If the Kansas Legislature adopts the state budget approved by the Kansas Senate, funding to the Kansas Arts Commission will be eliminated.
The Kansas Arts Commission provides funding for artists, music, murals and other art-driven projects throughout the state of Kansas.
Without state appropriations, the arts community also loses out on matching funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Senate proposed 3% cuts to many agencies, but entirely eliminates the $1 million in funding to the Kansas Arts Commission, despite Kansas' art sector drawing in $4.6 billion to the state's economy.
"In smaller towns and smaller communities, this is often the only funding that arts and culture organizations and individual artists have access to," said Dana Knapp, president and CEO of ArtsKC. "It will be devastating to those communities."
Johnson County awarded nearly $145,000 in grant funding during the last cycle, according to Sarah VanLanduyt, executive director of the Arts Council of Johnson County and a member of the Kansas Arts Commission.
Metropolitan areas have easier access to private funding, but losing state and federal dollars is still likely to cause a reduction in offerings and participation in arts.
"I would suspect that we would probably see budgets tighten a little bit," VanLanduyt told KCUR's Up To Date. "Maybe programs would be discontinued. You know, it would have a significant impact."
- Dana Knapp, president and CEO, ArtsKC
- Sarah VanLanduyt, executive director of Arts Council of Johnson County and member of the Kansas Arts Commission
