Mayor: budget cannot eliminate arts

And so the Indianapolis arts community exhales. There’s still $1 million in the budget and there’s less chance of our town being seen as culturally regressive.

But what’s the underlying message from Mayor Ballard’s budget speech?

Is it simply that cuts have to come from everywhere and the arts are no exception?

Is it that the the arts community (including its patrons) voiced itself so loudly that the outcry was heard and larger cuts were spared?

Or is it that stirring an “everything will be cut” panic makes the significant proposed cuts seem like a gift?

What message do you take from the Mayor’s proposed budget and its “We cannot eliminate the arts” words?

And what do you think will really be different about the Indy cultural landscape a year or two from now?