Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis scalped over $32 million in arts and culture grants budgeted by the legislature from the Florida budget. He vetoed virtually ALL state funding for arts and culture programs and organizations, large and small, from the Florida Aquarium and Tampa Museum of Art to a Black History Museum, to children’s orchestra programs, and community opera and theater programs, to name a few. This is the first time that all arts and culture funding was cut from the budget. Why did he do it? DeSantis explained, “You have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is like a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff, and it’s like, how many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that?”
On Wednesday, July 3, MidPoint was joined by representatives from some of the smaller local cultural institutions that will feel the pain of these cuts most acutely. Trish Perry, Producer of the Tampa Fringe Festival, which was name-checked by DeSantis as an example of what he believed was a “sexual festival” unworthy of state funding, joined us to explain what “Fringe” actually was. Karla Hartley, Producing Artistic Director of Stageworks Theater in Channelside also joined us to talk about the pressure on these and other smaller organizations with limited donor pools to make up for the loss of funding. Matt Newton, attorney, and arts advocate, commented on the economic impact of the arts and the importance of a robust and vibrant arts and cultural community to our quality of life and to attract corporate relocations to Florida.
The complete show is available for listening on demand here, on the WMNF app, or as a WMNF MidPoint podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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