The Pensacola Little Theatre has asked its supporters to write state lawmakers to restore the Florida Cultural Grants to the FY 2019 budget:
Friends of PLT,
Pensacola Little Theatre and the Pensacola Cultural Center have long received a Cultural & Facilities Grant from the State of Florida. This year, state funding for PLT was cut in half and next year’s funding is in even more peril. Yesterday, the Florida House and Senate budget conference decided to ZERO out all funds allocated to Florida Cultural Grants.
PLT and our fellow arts organizations are mounting an email campaign to influence this legislative process and hopefully restore some funding to Cultural Grants next year.
PLEASE HELP US IN OUR EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE THE HOUSE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE AND OUR REPRESENTATIVE CLAY INGRAM, WHOM CHAIRS THIS COMMITTEE! You do not need to write an original message…in fact you’re encouraged to send the following message, which will show solidarity with our fellow local arts organizations.
Thank you for helping with this campaign!
–Sid Williams-Heath, Executive Director
Here is the email Williams-Heath asks to be sent:
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To: Clay.ingram@myfloridahouse.gov
BCC: info@flca.net (this person is an arts lobbyist and is tracking the email campaign)
Subject: Urgent! Please restore funding for Cultural & Facilities Grants
Message:
Chairman Ingram,
As you leave the legislature, please consider leaving a legacy in your community that will outlive your tenure in the House.
There are many arts groups in your hometown that are important to the quality of life we enjoy. Funding from Cultural & Facilities grants are vital to local arts organizations like Ballet Pensacola, the Pensacola Symphony, the Pensacola Opera, the Pensacola Museum of Art, the Pensacola Little Theater, the Pensacola MESS Hall, the Pensacola Children’s Chorus and more! These organizations cannot survive solely on the generosity of local donors. We need your support!
You understand the economic impact of the arts; you know that kids who are involved in the arts are more likely to succeed in school. With all of the emphasis on troubled kids and gun violence, the arts might be an effective deterrent for that adolescent outsider looking for his niche. We need to find every avenue possible to turn lives around. The arts can be one important piece of that effort.
Thank you for tackling this troubling issue. More than anything, thank you for using your clout on behalf of the arts in your community.
Regards,