Dismal picture painted over arts funding

Stephen Curran

Friday, Sept. 6, 2002 | 5:19 a.m.

Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m., Old Logandale School Historic & Cultural Society, 3011 N. Moapa Valley Blvd., Logandale. Host: Moapa Valley Arts Council

Oct. 26, 6 p.m., Mesquite City Hall, 10 E. Mesquite Blvd. Host: Mesquite Arts Council

Oct. 30, 5 p.m., Winchester Community Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive. Hosts Clark County Cultural Affairs and Las Vegas Cultural Affairs

When the economy heads south, it's no secret that consumer spending usually goes right along with it.

Making the car run a little longer or waiting another year to take that big vacation becomes a fact of life.

But it isn't just the family next door that has faced the tough choices -- governments are too, and arts-related programs are often first on the chopping block.

With that in mind the Nevada Arts Council has planned a series of meetings statewide during September and October to elicit opinions on how to spend the scarce resources, said Robin Hodgkin, community arts development coordinator for the council.

The meetings will begin Sept. 19 in Reno and will arrive in Southern Nevada in late October.

The council last held such meetings in 1996. This time participants will be able to complete a public comment survey online, allowing those who can't make the meetings to make their feelings known, Hodgkin said.

"It'll help me really get a better view and to help me get to know the constituency," Hodgkin said.

The meetings are the latest step in the council's Nevada Cultural Blueprint, which was established after the last series of public meetings in 1996. The strategic plan was set to investigate the cultural needs of Nevada's communities, evaluate the council's role as a state agency and address the future of the arts in the state.

In the last survey participants outlined five critical issues for the council to address -- arts awareness, encouraging artists to live and work in Nevada, arts education, arts funding and services to the arts. The upcoming survey uses those issues as a launching point to see what issues concern residents now, Hodgkin said.

"The whole process is to update what the citizens are interested in," Hodgkin said. "Obviously so much has changed in the world."

Hodgkin estimates that reduced government spending in the arts will be a key topic at the meetings. States nationwide have been forced to make cutbacks to already lean budgets for the arts.

While she said cutbacks are in store for Nevada, she could not specify the exact amount. Gov. Kenny Guinn has ordered all state agencies to come up with a 3 percent cut for the current fiscal year.

And, as government spending goes, so goes personal spending, she said. Large donations have also decreased significantly.

"People's giving patterns and even foundations have changed, let alone what members can afford," Hodgkin said. "That's my personal experience, too. I was a season ticket holder at the San Francisco Opera and I know my contributions have changed."

"The real key is learning to make the most of what you have."

Surveys are available online (NevadaCulture.org). For more information on upcoming meetings, call the Nevada Arts Council at (775) 687-6680. Surveys should be mailed to the Nevada Arts Council by Nov. 1.