ST. GEORGE, Utah — A vital southern Utah community is sounding an alarm about what it claims is a devastating drop in federal funds for the arts.
The Kayenta Center for the Arts in Ivins says it and other local arts programs and museums have had promised funding terminated by the National Endowment for the Arts, including those already awarded.
"I’m concerned that the general public may not understand the full implications of removing these national agencies from the federal budget," said the center's executive director, Mirand Wright. "There's so much support that comes into communities like ours that trickles down … so the impact won't be readily visible until it's too late to do anything about it. And that's I think where my feeling of desperation is coming from."
According to the National Endowment for the Arts website, Utah will lose $13.7 million in funding. The same site explains how arts and cultural production add $9.6 billion annually to the state's economy.
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Wright shared how Kayenta is already feeling the effects of what she said are broken promises.
While honoring current acts scheduled for the next few months, other groups are in limbo. Especially international productions that have told Wright they are already nervous coming into the country because of visa concerns.
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"I don't want to get too far embedded into the political dynamic, but I will say what I want out of my government. I want reliability. I want integrity. I do want promises and especially written promises in the form of contract to be met," she said.
Wright has hope that pressure applied to legislators and people’s own appreciation for the arts will keep the Kayenta Center from going dark.
