Kansas Arts Funding Iffy

The state fell about $250,000 short of the minimum needed to receive federal matching funds from the NEA, according to Peter Jasso, executive director of the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission.

The state allocated only $191,000 in arts funding for this fiscal year. Losing more than $400,000 in federal matching dollars will limit the amount of grants the commission can award this year, Jasso said.

However, it won’t prevent Kansas artists from applying for national grants on their own. The state actually has until January to get the federal dollars if it can meet the NEA’s minimum. Meanwhile, the loss of NEA funding has triggered the loss of other funding, too, bringing the total loss for Kansas art programs to around $800,000.

The Mid-America Arts Alliance, which provided about $370,000 in programs and services across the state last fiscal year, announced it would suspend Kansas’ membership from the regional arts organization earlier this month. “As in all sectors of the Kansas economy, Governor Brownback is focused on fostering economic growth and job creation within the creative community,” Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said.

“While it is disappointing that the Mid-America Arts Alliance is choosing not to join that mission, the Creative Arts Industries Commission will continue its work to promote, support, and expand creative arts industries in Kansas.”

This isn’t the first time the NEA and Mid-America have suspended funding for Kansas. The state saw its arts funding suspended from both for two years after Gov. Sam Brownback defunded the Kansas Arts Commission in June 2011.