Whew!  What a week.  The proposed funding cuts to the Department of Cultural Affairs have been abandoned, thanks to a huge outpouring of public support.  I have to admit that I was sweating bullets.  McGroarty is run in partnership with DCA.  We were privatized during a similar budget crisis in the mid-90's, but that doesn't mean we don't rely on support from the city.  The impact of these proposed cuts on McGroarty, at minimum, would have meant the city's refusal to pay $26,000 in already-contracted-and-spent funds.  In a worst case scenario, they would have shut us down:  the McGroarty Arts Center building and grounds belong to the city.

Instead, the system worked!  The city council, including our own Paul Krekorian, listened to the impassioned pleas and economic truths about the importance of the arts and places like McGroarty Arts Center.  The tiny trickle of funding that keeps DCA afloat isn't going away for now.

But budget cuts will still be coming.  McGroarty will be looking for new funding streams and prioritizing.  DCA should do the same.  DCA has spread itself thin working on many valuable programs, but in times like these, DCA leadership needs to focus their limited resources into the most important areas:  grants, public art, and public and private centers.