Save the Arts in PA

From the Morning Times.

By WARREN HOWELER
Times Editor

SAYRE — Motorists who travel by the Sayre Theatre Wednesday will notice something different — a black drop-cloth covering the marquee.

The action that will soon be taken by the Sayre Theatre and the other theaters managed by the Bradford County Regional Arts Council will be repeated by facilities across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania that specialize in the arts — such as libraries and museums — in recognition of “Artless Wednesday.”

The black drop-cloths will cover theater marquees and other such art-related symbols is part of a state-wide protest of the budget proposals being thrown around in Harrisburg that either eliminate all funding for the arts for the 2009-2010 fiscal year or cut it by two-thirds, according to Sayre Theatre Manager Marjorie Ross.

For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the total state budget for the arts in Pennsylvania was $15 million. In his proposal for the current fiscal year, Gov. Ed Rendell proposed a $1 million cut in funding.

However, Senate Bill 850 — which was the Senate Republican’s response to Rendell’s budget — eliminate all funding for the arts from the state budget, said BCRAC Executive Director Brooks Eldredge-Martin.

Senate Bill 850 was later defeated in the state House of Representatives and Pennsylvania still has no budget in place for this fiscal year, which began on July 1.

In the meantime, Senate Republicans have proposed an alternative figure for arts funding for the current fiscal year — $5 million, said Eldredge-Martin.

Wednesday’s visual protest is aimed at showing people within the state what it would be like to have one day without the arts, said Ross.

“So you might go into a museum in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and their statues will be shrouded,” she said. “At theaters like ours, our marquees will be covered in black.”

“We’re just trying to say ‘save the arts in Pennsylvania,’” Ross stated.

There is an expectation that some funding will cut from the arts budget for this fiscal year, said Ross.

“But to give us a big fat zero is a shame,” she said.

Ross noted that some of the initiatives offered by the Bradford County Regional Arts Council that could be loss through the elimination of the state’s arts funding include the artist-in-residency program and the arts programs that are presented at the theater for school-age children.

“All these things will be gone,” she said.

Ross also stated that it costs every taxpayer in the state of Pennsylvania $2.50 a year to support the arts.

Ross encourages anyone who is concerned about this issue to contact their local state representatives.