‘A blow to all of us’: Miami arts groups ready to put on a show despite funding cuts

A Miami theater company run by two women looked forward to promoting an employee from part time to full time. The employee was laid off instead.

Another theater group shrank an already pared-down production of "Fiddler on the Roof" that relies on puppetry for minor characters.

In Coral Gables, a museum had to furlough all employees, including the executive director, to save money.

And a dance group celebrating a milestone 25th season is stuck contemplating what programming they may need to cancel.

When you ask Miami arts nonprofit leaders or employees about the last few months following Gov. Ron DeSantis' $32 million veto cutting all arts grants funding from the state budget, they tend to respond the same way: with a very deep sigh.

"It's a blow to all of us," said Bari Newport, the artistic director of Gablestage, a nonprofit Coral Gables theater company. The cuts came just a day before the Gablestage board of directors was supposed to approve the budget, which included a $70,500 state grant.

In fact, hundreds of nonprofit organizations across Florida balanced their budgets assuming they'd receive the state grants they've been awarded for years. But in June, the governor threw a financial wrench in their plans with an unprecedented veto that arts leaders say nobody saw coming.

"We had actually thought that there would be an opportunity for increased funding from the state with all the influx of wealth and jobs," said Jeff Davis, the Miami City Ballet board chair. "So when I heard the news that the state funding was not increased, was not even kept the same, but was zeroed out, it came as a surprise. It was counterintuitive to me."

On top of that, Miami-Dade County cut $950,000 in arts grants from its budget. The county initially proposed to cut $2.5 million, but after a public hearing earlier this month where dozens of arts workers made their case, the county commission and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava restored some of the funding.

Organizations have been scrambling to make last-minute adjustments as the arts season kicks into gear this fall. The Miami Herald spoke to a dozen arts leaders and workers who said that their main goals have been to save their staffs' salaries and find alternate sources of revenue in case they can't rely on the government in the future.

But as the old saying goes, the show must go on. South Florida's cultural institutions say they're looking forward to another year of concerts, exhibitions, films, events, summer camps, classes and performances in spite of the budget cuts. While audiences and visitors may not notice the financial strain or behind-the-scenes scrambling to make this season happen, the arts industry workers that keep us entertained certainly do.

'Exponentially disheartening'

State and county grants go toward salaries, utilities, bills and rental fees, arts leaders said.

"This is the very less sexy, ins and outs, bare bones of the organization where the funding has been cut," said Margaret Ledford, the City Theatre artistic director.

DeSantis said he vetoed the $32 million because he objected to taxpayer money going toward what he called "sexual" festivals, referring to Fringe theater festivals held in Tampa and Orlando. Fringe Festival organizers said the governor mischaracterized their programming.

Since the state decides on cultural funding through a ranked list , and items for the Fringe festivals were ranked low, the festivals may not have gotten money from this year's budget.

"You have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is like a sexual festival where they're doing all this stuff," the governor said at a June press conference. "It's like, how many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that? Not very many people would do that."

DeSantis added that the Legislature needs to "reevaluate" how arts projects are funded. The governor's office did not respond to emails asking if or how the grant process may change in the future.

Now, Miami arts leaders say they don't feel comfortable assuming the state will provide the next round of grants they've already applied for.

"The state grants are actually done two years in advance. At the same time in June, we were all submitting our grants for next fiscal year," said Lorie Mertes, the executive director of Locust Projects, a visual arts nonprofit. "So it was exponentially disheartening to put all that work into a grant where you're not even sure if it means anything."

Gladys Ramirez, the City Theatre Miami executive director, agreed.

"I am hopeful this won't happen again next year, but at this point the process feels broken and the precedent has been set," Ramirez said. "I don't think that's something that we'd be wise to rely on moving forward."

Other state cuts

Even before the governor's veto, other art grants were eliminated from the proposed state budget.

Over $4 million in funding to a program called Culture Builds Florida was included in the original House budget filed in February, providing grants for small arts groups and individuals of up to $25,000. By March, the line item was eliminated, said Allyn Ginns Ayers, LegalARTLink director at Locust Projects.

The Culture Builds Florida snub in March didn't receive nearly as much media attention as the governor's veto in June, but it had a profound impact on small groups like New Canon Chamber Collective , a South Florida ensemble of Black and brown musicians.

Musician Portia Dunkley runs both New Canon and Teeny Violini , a local nonprofit that offers music education to children in underserved communities. New Canon would have received $25,000 from the Culture Builds Florida grant. Without it, the nonprofit lost 25% of its operating budget, she said.

The organization had to cut back its programming from five main shows to three, which means fewer paying jobs for musicians.

"Small organizations, we're used to making it work, making big things happen with small amounts," Dunkley said. "You just focus on doing the best work you can do with what you have."

A ripple effect throughout the community

Now in its 29th year, Brickell-based City Theatre produces main stage plays, a Summer Shorts series, an emerging playwright workshop, free play readings and other community events.

Close to 25% of City Theatre's free programming has been cut, Ramirez and Ledford said. The two directors are also facing higher workloads than expected as they prepare to premiere the absurdist comedy "Black Santa." The duo had to lay off a part-time employee who was supposed to be hired full time.

"It's been very frantic, honestly. After the first big cut from the state and now facing another 10% cut from the county, we're just scratching down to the bone," Ramirez said. "My fear is if we keep cutting anymore, we're going to lose people. It isn't just about us. It is literally the hundreds of artists that we employ every year. We take local dollars and we reinvest that by hiring locally."

At Gablestage, Newport is in a similar predicament. After the state cuts, the group couldn't hire another director, so now Newport is directing two productions back-to-back. Gablestage tried to keep its cuts as internal as possible, which meant getting rid of the public relations company it worked with to promote its programming.

"Our audience won't notice that, but we notice it," Newport said. "It's more work internally for us, and less time on to spend on productions and education programs."

While Gablestage trustees and donors work on a matching fundraising campaign, the company is preparing its productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning work "Fat Ham" and the Miami premiere of "King James," a play that follows the friendship of two men through the course of Lebron James' career.

'It's because of politics really'

The state cuts came at the worst possible time for the Coral Gables Museum, said executive director Elvis Fuentes, who described the last couple months as "a perfect storm."

The summer is already the museum's slow season, he said, especially since it's too hot for private events like weddings and corporate gatherings the museum relies on for revenue. Without the state grant it was expecting, the museum saved money by reducing staff hours—including his own—for two months, Fuentes said. Two part-time employees that typically worked during after-hours events were laid off.

While the museum was able to "stabilize the finances" with the help of its board reaching out to donors, Fuentes said the state cuts were a shame.

"It's because of politics really," he said. "Everybody knows the reason why the grants were cut. It wasn't because of our museum doing something wrong."

In the meantime, the museum, with its reduced personnel, has programming planned to celebrate Coral Gables' centennial anniversary this season along with an exhibition of recently donated African artworks.

Stuart Meltzer, the Zoetic Stage artistic director, criticized the governor's actions as a "political move" against marginalized communities in the arts, particularly the LGBTQ community.

Meltzer has been forced to spend more time on streamlining productions to prevent cutting performers' salaries. That's tricky for theater, where one play can cost about $200,000 to produce, he said. While Zoetic has a guaranteed place to rehearse at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, the group has to pay for its own parking, which totals $25,000 a year.

For Zoetic's upcoming production of "Fiddler on the Roof," the group found creative ways to scale back costs. Normally, the play calls for a cast of 30. Zoetic is doing it with a cast of 10 and some dancing puppets.

"As money started disappearing, we reduced and reduced," he said. "Now, I'm lucky I could even turn the lights on, but we're going to still find a way to do it."

This season should be a joyous time for performing arts group Dance NOW! as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. Instead, artistic director Hannah Baumgarten said, "We have the chopping block ready to go."

The group was close to cutting two of its three major programs this season, she said. They have been able to make up some shortfall thanks to some emergency funds from the City of Miami Beach. But as Dance NOW! prepares a performance of "Blue Pencil," a cautionary tale about arts censorship, Baumgarten said the group has saved money by reusing old costumes.

"We're hurting and we're passing down that hurt to our costume designer. That's the trickle-down effect," she said. "It's less events, less activities, shorter seasons, snowbirds going home early, children who get less arts programming."

Arts leaders stress the overall economic and social impact their organizations provide to the community.

According to advocacy group Florida Cultural Alliance , Florida arts and culture nonprofits account for $5.8 billion in annual economic activity and support 91,270 jobs. Every one dollar spent on the arts generates $9 in economic activity, the group estimates.

"We're nimble as arts organizations," Baumgarten added. "We know how to roll with the punches. But it means a ripple effect throughout the community."

Filling in the gaps

Eriberto Jimenez has been stressed for months. He runs three arts organizations, including Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, and has been scraping together funds to keep them all afloat.

Thankfully, Jimenez said, "the Knight Foundation stepped in," so they can continue with their work this season to bring dance performances to Miami-Dade Public Schools and The Fillmore in Miami Beach.

Miami art organizations have been looking to philanthropic foundations, other grant opportunities, city governments and individual donors to fill the gap left by the state and the county.

In a statement, a Knight Foundation spokesperson said the group hasn't received a significant influx of calls from nonprofits, but has "proactively sought to understand the potential impact in cities where we operate." The foundation allocated one-time general operating support grants to nearly 100 small arts programs in several cities, including Miami, Bradenton and Tallahassee.

The Coral Gables Museum also received an emergency grant from Knight to get back to regular hours, Fuentes said.

The Miami Beach City Commission took a similar approach when it became the first municipality in Florida to provide local cultural institutions funding after DeSantis' veto. The 16 organizations that will benefit from the nearly $500,000 fund include the Holocaust Memorial, Miami Beach Botanical Garden, The Bass Museum of Art, Miami City Ballet and O Cinema.

"Every tax dollar spent on arts and culture comes back to the city with interest and dividends," said Commissioner Tanya K. Bhatt, who sponsored the resolution.

Meanwhile, cuts remain on the county level, albeit by a smaller amount. While speaking to residents at the recent county budget public hearing, Mayor Levine Cava said the county commission was "looking at all possible ways to bridge the gap in the year ahead."

During the meeting, Levine Cava announced that real estate mogul and art collector Jorge Pérez pledged $300,000 for arts organizations and called on other philanthropists to follow suit.

Nonprofit leaders, especially those disillusioned with the state government, have said it's necessary to explore diverse streams of income.

"Under this administration, I don't think we're guaranteed anything," Meltzer said.

In several cases, members of nonprofit boards of directors have given their respective organizations larger donations than usual to help tie up loose ends. Some arts leaders have also expressed interest in tapping into the influx of businesses and wealthy transplants who have moved to Miami in recent years to encourage investing in the arts.

"I'm very optimistic about Miami," said Silvia Karman Cubiñá, The Bass executive director. "I'm extremely encouraged because we have a lot of momentum of people moving to Miami that sincerely want to become part of the community."

The Bass hopes to attract a wider audience with a bold exhibition celebrating the museum's permanent collection and a Miami-inspired solo show by artist Rachel Feinstein .

Pérez Art Museum Miami has found some ways to generate streams of income to stave off cuts, said director Franklin Sirmans. The museum's new digital billboard, while somewhat controversial , has done just that by displaying ads and artwork, he said.

"That's one of the things that a lot of museums and cultural institutions are trying to reckon with," he said. "How do we function to generate revenue while providing the community these programs and events that are meaningful to people's lives."

At Locust Projects, Mertes said the group is prioritizing relationships with donors and community members so that it doesn't rely on grants as heavily in the future. The nonprofit, which last year paid over $200,000 to artists for commissioned work, recently hired a deputy director to focus on fundraising.

"It's a belt-tightening moment, but at the same time we didn't want to cut back on the things that will give us the ability to sustain what we give artists," Mertes said. "As tough as it is to bring on another staff member in the middle of this, it's an essential person that we need to help us get revved up and be less reliant on grants as our biggest source of income."

While organizations with strong donor bases like Miami City Ballet or New World Symphony will survive this season, administrators stressed that may not always be the case if state funding is consistently cut. Both Miami Beach mainstays have ambitious programming planned this season, including the ballet's female-centered, fresh take on "Carmen" and the symphony's concert series commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

New World Symphony CEO Howard Herring said he is especially concerned for the fate of smaller organizations. But while some are pessimistic about the future of state grants, Herring has faith.

"I think this is a blip in a rising line," he said with a smile.

'What can I do?'

Ledford of City Theatre could barely keep her eyes open at water aerobics class earlier this month. Her classmate noticed.

She mentioned that she was up late the night before at the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting advocating for the county to restore the $2.5 million art grants cut. "I heard about that!" her classmate said. "What can I do?"

"Well, tell everybody you know," Ledford told her. "That's what you can do."

Despite the cuts and setbacks, Miami's arts scene is trying to look on the bright side. Cultural institutions are hoping for audiences and visitors to show their support for the arts by simply showing up.

"Your readers should know that they have the power to help amend this monstrosity created by the governor," said Michel Hausmann, the artistic director of Miami New Drama. This season, the theater company's offerings include the world premiere Billy Corben's "Lincoln Road Hustle," an immersive, site-specific play staged at Lincoln Road restaurants, shops and cafes.

"Go to your museums, to your local theater, to your local orchestra. That is the best way to support the organizations now. If you want to donate, donate. Just the act of buying those tickets makes a huge difference."

Hausmann said his anger and concerns over the governor's veto "quickly subsided" with the outpouring of support his theater company received from the community. Brenda Moe of Coral Gables Art Cinema said she's also felt the love from moviegoers. Patrons have sent encouraging emails, donated money, contacted their state representatives and purchased memberships to support the independent cinema.

"We're so grateful for our community really showing up for us in the ways they're able to," she said.

Though the future of arts funding in Florida remains uncertain, one thing remains true: arts organizations are used to setbacks. In Miami, they tend to bounce back quickly.

Newport compared running an arts organization to being a stuntman in an action movie.

"It's the nature of the beast. If it's not this, it's that," Newport said. "You have to bend and sway with the bamboo. Walk through fire and make it look easy. That's the job."