San Diego Arts Groups Rally Against Proposed $11.8 Million Funding Cuts

More than 300 artists, arts leaders, and supporters gathered at San Diego's Civic Center Plaza on Monday to protest Mayor Todd Gloria's proposed elimination of $11.8 million in city arts funding, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

According to the Union-Tribune, the proposed budget would reduce arts funding from $13.8 million to $2 million as the city works to close a projected $146 million deficit. The remaining $2 million would keep the Cultural Affairs Department operational, with grant funding sourced from the state.

The demonstration, held two hours before the budget was presented to the City Council, drew representatives from the San Diego Symphony, La Jolla Music Society, Mingei International Museum, San Diego Youth Symphony, and numerous other cultural institutions.

Alessandra Moctezuma, chair of the city's Commission for Arts and Culture and director of the San Diego Mesa College art gallery, told the Union-Tribune the proposal came as a complete surprise and described it as "a kick in the gut." She noted that the commission had been reviewing grant applications for what would have been its largest group of awardees - 229 organizations across every district in the city.

Several arts leaders detailed the specific impact on their organizations. Todd Schultz, president and CEO of La Jolla Music Society, said the roughly $300,000 cut to his organization would most likely force reductions to free community programming, according to the Union-Tribune.

The San Diego Youth Symphony could lose $142,080, while Bach Collegium San Diego faces a $41,220 reduction that artistic director Ruben Valenzuela said could eliminate a full project and a half from the group's four-project season.

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