GCA Goes Away

The Georgia Council of the Arts is to be eliminated for budgetary reasons at the end of the month. This will eradicate all arts funding for the entire state of Georgia. What do we do? What are the effects? Without government funding the Arts in Georgia will suffer greatly: Arts teachers will lose jobs, Theatre's will close, and artists will have almost no work available. As a theatre artist that will be graduating soon this seems like a thoroughly intimidating proposition.

But I must ask, is this really a bad thing? Yes, in the the sense that many people will be out of jobs, but no, in the sense that the arts will have to prove their own existence again. Without the government funding artists will be forced to justify our art for the sake of our community and culture. Now only the art that is meaningful for our state, our country, and our people will be able to exist. In it's formalized form, the arts may fail. But now only the art that is done out of the desperation for expression and communication of our deepest soul's needs will be possible because it will be all we can afford. Artists will have to have other jobs and means of surviving physically while our art will be what forces us to life spiritually. Perhaps this will help cleanse the art of Georgia because it will only be able to exist in it's purest form.

One of the arts main functions is to reflect and influence the culture. Without the arts we no longer preserve our society and change the hearts of the people in it. But art is not so easily vanquished. Art comes from the soul of the artist. Art will persist with or without the government's help. And to quote the infinitely wise Sean Haley, "The government will always help the artist. Either through funding or inspiration."

Bread and Puppet Theatre is one of many theatre's that has great methods to survive without such funding. Have products to sell that raise money of their own accord. Use cheap or found materials. If money is what inhibits us from making our art then we are not expressing that need through our art. We cannot sit back and be lazy because we lack funding. Make it happen. If we love it we will do what it takes to get it done. Funding from the government may actually be hindering our progress as artists because we are in a constant state of pleasing our beneficiaries and not pursuing our art. We should and must be able to survive without it. Otherwise our art cannot justify its own existence.

If you would like your voice to be heard on this issue, here's a link that will voice your opinion directly to our chamber representatives. Your voice, heard.