FACING A FALL SEASON with little financial help from the state, arts and cultural organizations across Rhode Island are paring down operations, scrambling to find and apply for grants, and appealing to donors.
The state’s $13.9 billion fiscal 2025 budget was passed in June without including an $18 million proposed fund for Rhode Island’s arts and cultural sector. As a result, it leaves local arts and creative groups on their own to rebound from COVID-19 pandemic-related losses.
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“We are continuing on our plans for growth, but the challenge is without the fund that we asked for, how do we continue to fuel that growth without that needed support?” said David Beauchesne, executive director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School in Providence and founder of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Arts.
The Creative Futures Fund, introduced by Providence Democrats Sen. Jake Bissaillon and Rep. Scott Slater, called for $14.5 million to be distributed among 13 nonprofits and $3.5 million to go to the R.I. State Council on the Arts for grants and administrative fees. Supporters said the fund was meant to be a one-time boost for arts groups to regain their footing post-pandemic.
While the new state budget includes a $10 million bond initiative, that money, if approved by voters, will be earmarked for capital improvement projects.
“That doesn’t ultimately help our bottom line and core operations,” said Jason Cabral, executive director of The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre in Warwick.
When the Creative Futures Fund failed to materialize, the theater was forced to raise ticket and subscription prices, and began leaning into its philanthropy program by reimagining engagement with donors.
“We’re having to adjust in many ways in order to make up for the losses,” Cabral said.
For some groups, adjusting means temporarily shutting down. Fall programming is on hiatus until the end of the year at Riverzedge Arts Project Inc. in Woonsocket, a social service and arts organization that connects arts-minded teenagers with creative businesses, where they earn both money and hands-on experience.
Resuming operations at Riverzedge “entirely depends on how we can alter the business model during the time that we’re closed,” said Executive Director Kristen Williams.
Although donations have increased, money from other funding sources and grants has become harder to access. Community block grants haven’t been available in Woonsocket for the past four years, and much of the money that Riverzedge does bring in comes in the form of restricted funds.
“No one gives you money for general operating expenses,” Williams said.
Earlier this year, another youth arts organization turned to the community for help when its financial situation threatened severe operating cuts. Providence-based AS220 raised more than $100,000 in June just as its fiscal year ended. The money came in after the youth arts organization sent an email communitywide asking for immediate help to avoid making “pretty drastic cuts,” Co-Executive Director Shauna Duffy told Providence Business News at the time.
The group has declined to say whether the cuts may still take place. AS220 did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, D-Warwick, said that it’s too early to speculate on whether the Creative Futures Fund will be considered for next year’s budget, which Gov. Daniel J. McKee will propose to the legislature in January.
The Rhode Island Foundation awarded more than $1.2 million in grants for the arts in 2023, CEO and President David N. Cicilline said. While some grant money continues to be available, AS220’s appeal to the community echoes fundraising efforts by many arts and culture groups statewide.
“We are going to need our donors to partner with us,” Beauchesne said of the philharmonic. “We are trying to move forward as lean as we possibly can into this season, knowing that that’s not enough. We are going to every vendor, asking for reductions until we can build back, and are going now to donors to say we need your help to build back.”
The Gamm Theatre, which remains understaffed, is focusing on strategic planning, growth and development of its engagement programs. With its budget income inching up and theaters now filled to about 79% capacity, Cabral is encouraged but also resigned to a long road ahead.
