Cultural affairs, tourism officials to discuss consolidation

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

So says Susan Boskoff, executive director of the Nevada Arts Council.

Gov. Brian Sandoval's proposed budget, and accompanying consolidation plans, call for the elimination of Nevada's Department of Cultural Affairs, which would make the arts council part of the state's Commission on Tourism.

Boskoff plans to meet with tourism staffers early next week to discuss the proposed changes -- and inevitable budget cuts to follow.

Once she talks with tourism officials, and once the collective "creative juices" begin to flow, "I think something positive and very robust will come out of it," she said.

And while "there are no easy answers to the questions being asked," Boskoff said, "we're pleased the governor has kept the arts council alive" in his proposed budget.

That's more than some other governors have done, she noted, citing Arizona, Kansas and Washington as three states where arts funding has been targeted for elimination.

"You can see where I'm looking on the bright side," Boskoff said. "To me, this is the bright side."

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, for example, the Nevada Arts Council received $1.1 million from Nevada's general fund -- a 43 percent cut from the prior year, which was partially offset by $300,000 in one-time federal stimulus funds.

"We feel very responsible for using state funds and investing in local arts," Boskoff said. "We think of it as little stimulus funds."

With a mandated 10 percent budget cut this fiscal year, however, the arts council will "have to look very seriously" at additional reductions in grants, she acknowledged.

"They're not huge dollars, but very important dollars" to Southern Nevada arts, and arts groups, explained Candy Schneider, vice president of education and outreach for the Smith Center, Las Vegas' new downtown performing arts center, which is scheduled to open next year. "Once you receive a grant from the Nevada Arts Council, it's the Good Housekeeping seal."

Nevada Ballet Theatre, for example, currently receives an annual grant of $10,000, according to Beth Barbre , executive director and chief executive officer.

"It is a small amount but has great impact in our community," Barbre said in a written statement. "For every dollar that the NAC invests in us, we raise hundreds of dollars from private donors."

And while it's too soon to gauge the impact of the proposed changes and budget cuts, "everyone's going to have to tighten their belts yet again," said Nancy Deaner, manager of Las Vegas' Office of Cultural Affairs. (Deaner also serves as president of the Neon Museum's board of trustees.)

Overall, the Nevada Arts Council "is an integral component for the cultural health" of Las Vegas, Deaner said.

For the current fiscal year, for example, Deaner's office received a $9,968 Partners in Excellence Grant from the arts council; other local institutions awarded Partners in Excellence grants ranged from Boulder City's Dam Short Film Society ($3,986) and Las Vegas Little Theatre ($3,371) to the Henderson Cultural Arts Section ($8,039), Lied Discovery Children's Museum ($8,941) and the Las Vegas Philharmonic ($10,276).

"We've been very grateful recipients of Nevada Arts Council funding for many, many years," said Florence Rogers, president and general manager of Nevada Public Radio, which operates KNPR-FM, 88.9 and KCNV-FM, 89.7. "Any reduction of funding is going to have an impact on the quality of what we can deliver to the community."

Nevada Public Radio received a $10,071 Partners in Excellence grant for the current fiscal year. The arts council funding "represents a fantastic value for the citizens of Nevada," Rogers said, citing 60,000 weekly listeners who tune in Nevada Public Radio's classical station, KCNV-FM, 89.7, who would "fill the Smith Center several times over."

Potential cuts to state arts funding represent "kind of a double-whammy for arts organizations, some of whom are just hanging on by their fingernails," said Dick McGee, chairman of the College of Southern Nevada's fine arts department and music director of the Nevada Pops. "Unfortunately, this is happening now when we are also suffering through lower donations -- both corporate and individual."

Funding cuts also could hamper Nevada's quest for economic diversity, arts advocates suggested.

"Any proposal to go away from investing in arts and culture seems to me counter to what so many people have said we want to aspire to in Nevada," Rogers argued.

"As Gov. Sandoval and the Legislature struggle with many difficult financial choices in this budget cycle, we hope they will keep in mind how efficient and effective their investment in the arts can be," Barbre said in her written statement.

Through performances, public school programs and the NBT academy, "we touch tens of thousands of people in Southern Nevada," she said, "giving them things they can't get from any government program: beauty, inspiration and hope for a brighter future."

As for the future of the arts in Southern Nevada, "it's scary," McGee said.

But, "at the end of the day, the local arts community is a tight-knit group," Deaner said. "We're all in the bunker together."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.