Part 1 of this series considered the structural dissolution and reorganization of the Wisconsin Arts Board and the macro-level decreases in funding that lie ahead under Governor Walker’s proposed state budget for the next two years. This installment will detail the local arts organizations that will be impacted by these changes.

Impact on Local Theater Groups

Between 2010 and 2011, the Wisconsin Arts Board provided grant money directly to Central Wisconsin Area Community Theatre (cwACT) in Stevens Point, Central Wisconsin Children’s Theatre (CWCT) in Wausau, Wausau Community Theatre (WCT) in Schofield, and Lindsay Kujawa’s Introspect Dance Company project, hosted by the Everest Academy for the Arts in Weston. Additional grants were made to the Community Foundation for North Central Wisconsin and the Wausau Area Performing Arts Foundation (PAF).

The Community Foundation, in turn, used it’s funding to write grants to CWCT, Central Wisconsin Educational Theatre Alliance (CWETA), the Edgar School District’s Summer Theater program, Mosinee Community Theatre, the Spencer High School theater program, WCT, and to subsidize tickets for young people to attend a number of touring shows hosted by the PAF at the Grand Theater. The PAF used it’s WAB funding to subsidize it’s management and maintenance of The Grand Theater in downtown Wausau.

Central Wisconsin Area Community Theatre (cwACT)

Overall Local Impact

So. How much money are we talking about here? Wisconsin Arts Board Grants are a matter of public record, so here are some local figures for 2010:

• Marathon County
  • Allegro Regional Dance Theater – Wausau – $2,500
  • Center for the Visual Arts – Wausau – $5,082
  • Central Wisconsin Children’s Theatre, Inc. – Wausau – $3,209
  • Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin – Wausau – $25,750
  • Lindsay M. Kujawa – Weston – $1,600
  • Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Inc. – Wausau – $23,115
  • LuCille Tack Center for the Arts – Spencer – $6,113
  • Wausau Area Performing Arts Foundation – Wausau – $23,103
  • Wausau Community Theatre – Schofield – $6,090
  • Wausau Dance Theatre – Wausau – $5,933
  • Wausau Symphony & Band, Inc. – Wausau – $2,500
  • Marathon County Total 2010: $104,995.00
• Portage County
  • Diane C. Bywaters – Stevens Point – $2,390
  • Central Wisconsin Area Community Theater – Stevens Point – $2,500
  • Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum – Stevens Point – $2,500
  • Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra – Stevens Point – $6,077
  • Charys M. Hess – Stevens Point – $3,080
  • Monteverdi Master Chorale – Stevens Point – $2,500
  • Point Dance Ensemble – Stevens Point – $2,500
  • Stevens Point Council – Stevens Point – $2,400
  • Portage County Total 2010: $23,947.00

It is not the case that all of these programs will lose their Wisconsin Arts Board funding. The WAB is slated to lose a little over half of it’s overall funding, but it is far too early in the process to determine what those cuts might mean to individual grantees. In looking ahead, though, it seems instructive to look at the programs that have been funded and in what amounts in order to begin to understand the challenges that lie ahead for all of the impacted organizations.

Part 3 – Action Plans