Innovative Responses to the Current Funding Crisis in the Arts

The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) and the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (SDMA) at the State University of New York at New Paltz, along with the Dutchess Council for the Arts, will host a program for artists, arts organizations and interested residents throughout the region, titled “Innovative Responses to the Current Funding Crisis in the Arts” on Tuesday, April 28.

The program begins at 4 p.m. with a director’s tour of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. At 5 p.m. in Lecture Center 102, Heather Hitchens, executive director of the New York State Council on the Arts, will speak about ways in which the council is addressing the state budget cuts and the future state of the arts in New York.

Following the keynote, Hitchens will moderate a panel discussion with the focus on the status of New York state arts funding and the innovative approaches that arts organizations and artists might use to maintain their programs and businesses. Panelists include:
• Carl Van Brunt, artist and director, Van Brunt Gallery
• Jeff Haynes, musician, founder and president of Komunyaka Music
• Lou Trapani, artistic and managing director, Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck
• Meira Blaustein, cofounder and festival director, Woodstock Film Festival
• Carole Wolf, executive director, Mill Street Loft

Each panelist will be asked to talk about their own innovative responses to the current funding crisis. This will be followed by a problem-solving discussion guided by audience queries. The event is free and open to the public.

Contact: Kathleen Tobin Flusser, x2901, tobinflk@newpaltz.edu
Web Site: http://www.newpaltz.edu/crreo/events.html