New York, NY —
The Independent Budget Office says the city's new funding process for arts groups has led to more grants going to small arts organizations.
REPORTER According to the IBO report small theater groups did the best under the new process, instituted last year by the Department of Cultural Affairs, while museums came away with less funding than they had earlier. Doug Turetsky is with the IBO.
TURETSKY: More groups are applying - probably an indication that they see it's a more open and competitive process now, less of an insider process perhaps. And two, the awards to many groups - more groups are getting money and the size of the awards to many groups has gone up.
REPORTER: The IBO defines small groups as those operating with less than $250,000 a year.
But the report says the good times for small groups were probably temporary, as severe budget cuts in the next couple years will result in less funding for the arts, across the board.