There is strong reaction from the theater and arts community in Southwest Florida after Gov. Ron DeSantis took away more than $32 million from the arts statewide.
The decision is having a big impact on local theater and arts programs.
It was William Shakespeare who said, " All the world is a stage." He continued "all the men and women merely players." Saying "They have their exits and entrances" but it's their exit many are worried about.
Arts enthusiasts say DeSantis has become their villain by taking away funding statewide and leaving careers and jobs in jeopardy.
“This decision makes him a villain,” said Molly Rowan-Deckart.
She is director of the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers.
In Lee County alone nearly two dozen arts organizations were stripped of $1.8 million in funding.
“This has never happened in the history of Florida since the creation of the division of cultural affairs,” Rowan-Deckart said.
DeSantis took away $131,000 of funding for the stage and arts building off of McGregor Boulevard.
“Taking an $11,000 a month hit out of your budget is significant,” Rowan-Deckart stressed.
When asked if it could cost people jobs, she said yes and confirmed the alliance was looking at that very option as a result.
The governor blamed the cuts on fringe festivals.
“You'd have your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is a sexual festival. How many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that?" DeSantis asked.
There are only two fringe festivals in the state, in Orlando and Tampa.
The governor however vetoed everyone’s funding.
Producing Artistic Director at The Florida Repertory Theatre in downtown Fort Myers said it appears the governor had taken a machete to something he should have taken a scalpel to.
Longenhagen described the governor's move as a sucker punch to the arts industry in Florida.
“No one I think ever saw this coming. It is a huge punch in the stomach,” Longenhagen described.
He’s concerned that the loss of $150,000 a year to his budget could result in summer theater camps for children being eliminated as a result of the governor’s actions.
“Many kids won't get that same opportunity that I was so lucky to be afforded,” said Keehnon Jackson.
The theater major at Howard University who now helps teach at the camps had one message for the governor.
“There are actual people being hurt here and actual people struggling with the decision being made. I'd just caution him to think about that,” Jackson pleaded.
Shakespeare himself ended his “All the World is a stage” poem by saying, “The last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history is second childishness and mere oblivion.”
As the future of theater itself is now uncertain Florida with a stroke of the governor’s pen.
Southwest Florida lawmakers all supported funding the arts but none that we reached out to had reaction to the governor’s decision.
Any taxpayer who would like to react to the governor’s decision can email him at: https://www.flgov.com/email-the-governor/
Or call his office at (850) 717-9337.