Grantmakers in the Arts’ Response to Alaska Arts Council Funding Veto

After funding loss, the Alaska State Council on the Arts closed its doors Monday July 15.  In a recent communication, Grantmakers in the Arts expressed its support of Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) and encouraged the state legislature and Governor’s office to restore the agency at prior funding levels in FY 2021.

With the closing of Alaska State Council on the Arts, this marks the first time since 1974 that all states do not have an arts agency. See 1974 in this GIA resource that states how the mentioned year was the first in which all of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, PR, and the Virgin Islands had an arts agency in operation for the full year.

The statement reads:

Grantmakers in the Arts furthermore encourages the Alaska state legislature and Governor’s office to ensure that the millions of dollars that the federal government and private foundations have seen fit to give to ASCA are taken advantage of in the manner they were intended – to create opportunities for the Alaskan people to express their full humanity through their artistic and cultural expression.

Read GIA’s full statement here.