This past week I had the great pleasure of participating in the democratic process. It had come to my attention that the proposed budget for Georgias’ FY11 had it in the books to cut funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) down to less than $250k (down from $2mil last year) This meant that the council would be shut down, the funds moving to another entity and make Georgia the ONLY state to not have an arts council recognized by the National Endowment of the Art.
This news prompted several sign making parties throughout the city, many many calls to representatives and a rally Monday that attracted several hundred people, news crews, and attention.
I was elated to see such a turnout and to bump into friends, acquaintences and meet new people.
While I had my doubts as to whether a difference would be made I was thankfully proven wrong when I read that the budget for the arts was reduced by only $1.2 Million leaving it at $860k for the year and keeping the GCA open and available to take in matching government arts funds.
We were heard. We made a difference. Awesome.
