There was heated discussion today (TUE) at the meeting of the Kansas Arts Commission. The conflict was over how the state agency will work with a new private foundation that will raise money for arts programs in Kansas. A commissioner asked multiple times how much the foundation had raised. Kansas Arts Commission Chair Linda Browning Weis, who also works on the Arts Foundation, declined to answer. She says the foundation isn’t required to make those records public.
Weis says they will release a report on how much money has been raised. Commissioner Henry Schwaller says the foundation isn’t being transparent enough.
This was one of the first meetings since Governor Sam Brownback eliminated funding for the Arts Commission and installed Linda Browning Weis as chair.