June 2010

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Assemblymember Steve Englebright, a Democrat from the 4th Assembly District of Long Island and chair of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts & Sports Development.

The arts have had a strong impact on Assemblyman Englebright’s life for as long as he can remember.

NYSAAE: During the hearing on the proposed budget cuts to Arts & Culture on Wednesday, February 24th, you mentioned a museum visit from your childhood; can you tell us more about that?
Assemblyman Steve Englebright (SE): When I was about eight year’s old, my mother took me to the St. Louis Museum of Art, to visit an exhibition of the complete works of van Gogh.
I recall that you could see many of the works from a distance, and how they changed as you approached them. His paintings drew you in with their ‘turbulence frozen in the paint’. It was an amazing experience.

This was not Englebright’s only visit to that museum, but certainly the most memorable.

NYSAAE: Your mother was involved in the arts professionally, correct?
SE: Yes, she was a dramatic soprano and cellist. We moved to New Jersey and then to Bayside / Queens when she received a scholarship to study at Julliard.

NYSAAE: Were you active in the arts yourself in school?
SE: Oh yes – I participated in the ArtSquad in high school, which required a portfolio review for admission, and a vote of the current members… I imagine this was my first election <grinning>. Of a student body of over five thousand students this class admitted only about 30, so it was quite an honor to participate. It was this experience that demonstrated to me first hand how important the arts in public schools are.

NYSAAE: Through your college years and early career you turned your interests to geology and biology, working as Curator of Geologic Collections at SUNY at Stony Brook and as founding director of the Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences. Did the arts impact your work in those areas?
SE: The arts and my experience with ArtSquad in school certainly impacted my work in the museums. I was always involved with building exhibits and with working with students to build exhibits. I remember a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Governor Hugh Cary, who was campaigning at the time – he was so taken with the artwork that he needed to be pried away by his staff to attend his next event.
Before coming to the assembly I also served as a field representative to review applications to the NYS Council on the Arts Museum Aid program.

Throughout his career Assemblyman Englebright has found ways to include the arts in every effort. A special election first brought him to the Assembly in 1992, and he has served as Chair of the Tourism, Parks, Arts & Sports Development for the past three years.

NYSAAE: You are the sponsor of a bill currently under consideration, A6783 which relates to stabilizing the cultural education account and the local government records management improvement fund. If passed, this bill would provide a much need increase in revenue to the cultural education account which supports the NYS Museum, Library, Archives and Public Broadcasting. Can you offer any updates on this effort?
SE: We are hopeful that this bill can be released from committee and make it to the floor for a vote before the end of this session. Of course it still needs to make it through the Senate as well.

NYSAAE: Another bill which you are the lead sponsor of is A8938, which “directs the state education commissioner to conduct an audit and report on statewide compliance with state instructional regulations for arts education and to establish a remediation process for schools found to be out of compliance.” Can you comment of the outlook for this bill?
SE: Obviously as lead sponsor this is something that I support. I am afraid this bill faces an uphill fight as a matter of timing. Given the fiscal climate I am concerned that this effort will be deemed an unfunded mandate.

NYSAAE: Yet another challenge for this session has been the budget process. As part of the Governor’s most recent proposed budget, the NYS Council on the Arts is facing a 40% reduction in funding. As someone whose life has been impacted so greatly by the arts, and as chair of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts & Sports Development, what are your thoughts on this proposal?
SE: NYSCA has suffered disproportionately through several rounds of cuts over the past eighteen months, not only to funding levels, but to staffing as well. As a state agency, how is it that NYSCA employees are not covered by the Governor’s pledge of no layoffs? How can the agency fulfill its mission without adequate staffing?
The NYS Council on the Arts was the first, and set the standard for the nation (the National Endowment for the Arts was developed on the NYSCA model), and now is being altered in a way that may set an adverse standard.
There is a tendency for the arts to be the first thing cut from schools and the community – this is wrong headed, short sighted and an unsophisticated approach.
One can find any number of examples of areas which have been revitalized by artists – downtowns brought back to life by galleries and theatres.

NYSAAE: The Assembly Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts & Sports Development recently lead the fight in the re-opening of NYS Parks. How do you view the role of the parks in relation to the arts?
SE: I believe that in order to ensure historical preservation, we need to mount an expanded education effort and fund ways to enable kids to engage in the arts at historical sites. Imagine a painting program at Olana, or students writing poetry at the Whitman birthplace.
Failing to take students to our historic sites in a structured way will result in a generation who is missing out on the opportunity to understand their civilization and cultural heritage.

More information on Assemblymember Englbright can be found on his website - click here.

From his site: “The 4th Assembly District is situated on the north shore of Long Island and encompasses Port Jefferson Station, sections of Coram, Centereach, Selden and Lake Grove as well as the historic maritime communities that developed around the harbors of Stony Brook, Setauket, Port Jefferson and Mt. Sinai.”

Past Weathervane Interviews

Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education of the NYS Education Department, Jeffrey Cannell - February 2010
YAWNY Executive Director, Cynnie Gaasch - January 2010
NYC DOE, Office of the Arts and Special Projects, Executive Director Paul King - December 2010
Partners for Arts Education - November 2009
NYS Senator Jose M. Serrano - September 2009