$2 Million in Arts Grants ‘Suspended’

About $2 million in previously approved grants from the Cultural Affairs Department has been “suspended” as part of a citywide budget review and may now be subject to cuts to accommodate the city’s budget shortfall.

“Everything’s in jeopardy because we have a $35-million to $40-million deficit; the grants program is not being singled out,” said Bill McCarley, chief of staff for Mayor Richard Riordan, who has instructed all city departments to “withhold” pending contracts for his review.

“Obviously, $2 million in arts grants isn’t going to solve that deficit, but it doesn’t preclude us from taking a look at some of those,” McCarley said.

Adolfo V. Nodal, general manager of the Cultural Affairs Department, said that although there was definitely a “threat” to the upheld grants, the suspension was “not a case of picking on the arts” and that he expects approval shortly.

“Our position is that (the grants program) went through every approval it needed to go through,” Nodal said. “All the grantees (were told) that they were funded.”

Meanwhile, the action has placed 103 arts groups in limbo, even though they were notified in May that their funding was confirmed for the fiscal year that began July 1. Many had already worked the grants into their budgets, and say they cannot execute their current season without knowing whether the funds will be forthcoming.

“If you’re opening in September and you don’t know that you’re getting this money, how can you make plans?” asked Gwen Darien, executive director of Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, which is slated to receive $23,250 for its visual arts program. “This will jeopardize our budget, because now we have to make decisions about what we can cut and what we can still do.”

All 220 recipients were sent a strongly worded memo from the Cultural Affairs Department last week discussing the possibility of the grants program being “defunded” and warning that those already undertaking projects could not legally count on the funds.

About $560,000 of the total $2.7-million grants pool was approved by the mayor’s office on Monday, Nodal said. Among those guaranteed grants are seven large-budget organizations funded under a multiyear contract (including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, L.A. Music Center Opera, Center Theatre Group and Japanese American Cultural & Community Center), and 10 other artists and groups whose events are already completed or under way. Those groups still must undertake a lengthy contract procedure, however, before funding is actually received.

McCarley said the mayor would submit his recommended cuts for City Council approval “in the next several weeks,” after which approved grants contracts could proceed. The grants had previously been approved by both the City Council and then-Mayor Tom Bradley. (The Cultural Affairs Department received a $750,000 cut in its 1993-94 budget, including $300,000 from the grants pool.)

In the meantime, Nodal said he would petition the mayor’s office weekly on behalf of other artists and groups whose events cannot proceed without their grants.