ARTS

Governor signs off on increased grants for culture and historic preservation

Jan Sjostrom
jsjostrom@pbdailynews.com
The budget Gov. Ron DeSantis approved Friday includes a $500,000 state grant for the Kravis Center's $40 million upgrade, scheduled for completion in the spring.



[Courtesy of the Kravis Center]

Most state cultural and historic preservation grants survived Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto pen in the nearly $91 billion budget he signed on Friday.

Cultural grants that passed the Division of Cultural Affairs screening process will receive about $21.25 million in 2019-20. That’s a significant bump from the $2.65 million allocated last budget year.

Historic preservation grants approved by the Division of Historical Resources will get about $7.2 million. That’s up from $4.5 million last year.

“This is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of cultural advocates, board members, donors and staff people,” said Dave Lawrence, president and chief executive officer of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. “This kind of increase doesn’t come easily.”

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The increase boosts Florida from 48th in the nation for per capita funding for the arts to 20th, according to an in-progress tally compiled by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

"This is a win-win investment for state governments, counties and communities across the state," said Sherron Long, president of the Florida Cultural Alliance.

State and local government investment in culture helps leverage fundraising from other sources, she said. It's also repaid with a nine-to-one return on every dollar spent, according to an Americans for the Arts study using figures from 2015.

The governor eliminated $1.5 million of the nearly $3.8 million in cultural grants legislators added to the budget outside the state vetting process. Legislative projects he let pass include a $500,000 grant for the planned Pulse Memorial and Museum in Orlando, a tribute to the 49 victims killed at the gay club in 2016.

He scratched a $100,000 historic preservation grant, one of four that skirted the review process, bringing the total directed to legislators' special projects in that category down to about $1.24 million.

None of the legislative add-ons was in Palm Beach County.

The budget earmarks $12.3 million for cultural operations grants, about 29 percent of what the Division of Cultural Affairs recommended for the 478 grants statewide.

Palm Beach County's share is nearly $1.3 million. That includes about $46,000 for the Kravis Center; $45,000 apiece for the Norton Museum, Flagler Museum, Palm Beach Dramaworks and Palm Beach Opera; $44,000 apiece for the Palm Beach Zoo and Armory Art Center; $43,000 apiece for the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium and Cultural Council of Palm Beach County; $41,000 for the Palm Beach Symphony; and $29,000 for the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

Cultural facilities grants statewide will receive nearly $6 million. Palm Beach County's $1 million cut will be divided evenly between the Kravis Center and the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Both are engaged in ambitious upgrades.

Grants for specific cultural projects will receive nearly $3 million. The $111,400 appropriated for Palm Beach County includes a $25,000 grant for photographer Sofia Valiente’s Foreverglades project exploring the history and people of the Glades.

Neither specific project nor facilities grants were funded last year. But once again, there’s no money in the budget for cultural endowment grants.

The governor signed off on all 56 grants totaling more than $2.2 million for small historic preservation projects. These include $228,000 for Palm Beach County projects, such as historic resources surveys and digitizing historic property records in Lake Worth and Delray Beach.

More than $5 million earmarked for larger historic preservation grants will finance 18 of the 54 projects on the Division of Historical Resources’ approved list. None is in Palm Beach County.

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jsjostrom@pbdailynews.com