By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – Alabama and other states are cutting funding for theaters, museums and performance groups. Alabama has reduced arts funding by about six percent this fiscal year to about four-and-a-half million dollars. California cut spending by 90 percent and Missouri completely eliminated appropriations for the arts. Overall, state arts spending plummeted 23 percent. The cuts come at a time when federal spending on the arts has gone up slightly. Congress increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to 122-point-five million dollars.