Kansas might be the state that has the biggest ball of twine, but it recently gained another distinction: Kansas is now the only state without any government funding for the arts.
Governor Sam Brownback won a six-month-long battle with the legislature this summer and abolished the Kansas Arts Commission. The justification for his line-item veto: saving taxpayers money by cutting back on unnecessary government expenditures in the 2012 state budget. Instead, Governor Brownback created the Kansas Arts Foundation—a privately funded substitute.
“The governor campaigned last fall on returning the state to core responsibilities such as education and public safety,” said Sherriene Jones-Sontag, a spokeswoman for Mr. Brownback in a New York Times article by Robin Pogrebin. “He believes that the arts should be privately funded.”
The question remains if a private organization will be able to fund Kansas arts. "For every dollar the state contributes to us, the federal government contributes a dollar through the National Endowment for the Arts," as told to Pitch Magazine by Henry Schwaller, chairman of the former Kansas Arts commission. The Mid-America Arts Alliance provided about $400,000 annually, but money from both MAAA and NEA is contingent upon state funds and neither recognizes private arts groups. Without a state commission, Kansas loses out on $1.2 million.
Brownback’s decision has left many Kansans at a loss in more than the fiscal sense. For some, it comes down to the issue of free speech. “The problem with private funding is that donations can come with stipulations,” said University of Kansas student Alex Haslett. But that’s not his only concern. Haslett studies film and theatre at KU and would like to eventually come back to Kansas to start his own regional theater. Without support from the state, he’s not sure if that will be a viable option; he thinks this situation will limit the number of artists who want live in Kansas and any benefits that would come with their presence.
It’s the youths who will be missing out the most according to Juan Gutierrez, psychology major at the University of Kansas. “Arts are important to develop your mind and express yourself. They breed creativity and freethinking so it’s the future that will be hurt,” said Gutierrez. He has another worry on his mind as well: “Without a good arts program we’re going to have a lot more Justin Bieber music and Transformers movies.”
What about other states? Francis Crow, who takes classes at the Lawrence Arts Center, is a fresh transplant from Missouri. He says Missouri is in more of a financial bind than Kansas so he doesn’t understand why Kansas has eliminated the arts commission. Crow said attending a publically funded art high school in Missouri (Paseo Academy) gave him direction and confidence. “The reward is infinite—whatever this risk is, it’s worth it,” said Crow.
For Lawrence resident, Bob Leffler, the arts are an integral part in Kansas’s culture and important to his quality of life. Because the arts commission is out of commission, he’s afraid that people will come to think of Kansans as “a misbegotten bunch of stupid pig-raisers who have no need of culture or the benefits it brings. This is no longer Kansas. This is Brownbakistan.”