Panel of region’s distinguished cultural leaders
to discuss arts funding crisis

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.

“The nation’s financial crisis has had a significant impact on the arts community, creating real challenges for arts organizations, arts management, and the relationship of business and government to the arts in our state,” said Sara Pasti, director of the SDMA. “With this event, we are trying to mine what Hudson Valley artists and art managers have done creatively to deal with the current situation.”

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (www.newpaltz.edu/museum) is a not-for-profit educational institution located on the New Paltz campus. The museum comprises more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries. The SDMA is one of the largest museums within the SUNY system.

Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs, the SDMA seeks:
• to support and enrich the academic programs at the university;
• to present a broad range of national and international art for study and enjoyment; and
• to serve as a center for Hudson Valley arts and culture of both the past and the present.

The mission of the Dutchess County Arts Council (www.artsmidhudson.org) is to provide the leadership, funding, encouragement and services necessary for the highest quality of art to thrive in our county and region, and for citizens to value the arts as an important part of daily life, economy and social fabric of our communities.

The mission of The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) (www.newpaltz.edu/crreo) is to conduct studies on topics of regional interest; bring visibility and focus to these matters; foster communities working together to better serve citizenry; and advance the public interest in our region.