'Sinking or swimming': Polk County cultural groups feel the pain of DeSantis' veto

The post-pandemic period has threatened the continuing existence of Florida Dance Theatre, which arose in 1993.

The nonprofit dance company shifted from its longtime Lakeland studio and offices last year to Theatre Winter Haven, where it occupies space without paying rent.

Last week, the company received stunning news that further clouds its future: In an unprecedented move, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed all $32 million in arts and cultural grants included in the budget the Florida Legislature had adopted.

That included an expected $18,800 for Florida Dance Theatre through a Florida Cultural and Museum Grant. Jermaine Thornton, executive director of Florida Dance Theatre, described the loss of anticipated funding as “very devastating and very disappointing.”

“It impacts us in significant ways,” Thornton said Monday. “We, to be quite transparent, need to reimagine all of our programming moving forward because this decision impacts our entire performance series. It impacts our outreach and educational opportunities in the community as well.”

Advocates say it is the first time a governor has vetoed the entire budget line item for cultural and museum grants.

“It's troubling, not just because of the lack of money, but it's troubling because of the message that it sends,” said Dan Chesnicka, producing director for Theatre Winter Haven. “I see it as a blow to the community and some of the most vulnerable members of our community, even more so than I see it as a blow to the arts.”

For decades, Florida’s Council on Arts and Culture has administered grants to local nonprofits and artists in three categories: Cultural and Museums, Culture Builds Florida and Cultural Endowments. Organizations submit detailed grant applications, describing how the money will be used, and committees review the applications to rank the applicants.

How many organizations receive grants in each category varies with each year’s budget.

For the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 14 Polk nonprofits or artists had been approved to receive grants, according to Daryl Ward, executive director of the Polk Arts and Culture Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

The grants authorized by the state’s review panels ranged from $25,000 for four entities, including Platform Art, to a high of $240,000 in an endowment grant for Bok Tower Gardens.

The Legislature had already whittled the grants to 47% of what the panels approved. For example, the state agency had recommended a $40,000 grant for Florida Dance Theatre, which the Legislature reduced to $18,800.

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With his veto pen, DeSantis struck all the money for the three categories of grants to more than 600 recipients. The vetoes amounted to 3.8% of the roughly $950 million in total vetoes from a budget of $116.5 billion.

The governor is not required to provide explanations of any budget vetoes.

“The governor reviews every bill and appropriation that comes across his desk and uses his authority under the Florida Constitution to make veto decisions that are in the best interest of the state of Florida,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for the governor, told USA Today-Florida reporter John Kennedy.

The budget still includes some non-recurring allocations for arts entities, such as $500,000 for the expansion of the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.

The Ledger was unable to reach Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, or Rep. Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade, for comment. Both have backgrounds with cultural organizations or commissions.

'Heartbreaking,' museum CEO says

Thornton, who succeeded Florida Dance Theatre founder Carol Krajacic Erkes in 2019, acknowledged that the troupe’s future now appears shakier than ever. He said the state grant in some years amounts to more than half of the nonprofit’s budget.

The funding would have helped cover pay for professional dancers, the outsourcing of choreography and some outreach initiatives, Thornton said. Will Florida Dance Theatre will be able to continue?

“That remains to be seen,” Thornton answered. “I know, we, along with our board of directors, there are decisions that we need to make, whether to proceed and reimagine the way the organization is serving the community.”

Florida Children’s Museum, based at Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, had been approved for a $150,000 Cultural and Museum Grant.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Florida Children’s Museum CEO Kerry Falwell said. “I’ve been an arts administrator in this state for almost 20 years, and this has only ever happened once before. It was heart-wrenching then but somewhat more understandable because the state's budget was in much worse shape than it is now.”

Falwell referred to a year in which former Gov. Rick Scott trimmed most arts funding, though he did not veto the entire budget line item for cultural grants.

Florida Children’s Museum, previously known as Explorations V Children’s Museum, has received state cultural grants annually for decades. Falwell said. The nonprofit is often among the highest-ranked applicants, she said.

The museum had planned to direct the grant money toward positions in its education department, Falwell said.

“Now we have to rally our troops and either find a way to decrease expenses or increase revenue,” she said. “Although we are a nonprofit, because nobody owns us, we still have to make sound judgments.”

Reliable funding source

Falwell and others emphasized that arts and culture organizations produce a significant economic impact. She said the Florida Children's Museum has a budget of nearly $4 million.

"It's a ($32) million line item, but you're getting billions of dollars of economic impact in return for that," Falwell said. "So it is nonsensical why that choice was made."

Theatre Winter Haven will lose out on an expected grant of $145,000. Chesnicka, who has helped lead Theatre Winter Haven since 2015, said the money would have gone toward programs that support the community but yield no revenue, such as the Penguin Project, a theater program for children with physical or developmental disabilities, and summer camp scholarships for at-risk kids.

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State grants have been a consistent source of funding throughout the decades-long history of Theatre Winter Haven, Chesnicka said. The nonprofit supports 55 jobs and has an economic impact of $7.5 million, he said.

"This wasn’t a decision made because of an economic shortfall," Chesnicka said. "There was a $14.6 billion surplus when the Legislature delivered (the budget) to him — before the governor’s line-item vetoes.  I’m perplexed to see our tax dollars sitting idle when they could be making our state a better place to live."

Platform Art, based in Lakeland, had been slated for a $25,000 Culture Builds Florida grant.

Executive Director Cynthia Haffey said the money was designated for a public sculpture project.

“It's more than disappointing,” Haffey said. “It can sometimes be a little bit devastating, especially for small or medium-sized organizations, where you don't have a general operating fund to cover the bases.”

Haffey, the only full-time employee of Platform Art, said that the organization must pay someone to prepare its grant applications. She said the process begins so far in advance of the award decisions that she has already contracted with an artist to complete the sculpture, which will draw upon designs submitted by local students.

“So by the time we get word that we do or don't get the grant, in this case, we're already committed to doing the project,” Haffey said. “So, when the $25,000 was denied this year, then it leaves a $25,000 hole.”

Worried about precedent

Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales was due to receive a $240,000 Cultural Endowment grant and a $150,000 Cultural and Museum grant, for a combined $390,000. After the Legislature’s reductions, the grants would have totaled $183,300.

David Price, president of Bok Tower Gardens, said the smaller grant would have been used for operations, such as covering salaries. He said the nonprofit will now have to shift money from elsewhere in its budget to offset the loss.

Price worried about the precedent DeSantis has set by deleting money for all arts and culture grants from the annual budget.

“The program is still there; it’s still intact,” Price said. “But if you cut all the funding, sometimes it's hard to get it back again. And that's my worry, that these programs that have been long term and have had a very positive effect on Florida's growth and economy, might get forgotten, and we move on without it. And that would be a real loss to the state of Florida, but also the people to Florida.”

Ward sent out a news release in response to the veto.

“We know that our state leaders make budget decisions as to what they feel is the best stewardship of Florida taxpayers' dollars,” he said in the release. “However, having no funding allotted for the arts and cultural sector can have severe consequences for these organizations.”

In a phone interview, Ward said he is determined to remind Polk County residents of the need to support artistic and cultural entities.

“So let's let everyone know that if you believe in arts and culture, that we need to attend events, we need to purchase memberships and buy tickets to support these organizations, because it's going to be a financial blow to many of them,” Ward said.

A relatively large and established entity such as Bok Tower Gardens can endure a loss in expected funding, Price said, but smaller nonprofits may not.

“Some organizations, it's a matter of sinking or swimming,” he said. “I think some organizations, especially smaller organizations, this is their lifeblood.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County arts leaders lament DeSantis' veto of all cultural grants