The event is called "Fund MI Arts & Culture Day." A series of speakers and performers are hoping to get the attention of the state Senate, which is considering the budget proposal from the House.
Lansing lawmakers have been deadlocked for months over the budget, with education and road funding chief among the issues hanging in the balance.
But Troy DeShano, executive director of the Northwest Michigan Arts and Culture Council, says another key component is the portion of state budget devoted to the arts.
The state budget passed by the house zeroes out that money. Advocates are hoping the Senate will add it back in.
"If the Michigan Arts and Culture Council gets a zero-dollar budget, the likelihood that some rural arts organizations will need to close is pretty high."TROY DESHANO | Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network
"For rural arts organizations, which is the majority in this region, a lot of them, it can be 50 percent or even up to 100 percent of their funding for the year," he said. "If the Michigan Arts and Culture Council gets a zero-dollar budget, the likelihood that some rural arts organizations will need to close is pretty high."
One argument against funding for the arts — at the state and national levels — is that it's not government's role; that private giving and free markets should sustain artistic endeavors.
DeShano says that's easier to think about in a place like Traverse City, where there's already some built-in arts philanthropy.
"As soon as you leave our city limits, that is harder to find. And so a lot of these towns, they may have an arts center that is the only arts experience that kids are going to get, it's the only experiences that seniors may have, getting creative and having adaptive programming for them, it's the only arts experiences that our disabled community is going to have," he said. "Not every community has access to those sort of private, philanthropic contributions to make those arts experiences happen."
Listen to the full conversation using the audio player above.
