Massachusetts Cultural Council Budget Increased

The Massachusetts Cultural Council received a budget increase from $11.1 million to $12 million. The bump-up appears to indicate a growing awareness of the importance of arts and culture to the economic health of the state. As originally recommended by the House Ways and Means Committee, the budget would have actually cut arts spending — by 13 percent, from $11.1 million to $9.6 million. That’s been part of a budget-tightening trend in state funding for the arts from a high of $27 million 25 years ago. Thanks to an amendment by state Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives of Newburyport, the numbers are once again moving in the right direction.