Urgent Appeal from Austin Creative Alliance

The Austin Creative Alliance is appealing urgently for public reaction to legislator Simpson's budget amendment, just filed and aimed at defunding the Texas Commission for the Arts.

The demands of the time are such that new interim executive director Marcy Hoen is still using a template with the signature of departed longtime director Latifa Taormina -- but the creatives have found time to cap the appeal with the group's new logo.

The old logo, a clunky inward-bowed rectangle, is still on the website.

Save the TCA!

Immediate Action Required!

UPDATE 4/1/2011:
Rep. Simpson (R, Longview) has just filed a TCA-killing amendment

UPDATE 2/18/11: The House budget version (HB1) comes to the floor today. Please call your representatives immediately and ask them to vote NAY on any amendment -- similar to Rep. Simpson's -- that would further reduce the appropration for the Texas Commission on the Arts.

The TCA has already sustained a 52% reduction - any further would amount to killing the agency.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW AND CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES!

WHY SUPPORT THE ARTS, ESPECIALLY NOW? . . . . Aside from the fact that they generate 4.9 BILLION dollars for Texas of which a teency tincy percent goes back to the arts, and aside from the fact that they are the largest growth area for new jobs in the state.....

WHAT WE NEED TO SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS IS CREATIVITY - the ability to generate something fresh - which also entails the ability to face a problem and create something new from what is broken. THAT IS WHAT THE ARTS DO. THAT IS WHAT THE ARTS TEACH US.

To quote Arlene Goldbard's recent talk in Austin* (click for link to text and video)

"In a world morphing at light-speed into something none of us can foretell, fear and loss can be paralyzing. Creativity is the antidote: it is both our greatest challenge and our greatest need.

You can see these same capacities in action when we make music, dance, or theater: we collaborate, expressing a shared passion for beauty and meaning, stretching to accommodate each other, negotiating differences, holding space for everyone, and thus expanding possibility.

Artists rehearse for life's challenges through imagination and improvisation, exploring the limits of their powers and the synergies that can be created when they are aligned.

Making art, we learn how to move past the easy and obvious into essence, how to discard what no longer serves and explore the unknown.

Reflect on the business world: in IBM's most recent biennial CEO study, Capitalizing on Complexity,** interviews with over 1,500 CEOs and managers from both the private and public sector in 60 countries and 33 industries revealed that the "single most important leadership
competency" needed to navigate an environment of escalating complexity was creativity."

* Arlene Goldbard, author and arts activist, gave the keynote at the annual conference for the Association of Perferforming Arts Service Organziations here in Austin, March 8, 2011. The Creative Alliance hosted the conference.

**Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study, IBM Corporation, May 2010

Texas Legislature Budget Hearings: Arts Update (No Improvement)

Received from the Texas Commission on the Arts, March 8

(illustration provided by AustinLiveTheatre.com):

March 8, 2011
TCA Legislative Update

The 82nd Texas Legislature continues in Austin and the Texas Commission on the Arts has been involved in several meetings of interest to constituents.

On February 24th, TCA went before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government. TCA thanked the Subcommittee for the support demonstrated for the agency in HB1, the House Appropriations Bill. HB1 is the House version of the Texas state budget.

TCA also requested the Subcommittee reinstate several items to the proposed budget. These include:

- Restoration of funding for TCA’s contract for systems programming services which supports TCA’s online grants system.
- Restoration of five Full Time Employees and their salaries. Positions include 2 Program Administrators, 1 Program Assistant, Webmaster, and Director of Communications.
- An additional $2 million for the Arts Create grant category.


On Monday, February 28th, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government met to discuss their recommendations to the full House Appropriations Committee. TCA’s request for the restoration of items into the budget was not included and no changes were made to the original recommendations in HB1.

HB1 recommendations remain as originally reported:

- Budget reduction of approximately 50% as compared to the last biennium (this includes the grants budget)
- Reduction of 30% of TCA staff (a loss of 5 staff positions)
- Elimination of funding for advertising, promotion and cultural tourism
- Elimination of the contract for TCA's online grant system
- Reduction of 40% to TCA's travel budget

On Monday, March 7th, TCA went before the Senate Finance Committee. SB1, the Senate version of the appropriations bill, matches the recommendations in HB1 (see above). TCA again requested reinstatement of the grants system contract and the 5 Full Time Employee positions, as well as $2 million for Arts Create grants.

Public testimony was provided by representatives of Texans for the Arts, the Texas Cultural Trust, and the Texas Travel Industry Association.

TCA will continue to provide updates on the legislative process. In the meantime, questions should be directed to Gary Gibbs, TCA executive director, at ggibbs@arts.state.tx.us or Gaye Greever McElwain, TCA director of communications at gaye@arts.state.tx.us.