FY23 executive budget recommendation prioritizes education, engagement, infrastructure for Cultural Affairs
New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT
SANTA FE, NM – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s executive budget recommendation ensures the state’s capacity to preserve, protect, and present its rich cultural resources, while growing access and educational opportunities for New Mexico’s students. The total executive recommendation for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (NMDCA) is $46.4 million, a $3.8 million increase (9%) over the previous fiscal year.
“Sufficient funding is crucial for the agency to serve its mission, and the FY23 executive budget recommendation will allow us to build on our success as custodians of the state’s incredible cultural heritage,” said NMDCA Cabinet Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego. “The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs continuously provides a broad range of cultural services, including arts education programs, libraries, historic preservation, archaeological research, collection and preservation of cultural resources, and operation of New Mexico’s eight museums and eight historic sites.”
The budget recommendation increases the agency general fund by 10% ($3.3 million) to support:
- Education and engagement initiatives that will allow the department to distribute 2,500 more educational activity kits to students in grades K-12 statewide while expanding its all-age podcast to include NMDCA divisions across the state.
- $150,000 in critical funding to expand the department’s programs in rural communities, while funding statewide participation in the national History Day Program to more than 2,000 students in grades 6-12 with a $50,000 recommendation.
- $105,000 to vibrant local arts communities to fund programs that support armed service members and their families with art therapy services, musicians and performances statewide, and artist residences.
- Two additional full time staff positions to oversee facilities maintenance and construction in the southern portion of the state, including the agency’s facilities in Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Mesilla, and Radium Springs.
- More than $800,000 in additional funding to support essential maintenance work, veterinary services, landscaping contracts, utilities, and other necessary contractual services and operating costs at NMDCA’s eight museums and eight historic sites.
The executive recommendation also supports operation of the New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary (NMMOA VC) with $805,000 in personnel, contractual, and operating costs. Projected to generate $194 million in new economic activity within its first 10 years, the museum will bring significant economic benefit to the City of Santa Fe and the State of New Mexico. When it opens fall 2022, NMMOA VC will be a new space for contemporary art to broaden the diversity and reach of the museum’s collection. NMMOA VC will create opportunities for the museum to engage living artists from New Mexico and artists from different cultural backgrounds, bring world-class exhibitions to the state that showcase diverse perspectives, contain education spaces and artist studios that will allow for hands-on educational experiences for all ages, and provide room for the museum to expand its contemporary collection.
The full details of the FY23 Executive Budget Recommendation are available here.
About the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Created in 1978 by the New Mexico Legislature, the Department of Cultural Affairs (NMDCA) is New Mexico’s cultural steward, charged with preserving and showcasing the state’s cultural riches. With its eight museums, eight historic sites, arts, archaeology, historic preservation, and library programs, the DCA is one of the largest and most diverse state cultural agencies in the nation. Together, the facilities, programs, and services of the Department support a $5.6 billion cultural industry in New Mexico.