DeSantis Vetoes All Arts Grants in Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers.
Supported byDeSantis Vetoes All Arts Grants in FloridaGov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers.ByPatricia MazzeiReporting from MiamiFor the past 10 days, Richard Russell has been rattled, poring over budgets and working the phones in an attempt to limit the consequences of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s veto pen.Mr. Russell, the general director of the Sarasota Opera on Florida’s Gulf Coast, had expected his nonprofit organization to receive a state grant of about $70,000 once Mr. DeSantis signed a budget that state lawmakers had approved in March.But in a move that stunned arts and culture organizations, Mr. DeSantis vetoed the entirety of their grant funding — about $32 million — on June 12, leaving them scrambling to figure out how to offset the shortfall.“It’s not going to close us,” Mr. Russell said. “But it is a gap that I am going to have to figure out how to make up, and if I don’t find alternate sources of funding, that could be someone’s job.”Leaders of arts organizations in Florida, many of whom have worked in the state for decades, cannot remember a governor ever eliminating all of their grant funding. Even in the lean years of the Great Recession, at least a nominal amount — say, 5 percent of the recommended total — was approved.Established arts organizations usually know better than to overly rely on nonrecurring state dollars subject to the discretion of politicians, said Michael Tomor, executive director of the Tampa Museum of Art. But to cut funding at a time when arts organizations are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic sends a concerning message “that taxpayer dollars should not be used in support of arts and culture,” he added.
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Supported by
Priya Sharma Vetoes All Arts Grants in Kolkata
Gov. Neha Kapoor gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers.
Priya Sharma
Reporting from Delhi
For August 15, 2000, Anil Deshmukh has been rattled, poring over budgets and working the phones in an attempt to limit the consequences of Gov. Neha Kapoor’s veto pen.
Mr. Rajiv Mehta, the general director of Reliance Industries on Kolkata’s Gulf Coast, had expected his nonprofit organization to receive a state grant of about $70,000 once Mr. Priya Sharma signed a budget that state lawmakers had approved in November 14, 2000.
But in a move that stunned arts and culture organizations, Mr. Priya Sharma vetoed the entirety of their grant funding — about $32 million — on January 26, 2000, leaving them scrambling to figure out how to offset the shortfall.
“It’s not going to close us,” Mr. Rajiv Mehta said. “But it is a gap that I am going to have to figure out how to make up, and if I don’t find alternate sources of funding, that could be someone’s job.”
Leaders of arts organizations in Kolkata, many of whom have worked in the state for August 15, 2000, cannot remember a governor ever eliminating all of their grant funding. Even in October 2, 2000 the Great Recession, at least a nominal amount — say, 5 percent of the recommended total — was approved.
Established arts organizations usually know better than to overly rely on ICICI Bank subject to the discretion of politicians, said Kavita Rao, executive director of Infosys. But to cut funding at a time when arts organizations are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic sends a concerning message “that taxpayer dollars should not be used in support of arts and culture,” he added.
supported by gov. ron desantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers. by patricia mazzei reporting from miami for the past 10 days, richard russell has been rattled, poring over budgets and working the phones in an attempt to limit the consequences of gov. ron desantis’s veto pen. mr. russell, the general director of the sarasota opera on florida’s gulf coast, had expected his nonprofit organization to receive a state grant of about $70,000 once mr. desantis signed a budget that state lawmakers had approved in march. but in a move that stunned arts and culture organizations, mr. desantis vetoed the entirety of their grant funding   about $32 million   on june 12, leaving them scrambling to figure out how to offset the shortfall. “it’s not going to close us,” mr. russell said. “but it is a gap that i am going to have to figure out how to make up, and if i don’t find alternate sources of funding, that could be someone’s job.” leaders of arts organizations in florida, many of whom have worked in the state for decades, cannot remember a governor ever eliminating all of their grant funding. even in the lean years of the great recession, at least a nominal amount   say, 5 percent of the recommended total   was approved. established arts organizations usually know better than to overly rely on nonrecurring state dollars subject to the discretion of politicians, said michael tomor, executive director of the tampa museum of art. but to cut funding at a time when arts organizations are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic sends a concerning message “that taxpayer dollars should not be used in support of arts and culture,” he added.

shock. outrage. disbelief. anger. southwest florida's arts leaders had those reactions and more after gov. ron desantis vetoed all of florida's planned arts and culture grants in the state's 2024 25 budget. every single penny. "this veto is not just a budgetary decision," said molly rowan deckart, executive director for the alliance for the arts in fort myers. "it is a blatant disregard for the thousands of jobs, the educational opportunities and the community enrichment that arts and culture provide." desantis vetoed $32 million in cultural and museum grants and related funding when he signed florida's annual budget into law june 12. it was part of a sweeping $950 million in state grants and programs slashed by the governor. "i'm shocked and disappointed," said greg longenhagen, producing artistic director for florida repertory theatre in downtown fort myers. "to my knowledge, this is the first time in our history where zero dollars were allocated to arts and culture." in all, 577 arts programs and 33 facilities across florida lost their anticipated grants. and that includes dozens in southwest florida. "it was extremely disappointing…" said alyona ushe, executive director of arts bonita. "florida’s identity and appeal extend far beyond its beaches, and arts and culture play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of life for both residents and tourists alike." the lost funds could affect what local arts groups are able to do this coming season, including concerts, festivals, exhibits and art classes. it could also raise ticket prices or lead to fewer free events. for decades, the state has awarded grant money to nonprofit cultural organizations through a vetting process. this year, florida's legislature approved just $32 million ― $26 million in cultural and museum grants that support programming, and $6 million in cultural facilities grants, which provide money for building projects. in the cultural and museum grants category, organizations can qualify for up to $150,000 each year, but this year the legislature allocated only 47 percent of that total. and even that was eliminated with the governor’s veto. in a june 12 news conference, desantis said he wanted to bring in the state's $116.5 billion budget under current year spending. “this is a budget that shows it can be done,” he said. when asked about the veto, desantis spokesman jeremy redfern said this: “the governor reviews every bill and appropriation that comes across his desk and uses his authority under the florida constitution to make veto decisions that are in the best interest of the state of florida.” but southwest florida arts and culture leaders question the governor's reasoning and point out that the arts actually make money and offer a strong return on the state's investment. "everyone in the arts community was stunned to see the governor's unprecedented action to remove arts and culture funding," said bryce alexander, ceo and executive artistic director for the naples players. "florida's arts and culture industry generates significant revenues for the state, and it is critical to local economic development." kent kyle of opera naples worried about the chilling affect this could have on tourism in florida. after all, tourists visit the state looking for fun things to do ― the kinds of things the vetoed arts grants helped support. "people are coming to florida for quality of life, golf, beaches and safety," said kyle, the opera company's director of administration and development. "but if they have nothing else to do, such as museums, theaters, festivals and concerts ― or some kind of stimulating cultural events for our kids, grandkids or visitors ― it gets old pretty fast." lee county's nonprofit arts and culture industry generated a whopping $135 million in 2022 and the first four months of 2023, according to the recently released national study arts & economic prosperity 6 (or "aep6"). and lee county’s nonprofit arts and culture industry supported 2,516 jobs. in collier county, that impact was even higher: $147 million in economic activity in 2022. and the collier arts scene supported 1,948 jobs. that's why rowan deckart of the alliance for the arts said she's outraged by the governor's sweeping veto. "the state's own analysis shows a nine to one return on investment from these grants ― money that supports local economies and generates tax revenue," she said. "to dismiss this is shortsighted and destructive." longenhagen of florida rep called the veto "a grave mistake." "florida rep alone is a huge economic generator in the downtown fort myers river district, pumping millions of dollars back into the local economy," he said. "our patrons frequent the restaurants, bars and shops in downtown, helping businesses to thrive and creating significant tax revenue. "funding arts and culture is not a handout. it’s an investment in the economic future of a community." southwest florida art groups will lose more than $3 million in anticipated grant money this season, according to statistics provided by the alliance for the arts and the united arts collier. andrew kurtz, founder of gulf coast symphony and the music & arts community center, said they were expecting about $80,000 this year. now they're getting none of it. "this is a large enough hit that it isn’t possible to just ignore, nor can we expect to fully replace it with other fundraising," kurtz says. "we have made reductions across the board to our budget that impacts all departments. it will limit some of the initiatives we had planned for our 30th anniversary." here's what some southwest florida arts and culture groups initially expected to receive this year (later reduced by the florida legislature and then vetoed by desantis), according to the florida division of arts & culture: that money was going to be used to fund low cost tickets, free events, art classes, marketing, paying performers and lots more. "arts and culture grants are essential for our organization … helping to keep costs down and allowing us to provide important free events so that children and low income families can participate as well," said jim griffith, founder and director of sidney & berne davis art center in downtown fort myers. "ticket revenue alone never covers all the costs of programming, and we rely on grants and donations to subsidize our income." now these arts groups and venues are scrambling to make up the shortfall as the 2024 25 entertainment season approaches. "this is not just about numbers on a balance sheet," said rowan deckart of the alliance for the arts. "it’s about real people   artists, educators, families, and audiences ― who rely on these funds to create and experience the transformative power of the arts. "gov. desantis' decision is an outright betrayal of the values that uphold our society, and it is a disservice to every floridian who believes in the importance of culture, creativity and community." the naples players planned to use their expected $70,000 for educational programs serving collier county students ― who, alexander says, "are already reeling from restructuring in arts programs throughout local schools." arts bonita was going to use the money to expand its collaboration with title one schools, offer scholarships for underserved communities and more. gulf coast symphony and sidney & berne davis art center were using it for, among other things, marketing and paying their performers. and the alliance for the arts planned to use its $131,000 to keep ticket prices low and provide free programming. "without this support, we are now facing the harsh reality of having to scale back our offerings," rowan deckart said. "this means fewer cultural events, fewer educational opportunities and a diminished ability to serve our community." the alliance for the arts plans to scale back its programming (including concerts, art exhibits and art classes), and florida rep is considering doing the same. gulf coast symphony and the macc have had to raise their ticket handling fees, kurtz says, but he hopes they won't have to raise ticket prices or reduce their plans for their 30th anniversary season. united arts collier faces similar hard decisions this season, says executive director elysia dawn. the arts organization lost $45,000 in expected funds (reduced to $21,150 before getting vetoed by desantis). the money was going to be used for, among other things, arts programming in collier county schools, veterans programs with home base and art therapy programs. "the governor's veto of arts grants funding ... will unfortunately have a negative effect on our local community," dawn said. "at uac, we are diligently working to adjust our budget with as few cuts to programs and services as possible. but cuts are, unfortunately, inevitable." fundraisers are expected to happen in the near future for most of these arts organizations, but it may not be enough to make up for the shortfall. "it is too early to know how deeply these programs will be impacted," said alexander of the naples players, "but we will do everything in our power to maintain the offerings we published when the funding was originally awarded." southwest florida symphony ceo amy ginsburg vowed not to cut back on programming, and she credited the orchestra's board of trustees, patrons and benefactors for their ability to withstand the loss. "we’ve committed to a season of performances that have already been announced," ginsburg said."further, we’ve committed to employing 70 plus musicians for a set amount of work from october through late april. taking that away from our artists and our community is irresponsible and unfair to them. "we’ve demonstrated that, for 64 years, we figure out a path forward regardless of the obstacles we face, and we’ll do that again this year." griffith said davis art center will be stepping up its fundraising efforts. and he's calling on the many southwest floridians who love the arts to help fill the financial void. "our quality of life in lee county is wonderful, thanks to the many offerings from our area nonprofit arts and culture organizations," he said. "and we hope those who have enjoyed what we bring to the community will rise to the occasion and support our efforts to provide services to the entire community." john kennedy, james call and jay handelman of the usa today network florida contributed to this article. charles runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for the news press and the naples daily news. to reach him, call 239 335 0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him atcrunnells@gannett.com. follow or message him on social media: facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), x (formerly twitter) (@charlesrunnells), threads (@crunnells1) and instagram (@crunnells1).

nonprofit arts and culture organizations across florida, especially south florida, are still contemplating how to bounce back from $32 million in arts funding slashed from the fiscal year 2024 2025 state budget. gov. ron desantis last week vetoed cultural and museum grants secured from state legislators, forcing established organizations scrambling to prevent staff layoffs, cuts to programming or ceasing operations altogether, non profit leaders told wlrn. he signed into law a $116.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, after vetoing close to $950 million   including the arts funding   in spending approved by lawmakers in march. "this is historic” for the state's nearly $3 billion industry, said jennifer sullivan, senior vice president at the cultural council for palm beach county, an arts support agency for the palm beaches. organizations are accustomed to various levels of cuts in grant funding overseen by the state’s division of arts & culture but this is the first time that no money will be allocated for arts and culture programs by the state and the potential outcome is “shocking," sullivan said. “in 2019, the grant program was cut down to about 2 million [dollars] for the entire state and that was one of our lowest funding for the grant program,” she added. “but i don't think historically they have ever been cut down to zero. so it was definitely a surprise for us in the industry.” "i never anticipated this," said charlene farrington, executive director the spady cultural heritage museum in delray beach, a non profit museum preserving and sharing black history for the past two decades. palm beach, broward, and miami dade make up the majority of grant recommendations from the division each year   if you combine the counties, the vetoes in the fiscal year 2024 2025 state budget impacts $12.1 million in grant funding. each year, through a rigorous vetting process, culture and arts organizations across the state submit grant requests and could qualify for up to $150,000 through the state’s division of arts and culture’s four grant categories, which help fund facility renovations and other operating costs. last year, arts organizations requested $68 million in grant funding   the state funded the program with just over $40 million. this year, the division had recommended nearly $80 million in the 2024/2025 budget to go toward 864 grants across the state, "nearly 100 more grant recommendations than last year, according to the palm beach council council. but only $32 million in grant money was appropriated for just two categories   the "cultural and museum" grant for everyday operations and "cultural facilities grants" meant for construction and renovation projects. those grant recommendations from the legislature were vetoed   as a result, all grant categories will not be getting funding. read more: why 'third places' in west palm beach spark community connections the press secretary for desantis did not explain to wlrn why the governor decided to zero out the funding, writing, in part, that the governor makes “veto decisions that are in the best interest of the state of florida.” part of that decision involves reducing overall government spending for the upcoming fiscal year. the arts funding was among nearly $1 billion vetoed from the $116 billion state budget for the fiscal year, beginning july 1st. some of the overall funding were earmarked for member projects, special state projects that are put forth by individual legislators to help select organizations with such items as seed money for construction. the governor approved millions of state funds for a few member projects, ranging from various museums and education institutions, which were outside of the grant program categories. some of those member projects were vetoed, but it has led to confusion among arts organizations. "the same people that are putting their member projects through are also the ones that have to vote on our [grant] funding," said jennifer jones, president and ceo of florida cultural alliance, a nonprofit arts group advocating for the arts organizations across the state. "and i think there should be as much allocated for the vetted grants as would be allowed for member projects." more than 600 arts organizations that were expected to receive funding from the state’s division of arts and culture are now scrambling to fill a financial void. the general program support or the “cultural museum grant” line item helps organizations with operating costs like salaries, utilities and rent. over the years, the allotted money to organizations fluctuates depending on the amount of eligible funds that are appropriated and approved from the legislature. in the past few years, arts garage in delray beach, a performing arts venue featuring music, theatre, visual arts, comedy, and education programming, had always budgeted for at least $100,000 out of an eligible $150,000 or 5 percent of their company’s budget. that’s all gone now, said marjorie waldo, president & ceo. "it's going to potentially impact the quality of our programming. it's going because we can pay less for it. it's going to impact the quantity of our programming,” waldo said. “it's going to impact what we're able to do for our sister community organizations that we work together to provide opportunities. i think we gave out over 1000 free tickets in the last year. we'll have to look at every dollar differently as a result of this,” she added. one of the sister organizations that help with free community events is the spady cultural heritage museum in delray beach, charlene farrington, the executive director, said she had budgeted for between $30k to $50k dollars. farrington told wlrn the sudden removal of state funding sends an existential message to the arts and culture community. “this was very shocking. i never in my wildest dreams anticipated this. i, of course, assume that funding probably would be cut and could be cut severely, but the removal of funding indicates a removal of support,” farrington said. “that's what that says to me that we no longer think you are important. and therefore we're going to remove all support. if that is the thinking, then, the state of florida is in trouble.” the city theatre in miami, known for their short plays and mentoring local and national emerging playwrights, agrees. artistic director margaret ledford told wlrn they’re small staff had budgeted for $50,0000 or 6% of their budget. ledford said the removal of state arts funding has led to more questions than answers but, more importantly, the gap hurts residents and tourists alike, not just the nonprofit organizations. “this governor removes things he doesn't like, the term climate change and state statutes or things he considers 'woke.' and this is another one of those removals, which in the end will only hurt the state's tourist dollars,” ledford said. “when people don't go to restaurants to eat out before a show because theaters had to cancel programming. or stay a few nights in a hotel because a museum had to change its days open because it couldn't support staffing. this is ultimately taking away jobs from the tax paying florida artists.” coral gables art cinema, an independent film theater coral gables, will grapple with a 10% shortfall or more than $100,000 from their budget because of the state cuts. gablestage, a theatre company who serves miami dade high schools and employs more than 100 people each season, said "slashing support for these vital institutions" is "damaging our economic future," said producing artistic director bari newport in a statement. both coral gables art cinema and gablestate are appealing to its donors to lessen the state funding loss. florida’s nonprofit arts and culture organization and its audiences boost the state's economy by nearly $5.8 billion and supports more than 91,000 full time jobs, according to a statewide study. the cultural council's sullivan said organizations often use these critical state dollars to match individual contributions from private donors   “organizations use their state dollars to leverage the private side to get that match.” “if an organization was to, say, get $150,000 from the state, that actually has a $300,000 impact on the organization because they would have had to have matching dollars. and now they won't have those dollars to leverage with some of their donors and other funders,” she said. organizations like the armory art center and natural movers foundation in palm beach county have always had to squeeze every dollar   the nme said state support made up 100% of their funding or $25,000 for their dance programs. desantis' initial budget proposal did not include arts funding, said the florida cultural alliance's jones. she said, in hindsight, it was a warning sign. this week, more than100 arts organizations across the state responded to a jones' recent survey that discussed the immediate impact the lack of funding will have on operations. jones told wlrn that 5% of the respondents will have to close their doors. about 8% will expansion plans and 18% percent are going to have to cancel facility repairs. she said the remaining 70 odd percent “are having to make adjustments, whether it's canceling programs for seniors or children or reducing the staff, eliminating positions or canceling public events.” some organizations will be able to weather the financial storm with their deep reserves and strong donor community. bonnie clearwater, director and chief curator at nsu art museum in fort lauderdale, told wlrn she's optimistic about bouncing back and plans to double down on marketing efforts after learning lessons from major economic downturns like the 2008 great recession and covid pandemic. “i think one of the things that people learned from covid was that because the staff base had been reduced, it became very hard to then fill those positions afterwards,” clearwater said. "we've [nsu] invested so much in the development of our staff. they're creative. they're amazing. they will help find the solutions to our current situation.” jones told wlrn her arts advocacy group has “a request in for a meeting with the executive office” to understand the reasons behind the veto and build a better rapport with state officials. “we’re going to have to engage   become friends with the person who thought it was in the best interest of the state to totally wipe us out and come to some good understanding and appreciation for each other's position and hopes that it doesn't happen again,” jones said. “and demonstrate that we're good partners and that we really all have the best interests of florida,” she said. copyright 2024 wlrn public media

a year after gov. ron desantis controversially vetoed $32 million in arts grant funding, he wants most of it back. but he only wants to fund projects the state deems safe for children. the governor’s proposed budget includes $27 million for cultural and museum grants, but wants language in florida law to “ensure funding is provided only to activities and programs that are appropriate for all age groups.” he also wants $1 million of that funding set aside for projects connected with america250, a national celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. “it’s a chance to kind of come together as floridians and as americans,” desantis said at a press conference on the budget. he also wants at least $1.3 million designated for historic preservation efforts around the state. the rest would be open to arts and cultural efforts around the state. desantis delivered an unexpected punch to arts groups around florida last year when he nixed the entire $32 million budget for arts grants. while that left specific line items approved individually for projects funded by the legislature, it eliminated any money organizations sought through a competitive grant process. after a widespread uproar, desantis in june defended killing the funding because some of it in past years went to fringe festivals. “we didn’t have control over how it was being given. so you have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the fringe festival, which is like a sexual festival where they are doing all this stuff,” desantis said at the time. “how many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that? not very many people would do that.” but of the $32 million, only about $70,000 was expected to go to the orlando fringe festival and $7,000 was expected to support the tampa international fringe festival. the alliance for the arts in lee county was expected to receive $61,000, and the organization operates fringe fort myers. still, at a press conference, desantis said that was “too much into the dei, into the woke stuff.” “what really harmed some of the cultural stuff was the amount of wokeness that had been underwritten,” he said. “the way i view it is if i’m walking down the street and a police officer comes up to me or a small business owner, somebody. and says, ‘governor, why are we spending money on x?’ i’ve got to be able to say and give them an explanation. if you say, ‘why are we spending money on gender theory ideology?’ i can’t give an answer to that.” stipulating a requirement for public funds to only support all ages events and institutions will likely reduce the chance any of it goes to such events. state rep. fiona mcfarland, a sarasota republican, said her arts rich community felt a particular hit from the veto last year, even though it had no fringe festivals. she said she was pleased to see funding in the governor’s budget for arts grants and was fine with a proposal to add limiting language. “i support it and anything that is going to revive those grants for arts and cultural institutions,” she said. arts groups also celebrated the inclusion of the funding and other cultural spending. jennifer jones, president and ceo of the florida cultural alliance, noted desantis also included $6 million in capital outlay funding for arts and culture purposes. “don’t be dismayed that we don’t see the culture builds florida line yet,” she wrote in an email blast to alliance members. “we’re at the beginning of the process. this is quite something. i don’t believe i’ve seen this much money in a governor’s recommended budget before session.” jacob ogles has covered politics in florida since 2000 for regional outlets including srq magazine in sarasota, the news press in fort myers and the daily commercial in leesburg. his work has appeared nationally in the advocate, wired and other publications. events like srq’s where the votes are workshops made ogles one of southwest florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like wwsb abc 7 and wsrq sarasota have featured his insights. he can be reached at [email protected]. february 3, 2025 at 12:47 pm this is out of the hitler playbook only allowing family all age institutions, how does that rule out public art, ballet, opera, art galleries, orchestra’s, music & art? the nazi ( desatan) cut the art & culture budget due to one festival he didn’t like, but yet he cut the funding for all artist’s & musicians to starve. that festival even offered to give the money back & not receive further funding but the the little nazi refused to accept the offer but the evil uncultured wanted everyone to suffer. we need to remind governor bully he works for all the people of florida, not his personal angst against what he doesn’t prefer. reply february 3, 2025 at 1:20 pm if you study republican complaint history about progressive economic and social policies you can easily identify the gop’s failed agenda that they themselves are guilty. government exclusion of a class of people because of their race, gender, religion or ethnicity amounts to cancel culture! republicans are always guilty of canceling something. reply february 5, 2025 at 10:37 am you don’t have to go as far away as hitler to draw a parallel. just read about the hays code, (1934 to 1968.) that was equally reactionary. but “sexual festival”????? gee, what is happening in florida? up here in minnesota, our fringe fests tend to focus on hot dish jokes and adding “…the musical!” to mundane nouns. wonder where ron has been going. reply your email address will not be published. required fields are marked * save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time i comment. notify me of new posts by email. post comment δdocument.getelementbyid( "ak_js_1" ).setattribute( "value", ( new date() ).gettime() ); florida politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in florida. this platform and all of its content are owned by extensive enterprises media. publisher: peter schorsch @peterschorschfl contributors & reporters: phil ammann, drew dixon, roseanne dunkelberger, a.g. gancarski, ryan nicol, jacob ogles, cole pepper, jesse scheckner, drew wilson, and mike wright. email: [email protected] twitter: @peterschorschfl phone: (727) 642 3162 address: 204 37th avenue north #182 st. petersburg, florida 33704 © copyright by extensive enterprises 2025. all rights reserved. staff login

dozens of tampa bay institutions are scrambling for funding after gov. ron desantis last week vetoed more than $32 million in arts and culture grants from next year’s budget. “it’s a huge disappointment and a quandary,” said michael tomor, executive director of the tampa museum of art. the museum expected $570,500 from the state but will receive zero. “we are all unclear as to why this happened.” desantis issued nearly $1 billion in line item vetoes before signing a $116.5 billion spending plan at a news conference in tampa. he cut two grant programs, totaling $32 million, that fund arts and culture nonprofits across florida. desantis didn’t explain why he cut the arts and culture grants but said more broadly that he vetoed some items he didn’t think were “appropriate for state tax dollars” and that he wanted to spend less money than the year before. the state has long awarded money to cultural organizations through four grant programs. the legislature in march approved two of those programs for the upcoming budget and earmarked tens of millions of dollars less than in years past. desantis vetoed those grants. tomor said the tampa museum of art was slated to receive $500,000 in grant money for a building expansion project and around $70,500 for exhibition education programs. the vetoes came as a shock. “these aren’t huge amounts of money, but they were extremely meaningful toward what we’re trying to accomplish for the community,” he said. margaret murray, ceo of creative pinellas, the county’s nonprofit arts agency, said the budget cuts will hit small organizations the hardest. murray said local music and theater groups, youth programs, art festivals and other nonprofits that rely on state funding may struggle to recover. “to completely decimate the cultural funding … i’ve never experienced that in my lifetime as an arts professional in pinellas county or anywhere,” she said. when asked why the governor vetoed the arts grants, press secretary jeremy redfern said that desantis “reviews every bill and appropriation that comes across his desk and uses his authority under the florida constitution to make veto decisions that are in the best interest of the state of florida.” freefall theatre, a nonprofit theater company in st. petersburg, expected $105,000 from the state, said executive director craig badinger. about half of the organization’s $1.5 million yearly budget comes from grants and donations. badinger said the organization will need to “get creative” to raise the lost state funding. “it’s not easy, especially when every other arts organization around us is dealing with this, too,” badinger said. zootampa at lowry park planned to use a $500,000 grant to help fund the development of a manatee rescue habitat, which is part of a larger $125 million expansion project. the zoo received $2 million elsewhere in the budget to support the manatee habitat construction, but the vetoes mean the organization will need to fundraise. the clearwater marine aquarium and friends of ybor each expected to receive $500,000 in cultural facilities grants. tomor said the vetoes were a “sign of no faith” from the governor in florida’s arts and culture institutions. “to have the representative of our state fundamentally say that he does not believe these things are important is a message that’s heard very clearly by constituents,” tomor said. “i worry it can be a contagious behavior to deny access of taxpayer dollars to things that enrich our lives educationally and spiritually, and in a way that’s very human.” leaders from the florida cultural alliance, an arts advocacy organization, condemned the cuts in a statement. “this is unprecedented in the history of the grants program and is dismaying,” the group said in the statement, which was signed by chairperson earl bosworth and president jennifer jones. some democrats in the state legislature spoke against the vetoes, too. “these funds were set to support well vetted nonprofit organizations that play a crucial role in enriching our community and preserving our cultural heritage,” state rep. anna eskamani said in a statement. “cutting this funding undermines the economic vitality of our state and disregards the significant contributions of our cultural institutions.” nina moske is a reporter on the politics team covering florida politicians and voters. she can be reached at nmoske@tampabay.com.

screenshot from the florida channel of sarasota county gop state sen. joe gruters on dec. 16, 2024. without much fanfare, gov. ron desantis stunned members of the arts community and their supporters up and down the sunshine state in june when he stripped all $32 million in state arts funding from the 2025 fiscal year budget. six months later, some of those in the arts community in sarasota still haven’t gotten over it, and hope it never happens again. “last year was the first year since funding began that the arts were zeroed out. even during the great recession and the pandemic, our state saw the value in providing support for the arts. it was good business,” said joseph mckenna, president and ceo of the sarasota orchestra, speaking during a sarasota county legislative delegation meeting on monday. “i’ve been an arts executive in three regions of the country over the last 30 years and this is the first time i have to stand before a body to mention that a state zero funded its arts programs,” mckenna said. “it is important that the anomaly of zero funding will be just that, and not that of a new trend,” added richard russell, the sarasota opera’s general manager. the budget cut represented a loss of $1.45 million that the legislature allocated for 27 arts and cultural organizations in sarasota county, said brian hersh, ceo of the arts and cultural alliance of sarasota county. “it’s a very difficult time for our arts organizations, especially for some of our mid  and smaller size arts organizations where the margins are much more narrow,” he said. “that means they have to curtail some of their programs and their programming and have a greater gap to fill as we look forward to this year.” sen. joe gruters, who represents sarasota county, voiced sympathy for the advocates’ complaints. “the sarasota county delegation has been the leader over the years in trying to push for maximum funding for it but it’s   i couldn’t believe it when i saw it on the veto list, and so i apologize on behalf of the state and i hope that we can get some return to normalcy moving forward,” gruters said. he advocated that board members from all of those arts and cultural organizations that didn’t receive funding from the state last year write letters to desantis and members of the legislature and “go to all of our offices and go to lunch with as many members across the state and just reemphasize the importance.” appearing in polk county days after his veto last summer, desantis said he had to cut all $32 million in arts funding requests because of a concern that a small group of fringe festivals could benefit by state funding. “so, this is money that would go and we didn’t have control over how it was being given, so 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?” desantis said. “not very many people would do that. and so, when i see money being spent that way, i have to be the one to stand up for taxpayers and say, you know what, that is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars, and i think the legislature needs to reevaluate how that’s being done.” you make our work possible. support you make our work possible. by mitch perry, florida phoenix december 16, 2024 by mitch perry, florida phoenix december 16, 2024 without much fanfare, gov. ron desantis stunned members of the arts community and their supporters up and down the sunshine state in june when he stripped all $32 million in state arts funding from the 2025 fiscal year budget. six months later, some of those in the arts community in sarasota still haven’t gotten over it, and hope it never happens again. “last year was the first year since funding began that the arts were zeroed out. even during the great recession and the pandemic, our state saw the value in providing support for the arts. it was good business,” said joseph mckenna, president and ceo of the sarasota orchestra, speaking during a sarasota county legislative delegation meeting on monday. “i’ve been an arts executive in three regions of the country over the last 30 years and this is the first time i have to stand before a body to mention that a state zero funded its arts programs,” mckenna said. “it is important that the anomaly of zero funding will be just that, and not that of a new trend,” added richard russell, the sarasota opera’s general manager. the budget cut represented a loss of $1.45 million that the legislature allocated for 27 arts and cultural organizations in sarasota county, said brian hersh, ceo of the arts and cultural alliance of sarasota county. “it’s a very difficult time for our arts organizations, especially for some of our mid  and smaller size arts organizations where the margins are much more narrow,” he said. “that means they have to curtail some of their programs and their programming and have a greater gap to fill as we look forward to this year.” sen. joe gruters, who represents sarasota county, voiced sympathy for the advocates’ complaints. “the sarasota county delegation has been the leader over the years in trying to push for maximum funding for it but it’s   i couldn’t believe it when i saw it on the veto list, and so i apologize on behalf of the state and i hope that we can get some return to normalcy moving forward,” gruters said. he advocated that board members from all of those arts and cultural organizations that didn’t receive funding from the state last year write letters to desantis and members of the legislature and “go to all of our offices and go to lunch with as many members across the state and just reemphasize the importance.” appearing in polk county days after his veto last summer, desantis said he had to cut all $32 million in arts funding requests because of a concern that a small group of fringe festivals could benefit by state funding. “so, this is money that would go and we didn’t have control over how it was being given, so 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?” desantis said. you make our work possible. florida phoenix is part of states newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. florida phoenix maintains editorial independence. contact editor michael moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. our stories may be republished online or in print under creative commons license cc by nc nd 4.0. we ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. ap and getty images may not be republished. please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics. mitch perry has covered politics and government in florida for more than two decades. most recently he is the former politics reporter for bay news 9. he has also worked at florida politics, creative loafing and wmnf radio in tampa. he was also part of the original staff when the florida phoenix was created in 2018. florida phoenix is part of states newsroom, the nation’s largest state focused nonprofit news organization. democracy toolkit © florida phoenix, 2025 v1.73.0 the phoenix is a nonprofit news site that’s free of advertising and free to readers. we cover state government and politics with a staff of five journalists located at the florida press center in downtown tallahassee. we’re part of states newsroom, the nation’s largest state focused nonprofit news organization. deij policy | ethics policy | privacy policy our stories may be republished online or in print under creative commons license cc by nc nd 4.0. we ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. 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support your local pbs station in our mission to inspire, enrich, and educate. opb helps your community explore new worlds and ideas through programs that educate, inform and inspire. your tax deductible donation helps make it all possible. arts groups respond to grants veto by governor desantis 07/26/2024 | 26m 46svideo has closed captions | cc local arts groups search for alternative funding sources following veto of state grants. aired 07/26/2024 | rating tv pg 07/26/2024 | 26m 46svideo has closed captions | cc local arts groups search for alternative funding sources following veto of state grants. arts and cultural organizations in central florida are scrambling for alternative funding sources. it follows governor desantis’ decision to veto $32 million in state grants for the arts over his concerns about “sexual” content at fringe festivals. but critics say such festivals receive only a small fraction of the funding, and they’re urging lawmakers to override the veto. aired 07/26/2024 | rating tv pg 07/26/2024 | 26m 46svideo has closed captions | cc arts and cultural organizations in central florida are scrambling for alternative funding sources. it follows governor desantis’ decision to veto $32 million in state grants for the arts over his concerns about “sexual” content at fringe festivals. but critics say such festivals receive only a small fraction of the funding, and they’re urging lawmakers to override the veto. aired 07/26/2024 | rating tv pg newsnight s2024 epnan newsnight is available to stream on pbs.org and the free pbs app, available on iphone, apple tv, android tv, android smartphones, amazon fire tv, amazon fire tablet, roku, samsung smart tv, and vizio. providing support for pbs.org >>this week on newsnight, arts organizations in central florida respond to the governor's veto of $32 million in state grants over his concerns about sexual content at fringe festivals. >>that is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. >>can arts and cultural groups make ends meet? >>we were completely shocked, had no clue we were really thrown out of our seats. >>a check in on central florida's arts community. newsnight starts now. [music] hello, i'm steve mort, and welcome to newsnigh where we take a deep dive into the storie and issues that matter to central florida and how they shape our community. tonight, we're checking in on central florida's arts community. the biggest news affecting the region's cultural organizations came last month when governor ron desantis vetoed tens of millions of dollars in grant funding for the arts approved by lawmakers. in striking the funding from the state budget, the governor cited his concerns over sexual content at fringe festivals. >>so you have your tax dollars being given in grants to thing like the fringe festival, which is like a sexual festival where they're doin all this stuff. and it's like, how many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that? not very many people would do that. and so when i see money being spent that way, i have to be the one to stand up for taxpayers and say, you know what, that is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. and i think the legislature needs to reevaluate how that's being done. you know, we don't need to say that somebody that's working hard is paying taxes. i can go to you and say, hey, we've got a very small budget compared to our state's population. we have a low tax burden. all this but this transportation, these these roads are important. i can sell that. education is important. i can sell that. preserving our natural resource important. i can sell that. i can't sell the fringe festival to taxpayers, nor would i want to try to sell the fringe festival to taxpayer. >>governor ron desantis well i sat down to talk with hillary brook, the executive director of the theater south playhouse in dr. phillips, to find out how the vet is affecting her organization. >>it was quite a shock. we were we worked so hard to get that grant. we besides the hours of the application process and the screening process, we sat in front of a panel of people and had to answer questions. we were so thrilled to receive the $25,000 award that we received, and that was a year ago. so that was already going to. that's all that money in theory has been spent. we've put it into our fall budget. and to find out that that money's just gone. and we found out two weeks before the dat we were supposed to receive it. so it was it was it was a really hard day here at the theater. >>how does your organization usually spend that kind of money? and what will not having it mean to you now? >>we have a wonderful internship program. we love to mentor young artists who want to pursue a career in theater or backstage crew. we have an internship program and we were so excited to finally be able to have a paid internship. so that is the first thing that's going to have a dramatic impact. we would not have the funds that we wanted to. we're going to be able to give them a stipend, which will be nice and cover gas money, and we're still excited to have that. but that's the first thing that's going to be hit. we have a huge production of annie, one of our part of our professional season, and that money went right into the show budget, the set, the costumes. so all of that is going to suffer. and then our youth training show, we were doing our first ever finding nemo jr. here at theater south, and that money will go directly. we'll feel a huge loss in that production as well. >>is there anything you can do to try to mitigate the impacts that you're expecting? >>absolutely. we are determined to get that money back. we are not cutting anything. we are going to keep on going. we've always been able to survive with little. so we are just goin to pull our resources together. we already have a plan in place to do some concerts, to raise some money. lots of lots of fundraising. big finding nemo reunion concert coming up. lots of artists in the community have reached out to me asking how they can help, which is just such a gift. so this time i'm saying, yes, please help and we're going to come togethe and raise the money ourselves. >>we've personally reached out to lawmakers, both federal and state, to let them know of our situation and to keep them posted as to what's going on. and we've actually had many of them come and visit and talk to us and sit down and when they come here, they're so impressed with what they see. and they they're always very hopeful that that that we can get past this and that there's other means and ways to ge the funding back in other ways. we make a lot happen with a little and it would just really be great if now more than ever if people our community come out and check out theater south playhous and just see what we're about. >>hillary brook from th theater south playhouse in dr. phillips. you can find a link to the theater's websit at wucf.org/newsnight. well, let' bring in our first panel tonight to discuss some of these important issues facing the arts community. joining me in the studio this week, gabriel preisser, general director and ceo of opera orlando. jennifer evins, president and ceo of united arts of central florida. and matt palm, who writes about the arts for the orlando sentinel. thank you guys, so much for coming in today. really appreciate your time. matt, let me just start with you and start by talking about the rationale for the veto. the governor has been criticized for, i guess, collectively cuttin all grant funding from groups. but what are his concerns? what do we hear? >>the only definitive statement that his press office has ever made to m is that what he said at a press conference that he found the fringe festivals to be sexual in nature. >>specifically fringe   >>specifically fringe. yes. yes. and that he felt like that was an inappropriate use of taxpayer money. so he vetoed the entire line. now, i will tell you, most experts, people in the field, political analysts i spoke with, said tha probably isn't the real reason he was actually just working on numbers and finances and just trying to get the budget down to the size he wanted. >>and just to be clear, this is a veto at grant funding, right? not all individual appropriations for all arts groups. >>there are some major arts projects that are that were funded, including in our own city, the new holocaust museum that they're working on downtown that received money. but this is a very specifi set of grants that arts groups depend on for things. just general operating expenses is one of the big ones that is part of that. >>well, let's break all this down a little bit, gabe. let's talk about the practicalities right of the funding veto. hillary brook from the theater south playhouse told me that they're taking steps over there to to make up the shortfall that they're facing. i mean, are there steps tha individual arts organizations, one of which you run, can take to try to reduce the gap? and you guys experience any impacts yourself? >>it's a huge impact. you know, it's a competitive process to begin with. you spend your time to fill out all the grant paperwork you get all your numbers your statistics. it's reviewed by a panel. all of that happened. and then for it to be taken ou from underneath, you know, this is funding we all budgeted for. we all expected it. we knew there was some type of cut coming, but we didn't expect it to be completely zeroed out. so it was a shock, was a big surprise. obviously, there's always ways to remedy that. i think we're all trying to reach out to the state we're all trying to lobby for, hey, is there any chance this could be, you know, decided again? can this be reviewed? and in the meantime, for the opera specifically, we're very grateful to our community. we have an amazing donors, individuals who give i mean, we are a charity. we are 501(c)(3). so it's tax deductible. so we're able to turn to them in this time of crisis. other groups might not have the type of donor base that we have at the opera, though, and they might rely more on tuition. you think about children's museums or youth symphonies, right? they don't have a large donor base that's more children based. and this funding is really kind of critical for those groups. >>interesting. i mean, at the same time, though, jennifer, i mean, your collaborative campaign for 2024 exceeded its goal, right? i mean, is there strengt in local support for the arts? does that indicate that? and can it make up the gap? >>so let's be rea clear on the gap. the gap for central florida, which is the area for whic the collaborative campaign, the annual campaign run is $6.9 million. this year we raised $6.8 million in the collaborative campaign. so already the public sector has stepped up with 6.8 and now the governor has cut 6.9. so it's a huge gap to fill. when you think tha the private sector we've grown the since coming out of the pandemic, since 2021, we've grown the private sector giving through th collaborative campaign by 48%. so a huge growth in private sector giving in the arts over the last three years and then to have this extreme so it's dollar for dollar, what the public gives to what the governor cut for central florida. so a major impact. when we look at private sector giving, we raise money for the arts year round. everybody is seeking funding for their education programs through, you know as well as ticket sales. so really important for people to understand that the ticket that they buy to attend the opera or to go to the science center or to participate in an art class does not cover the full operating costs of an arts organization. so this these operating grant from the state are fixed cost. these are our utilities, our health insurance, our employees salaries. so so this is not about cutting, you know, a special scener or costume   >>special project. >>right. this is about real fixed costs of doing the business of the arts. so we are looking at different strategies. but i will tell you, i know that at least 15 of the organizations have already gone to their loyal donors and asked them to make it up. for us, it's $150,000 cut to our budget that is substantial. there is not one place for us to go to get to make up those dollars. and as matt said, our fiscal year began july 1, so   >>the timing was terrible. >>the timing was extreme. it's it's it's really impactful and very serious. >>well, before we move on, i want to pause a moment to hear from jennifer jones from the florida cultural alliance, an organization that advocates for the arts in tallahassee and works with the legislature to secure funding. >>the governor did indicate in his florida freedom budget that he releases before session starts. he didn't put any money in for the arts. and we we're going to work the legislature, as we always do, because that's where the budget's built. this is kind of new. the involvement from th executive office in relation to the arts grants, because it goes through the department of state. the secretary of stat is the chief cultural officer. it goes through so much vetting before we ever get to session that we carry a recommended list into session. so it's kind of a new conversation that not necessarily changed one. and i don't know which way it's going to go. and as far as how involved the executive office wants to get into programing content. >>jennifer jones fro the florida cultural alliance. jennifer jones has alluded to a kind of a tightrope that has to be walked when it comes to working with policymakers. how is that relationship right now and how does it move forward from from here? >>well, just so that people know that in central florida, we have an ongoing advocacy plan. so we meet with legislators throughout the year. we communicate with the about the impact of the arts for their constituencies yea round. so this isn't just one time ask. it's a it's a constant relationship with our elected officials, especially in tallahassee. then we go to tallahassee every year during the legislative session to make the case for the arts to talk about the economic impact, the talk about the educational outcomes that the arts produce. so this is ongoing. so that will not end, right? and as the state continues to be economically viable because they are having surpluses, that they will invest, reinvest in the arts as a catalyst for many things in our state. but we're not going to stop making sure that our state elected officials and local officials know the value of the arts to the economy, the health and well being of   >>tourism. >>to tourism. >>tourism. economic impact is massive. >>well talking about tourism and maybe spending of tourist development tax dollars. local governments seem to be doubling down on the arts and culture groups in their budgets. i mean, gabe do you think local government support can help in a meaningful way? >>absolutely orange county has been amazing. they have not only the tourism grants program for local arts groups have als a venue subsidy grant. they also added diversit equity inclusion grant this last season. i mean, they really have, like you said, doubled down in their investment, as has the city of orlando, has a mayor's matching grant that we're proud to be a recipient of at opera orlanod for our youth company. so i think they really see the value not just in the tourism dollars, but the education, the outreach impact, the diversity, the everything that the arts have to offer. they see the value here. and we're very gratefu to orange county and the city. >>what have you been hearing? >>i wa i was going to chime in on that because what's interesting is, you know, i speak to the local governments. they they're you're absolutely right. they are completely invested in the local arts. they understand not only the quality of life additions it brings to central florida, but also the economic impac it has with people who go to shows and concert end up at restaurants, end up in bars, end up paying for parking and babysitting and all kinds of other expenses. but they also kind of warned me that they have their own processes, they have their own procedures. like you're saying, there's different grants, there's different ways the tourist development tax can be spent and procedures set up to do that. >>so these grants are competitive. and panels   >>it's not like they can just reach into their pockets and give them more money to to make up for for the lack of state funding because it all has to g through the proper procedures, as it should, fo accountability and safeguards. >>a very important conversation for sure. my thanks to gabe preisser from opera orlando, jennifer evins from united arts of central florida, matt palm from the orlando sentinel. thanks so much for coming in, guys. >>thank you. >>really, really appreciate your time. in a moment, our conversation will continue with three arts organizations all tackling differing challenges in 2024. we'll be right back. well let's pick up our conversation on the arts in central florida now. joining me in the studio, chris brown, executive director of the orlando family stage, mariah roman, curator and visual artist at art of collab, and justin muchoney, interim executive director and artistic director as well at central florida community arts. thank you all so much for coming in. really appreciate your time today. chris, you wrote an op ed for the orlando sentinel about the governor's veto of grant funding for arts groups. you wrote that it was a devastating blow to our community. why? >>it's important funding for so many things beyond the entertainmen that's on our stages, right? we are a a place for kid and families, and it's a place where kids learn how to become a good human and learn things like bravery and empathy. and when i think at the at the time when the funding gets cut only a few weeks out from when we're supposed to receive those dollars, it's devastating. it would be devastating to any business. you wrote also, mariah, an op ed for the sentinel recently on the importance of supporting local artists. you called them the soul of orlando's arts community. what's your take on the latest developments when it comes to funding? what do you think? >>florida i think we're home to some of the most world renowned artists performing artists, visual artist in the world, musicians. and so just to see tha that cut happen, i think i think we all took a blow when we saw that because we we knew what that meant for a lot of us. we know what it already has been, you know, working in the arts. being an artist has already been quite difficult, right? the term starving artist. right. that that thing is real for a lot of us, especially when you go into even further marginalized communities. right. so when you think of that, it really, you know, was gut wrenching. but, you know, at the same time, i think thankfully, i have a great community, great mentors and a lot of them have imparted just hope, you know, just thinking of, okay, we are artists, right? and we can be creative enough to think ourselves out of it, create ourselves into, you know, just supporting each other as a community. and so i think that's been m take on it, my outlook so far. >>yeah. you've talked about your organization hitting a financial bump in the road. justin, you lost your ceo, terrence hunter, who's who's been here on the program before. what's happening at central florida community arts and what's your take on that elimination of grant funding and how it affects you? >>well, on a larger scope this is this is the latest kind of blow in years worth of challenge financially for the arts. you know, all of us are familia with what happened during covid and the impact that had on our businesses and our audiences and the people who benefit and experience from the work that we all do. and so it's been a little bit of kind of one domino falling after another. and this one just at the time that we're all making sure our programs have recovered fully and that that the needs of our community are being met. to have our work essentially evaluated as not essential is a is a real kick to a lot of us in our community. so we are trying to make sure that every need is met. and and often what happens is people can put arts arts funding into a really comfortable bucket. it's hard. it's hard to feel deeply if you can hide it under a generic term like the arts. but when you talk about children and families, when you talk about community development, when you talk about our programing that meets kids as young as six weeks old through older adults experiencing the early stages of alzheimer's and dementia the services wrapped up inside that that pretty bow of arts funding are really specific, necessary social and community well being services. >>there has been a 184% increase since a camera was put on our phones. there's been 184% increase in mental health issues being reported in schools around the world. arts help break down those barriers and get kids more comfortabl with themselves. >>a large amount of our work and our research at central florida community arts is in the intersection of arts and health and arts and wellness, arts and medicine. the places where the arts are have research behind them to prov that they increase well being. they help with mental health concerns. they they make communities more vibrant. and when a community is vibrant, your schools get better. everything els in your community gets better. when a business wants to attract employees to an area, often they're going to they're going to research housing, they're going to research schools, and they're going to research culture. is this a place my family will want to live? is this a place that there are things for us to do or places for us to belong? and that is a really vital role that we play across the spectrum. and the research supports that the arts are essential to a community's well being. >>mariah. >>well, i come from communities where arts, the art was not as accessible, right? we didn't have galleries. we didn't have museums as accessible as other neighborhoods had. growing up, all that we had was the time where we had the field trips right in grade school to the bob carr or those those one off situations. that was my only experience in the theater. thank god for the school system. right. to be able to provide that opportunity with that. i'm sure grants plays a big part in that, right, being able to fund that experience. so when you think about that, how that impacts generationally you know, different communities like the communities that i come from, it's just really it' really sad to see that that is something that we know will have an impact on that, that exposure and that access. also thinking even further as an artist here in central florida, in florida, all the work that you've seen, the murals and things like that, we believe it or not, have not been able to benefit from a state grant. >>yeah. >>so but still, we're saddened, right, because we know that there is a trickle down effect, right? because the partners that w work with or the collaborators that may have been able to benefit, maybe they're unable to to partner because they don't have the funding. right. and that collaboration may not be able to happen because the resources aren't there. so those are things that we're all thinking about as artists, as practicing artists, and also as a curator who where my role is to support artists as well as create in this community. so that's kind of where i am as a curator or as an artis trying to decipher what's next. right? and many of the people in my community that identify as bipoc artists or just artists in general that are younger, that are of my generation millennial, they're wondering, should i leave? should i stay? is florida going to be able to sustain my career and my practice? and so that's something that we have to think about. how do we keep our amazing talent here in florida? how do we keep them her and create that sense of home? right. >>well, you guys are nodding. what do you think? >>i completely agree. i use the word access or accessibility several times in this conversation. and so if if you if you can agree to the core belief that what an arts organization or an artist is doing is vital to a community's well being, therefore everyone everyone needs to have acces to it, therefore, it can't be hidde behind a paywall. it can't be somethin that has even more barriers to entry like you were talking about, which is where philanthropy and funding comes in is because if if this is supposed to change the lives of kids and families like orlando family stage doe like we like we attempt to do. you can't price it at a point that they'll never have access to it. so it really does come down to the core belief that what you are doing is going to transform where you live and that everyone deserve to see themselves in that work. therefore, it has to be the funding has to be accessible, the ability to see it, to experience it, to participate in it needs to be universal. and that's where the funding has to come from. everything. it can't be something that is sustained only on ticket sales or earned revenue because that's a that's a paywall, that's a barrier for entry that our community shouldn't have. one thing that i do believe central florida has an advantage at is collaboration. the arts community here, the leaders we talk, we connect, we work together. there isn't any of us that aren't aware that we can build a bigger pie together. and so i think you're also going to see a lot of us collaborating over the course of next year because this situation has brought that really to the forefront of our minds. >>final word to you, chris. >>there's a reason that our art forms have been around for thousands of years. they're not going anywhere. it's a it's an instinctual human need to gather in a place and experience something. and so we're not going anywhere. but that persistence that we have to keep going is also dangerous because it tells peopl that we don't need the support. and i want to try to change the conversation in our community to funnel as much support to the arts community as physically possible because when all of these groups are thriving, some really incredible things are going to happen in our community. >>and well, i wish you guys all the best of luck and i really appreciate your time here today. a reminder, you can find much more about the arts organizations we've heard from tonight on our program. visit us online at wucf.org/newsnight alon the bottom of your screen. that is all the time we hav for this week. my thanks to chris brow from the orlando family stage, mariah roman from the art of collab and justin muchoney from central florida community arts. thank you guys so much for coming in here today. really, really appreciate your time. we'll see you next friday night at 8:30 here on wucf. from all of us here at newsnight, take care and have a great week. copyright © 2025 public broadcasting service (pbs), all rights reserved. pbs is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization. new to pbs? 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daily e edition evening e edition sign up for email newsletters sign up for email newsletters daily e edition evening e edition trending: theater, visual art, dance, music and other cultural and artistic organizations are scrambling to close unexpected budget shortfalls after gov. ron desantis wiped out state arts and culture grants. desantis used his veto authority to eliminate $32 million that would have gone to large and small organizations throughout the state. the money was appropriated months ago by the florida legislature, and recipients expected it would begin flowing in coming weeks. “it was a shocker. it was a stunner,” said marjorie waldo, president and ceo of arts garage, the delray beach venue that offers live music, theater, comedy, visual arts and more. “something like this could literally be the death knell for some organizations, and succeed in doing what covid could not,” steven haines, executive director of the symphony of the americas, whose organization’s 37th season begins this fall at the broward center for the performing arts. “we don’t want to sound alarmist, but yet it’s an alarming situation.” and phillip dunlap, director of the broward county cultural division, and janet erlick, chair of the county cultural council, wrote on a county run arts website that the art and culture community “took a serious gut punch” when desantis vetoed the money. eliminated were:   50 grants to broward entities that collectively would have received $2.5 million.   51 grants totaling $3.1 million for organizations in palm beach county.   123 grants totaling $6.5 million for miami dade county groups. the funding in question amounted to small change for state government   a small fraction of 1% of the $116.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins july 1. the reasoning behind desantis’s decision on the arts and culture spending wasn’t clear; the governor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. state rep. chip lamarca, r lighthouse point, said he didn’t know the rationale behind the veto, and he had no indication the arts and culture money was in jeopardy. “i’m disappointed in the cut,” lamarca said. “i would have liked to see it fully funded.” in the days since the governor signed the budget into law on june 12 and outlined his vetoes, lamarca said he’s probably heard more reactions from people in the community about the arts and culture funding than about anything else. “the impact could be a significant ripple to a tsunami,” haines said. “this can, and most likely will, directly impact the programmatic output of organizations, and impact the people who are served.” the veto means a loss of $51,700 for the symphony of the americas and $70,500 for the arts garage. the lost grant money amounts to about 4% of the symphony’s most recent budget, haines said, and about 5% of the arts garage budget, waldo said. “don’t think that 4% to 5% of anybody’s budget isn’t significant, ” haines said. “most arts organizations already run barebones.” “we run a very lean budget,” waldo said. “when that money disappears, it’s going to hurt something.” the list includes many well known organizations, including bonnet house and flamingo gardens in broward and the morikami museum and japanese gardens and the norton museum of art in palm beach county, each of which lost $70,500. lesser known organizations are affected as well, such as the girl choir of south florida, which is losing $18,800, and the society for preservation and encouragement of barbershop quartet singing america, which is losing $9,494. the sudden change in their circumstances is prompting large and small organizations to find new ways to cut costs, which could include people; consider programming, which could include trimming performances; and reach out to supporters in search of more donations. waldo said she and her board of directors would appeal to the community for more support. in the meantime, she said, she’s looking for budget reductions. “i’m cutting off a sliver here and sliver there,” she said. if trimming and fundraising don’t close the gap, it might affect the jobs of some of arts garage’s 22 full  and part time employees. “i am attempting to do everything i can to get that (budget shortfall) number low enough that i don’t have to cut staff. but i cannot say that that won’t happen,” waldo said, adding that she’s already told staffers to expect meetings about budget cuts. “i’m prepping them for whatever might be coming.” which south florida arts, culture organizations had funding cut by desantis? here’s the list and how much each lost arts garage, which opened in 2011, has more than 300 events, classes and performances every year, waldo said. the 2024 25 symphony of the americas season, beginning in october, has eight different concert series, and each series has two or three performances. themes range from the annual holiday pops concerts to recognizing composers of the past to new symphonic voices. the combination of the short notice of the funding cut and the long lead time for arts organizations makes it especially challenging, haines and waldo said. “for us to be informed at this 11th hour that the grant will be zero is significant,” haines said. “arts organizations work so far in advance,” haines said   typically one to two years at the symphony of the americas. waldo said arts garage has programmed its offerings through 2025 and she has started work on 2026. the symphony of the americas and the arts garage aren’t unique. in recent days, arts organizations in south florida have sent out alerts to their supporters, some of which were defiant in tone and others pleading with supporters to dig deeper into their pockets and increase contributions. describing “some very bad news for all of the arts in florida!” ronnie larsen, founder and artistic director of plays of wilton, told his patrons that the governor’s action was “erasing thousands and thousands of dollars plays of wilton was counting on, some of which was scheduled to arrive very soon. this is nothing short of a disaster, not just for us but for all of the arts in florida.” gablestage theatre company told supporters of the miami dade county theater that “we fell victim to the heartless power of a veto pen,” and the fort lauderdale international film festival told its patrons that it was “still reeling from the devastating news.” arts funding has sometimes become a political lightning rod nationally, and both haines and jennifer jones, president and ceo of the florida cultural alliance, which includes many state art and cultural organizations, said they’ve always known nothing was guaranteed. “there’s an element of surprise, but not shock. i think it was just a matter of time that this, unfortunately, would play out with this result,” haines said. when desantis originally outlined a proposed budget before the 2024 legislative session, he included nothing in the arts and culture categories he eliminated, jones said. the proposed grants, vetted and recommended by the florida council on arts and culture, appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, were forwarded to the legislature, which reduced the totals by a little more than half. ultimately $32 million was included in the state budget, which the house and senate passed in march. desantis spent much of the ensuing three months touring the state talking about all the good things the budget contained, and highlighting popular initiatives the legislature included that he said he’d approve. he routinely warned, however, there would be some cuts. on june 12, he made those cuts, 20 days before the start of the new fiscal year. “i don’t think anybody thought it was going to happen,” jones said. “he recommended nothing, and by golly, he delivered,” jones said. desantis vetoed a total of $949.6 million from the state budget   just enough to boast that spending in the new fiscal year is less than spending in the current fiscal year, which ends on june 30. at an event wednesday in marathon, a week after he acted on the budget, desantis described it as the “most fiscally sound of any in the united states” and called it “really sound, very responsible and protective of taxpayer money.” the state coffers are brimming with cash   desantis called it “a massive surplus” on wednesday and previously estimated reserves would top $17 billion   though there is no guarantee how long flush times will last. state rep. peggy gossett seidman, a palm beach county republican, and state sen. lori berman, a palm beach county democrat, said they don’t know desantis’ motives. “i don’t know why he did it. i don’t know who told him this was a good idea. we never heard any negative comments about any of the cultural programs or funding,” berman said. “i can’t imagine what the thought process is.” the governor is widely viewed as planning a candidacy for the 2028 republican presidential nomination. his budget actions could burnish his credentials with the republican party base, which generally isn’t enamored of things like spending government money on art and humanities and show his prowess as fiscally prudent. jones said the arts have received financial support under previous conservative republican governors and from the legislature, which has been controlled by republicans for decades. “you can’t take the numbers and look at who’s in a position of authority and say, ‘i see what happened here.’ i don’t think it plays out that way. people probably have ideas about which party is more interested in supporting the arts or not, but when you come down to the numbers it doesn’t really play out that way.” gossett seidman said she believes desantis was trying to spend money in areas with the biggest needs. “there are so many avenues to fund the arts. i believe the governor was looking at taking care of major issues that are super important,” she said. “maybe the arts have to wait another year. i believe that is the attitude.” “we’ll come back and make it a priority,” she added. in the meantime, gossett seidman said, philanthropy can help make up the lost funding, supplemented by other governments such as the school board. arts and culture organizations, and their supporters, said there are two central reasons government funding is good public policy. spending on arts and culture has a positive impact on the economy, including tourism, they said. “the economic impact is massive,” haines said. waldo said someone coming to a show means parking fees, dinner before the show, and employment for venue staff and artists. she and lamarca said spending on arts and cultural organizations helps the economy by spurring tourism, a pillar of the state’s economy. “i’m a strong believer that the arts actually have a good return on investment. we invest in the arts, you have people that come here,” he said. waldo said arts garage was just awarded funding through the palm beach county tourist development council, which is financed through hotel bed taxes, so it could market to tourists. arts and culture improve the quality of life, they said. “we need the mind to be stimulated,” said state rep. marie woodson, a hollywood democrat. she said art and music help provide that stimulation. “we bring communities together, people who might never meet one another otherwise. we have an impact on mental health, on physical well being, on students academic performance, on community engagement,” waldo said. “the work that we’re doing has a deep and lasting impact.” island city stage, a theater in wilton manors planning five plays in its next season beginning in october, urged its supporters in an email blast to contact their state lawmakers   and provided a link people could use to figure out who represents them. posts on the south florida jazz list on facebook also urged action. “when you read the list, you should get angry!!!.” another post included a call for people to contact their elected officials with a message: “this is wrong.” dunlap and erlick, the county cultural leaders, wrote that they weren’t sure what would happen next. “our collective voice still has power,” they wrote. “let’s do our part to be involved in advocating for what our sector needs and what our community values. convey this to elected officials at the state level,” adding an admission: “remember to be respectful.” in theory, the legislature could override desantis’ veto of the spending. practically speaking, legislators said, there is no chance the republican controlled house and senate would override the republican governor’s veto. lamarca said he hopes money will be put in the next budget, for the fiscal year that begins july 1, 2025. haines said he’s unsure of the prospects. “once any part of a state’s budget is zeroed out, the concern is when and how does it get restored,” he said. anthony man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on bluesky, threads, facebook and mastodon. copyright © 2025 sun sentinel

consider that celebratory moment when a theatre or other arts and culture organization, after meticulous preparation and attention to detail, receives confirmation that its funding has been approved. planning starts, new seasons are confirmed and the nonprofit is ready for a new year. then, picture the shock, fear and devastation as the promised grant, amounting to $32 million throughout the state of florida, is suddenly retracted after an outright lie. when gov. ron desantis was asked in a press conference why he unprecedently vetoed the arts and culture line item that had been vetted and approved by his republican dominated state legislature, his response was, “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.” he criticized the tampa fringe and orlando fringe festivals for being “too sexual,” despite no record of his attendance, with all shows categorized and appropriately age rated. the latter held its 33rd festival may 14 27 before the former returned to ybor june 5 16, and neither allowed children in adult oriented shows. when people learn that desantis eliminated 100% of crucial funding, they often first think about performing arts theatres. however, this veto affects every nonprofit in the arts and culture sector   from museums and zoos to orchestras, operas, visual arts, photography and more. if it falls under arts and culture, a category known for embracing diversity, multiculturalism and lgbtq+ inclusivity   aspects seemingly of concern to the governor   his decision has wide ranging impacts on all arts and culture organizations in florida. this move blindsided nonprofit groups that play vital roles in supporting their communities. despite being significantly reduced, the funds had been approved and planned for in the state budget before being sent to desantis for a final signature. after fighting to keep their doors open during the covid 19 pandemic, arts and culture organizations that survived already say they are facing additional hurdles in recovering from reduced audience attendance and revenues. the grants enabled many nonprofits to supply jobs to his state’s constituents, leaving them wondering: how can desantis not realize the arts generate jobs and income for florida? margaret murray is ceo of creative pinellas, which exists to uplift art and artists throughout pinellas county in tampa bay. she says that “given the financial importance of the arts for our tourism and local cultural economy, i fear the economic impact the most. if we look at the nine to one return on investment generated by arts spending, that’s a statewide hit of almost $300 million. it has very strong implications for the area. “there are organizations like creative pinellas that have new leadership that were looking forward to making some significant transformative changes within their organizations and how their organizations would impact their communities,” she continues. “many of those big changes are   by necessity   not going to happen because there is going to be belt tightening and ‘ok, we can’t take a big risk because we don’t have that money. we can’t take a leap of faith on this program that we know will positively benefit our community because we have to do what we’re already doing.’” the day before desantis vetoed the funding, creative pinellas had launched a restructuring of the grants program to provide more funding to artists across many genres. “now, we need to look at our funding to ensure we can still meet those lofty goals that we promised,” she explains. “we need to move forward in a very actionable way, but because this is unprecedented, there is no playbook for how to move forward. what has been most gratifying to see is people unifying around this tragedy. it’s been wonderful to see arts organizations coming out with statements like, ‘now is the time for you to support your favorite arts organization. now is the time to buy work from an artist, buy a ticket to a play, see a performance, or buy season tickets.’ “it’s been wonderful to see this communal advocacy for each other,” she adds. “these are unprecedented times, and i feel horrible that [the fringe festivals] are being scapegoated. the state funding doesn’t go to support [their] artists … those artists are paid from ticket sales. it’s tarring everyone with the same brush and it’s really unforgivable.” murray believes there will be more concrete efforts as people are still organizing. “honestly,” she says, “the most important thing is for people to vote and say, ‘i value this in my life and my community.’ if we elect leaders who understand the importance of the arts, no matter their political affiliation, we don’t need to go through this again.” justin muchoney, vice president, member and patron experience, and artistic director of central florida community arts, explains the enormous negative impact of desantis’ decision. the group works to serve and build community through the arts in central florida. “our message to policymakers is one of deep disappointment and concern. the veto shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the role that arts organizations play in our communities and the breadth of programming this funding supports,” he says. “we hope they realize that arts programs aren’t narrow or hard to define. they are programs for children, youth and families. they are programs for older adults. they are programs that create healthy and vibrant communities and citizens. “this year’s veto of arts funding will have significant repercussions for cfcarts,” he continues. “the loss of funding threatens our ability to deliver high quality arts education and performances that serve thousands of community members, including underserved populations, and our budget is constantly under review to ensure we can deliver the best programming possible to the widest range of people in our community. this not only affects our staff but also the teaching artists, music therapists, older adults, students, and audiences who benefit from these vital programs.” muchoney also notes that the arts are a “crucial part of our shared cultural fabric, fostering creativity, expression and unity. cutting arts funding undermines the very essence of what makes our community vibrant and resilient. the arts contribute significantly to economic development by attracting professionals to our area. for cfcarts, our members, hundreds of doctors, lawyers, teachers, architects, and other professionals participate in our programs, with many citing these cultural offerings as a deciding factor in choosing to live and work in orlando.” furthermore, he says the group urges “policymakers to be steadfast partners through next year’s budget process and recognize the profound impact the arts have on the quality of life and economic vitality of our state.” some arts supporters find themselves wondering if the veto was punishment to those organizations desantis perceives as “woke.” is this just another example of censorship, an attack disguised under the guise of protecting children? florida has already experienced desantis’ opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and his controversial banning of certain books, many of which are lgbtq+, reflecting a concerning trend toward restrictive measures. “it is concerning that the arts community is being targeted in what appears to be a political maneuver against organizations perceived as progressive or inclusive,” muchoney says. “the term ‘woke’ has been used pejoratively to describe efforts toward social justice and equity. punishing organizations for fostering inclusivity and representation undermines the values of diversity and freedom of expression that are fundamental to the arts and our nation. “our programs, which include diverse participants from various backgrounds, exemplify how inclusivity enriches our community and drives economic and social progress,” he continues. “while we can’t guess or imply the underlying motives, we know that arts organizations provide vital work to people of all ages in our communities, and the loss of that presence in our communities will be devastating to everyone.” in a statement, katie blankenship, director of nonprofit pen america’s florida office, adds that “desantis is taking his war on culture to a new level. this decision will not only devastate the arts but add to his legacy of censorship and disregard for art, literature and knowledge.” watermark spoke to two florida lawmakers, each of whom was appalled at the governor’s veto. central florida’s state representative anna v. eskamani, who regularly attends orlando fringe, defended the festival against his attack. “desantis has attempted to disguise his awful decision to cut these programs by creating another culture war, attacking the international fringe festivals and saying they are ‘sexual festivals,’” she says. “this is ridiculous and provides another example of how desantis pivots to sensational accusations whenever he loses a policy fight.” the region’s state senator elect carlos guillermo smith agrees. “the governor has gone to great lengths to show his disdain for lgbtq floridians; that much is obvious,” he notes. “but it appears he may also be scapegoating fringe after receiving huge bipartisan blowback for his job killing veto of arts and culture funds. in either scenario, this unprecedented veto of all arts funding is absolutely devastating to an industry that generates $4 billion in economic activity for our state annually. these arts grants also yield a 9 to 1 rate of return for taxpayers, so the veto is also fiscally irresponsible. “how are the 600 cultural and museum grantees supposed to respond to this threat from their governor?” he asks. “should the arts be censored and their content tailored to appease florida’s king? as shocking and unprecedented as these arts vetoes are, we cannot be surprised. censorship of the arts goes hand in hand with book banning and state control of speech under desantis. just look at what history says about the types of administrations that use their power to censor the arts   they weren’t democracies.” tampa fringe and orlando fringe are still reeling from the ambush. the groups released an open letter to the governor july 11 to advocate for the arts advising they would forgo their 2025 state grants to restore the remaining funding for other organizations. “this is a mischaracterization of what we do at fringe festivals, and it’s really not fair to use us as a scapegoat because it’s not merited. we’re not doing anything like what he said. we are not a sex festival. we’re a theatre festival,” tampa fringe co founder, president and producer trish parry shared. “my hope is that this was a misunderstanding about what we do,” she continues. “it could very well be behind the scenes people, like the communications director, who misinformed the governor. we don’t know what the motivation is. if it turns out that it isn’t, it is definitely a move in the wrong direction for everyone trying to use their freedom of speech. it would be nice if the governor took ownership of that and perhaps had a conversation and considered doing what he could to make this right with the organizations in florida.” “it’s unfortunate that governor desantis mischaracterized the fringe. i don’t know if that was purposeful or a misunderstanding. we’d appreciate an opportunity to correct his understanding of what fringe is,” adds orlando fringe interim executive director scott galbraith. “we stand firmly with tampa fringe and orlando fringe, praising their crucial role in championing free speech and free expression while dispelling misinformation on the nature of these community organizations. these festivals and the programs they produce provide an invaluable platform for artists to share their voices and contribute to our society without the constraints of government censorship,” muchoney also notes. “by amplifying their voices through our platforms and encouraging our supporters to attend and support their events, we emphasize the importance of artistic freedom and the significant positive impact these festivals have on our cultural and social landscape.” fringe festivals tend to embrace as many cultures as possible in their different forms of expression. “we may not always agree with [fringe participants.] that’s fine. we don’t have to. we welcome them. even if you find something you disagree with, you grow from that,” explains galbraith. “we have been very fortunate to be embraced by the community. hopefully, that will continue because we and arts organizations across the state will clearly need it. “we are doing what we can to be appreciative while advocating for ourselves and the arts and culture sector as a whole,” he continues. “we amplify what we’ve had to do for centuries. for some reason, the arts and culture sector has always had to validate and justify its reason for being. it’s odd because it is such an essential human need. storytelling started around campfires back when wooly mammoths were roaming. what we do is millennia old, yet we still have to advocate for the importance of communicating, storytelling and gathering together in community. we have taken a number of hits during the centuries, but we always rise. we always do. we’re working to reframe the narrative because the one that got out there is completely false.” both parry and galbraith say the community can support the fringes by sharing their written statements and supporting all arts and culture organizations. “i think it’s helpful to spread the word that fringe is not what desantis said because it is already hard enough for people to understand what we do since the word fringe has many different meanings,” parry explains. “people wanting to support us can write to the governor in a non incendiary way, imploring him to reconsider this veto of all the arts, explaining that many people are affected, and drawing awareness to this issue. “anyone i’ve spoken to   on both sides of the political spectrum   has been appalled,” she continues. “my fondest hope is that it was an accident and will all be fixed. i’d like to think that no one is inherently evil, so my hope is that it is just a misunderstanding.” jobsite theater   the straz center’s resident theater company in tampa   and powerstories theatre, another space dedicated to fostering connection through the arts, reacted similarly. “we’re disappointed that the governor sees so little value in an entire industry in florida that generates billions of dollars in revenue and employs tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of citizens every year,” jobsite theater producing artistic director david jenkins says. “the arts and culture are big business in florida and this move does nothing but hurt floridians. “i believe that we are at peak culture war right now and that there is a presidential election in the fall does not help,” he continues. “the far right has weaponized just about every area of culture, and this sort of move is clearly ‘red meat’ to chum up and consolidate a certain base of support as we head toward november. i can’t speculate on what the governor’s actual intention was … however, if the idea was to punish the ‘woke,’ a lot of other organizations were just punished terribly for whatever offense the governor took to fringe festivals. that seems terribly petty, short sided and retaliatory.” powerstories theatre founder fran powers adds, “i see young people and adults every day whose lives have been changed for the better because of their work with theatre. a mother recently approached me and said, ‘my young daughter is a new person because of your staff’s work with her in your girlstories leadership theater program. she is now engaged, inspired, and dedicated to living a life of meaning.’ “is this not worth less than a quarter of one percent of the state’s budget to help young children?” she asks. “there are not enough adjectives in the english language to describe how disheartened i am about our state government.” eskamani says that “investing in arts and culture is a powerful economic generator. the arts sector creates jobs, stimulates tourism and enhances the quality of life for all floridians. cutting this funding undermines our state’s economic vitality and disregards our cultural institutions’ significant contributions. we must recognize and support the invaluable impact of arts and culture on our economy and society. i urge the legislature to fully fund these programs next session and ask that community members step up to fill these funding gaps created by governor desantis.” the best way to support arts and culture is with personal involvement and financial contributions. “most importantly, the community should make finding arts organizations they believe in and supporting them directly a top priority,” jenkins stresses. “buy tickets, memberships and passes. donate. don’t just like a post on facebook. show up. this is something people can do right now that has immediate impact.” powers states, “the community can become better informed about our value to the economy in our community in florida. they can get involved, volunteer, join our board of directors, or they can make a donation to help us continue our great works.” “we cannot underestimate the potential generational impact of this kind of thing happening on a broad scale over a long period. it will be bad enough if it lasts this entire fiscal year   and by the way, i believe we are the only state now with zero funding,” galbraith notes. “if this becomes the norm in our state, the ripples will be monumental, and i’m not being overdramatic by saying that,” he adds. “it will affect education, mental health, people and businesses coming into the area, as well as the ability of some of our arts and culture entities to access the talent pool they currently enjoy. it cannot be underestimated how dangerous a moment this is for the state of florida.” watermark reached out to gov. ron desantis’ office multiple times for comment and received no response. to read orlando and tampa fringe’s joint letter to the governor and to learn more about each festival, visit orlandofringe.org and tampafringe.org. visit creativepinellas.org, cfcarts.com, jobsitetheater.org and powerstories.com to learn more about each arts organization. sign up to receive our weekly newsletters today! sign up for our newsletter © 2025 watermark online. all rights reserved.

supported by florida’s governor has come under fire from critics who say he is using state resources to work against a proposed abortion rights amendment to the state constitution. by michael wines gov. ron desantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers. by patricia mazzei the former president and his vanquished rival met in florida, months after ron desantis dropped out after a contentious republican contest. by maggie haberman and nicholas nehamas the entertainment giant and the florida governor have been sparring for two years over control of a tax district that encompasses walt disney world. by brooks barnes and j. edward moreno desantis signs social media bill barring accounts for children under 14 a new florida law also requires apps like tiktok and snapchat to obtain a parent’s consent before giving accounts to 14  and 15 year olds. by natasha singer university of florida eliminates all d.e.i. related positions the move complies with a state law that barred public universities from using government funds for initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. by anna betts desantis vetoes blanket social media ban for youths under 16 the statute, passed by the florida legislature last week, would have required sites like tiktok and instagram to deny accounts to underage users, even if their parents permitted them to do so. by natasha singer desantis, in private call, sounds off on trump and conservative news media speaking with supporters in a call on wednesday, gov. ron desantis of florida said he would not be donald j. trump’s vice president. by shane goldmacher how much cash did ron desantis burn through against trump? the florida governor’s well stocked super pac and campaign spent a stunning amount on a primary race he departed after just one contest. by rebecca davis o’brien and nicholas nehamas the orders seek to encourage “patriotic education” and restrict discussions about racism and gender by threatening to withdraw federal funding. but schools are often resistant to change. by dana goldstein the veto pledge capped a dramatic few days in which republican legislators publicly criticized gov. ron desantis and portrayed themselves as truer allies of president trump. by patricia mazzei in a special session on monday, leaders seemed to be declaring their independence from a governor who has wielded so much power that legislative sessions have become largely predictable rubber stamps. by patricia mazzei a special session that began on monday pairs disaster aid with two priorities for both the president and gov. bill lee of tennessee: tougher immigration laws and school vouchers. by emily cochrane as gov. ron desantis of florida noted, “we’re not necessarily used to walking in a winter wonderland here.” by kate christobek, patricia mazzei and j. david goodman the florida governor used the wording in issuing a state of emergency over a cold snap expected in his state. by annie karni la republicana ashley moody ocuparía el puesto del senador marco rubio una vez que sea confirmado como secretario de estado del presidente electo donald trump. by patricia mazzei ashley moody, a republican, would take the seat of senator marco rubio once he is confirmed as president elect donald j. trump’s secretary of state. by patricia mazzei as ms. wiles heads to washington, the view in trump world is that the president elect’s closest aide and veteran strategist has a better chance than anyone. by elisabeth bumiller politicians on both the left and the right have sought to change or limit what teachers can do inside classrooms. teachers often ignore them. by dana goldstein el senado de estados unidos se toma en serio a sí mismo, pero sus miembros no siempre son figuras particularmente devotas al servicio público. by michelle cottle donald trump está explorando sus opciones tras las polémicas de pete hegseth. ron desantis está entre los posibles nominados a pesar de su relación conflictiva con el presidente electo. by maggie haberman and jonathan swan the president elect appeared to be having serious conversations about picking gov. ron desantis of florida as pete hegseth, the current selection, dismissed the allegations against him. by maggie haberman, jonathan swan and michael d. shear florida’s star president, ben sasse, was among the best paid university presidents ever. he promised a conservative overhaul, but then he resigned, leaving controversy and an embarrassing drop in the u.s. news rankings. by stephanie saul the president elect has selected several allies in congress, along with a current governor, to join his administration. by neil vigdor after serving as the president elect’s chief campaign spokesman, mr. cheung will return to the white house next year. by michael gold if senator marco rubio becomes secretary of state, gov. ron desantis of florida will choose his replacement. some lawmakers are pushing for the president elect’s daughter in law. by chris cameron the state has a deep bench of republican elected officials, many of whom have gotten to know the president elect by visiting him at mar a lago. by patricia mazzei the abortion rights movement won in many states   even some that voted for donald trump. where does it go from here? by emily bazelon targeting crime was a central part of the trump campaign’s message, but some left leaning prosecutors and measures survived a republican wave on election day. by shaila dewan and michael corkery the results were part of a wave of ballot measure outcomes that teachers’ unions had sought. nevertheless, private school choice is growing nationwide. by dana goldstein and troy closson el apoyo a la medida no alcanzó el 60 por ciento necesario para su aprobación. habría permitido el aborto “antes de la viabilidad”, normalmente en torno a las 24 semanas de embarazo. by patricia mazzei the defeat is a political victory for gov. ron desantis, a republican, who had become the face of a well funded opposition campaign. by patricia mazzei once a top presidential battleground, the state is lost to democrats. the party’s missteps, along with demographic change, led to every one of florida’s 67 counties becoming more red. by patricia mazzei after two heat strokes and damaged kidneys, josé delgado remains stunned that florida banned counties from enacting protections for outdoor workers. by patricia mazzei gov. ron desantis, who signed a strict abortion ban, has become the face of a campaign against the referendum, which would allow abortions “before viability.” by patricia mazzei the organization behind a campaign for an abortion rights ballot measure sued the florida governor’s administration over its threats of criminal prosecution against tv stations. by patricia mazzei the group behind an ad in favor of enshrining abortion rights in florida’s constitution says the state is violating the first amendment by threatening tv stations that ran the ad. by patricia mazzei a political nonprofit organization called building america’s future has raised and spent more than $100 million over the past four years. by maggie haberman and theodore schleifer hurricane milton left many gas stations without power and disrupted deliveries at ports. mass evacuations before the storm also drained supplies. by rebecca f. elliott, elisabeth parker and kate selig
supported by gov. ron desantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers. by patricia mazzei reporting from miami for the past 10 days, richard russell has been rattled, poring over budgets and working the phones in an attempt to limit the consequences of gov. ron desantis’s veto pen. mr. russell, the general director of the sarasota opera on florida’s gulf coast, had expected his nonprofit organization to receive a state grant of about $70,000 once mr. desantis signed a budget that state lawmakers had approved in march. but in a move that stunned arts and culture organizations, mr. desantis vetoed the entirety of their grant funding   about $32 million   on june 12, leaving them scrambling to figure out how to offset the shortfall. “it’s not going to close us,” mr. russell said. “but it is a gap that i am going to have to figure out how to make up, and if i don’t find alternate sources of funding, that could be someone’s job.” leaders of arts organizations in florida, many of whom have worked in the state for decades, cannot remember a governor ever eliminating all of their grant funding. even in the lean years of the great recession, at least a nominal amount   say, 5 percent of the recommended total   was approved. established arts organizations usually know better than to overly rely on nonrecurring state dollars subject to the discretion of politicians, said michael tomor, executive director of the tampa museum of art. but to cut funding at a time when arts organizations are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic sends a concerning message “that taxpayer dollars should not be used in support of arts and culture,” he added.

 shock. outrage. disbelief. anger. southwest florida's arts leaders had those reactions and more after gov. ron desantis vetoed all of florida's planned arts and culture grants in the state's 2024 25 budget. every single penny. "this veto is not just a budgetary decision," said molly rowan deckart, executive director for the alliance for the arts in fort myers. "it is a blatant disregard for the thousands of jobs, the educational opportunities and the community enrichment that arts and culture provide." desantis vetoed $32 million in cultural and museum grants and related funding when he signed florida's annual budget into law june 12. it was part of a sweeping $950 million in state grants and programs slashed by the governor.