Local arts organizations make pleas to restore budget money

HARRIS COUNTY — Budget cuts are not easy. For every item that is cut out of a budget, someone or something will take a hit. In Harris County’s case, budget cuts stand to negatively affect a number of arts organizations.

In the most recent Harris County budget, officials chose to cut out $75,000 worth of general funds that were previously designated to the Houston Arts Alliance. In past years, the HAA doled out this money in grants to multiple arts organizations they designated as “Touring and Neighborhood Arts Programs.”

On July 13, at the Harris County Commissioners Court meeting, two arts organizations—the Houston Repertoire Ballet and the Houston Grand Opera—took a stand against this cut and requested that the county make an effort to restore the $75,000 to the HAA during the mid-year review in September.

Katie Koy, the public relations manager for the Houston Repertoire Ballet—a nonprofit dance organization that brings professional-level performances to Northwest Houston, —explained how the HAA grants benefited her organization and the Northwest Houston community at the meeting.

“We received $3,000 last year for The Nutcracker and $3,000 for our spring performance,” Koy said in an interview after the meeting. “$3,000 does not sound like that much, but it is enough to hire an outside performer. We feel like this is the primary way to getting the best performances outside of Houston.”

Without the grant money from the HAA, Koy said the Houston Repertoire Ballet would have to make some budget cuts of their own.

“We would definitely shift the funding around so we could still bring in guest performers, but every year we build a set, we update costumes and one of those elements might suffer,” Koy said.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett listened to Koy’s pleas for funding.

“I’m working on a way to come up with some funding,” Emmett said at the meeting.

Joe Stinebaker, the director of communications for the judge, said Emmett is interested in supporting quality arts programs in the county and he said it may be feasible to restore these funds to the HAA in September.

“There are a number of different ways to fund it,” Stinebaker said. “The budget comes back for the mid-year review in September sometime. If the economy is worse, the commissioners will tighten their belts. If the economy has picked up, the court can revise the budget [to include more programs.]”

After talking with Emmett after the meeting, Koy said she is optimistic that the county will be able to restore the HAA funds in September.

“[The judge’s office] was very assuring after the meeting,” Koy said. “We are really hopeful that they will be able to come up with the money.”

To learn more about the HAA’s Touring and Neighborhood Arts Program grants, which are given to more than 20 organizations in the Houston area, visit www.houstonartsalliance.com.

To learn more about the Houston Repertoire Ballet including their performances at the Berry Center and their educational performances for students visit www.hrbdance.org.

Printed Thursday, May 17, 2012