Forgive my rambling, but there is a point. My girlfriend will not to move to Indy because it doesn't offer as much culture as other great cities like Chicago, Seattle, Austin, etc. I LOVE Indy. But as an artist, I can see her point. There's two issues at hand here - creating a more enriching education for our youth and advancing the cultural value of our city. Both are very important. Public money is always a big hurdle. The bottom line is that the arts just aren't seen as profitable. As a professional musician, teacher, and music volunteer for years, from a personal standpoint, I can agree. The cliche "starving artists" comes to mind. When it comes to city funding, I suppose the money has to go towards things that the city deems more profitable? Tough to convice politicians that by culturally enriching your town, it will draw more people. Guess that didn't pan out in the spreadsheet. So, let's come up with alternative solutions. There's a plethera of talented artists and musicians in this city. We need to band together and volunteer. We need to volunteer at after-school programs. If arts education is the future of our youth, it's up to the artists to make this happen. If we're concerned with art education raising math scores, WE either need to offer our services as music instructors OR math and science tutors. Both will get the job done. Being an artist can be frustrating. We could be as talented as a rocket scientist, yet not make a dime from it. That said, let's reward ourselves by enriching the community, which will hopefully create a more cultural environment for our city, and then maybe my girlfriend will move here. Peace.

Obviously Hoppe doesn't get it! From a guy who doesn't like billboards and doesn't realize that Vegas is the greatest city in the US! Pathetic!

I think that the people of Indianapolis should look at the places in the world where people want to live and realize the very strong presence of arts and culture. If we want Indianapolis to be one of those places we should all continue to support and ask our leadership to focus resources on these areas. I moved here from the city of Detroit and was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the vibrant and growing arts community, we should not let this be removed from our city, Indianapolis has a unique opportunity to become as great a city as Chicago and continue to be a wonderful place to live. Name calling and negative information is not helping! Even if you don't agree with the above writer you need to decide if you think the arts are important enough to work with the current system to keep the arts in our city.

Please Mr. High and Mighty, get your facts straight before posting. Individual artists do not receive funding from the city/tax payers or any other public entity here. For the most part,on a national level that all ended in the 80s for heaven's sake. I too received a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council like David Hoppe and his wife and guess what, not a penny came from public funds. That, like their new fellowship for emerging artists comes from private sources and foundations. The Creative Renewal money comes from a grant the Arts Council seeks and receives from Lilly Endowment. By the way, "part of his income?" That was one grant, one year. I hardly consider Hoppe or myself on the payroll for that. It is also the case that the panel who chooses those artists and the admin support for that grant is also paid for by the grant from Lilly so what exactly has David Hoppe received of this public funding - this so-called Slush Fund? Explain, please. By the way, 250 local artists have received the same grant FROM LILLY ENDOWMENT thanks to the Arts Council.

Your muckraking still doesn't validate slashing the arts budget. Fair enough to dig deeper into the writer, but there are plenty of us who get NONE of the public arts funding who still support it, and dread more politicians cutting the arts because they are too obtuse to recognize the value of it. Seriously, does Indy really need to be ANY more backwater and dumb?

Nuvo prides itself in prodding politicians into divulging their private and public financial information. As it should be. But what about Nuvo? Third rate polemicist, David Hoppe decries the anticipated budget cuts at the Arts Council of Indianapolis. But does he give his reasons for concern? No. Well, let me tell you a little about third-rate writer David Hoppe. Part of his income is derived from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. So does his wife. Have you ever noticed, he is a big supporter of public financing of the arts? I would be too, if I derived part of my income from the public trough. What about public disclosure? Any ethical journalist would disclose the fact that he lines his pockets at the public’s expense before writing in support of public financing of the arts. Hoppe, not only are you a “wanna-be” writer, you’re an unethical and disingenuous writer. Eventually, your readers will out you. Oh, and by the way David, is “Kevin the Pimp” aware of your secret slush fund?