Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Arts Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ohio Arts Council and allied groups ask for expanded funding to sustain grants and arts education
Summary
The Ohio Arts Council and allied education groups testified to the Senate Higher Education Committee in favor of sustaining or increasing state grants for arts programs and arts education, citing job and economic impact studies and requests to accommodate newly eligible organizations and expand grant administration capacity.
Donna Collins, executive director of the Ohio Arts Council, told the Senate Higher Education Committee the state’s GRF investment in the arts yields substantial economic and educational returns and urged support for the House budget’s administrative increases and the governor’s overall funding approach.
Collins highlighted a 2024 study by Michael C. Carroll that the arts sector supports more than 292,000 jobs in Ohio and contributes more than $63.3 billion to the state economy, and she said the OAC’s grant work reaches all 88 counties. “This year the Ohio Arts Council celebrates 60 years of public funding for the arts,” Collins said, and she described the Teach Arts Ohio residency program as reaching over 100,000 students in the current biennium.
Jared Hartzler, executive director of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, asked the committee to increase the OAC state program subsidies (GRF) by $4,000,000 in each fiscal year to accommodate newly eligible organizations and to hold existing grantees harmless. Hartzler described the Alliance’s aims to support arts educators and statewide arts education data and programming.
Rebecca Asmo (spelled in testimony), executive director of Ohio Humanities, requested a state appropriation of $2,000,000 per fiscal year to establish operating grants for humanities organizations that currently lack access to OAC or other state funding; she said Ohio ranks 49th in per‑capita public humanities funding and that Ohio Humanities has had to turn down $9,000,000 in requests since 2020.
Witnesses said grant demand is rising: Collins said the OAC processes nearly 4,100 applications and 2,600 grant awards in the biennium with a staff of 19, and she supported administrative funding to handle that volume. Hartzler and Asmo said additional state funds would help extend arts and humanities programming into rural and underserved communities and sustain teaching‑artist residencies and community projects.
Committee members asked for comparative data and emphasized the need to consider budget priorities across departments. Witnesses did not seek committee action at this hearing; these requests are part of the biennial budget process.
