For some arts and cultural programs, Santa Claus this year is the Cultural Resources Trust.
The Trust has voted to restore 90 percent of funding to 10 groups that were cut entirely from the Onondaga County budget for next year. That’s a total of $209,480 for the 10 groups.
Mary Beth Primo, executive director of the Trust, praised the group’s vote on Dec. 8. “I think the board did a very good job,” said Primo. “They gave a lot of thought to this and they made some very wise decisions that are very helpful to the community.”
The groups lose 10 percent of their sought-after funding. But they still celebrated the Trust’s gift. “It is certainly a lot better than zero,” said Jeff Woodward, who heads the Syracuse Stage. The Stage is getting $23,000 from the Trust. Without it, said Woodward, the Stage might have lost its outreach programs to Syracuse area schools and its annual Youth Playwright’s Festival.
And now tickets for the “Adventures of Rudolph,” playing at the Civic Center, will remain at $10. “Our whole goal is to create access to art for people who don’t normally see it,” said Stephen Butler, executive director of the Cultural Resources Council, one of the Trust’s beneficiaries and producers of Rudolph’s show. “We would have to raise our prices to compete with other agencies or arts organizations who are charging $40 a ticket.”
The Trust is a quasi-governmental, non-profit agency organized in 2009 by the county to be responsible for issuing bonds to finance individual projects and programs. When the county cut arts funding in October from its $1.2 billion budget, County Executive Joanie Mahoney suggested the Trust take up the slack for the arts programs.
In restoring the funding, the Trust emphasized the funding for the arts groups is temporary and will end after the 2011-12 fiscal year. Among the groups and their funding from the Trust:
- The Syracuse International Film Festival: $19,800
- Syracuse Opera: $55,320
- Red House Arts Center: $13,500
- Cultural Resources Council: $54,078
- Syracuse Stage: $23,022
- Syracuse City Ballet: $2,880
- Skaneateles Festival: $5,076
- Syracuse Symphony Orchestra: $18,481
- Salt City Center for the Performing Arts: $10,121
- CNY Jazz Arts Foundation: $7,200
(Billy Holbert is a graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism.)
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