The 45-year-old theater company, originally housed in various locales as the Florida Shakespeare Theatre before settling at the Biltmore Hotel under its new moniker, was dreaming big for the 2024-25 season. Prepping an onslaught of regional premieres, including the intimate love story of folk singers Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, as well as a modern-day adaptation of Hamlet set in North Carolina, meant ambitious set designs, new stage technologies, and necessary contingency funds.
Just hours later, Gov. Ron DeSantis would veto $32 million in arts and culture funding, cutting GableStage's dreams short and delivering a devastating blow to hundreds of arts organizations statewide.
"It's unfair that this came in the eleventh hour," emphasizes Potts, GableStage's managing director, of the governor's last-minute change to the budget approved by the state legislature in early March. "The first thing we had to do was get back into meetings and see where we could cut."
The cuts have ushered in a new wave of "survival mode" among the already financially lean modus operandi many Miami-Dade arts organizations have had to adopt. An earlier budget slash took GableStage from an originally proposed $150,000 grant to $70,000. Following the veto, the theater is not only losing four percent of its annual budget but grappling with the state government's underestimation of the local arts industry.
In a press conference, DeSantis singled out two grant recipients, the Orlando Fringe Festival and Tampa Fringe Festival, as the reason for subjecting almost 700 groups to the budget cuts. He claimed the festivals were "sexual" in nature and that funding such initiatives would be a misuse of taxpayer dollars. At worst, the governor's reasoning has been received as a direct attack on the state's LGBTQ community, to whom both festivals celebrate and donate proceeds. At best, local creatives consider it an extreme move with more ramifications to the state's economy and culture than benefits.
"He targeted people who think outside the box and push the envelope. He took a red pen and said, 'I'm getting rid of all of it,' even though he pointed to one of a thousand entities that hoped to receive funds," shares Potts. "It feels like he wants to make an example of the arts industry."
Aside from stifling the vibrant artistic culture South Florida is consistently recognized for, the unprecedented budget hack has left many confused, considering the undeniable boost the arts have supplied to the economy. The state department boasts statistics claiming that in 2022, Florida's arts and cultural industry generated $5.8 billion in economic activity — of which $2.9 billion stemmed from nonprofits like GableStage — and supported 91,270 full-time jobs. So, what's the deal?"It feels like he wants to make an example of the arts industry, which comprises the fabric of life and makes South Florida great."
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"I don't have time to question. I have to problem-solve," Newport, GableStage's producing artistic director, succinctly summed up for Axios when asked to make sense of DeSantis' questionable motives.
To mitigate costs, the theater company is having to rethink pro-bono initiatives that remain core to its mission. Programs like Student & Teacher Rush, which guarantees any unsold seats at a production free of cost, and Ignite, an educational outreach program for local high schools and universities, face the fate of the chopping board. Raising ticket prices, a temporary fix due to the venue's limited seating capacity, threatens to alienate certain audiences.
"Organizations like ours are going to be forced to raise prices to get away with programs that provide access to groups that otherwise wouldn't be able to come," says Potts. "That's ultimately what's at stake. How do you ensure that our communities have free and low-cost opportunities?"
Potts suggests that the answer comes down to residents stepping up.
For many locals, the reality of South Florida's cultural hub dwindling to a barren arts scene borders on dystopian. We've been spoiled in the arts, growing up on amphitheater concerts and lunching among mural-lined streets. As budget cuts threaten the cultural identity that Potts claims "makes our communities alive," a need for new patrons and advocates of the region's art scene emerges.
"Individuals will have to think about [the importance of the arts] on their own, and I hope that they come to the conclusion that these cultural organizations are worthy of our support," says Potts. "If they're not gonna take our taxpayer dollars and give it to these organizations, we're going to personally have to figure out a way to support those groups that we don't want to disappear."
More than ever before, support in the form of lobbying state representatives and contributing to the local arts scene via ticket sales and donations is needed to maintain the "robust, healthy and resilient arts ecosystem," arts philanthropist Jorge M. Pérez shares with New Times, is in South Florida's best interest.
"I've seen firsthand the profound power of the arts. They serve as a universal language that helps bridge cultures, brings people together, and creates a shared sense of purpose and identity. They reflect our humanity, and when we support them, we invest in our future as a society."
