Greetings! 

It is an interesting time for the arts field nationally. As our sector produces more and more data that shows how the arts creates jobs, creates neighborhood, revitalizes redevelopment areas, stimulates the economy, generates tax revenues, reaches out to youth and disadvantaged groups in our society, and raises the very quality of our individual and collective lives, there is an equal but opposite decline in public funding for the arts.

We have grassroots efforts by caring individuals to thank for continued, though reduced, funding. I am happy to report that as of June 29th, the South Carolina House of Representatives, by a vote of 108 to 5, followed by the Senate with a vote of 32 to 6, overrode Governor Haley's veto of the South Carolina Arts Commission's budget. While this isn't a new event in South Carolina, given the veto of the Kansas Arts Commission's budget, it did take on added importance. Please see this article on Americans for the Arts' ARTSblog for more information.

SMAC is going through the difficult time of reductions and the reverberating impact on our artists and arts groups. We are also excited by the opportunities that dramatic change creates. This new fiscal year, which started July 1st, is one of deep change as we at SMAC embark on reinventing how we achieve our mission.

Here are two of the most recent articles by Sacramento Press and Sacramento Examiner on SMAC's funding situation.

Regards,

Rhyena Halpern, Executive Director

Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission