Arts Commissioner Discusses Financing

The arts mean business and that must be conveyed to legislators and their constituents, says the director of the Idaho Commission on the Arts.

“Tell theater-goers that their tickets would cost x dollars more if we didn’t have state and federal support,” said Margot Knight, commission executive director.

Knight met in Lewiston Thursday with representatives of arts and humanities organizations from northcentral Idaho and Eastern Washington. She passed out addresses and phone numbers of members of the state’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

“Tell your vendors that you’re able to pay your bills this month because of this money,” she said. The vendors, she said, represent “the business community, and they have a big voice in Washington (D.C.).”

Many in the audience had already seen their own budgets dwindle. Last year, about 15 local artists and arts organizations were awarded $87,000, down 25 percent from 1993.