The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has again blocked Kansas from receiving federal matching funds for arts programs.
By Stephen Koranda/KPR
Topeka, Kan. – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has again blocked Kansas from receiving federal matching funds for arts programs. After the state cut funding for the arts, the NEA said Kansas was no longer eligible for matching money, but they encouraged the state to reapply.
Members of the Kansas Arts Commission had been preparing an application to submit before the end of the month. At a meeting today (October 26), Commissioner Sandra Hartley, of Paola, said the NEA could have told them the decision earlier.
"You (the NEA) could have told me this in August, and I would have been out there raising money instead of trying to do all the things that the NEA required," said Hartley.
Governor Sam Brownback vetoed state funding for the Arts Commission earlier this year. He wants private donations, not tax dollars, to support the arts in Kansas.
