Florida’s arts and cultural community is breathing a mixed sigh of relief this week.
Following last year's deep cuts to cultural grants, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on partial funding this year, sparing some organizations from the state budget knife. The new state fiscal year began on Tuesday.
DeSantis last week signed off on more than $18 million in grants for cultural groups and preserved most funding for special arts-related building projects sponsored by individual legislators.
The Cultural Council is one of 35 cultural organizations in Palm Beach County set to receive partial funding from a $1.5 million budget allocation. This funding is specifically for Cultural & Museum grants but no local organizations qualified for the Culture Builds Florida category this year, and there wasn’t any funding set aside for Cultural Facilities category either.
The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, the county’s official arts agency, supports artists through fellowships and organizations through grants, advocacy, and other services. It came up short after not getting the minimum funding score from the state’s review panels.
Dave Lawrence, the Council’s President and CEO, told WLRN he’s glad to see some arts funding make it through, even though many groups are feeling the financial squeeze from not getting funded.
"We are celebrating those organizations that are on that list to receive funding. But we are also disappointed that more funding wasn't available," he said.
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Each year, arts and cultural groups apply for state grants and get scored by review panels. In the past, a score of 80 or above usually meant some funding. But this year, lawmakers set the bar much higher — only groups scoring 95 or more are getting money, and they’ll receive the full amount they requested, up to $150,000.
Lawrence said that's an unusually high bar for many groups to meet. And while some will receive money this fiscal year, others — especially smaller or community-based programs — could be forced to scale back.
"A 95 seems like an impossible threshold for many organizations to achieve. So that was a little concerning for us,” Lawrence said. “That number was so high and prevented a lot of groups from getting full funding."
Lawrence said he “remains hopeful” that arts and cultural organizations will be continue receiving support moving forward.
“ It's a mixed bag,” he said. “We're very grateful to the governor for signing this legislation and for showing that vote of confidence in our art and culture sector for what it can do to enrich lives, and better our communities.”
So far, the official list of state grant recipients by county has not been released for 2025–2026 budget season.
In the meantime, among the special projects that got the ax:
— $750,000 for the planned Florida Museum of Black History in St. Augustine. It is not the same as the planned, county-supported African American Museum and Research Library (AAMRL) at the historic Roosevelt High School site in West Palm Beach.
— $500,000 requested for the Morikami Museum in Delray Beach, just 20 minutes south of the Cultural Council.
Despite the state funding shortfall, Lawrence said the Cultural Council still secures funding through local public and private investments through its various local campaign initiatives.
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