A Vision but No Plan – a dialog with Dan Malloy

No real surprises when [HVCA] along with 25 or so colleagues met with Dan Malloy in Hartford yesterday (October 7th) to discuss his position with supporting the arts.  The meeting, organized by the Connecticut Arts Alliance (CAA),  came on the heels of a large Tourism rally in Hartford where more than 1ooo  people attended.  Mr. Malloy is running on a platform to restore the tourism budget of $1 to 15 million because its right for Connecticut.  While everyone agrees -the arts and tourism go hand in hand, still, there are many issues with nuances that need to be talked about.
Mr. Malloy was not willing, yesterday,  to commit to anything specific and right away should he become Governor because he admitted that a systemic and fiscal review will need to take place and he most certainly will need to understand a few things.   So, no explicit promises and no plan outlined for how he intends to give the arts a fair share of an extremely small pool of state dollars.  However, he stated that the arts are valued and considered important assets for Connecticut.  Mr Malloy agrees that to incorporate arts and culture into an overall plan is a more comprehensive approach to getting Connecticut back on track.  This is a discussion long over due.   He talked about his record in Stamford as an active supporter through participation at events,  policy making, funding decisions, and as a contributor.  After an economic impact study related to arts and culture it showed $12 returned for every $1 invested in Stamford.  All in all he he made the case that he gets it; the arts is a part of our culture, a job creator, and generator of $ and should be supported.   Tom Foley is scheduled to meet on Monday.
CAA has laid out a full advocacy platform, which has been shared with candidates.  They are outlined below.

1. Strengthen the Capacity of Nonprofits Arts Organizations to Serve Connecticut’s communities. Maintain sufficient and consistent funding for the ARTS grants programs of the Commission on Culture and Tourism, including a restoration to $5 million in funding for Basic Cultural Resources grants. Significant reductions in CCT the past two years have weakened the State’s cultural capacity and caused organizations to close, and eliminate jobs and programs. Decreases in funding have also weakened Connecticut arts organizations’ ability to compete for other private and public funds.
2. Protect and maintain annual allocations into the Connecticut Arts Endowment Fund.
3. Protect the longstanding tax exemption of nonprofit arts organizations in recognition of the vital public benefits they provide.
4. Reserve an annual share of state bond funds to finance the capital improvement, restoration and modernization of cultural facilities.

For the complete platform document or to if you’re an arts leader, board member, supporter with a propensity to get involved please contact me for more information  lscails@hvculturalarts.org  or 203-798-0760.



Reprinted from HVCA blog with permission.