The Cecil County Arts Council is writing to the Maryland Board of Public Works, which consists of Governor Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck Davis, and Comptroller Brooke Lierman, to request they preserve the budget of our funding agency, the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). The Board of Public Works is considering reductions in state funding that would include a $437,000 budget cut for MSAC. We’re worried this will hurt our ability to provide arts programming, grants, and scholarships.
If you want to help us, please email the Board of Public Works yourself using the nine email addresses listed below. You can send your own message, or copy and paste the letter we’re sending. The deadline for sending this email is Sunday, July 14.
TO: Governor Wes Moore, governor.mail@maryland.gov
Chief of Staff Fagan Harris, fagan.harris2@maryland.gov
Deputy Chief of Staff Manny Welsh, manny.welsh@maryland.gov
Treasurer Dereck Davis, treasurer@treasurer.state.md.us
Board of Public Works Liaison Joanna W. Kille, jkille@treasurer.state.md.us
Executive Assistant to the Treasurer Megan E. Schutz, mschutz@treasurer.state.md.us
Comptroller Brooke Lierman, brooke@marylandtaxes.gov
Office of the Comptroller, comptroller@marylandtaxes.gov
Dear Governor Moore, Treasurer Davis, and Comptroller Lierman,
I am writing on behalf of the Cecil County Arts Council to express my deep concern at the proposed $437,000 cut to the Maryland State Arts Council. The Cecil County Arts Council (CCAC) relies on the financial support of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) to continue its mission of presenting, promoting, and sustaining the arts in Cecil County. If MSAC’s budget is reduced, it will have tangible negative consequences for the economy and cultural life of Cecil County.
With a staff of only one full-time employee and one part-time employee, CCAC hosts free monthly gallery shows featuring the work of local artists, from painters to potters to welders. CCAC also coordinates with other venues, helping artists exhibit and sell their works in the public library and county administrative office. CCAC offers other arts-related programming, often targeted to specific underserved populations such as veterans, senior citizens, people with disabilities and children living in low-income communities. Each of these events is an example of the state arts budget creating opportunities for Cecil County artists and art lovers; any MSAC budget cuts will increase the chance of cuts in Cecil County arts programming.
Since 2021, CCAC has awarded almost $300,000 in grants and scholarships to local artists, arts organizations, and schools. In just the past year, beneficiaries include two public high schools, a private K-12 school, a community theatre, a dance studio, a gifted and talented arts summer camp, a community choir, the public library, two organizations providing art therapy for people with disabilities or other health concerns, and a museum tracing the history of the local “colored school.” Each of these organizations is operating thanks, in some part, to the state arts budget; any MSAC budget cuts will imperil CCAC’s ability to support them further.
In 2023, CCAC coordinated the participation of more than 70 Cecil County artistic and cultural institutions in the Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 study by Americans for the Arts. The results were remarkable. The AEP6 found that Cecil County’s arts sector generated $34.7 million in economic activity during 2022, $16.0 million in spending by arts and culture organizations and an additional $18.7 million in event-related expenditures by their audiences. That economic activity supported 564 jobs, provided $17.6 million in personal income to residents, and generated $5.2 million in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments. County-wide, arts events saw more than 644,000 attendees.
MSAC plays an undeniable role in the success of each of these organizations by supporting CCAC and its grantees. Any MSAC budget cuts could lead them to wither. Please help us sustain the vibrant arts and cultural community of Cecil County by preserving MSAC’s full appropriation.
Thank you for your consideration.
