Youth art programs
get funding reprieve
Many of the visual and performing arts organizations whose programs were facing a 37 percent cut in state funding will receive full funding after all.
Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday that $625,000 in federal money available for use by the state Department of Human Services will be transferred to the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts to fund programs targeting Hawaii youth.
"It's like it's Christmas," said foundation Executive Director Ronald Yamakawa.
Lingle said the federal funds are available for prevention programs targeting at-risk youth -- "to keep children out of poverty, to try to give them a better chance at life," she said.
State Department of Human Services Director Lillian Koller said the money is part of a $92 million federal block grant that pays for welfare and assistance programs but can also be used for programs to prevent teen pregnancy and strengthen families.
"It was not being spent or taken from or allocated to other uses," Koller said.
The federal money could be used to fund the programs of at least 33 organizations who were awarded $417,000 in state funds this year, Yamakawa said. The state money can then be redistributed to programs that do not qualify for federal funding.
Lingle sought out the federal funding after meeting earlier this month with representatives of the arts community. They told her their programs were going to suffer if Lingle carried out her promise to cut $500,000 from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts biennium grants program.
The foundation awarded $1.1 million to 114 organizations this year. The cut meant the grants would have been reduced by 37 percent.
One program that could receive federal funding is the Children's Theater at the Honolulu Zoo. Ruth Bolan, executive director of Ohia Productions, said the program for elementary and preschool kids would not have survived with any amount of funding cut.
State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
www.state.hi.us/sfca