The following comes from Beth Jones, Administrative Director of the Utah Cultural Alliance (of which Artists of Utah is a member). We share this with you so as individual citizens you can express your views to your representatives.
"Representative Sheryl Allen (R-Davis) and the Board of the Utah Cultural Alliance are asking all UCA members for their support of HB135.
This new piece of legislation will
1) create a fair and equitable process, with clear criteria and expert review, for funding capital (bricks and mortar) requests for cultural facilities, and
2) increase ongoing funding for program grants for state cultural agencies, through the Division of Arts and Museums, Division of State History, and State Library Division.
See the attached fact sheet for more information about this critical piece of legislation.
Please contact your representatives and senators immediately to ask for their support of HB 135. Be sure to include your name and address in your correspondence.
HB 135:
Grants from the Department of Community & Culture
FACT SHEET
HB 135 is a new piece of legislation created by Representative Sheryl Allen (R-Davis), which will:
1) create a clear and equitable process for funding of cultural capital facilities, and
2) increase ongoing funding for program grants for cultural activities (arts, history, museums, libraries, and humanities).
Capital requests would go through an approved vetting process for the purpose of establishing a priority list of needs for cultural facilities statewide. HB 135 does not include a fiscal note for capital requests, which would be considered by the usual building board process after being prioritized by the cultural agencies.
Program grant requests would go through the boards already in place with existing state agencies in the Department of Community and Culture: Library Division, History, and Arts and Museums. HB 135 proposes an increase of more than $5 million for grants, distributed among the cultural agencies. (The $7.7 million in the bill includes the current ongoing allocation of approximately $2 million for grants through the agencies in the Department of Community and Culture plus an increase of over $5 million.)
In summary, HB135:
· empowers currently established boards in Arts and Museums, History, and Libraries to review and prioritize applications for capital facilities grants, and
· increases the pools of funds available for the established grant processes in the state cultural agencies
UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Categories: Public Issues
