I went on an organized bus trip up to Tallahassee in an effort to convince state legislators to not cut funding for the arts. The bus cost about $1800 to rent for the day and Terry Olson
collected money from each passenger to cover costs. We left before
sunrise from the Orlando Rep parking lot. The sun began to rise as we
approached the Florida Capital. Passengers split up into group and we
were each assigned different Senators and Representatives to visit. I decided to memorialize my breakfast banana in x sketch.
In 2015 Governor Rick Scott
vetoed 17 million dollars that was slated to help the arts. In Orange
County there are 3,993 Arts related businesses that employ 26,792
people. I am looking for a job in the Orlando Arts Community this year,
so hopefully I will be among that number. I’m searching for a reason to
stay in the sunshine state other than the sunshine. The creative
industries account for 4.3 percent of the total businesses located in
Orange County Florida.
The state wide request was for $45 million which would fully fund 532 qualified matching Division of Cultural Affair
(DCA) grants. 50 of these grant requests were from Central Florida.
74.9% of visitors to Florida participate in cultural activities.
Cultural tourists spend 137% more than residents. DCA grants leveraged
over $5 million in other private and matching grants. 7.4 million
children benefited and 194,849 artists participated.