For More Information, Contact:
Jennifer L. Swain, 570-265-7455

For Immediate Release
July 15, 2009

Pennsylvania Arts Funding Supports Pennsylvania Artists and Small Businesses

On Tuesday, July 14th, staff of the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance joined more than 400 other citizens in the Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg, to rally in support of state arts funding. At risk is funding for more than 1200 organizations and thousands of jobs.

While rally participants realize the difficult situation facing the state’s budget, they pointed out eliminating funding for the PA Council on the Arts would actually hurt the state’s economy much beyond the $14 million in funding.

“If the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is no more, ten thousand Pennsylvania jobs will be lost immediately,” warned Robert N. Lettieri, chair of Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania. “In total, 61,000 jobs in organizations and cities large and small from Philadelphia to Erie, Scranton to Greensburg, in Allentown, State College, Sharon and dozens of other communities will be at risk.”

Jennifer Swain, executive director of the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance, agrees that jobs will be lost. “If the PA Council on the Arts ceases to exist and there are no grants to arts organizations, the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance will lose its Program Specialist and have to cut the salary and hours of at least one other employee. The funding we receive from the PA Council on the Arts coupled with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts is critical to our organization’s ability to provide services and programs across our 10-county region.”

NTCA’s Program Specialist position is supported through National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funds that come through the PA Council on the Arts. Without a state arts agency to administer the funds or state arts dollars to match the NEA funds, Pennsylvania will not receive the NEA funds.

Beyond job losses, the loss of state arts funding affects local economies in other ways. Spending by arts organizations exceeds $1 billion dollars in Pennsylvania. In Bradford County alone, the nonprofit arts and culture are a significant industry - generating $3.9 million in local economic activity. This spending - $1.84 million by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $2.06 million in event-related spending by their audiences - supports 114 full-time equivalent jobs, generates $1.54 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $247,000 in local and state government revenue. Perspective: a $14 million appropriation (as presented in the Governor’s proposed budget) equals $0.05 (a nickel) a week to PA taxpayers.

“Our PA North Country Artisan Center & Store supports more than 70 regional artists, specialty food producers and other nonprofit organizations. Since the store opened in September 2006, we have paid over $57,700 in commission fees to artists and have purchased more than $24,700 in wholesale goods from specialty food producers, artists and other nonprofit organizations,” Swain states. “This doesn’t include the insurance we purchase, the printing jobs completed locally, the supplies we buy locally, or the professional services that are locally contracted.”

Arts and cultural organizations and their activities attract tourists from all over the world as well as millions of visits from travelers from within Pennsylvania. Each of these visits represents additional spending on transportation, meals, hotel room, gifts and souvenirs that helps keep local economies vibrant.

“Our Board of Directors has been working diligently to come up with a 2009-2010 budget that reflects cuts in state arts funding,” says Swain. “But to lose all funding and the years of work and infra-structure development is just devastating. The innovative work that has been done by the PA Council on the Arts is admired and respected throughout the nation…..I just wish our own legislators could see what so many others see and know before its too late.”

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The Northern Tier Cultural Alliance (NTCA) fosters awareness and appreciation of the cultural traditions produced by the unique blend of diverse cultures found in our region through annual and special events, exhibits, the PA North Country Artisan Center & Store, educational programs and community involvement. NTCA serves as one of seven Regional Folk Arts Support Centers in partnership with the PA Council on the Arts (PCA) in a statewide Folk Arts Infrastructure Initiative that seeks “to strengthen awareness and understanding, as well as participation in, traditional arts across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." In addition, NTCA facilitates the PA Partners in the Arts re-grant program in partnership with the PA Council on the Arts for Cameron, Clinton, Lycoming, Northumberland and Potter Counties.

In support of its mission and the Folk Arts Infrastructure Initiative, NTCA now offers support to artists and community organizations from 10 northern Pennsylvania counties: Bradford, Cameron, Clinton, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming. For more information, visit NTCA online at www.ntculturalalliance.org or email info@ntculturalalliance.org.