Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget, released Thursday, cuts $10.5 million from the California Arts Council and $3.5 million from the Exploratorium in San Francisco to help close the state’s $54 billion budget deficit.
The cuts withdraw $10.5 million in one-time arts council funding proposed in January. Arts council leadership anticipated cuts affecting its cultural district programs, KQED previously reported. The agency this year distributed $35 million in grants to artists and nonprofits.
The proposal also cuts $3.5 million in funding for the Exploratorium, the waterfront museum of science, art and human perception, as part of deeper reductions to public education. The Exploratorium in April announced layoffs and hours reductions affecting 85 percent of workers as it faces quarterly losses of some $5 million in revenue.
The reductions, Newsom’s proposal stresses, will be “triggered off,” or reversed, if the federal government provides sufficient funding to restore them. — Sam Lefebvre (@Lefebvre_Sam)
