This week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a state budget item totaling millions of dollars that funded art. The state as a whole, including the Capital City, is feeling the effects.
Twenty-three local organizations are affected, according to the Council on Culture and Arts, or COCA, in Tallahassee. They were denied $907,859 in state money altogether. LeMoyne Arts is one of the groups.
“We will have to increase our fundraising efforts and tighten our belts–tighten on the expense side and look for more ways to bring in income,” LeMoyne Arts Executive Director Arielle Raff stated.
According to Raff, LeMoyne Arts is going through a tough moment because of the budgetary strain that growing expenses are already causing.
According to Raff, LeMoyne Arts’s commercial property insurance nearly increased this year, which made the situation worse. They’re determined to persevere, though.
“Lemoyne is going to continue no matter what,” Raff stated. “If we have to reduce the programming that we offer, or if we have to change how we offer it—we will look at all of those ways of making it work.”
Deanne and Robert Pool, art enthusiasts, visited LeMoyne Arts on Friday afternoon to view the current exhibition, “From Grief to Grace.”
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“It’s one of those things that enriches your life,” Robert stated. “Art makes you see the world in a different way. It expands your mind. It expands your heart and your soul. By supporting art, you’re actually developing a community in a way that I would like to see it develop, where people have a broader understanding of the world.”
Deanne and Robert expressed their disappointment upon learning that state support for artistic initiatives has been reduced.
“It just makes me angry,” Deanne stated. “I hate that they don’t understand the importance of it.”
According to COCA’s grants manager, Summer Callahan, state funding for local arts organizations is usually provided annually.
She claimed that she never would have considered cutting it before this year. She is being forced, along with others, to pose challenging queries.
