Creative Chaos: Veto threatens to eradicate South Florida arts

By Sarah Mayorca

Doral Academy Preparatory School/Montage

Beneath the sunny skies of South Florida lies a vibrant mosaic of cultural organizations that are now scrambling to stay afloat after Gov. Ron DeSantis cut $32 million in arts funding from the state budget.

The cuts, announced at a June 27 news conference, affect nearly 600 arts organizations that help support scores of cultural activities across Florida, including dance companies, cinemas, photography, music, painting and theaters and museums.

Arts organizations say the veto was unexpected because funding had been approved by the legislature months earlier.

“When the veto came, it was shock, and it was devastating,” said Jennifer Jones, president and CEO of Florida Cultural Alliance, a state-wide arts advocacy organization. Jones said arts funding is important for community identity and community cohesion. “That people have opportunities to come together and celebrate the things they have in common, the things they love together, or things of excellence,” she said.

DeSantis said he vetoed the arts grants in part because he did not want taxpayers’ money to finance events that he deemed inappropriate.

“You have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is like a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff,” DeSantis told reporters. How many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that?”

The Fringe Festival takes place annually in Orlando and Tampa. In response to the governor’s statement, TampaFringe.Org said De Santis’ remarks were “a gross mischaracterization” of the festivals.

“Shows at Fringe Festivals can include theatre, children’s storytelling, acrobatics, magic, dance, music and more. Companies selected come from a broad swath of backgrounds and ideologies. That is the beauty of Fringe – there is something for every- one, and we don’t try to gatekeep,” festival organizers said.

In South Florida, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Zoo Miami, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, the Holocaust Memorial Committee, the Miami City Ballet, the Perez Art Museum in Miami, the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre and the Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theater in Coral Gables are among the organizations that lost funding.

Dominique Scott, who provides the musical direction for “Hundred Days” at Actors’ Playhouse, said the arts are important in Florida.

“There’s a very vibrant community down here; they do a lot of great work,” Scott said. “You know, you’ve got your bankers and your doctors and your lawyers, but you also have your artists to make people smile and laugh and to help educate and get people to think and also get people to forget about the world.”

Many teen artists who want to pursue a career in the arts are wondering about the long-term impact on the region’s identity and creative vitality.

“I was editor of the year of my literary arts magazine in high school, and I’m part of the choir and a thespian for musical theater,” said Eva Castañeda, 15, a sophomore at Carrollton High School. “So, I think it’s incredibly important.”

Barbara Stein, executive producing director at Actors’ Playhouse, said the cuts are disappointing but the veto won’t keep the group from operating.

“We’re going to find a way among our team to make it work because we’ve promised the community we’re going to, and darn it, we’re going to,” Stein said. “We don’t look at the negative about what can’t happen. We look at the positive about how we can make it happen. That’s our motto here.”