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Get ready to warm up that keyboard
By Pat Boyd, Executive Director, South Dakotans for
the Arts
In a continuing saga, Congress will have another opportunity to allow artists
and creators to take a fair-market value tax deduction for their works donated
to arts and educational institutions this fall when they take up tax bills again.
Much to our dismay, this favorable provision was not included in the gigantic
pension reform bill passed in August. As of now, artists can still deduct only
the cost of materials, not the actual value of their own works donated to
institutions. Collectors, on the other hand, are allowed to deduct the fair
market value if they make donations of artwork. According to Americans for the
Arts, a bipartisan group in the House and Senate favors a provision that would
end this inequity.
This reform would have a positive effect on building collections for public use.
America’s artists have little incentive to donate their works to nonprofit institutions
under the current tax structure, and many reasons to resent any invitation to do so. Do
not wonder at the attitude of South Dakota artists who are less than enthusiastic about
contributing work to your auction or town improvement project. Our museums and libraries
are struggling to preserve South Dakota’s artistic and cultural legacy, with limited
acquisition funds. This reform would benefit both artists and institutions, but the
ultimate beneficiary is the public. Please reinforce your support of this reform in
your communications with our Congressional delegation this fall.
Also of great interest and worthy of our attention: House and Senate versions of appropriations bills approved in committee earlier this year are very different with respect to Arts Education and funding for Public Broadcasting, and both will be voting this fall. The House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that would eliminate funding for Arts Education and cut $115 from the appropriation for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Senate bill provides $36.5 million for Arts Education, an increase of $1.2 million over 2006, and increased funding for Public Broadcasting. May the Senate prevail in this argument, and please send your encouraging words to our own Senators.
South Dakotans for the Arts is conducting a Candidates Survey on the Arts again this season, providing candidates for Governor and the House of Representatives with an opportunity to state their positions on the role of the arts and arts education in the lives of South Dakotans. Most of us have other issues which will determine our vote in any given race. Our report on the survey is unlikely to show that any candidate is unfavorable to the arts, and even less likely to spark any great new arts programs. So why do it? Because in order to answer the survey questions, the candidates must focus on the arts long enough to write a response. Having those responses gives us a place to start or a means to continue with those who succeed in their races. Their answers can be very interesting, often reflecting their overall view of life in South Dakota and its future. SoDA members will receive the results of this candidate survey by mail or email in time to use it as a conversation piece prior to the election. The report will also be posted on our website, www.sdarts.org.
It is the season for advocacy, and also for our annual membership drive. This is not a coincidence. South Dakotans for the Arts has the strength of numbers in its membership, a growing list of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to advance the arts through service, education and advocacy. South Dakotans for the Arts also has the strength of the intelligence, civility and creativity reflected in that membership. We may step up our communications with elected officials and policy makers in this very political season, but members of South Dakotans for the Arts are advocates every day. We believe that the arts are intrinsic to the well-being of our communities, just as they are to our families and ourselves. Your membership dues are a valuable investment; they make this non-partisan, non-profit organization work, in the practical sense. Yet what really makes SoDA work is you yourself, living and working with the arts, committed to the well-being of your fellow citizens. Thank you.