NORTHAMPTON — Children interested in learning about music and playing instruments can hone their skills at the Northampton Community Music Center.
“As an advocate for artists, I believe in the importance of arts in building the health of a community and giving kids opportunities to express themselves in a healthy way,” said Jason Trotta, executive director of the music center on South Street.
The center’s annual budget is nearly $600,000, Trotta said, and about three-quarters of that is tuition fees. The $7,800from the Cultural Investment Portfolio administered by the Massachusetts Cultural Council is part of the remaining $150,000 that comes from non-tuition sources.
“It fills a gap in such an important way of funding that is so hard to come by,” Trotta said.
But the center, like 383 other nonprofits across the state, may become less accessible and offer fewer programs if significant cuts to the Massachusetts Cultural Council budget are allowed to take effect.
Gov. Charlie Baker recently vetoed more than half the proposed spending for the state council, cutting its proposed $14.1 million budget to $6.5 million for the fiscal year that began July 1. This would be the council’s smallest appropriation since 1994.
That potential $7.6 million cut also represents more than the $4.47 million in general operating support the state council provided through the Cultural Investment Portfolio and the $3 million distributed to local cultural councils
Trotta said his organization is among those seeking support from state legislators to override the veto when the Legislature meets this weekend before its session ends.
If the veto is not overriden, the state cultural council would then be forced to make decisions about where to cut.
“It affects us in a huge way, both financially and in terms of support,” Trotta said, noting that the state council is not only about financial support, but is a voice on Beacon Hill. “We’re afraid about what this is going to mean in investment in the arts.”
Massachusetts Cultural Council spokesman Gregory Liakos said in an email that the exact impact is not yet known, but the council sets its spending plan based on a combination of the state appropriation and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“If the Legislature does not override the veto this weekend, we would have to take an emergency FY17 budget to the council, whose members would have to decide how to allocate the cuts,” Liakos said.
A cut of that scale, Liakos said, would put everything on the table for consideration, including possible cuts to grants, services and staff.
State Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley, is among the legislators who argue that it is a “no-brainer” to override the governor’s veto, which he said would have a negative impact on tourism and on the livelihood and well-being of communities throughout the state.
Scibak said he is particularly troubled by the impact on the local cultural councils, where people get to decide how to use the money on activities in their own cities and towns.
“The funding may be used for small events, but it attracts people and involves people from small communities,” Scibak said, citing examples such as a storytelling performance for children or a jazz concert on the town common.
In Amherst, the cultural council received $25,300 from the state council last year, but even at that level could only partially fund the applications of 70 artists, performers and groups.
“If our budget is cut again by half, that would mean some people wouldn’t be able to complete their projects,” said Ellen Kosmer, co-chairwoman of the Amherst Cultural Council.
Kosmer said the council offered money for school field trips to cultural sites, provided financial support for the downtown Gallery A3, and helped the Public Art Commission establish its first cultural district.
She hopes people urge legislators to preserve the state council’s budget. “It’s not frivolous, it’ s a very important part of what a community is,” Kosmer said.
In addition to the Northampton Community Music Center, nearly two dozen other groups in Hampshire and Franklin counties, including the Emily Dickinson Museum and Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, the Academy of Music and Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, The New England Craft Program at Snow Farm in Williamsburg, Multi-Arts Inc. in Hadley and Historic Deerfield, depend on state council funding for their operations, with contributions ranging from $2,500 to $31,200.
Alexandra Kennedy, executive director of the Carle museum, said in an email that cuts would hurt virtually every cultural nonprofit across the state. Her museum receives $11,500.
“One of the vital things that the MCC provides is consistent support for our everyday operations, which is often the hardest money to raise,” Kennedy said. “We are all holding our breaths hoping that the legislators will override the governor’s veto.”
Projects paid for through the Cultural Facilities Fund of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, such as $300,000 for the Northampton Community Arts Trust Inc. to build its new performance space on Hawley Street and $74,000 for installation of solar panels on the roof of the Amherst Cinema on Amity Street, will not be affected by the governor’s veto, Liakos said.
That money is supported independently through the state’s annual capital plan, Liakos said.
Trotta said a successful override this weekend of the governor’s $7.6 million veto would demonstrate that art matters in Massachusetts.
“This kind of cut does not speak to who we are as a commonwealth,” Trotta said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
