Virginia Commission for the Arts to Remain Intact

The Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly closed this weekend with a budget that offered a compromise in funding for the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Though one proposed budget would have cut funding to the VCA by 50 percent in 2011 and eliminated the commission in 2012, the budget that passed left the Commission intact but with funding cut of approximately 16.4 percent.

"The outpouring of support was fantastic," said John McEnhill, Executive Director of The Jacksonville Center. "We feel strongly that the arts are not a luxury but an important economic and social aspect of our community. We encourage everyone who spoke up to make one more call or write one more letter, thanking their representative for helping to preserve support for the arts in Virginia."

The VCA not only provides grants for artists and arts organizations, it is also the conduit through which federal arts funding reaches the Commonwealth. The elimination of the Commission would likely have left many of these organizations underfunded - in some cases fatally - at a time when fundraising is already at a low.

"We'd like to thank everyone who took time out of their busy lives to contact their representatives on behalf of the arts," said Jacksonville Center Development Coordinator Lee Chichester. "But the fight to preserve arts still depends on private citizens and their donations and participation. We hope everyone will take advantage of the arts organizations they helped preserve."

Arts advocates across the Commonwealth pulled together in the weeks before the final budget decision. One Facebook page dedicated to the cause gathered more than 1,400 arts supporters in just a few short weeks. The General Assembly budget represents a less than 50 cents per capita investment in the arts by the state.