Richmond Magazine: National Policy, Local Impact, Six Months of Federal Executive Orders Hit Home
(From left) Kate Fowler and Ashley Hawkins of Studio Two Three arts center in Manchester (Photo by Jay Paul)
“It just feels petty,” Ashley Hawkins of Manchester’s Studio Two Three says.
Hawkins’ organization experienced the cancellation of two grants totaling $230,000: Studio Two Three sought to install solar panels on its old school building and upgrade its HVAC system. The now-vanished grants made up 36% of the organization’s budget.
Development Director Kate Fowler observes, “If organizations have already started operating for their fiscal year with [grants] in mind, [the government] reached into small organizations’ wallets and stole that money. I think, too, it’s intentional, to make grassroots organizations fail.”
Studio Two Three combines the entrepreneurial with the artistic. The nonprofit, non-stock company produces screen-printed T-shirts, totes and other materials and offers classes, workshops and meeting space for smaller groups. Some services may be cut back, but the organization, which owns its building, isn’t going anywhere.
Hawkins and Fowler are gratified that public donations have ticked up with the news. Other arts and culture groups are bracing for the worst. “We’re lucky we’ve always been an earned-income organization,” Fowler says. “Grant funding has been an addition and makes us stronger. Some organizations, though, are at risk of shutting their doors.”
Hawkins adds, “It’s going to be a weird four years.” —Harry Kollatz Jr.