Fort Myers arts industry losing jobs after state budget cuts in Florida

The City of Fort Myers is awarding $110,000 in grants to arts organizations and individual artists advancing arts and culture within the city.

At a council meeting, a few organizations and artists were in attendance to receive recognition for their contributions.

It comes after Governor Ron Desantis cut over 30 million dollars from arts and cultural programming in Florida. This is the first time the state has not allocated money for these programs. If you have not seen the budget, click here .

The Alliance of the Arts in Fort Myers is one of the organizations that will feel the impact of the loss that's according to Molly Rowan-Deckhart, the Executive Director of The Alliance of Arts.

The Alliance says residents are already losing their jobs in Fort Myers due to the cuts from arts programs.

The executive director, Molly Rowan-Deckart, says she's already had to let go instructors because of the state budget cuts.

"It leaves an $11,000 a month hole in our budget beginning in July," says Rowan-Deckart. "So that was really unexpected for us."

At Quality Life Center of Southwest Florida, Chief Growth Officer Abdul Muhammad says several programs for both children and adults will see fewer teachers and more.

"It hurts my heart, and it hurts our program and our core mission of personal and community transformation, to not have access to the tools that open up education," says Muhhamad.

What ties these two organizations together is that they also receive money from the city of Fort Myers' arts and culture grant.

Organizations that received money from the city:

• River District Alliance

• Florida Repertory Theater

• Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra

• Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center

• Alliance for the Arts

• Quality Life Center

• Gulf Coast Symphony

• Americana Community Music Association

• Arts for ACT Gallery

• Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium

• ArtFest Fort Myers.

Individual artist awardees include Brian Weaver, Juan Pablo Almonacid, Marie Branchaud, Patricia Collins, and Alma Bruffy.
The city gives out $110,000 to several organizations annually, so it's not a response to the governor's decision.

The city's grants director, Jessica McElwee, says she hopes the city can give more.

"I do know that our council is amenable to increasing the amount of grants that we receive, and this was a conversation even long before Governor Desantis happened to cut the arts funding," says McElwee.