Please come to support the arts on Tuesday, April 28th - 7 pm at City
Hall on Dekoven Drive.
The more people that come out especially wearing red to show alliance
with the Arts - the better the chances for the survival of many of our
local arts organization, and for other artists as well. Those
supporting Oddfellows Playhouse will also be wearing red noses. Thanks
for your efforts, and even if you can't make it in person, a letter to
the Common Council WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT - and your good thoughts
will help too! Thank you!
The Mayor and the Common Council have some tough decisions to make in
deciding where our limited tax dollars and will be spent in these
economic times.
1) The Mayor has recommended cutting the Arts "support services"
budget line from $70,000 to $35,000. This is the line item for all
GRANTS to groups and individuals, matching funds, Oddfellows outreach,
North End Arts Rising and Challenge Grants to support events like
ARTFARM's Shakespeare in the Grove. In addition, the Mayor's budget
recommends that all grants must be matched 4:1. So a young artist
applying for a $500 grant would need to come up with $2000 additional
dollars. That's a tough challenge for an individual artist or a small
group.
2) For Kids Arts the Mayor's budget recommends tripling the current
fee and abolishing the sliding scale for low and medium income
families. This would effectively destroy programs like the Children's
Circus and NEAR's Summer Arts programs that have been a vital part of
the City's cultural life since the 1980's. Kids Arts exists in this
town -- and is a national model for town/non-profit partnership --
because it makes arts experiences available to all kids in the
community.
3) Community Cultural events line cut from $19,650 to $7,000 --
eliminating everything except Fireworks!
See the City Arts department online for more information.
If you can't make this meeting, your letters to the Common Council
members will help them know how many people believe that Middletown
Arts are important to the health and well being of our community. The
arts bring in many more dollars than they receive.
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