Late budget postpones Governor’s Awards for the Arts
From the York Daily Record…
Late budget postpones Governor’s Awards for the Arts
The ceremony, which was scheduled for Oct. 1 in York, will be held in the spring due to the state budget impasse.
By ERIN McCRACKEN
The Governor’s Awards for the Arts is the latest victim of the late Pennsylvania budget.The ceremony, which was scheduled for Oct. 1 in York, has been postponed until spring, said Philip Horn, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
“The state budget situation is a big reason (for the decision),” he said. He added that funding for the event isn’t coming into the council because of the budget stall.
Since Judge Marjorie Rendell announced in April that York would host the 2009 awards, the council and the Cultural Alliance of York County started planning the event together.
But this summer, the council’s energy was focused elsewhere, Horn said.
The Pennsylvania budget, which was due July 1, still hasn’t passed because of disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on how to cover a $3 billion shortfall in revenue.
In July, the House Appropriations Committee sent bill 850 – the Senate Republicans’ version of the state budget – to the House floor for debate. The bill included no funding for the arts and eliminated the council, the state’s arts funding mechanism. On July 14, hundreds of arts supporters from around the state, including representatives from York art organizations, gathered in Harrisburg to protest bill 850.
The Cultural Alliance continued efforts to prepare for the fall ceremony at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York. It helped organize an impromptu street dance Friday in downtown York to promote the arts awards.
But Oct. 1 was rapidly approaching, and the council was still focused on the budget situation.
“It was a matter of having enough time to pull (the ceremony) together they way it should be presented,” Horn said.
So on Wednesday, the council decided to push the awards back.
Cultural Alliance president Joanne Riley said her organization respects how much energy the council has been devoting to budget issues. But said she hopes that the budget situation will be resolved so that the council can focus on the spring ceremony.
“Nothing has changed but the date (of the awards),” she said. The event will be promoted at Yorkfest Fine Arts Festival, which kicks off Aug. 29, she added.
Even though Riley said she’s disappointed that the awards were rescheduled, she said the later date will give York more time to promote its cultural sector.
The Dance Party
An “impromptu” dance party in the middle of Market and George streets in downtown York was staged Friday to promote the York-hosted 2009 Governor’s Awards for the Arts.
The awards had been scheduled for Oct. 1 but have now been pushed back to the spring of next year.
A video of the dancing.
