Also this issue: Puh-leeze Don't Squeeze the Artwork! Polly Apfelbaum’s work is a tactile wonderland. -Robin Rice Denyce Graves -David Shengold Hands Across Veronica -Debra Auspitz Eric Schlosser -A.D. Amorosi Hillary Rodham Clinton Living History -Lori Hill "Stuffing Birds, Pressing Plants, Shaping Knowledge: Natural History in North America 1730-1860," -Kristina Weise There's Something About Mary -David Anthony Fox These Mortal Coils Norman Rush details a marriage from the inside out. -Justin Bauer

June 19-25, 2003

artsbeat

compiled by Debra Auspitz

Harrisburg’s budget struggles recently hit close to home for Terri Shockley, executive director of the Community Education Center (CEC), West Philly’s 30-year-old landmark arts haven. Shockley just found out that after budget cuts are made, the CEC may not be receiving funding from the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development (CED) -- money the CEC has received for the past two years. Shockley says the CED money would have made up about 21 percent of the CEC’s $238,000 annual budget, or roughly $50,000. Other sources of funding for the center include a Dance Advance grant and money from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Those funds are geared toward programming, however, while the CED was one of the only sources of revenue for the center directed at day-to-day operations.

Shockley says the loss of the CED money could result in the CEC laying off one of its two full-time staff members, cutting health benefits or forcing staff to work without pay until more funds can be raised. "We run in such a tight, lean way, we couldn't cut much," she says. Shockley hopes that this setback will not affect plans for future performances at the CEC, since they have no summer programming scheduled. She hopes that they can raise enough money by the fall to maintain normal operations.

Though plans for a 30th anniversary benefit have been scrapped ("We can't afford a benefit right now," Shockley jokes), the CEC still has plans for a "rent party" on June 28, where Shockley hopes to raise up to $3,000. The party will feature performances by artists affiliated with the CEC, a group with an ever-growing local and international profile. "The people [dancing] at DanceBoom! come from the CEC," Shockley says, noting the dearth of spaces presenting dance year-round in the city. Besides hosting classes and smaller performances, the CEC is home to the Kumquat Dance Collective, which includes huge Philly names like Group Motion, Rennie Harris Puremovement, The Bald Mermaids and Grace Mi-He Lee's Genghis Dance Co. Shockley comes from an arts background herself, having danced with Urban Bush Women for years.

The CEC falls into State Rep. Frank Oliver's district, and he has been a vocal supporter of the center for years. He was the one, according to Shockley, who sat her down and informed her of the possible loss of revenue. Oliver, reached in Harrisburg, says "right now the budget is in a state of flux under the new administration. The governor is doing the best he can, I guess, but right now a number of people who normally get assistance [aren't]." Oliver adds that "I'm in here swinging. I'm trying to get that money restored. This is one of the toughest budgets I've seen in my 29 or 30 years up here, but we're not done and we're still working up here." Oliver says the budget will have to be finalized by the end of the month.