, despite strong bipartisan support for arts funding.

With $700,000 not being spent on the arts, an arts plan that doesn’t address the arts, and a governor who refuses to acknowledge the need for the arts in order to become an economically viable state, I guess we continue the fight for another year.

Upcoming activities

Closer to home, there’s work to be done. We continue with our regular classes; Tuesdays, Japanese Calligraphy; Wednesdays, preschoolers at noon, and painting at 6 p.m.; Thursdays, drawing techniques; Saturdays, elementary art.

Additionally we are planning a Valentine Art Night, this is in place of our normally scheduled Tipsy Easel class on the first Wednesday of the month.

Later in the month we are having a Murder Mystery Dinner;  Eat Drink and be Murdered will be on Feb. 16 and the cost is $25 per person.

For information or to register for any of our classes or events please visit the web site at www.junctioncityac.org.

Dick Blick Wish List

Last week I mentioned our first-time use of the Art Room Aid program the Dick Blick art supply company offers. After one of our local donors to the program experienced difficulty with the site, Dick Blick very generously made amends by completing the project.

The donated to JC Arts more than $600 worth of art supplies so that our Saturday Elementary Art Class will be able to work with quality canvas, paints and brushes.

Our Mission Statement - What does it mean

Several years ago the JC Arts board reworked a cumbersome mission statement that no one could recite much less explain what it meant. That board spent a lot of time discussing every single word that went into it and those that were taken out.

That group of board members did a really job, I know that because while so many organizations struggle over their mission statement, many to the point that they just ignore it, ours remains relevant and a solid basis to what we do.

Cultivating the Arts and Encouraging Creativity; it seems simple enough but what does it really mean?

Cultivating the Arts—This means that we promote and host activities and events that bring arts alive in the community. The arts are a proven economic driver and communities that support the arts benefit intrinsically and directly.

Cultivating the Arts also means that we assist those who can succeed in the growing Creative Industry employment sector. We do this through the promotion of artists, and assist those on a path to a creative career.

Encourage Creativity—The Creative Industry has, for several years, been the number one industry for employment growth.

We also know that creativity is frequently mentioned as the number one trait that business and industry say is lacking in prospective employees. When we stifle creativity, it is not just the individual who loses.

When we encourage creativity, we are encouraging a generation who will succeed because they have experienced what’s necessary to succeed in a workforce that is becoming more and more reliant on those who have a firm grasp of their own creativity, who are not afraid to express themselves, and who have learned to think creatively to solve problems.

Wish List

Dick Blick, one of the country’s leading suppliers of art supplies has a great program called Art Room Aid. This program allows art organizations to create an on-line wish list of supplies for projects.

Following more than a year of success with the wish list that runs frequently in this column I signed on and listed out the materials we need to expand our Saturday Elementary Art Class. Please take a look and see how you can help.

Please visit http://www.dickblick.com/artroomaid/ where you’ll find our wish list. Most of the items on the list range in price from $2.70 to $13.65 people may donate one item or everything on the list.

How will the Fiscal cliff affect JC Arts

Non-profit organizations have been working overtime the past several months to impress on our elected officials the importance of not messing with the charitable contributions tax exemptions.

Although the exemption remained, it did not do so without some changes. Legislation passed by the House and Senate will limit the amount wealthy people can claim for charitable deductions on their taxes.

While it would be nice to think that people make contributions to non-profits because they know the importance of the work the non-profits do and they want to support those good works, even my rose-colored glasses don’t have that dark of a shade of rose. We were reminded of that by the public comments of elected officials who came right out and said that since they won’t get as much of a tax deduction their contributions will be less in 2013.

The cap on charitable contributions only applies to individuals making $250,000 or more, or couples making $30,000 or more. But, according to Philanthropy News Digest, the new cap on tax deductions could potentially deter giving by anywhere from 0.4 percent to 2.3 percent –- up to $7 billion a year.

It reinstates a provision eliminated in 2010 that reduces itemized deductions by 3 percent of the amount that household income exceeds $300,000. Write-offs grow more limited the more taxable income a person has and could reduce the value of deductions by up to 80 percent for the highest-income taxpayers, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Giving has already been down in 2012 by individuals. Those who did give often ended up giving more, but the number of people giving was down.

Of course I have to look at how that affects us at JC Arts. While most of our donors are in the 98% who do not fall in that higher pay bracket, the damage is done when our elected officials put out such negative messages, such as they won’t give as much this year.

Although I don’t believe that most of our contributors give simply so they can get something back from the government, a negative connotation to giving is raised when our elected officials and some the 2% begin stating that they won’t give as much.

I’m not going to sit back and wring my hands over this; non-profits simply need to find new and creative ways to raise the necessary funds.

Welcome

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We invite you to be part of the larger conversation about the Arts, and the Arts as they pertain to Junction City and the region.
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