Thomas Waltz, 20, a Life JAMS artist at Van Go Mobile Arts, 715 N.J., works on painting a small table, one of several crafted items by Van Go participants that will be for sale at the What Floats Your Boat fundraiser June 20. Like other area arts agencies, Van Go is feeling the effects of the recession.

Heather French, 20, background left, a Life JAMS artist at Van Go Mobile Arts, works on a decorative birdhouse, one of several crafted items by Van Go participants that will be for sale at the What Floats Your Boat fundraiser.

Children rehearse a scene from the musical “Annie” Wednesday at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H. The organization has an upcoming fundraiser, Ball d’Artes, which is Saturday.

Lynne Green knows she could be a lot worse off.

The director of Van Go Mobile Arts worries about how she’ll pay the organization’s bills, with foundation funding and private contributions drying up during the recession.

But Van Go, which provides arts jobs for at-risk teens, conducted a major capital campaign from 2003 to 2007 to pay for a building addition that opened last month at 715 N.J.

“We’re so lucky we did our capital campaign before the economy went south,” Green says.

It’s a common fear among arts organizations, as leaders are feeling the effects of the sluggish economy.

It’s also a fact that has made Llewellyn Crain a popular woman in recent weeks.

Crain, executive director of the Kansas Arts Commission, is helping dole out $301,700 in federal economic stimulus funds. The money was earmarked for the National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Arts organizations from across the state are fine-tuning applications that can be submitted starting July 1. About 125 groups qualify for the grants because they’ve received support from the Arts Commission in the past two years.

Grants will be for up to $40,000, and the organizations have to show that the money will go to preserving or adding staff positions.

One of the organizations planning to apply for funding is the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H. Director David Leamon says the money would help pay to replace Rick Mitchell, who is retiring from his job as gallery director this month.

Leamon says indications so far are that the arts center will be close to making its $1.5 million budget for the fiscal year, which ends July 31.

“I know it’s stretched,” Leamon says. “I know we’re kind of sweating bullets a little. Everything’s been hard. Grants are down.”

Statewide concern

That’s the story Crain has been hearing across the state.

“We did a survey in April of our grantees,” she says. “We sent out 209 requests to respond to the survey, and 74 responded. Almost 92 percent of the responses said the economy has impacted them or they’re expecting an impact. I think what is interesting is if we had asked the same question in November, or December, I think people would have said, ‘No, not yet.'”

Crain says she’s especially concerned for smaller organizations.

“There’s this problem arts organizations face,” she says. “There’s a perception that the arts are elitist, that they’re a nice thing to have in a community but they’re not vital. Arts organizations need to make the argument that they’re vital to community health and provide a lot of services that are vital.”

And it’s not just qualitative, Crain says. It’s about money, too. An economic impact study released by the Kansas Arts Commission in March showed that arts activities result in $153.5 million in economic activity each year in the state. That includes:

l 4,612 full-time equivalent jobs.

• $95 million in household income.

• $6 million in local government tax revenues.

• $9 million in state government tax revenues.

“I have been doing a few Rotary Club presentations about the economic impact study,” Crain says. “There’s a difference with hard data. All of a sudden they’re like, ‘Wow.’ They really get excited. There are always certain members of our population who care about the arts passionately and deeply and respond very well to that qualitative discussion. But the quantitative discussion resonates with other people. We need to talk about the arts on a variety of levels.”

‘Frustrating’ situation

The economic situation makes upcoming fundraisers even more important for organizations.

Green has been working to hone Van Go’s message as its major fundraiser approaches. Its What Floats Your Boat event is June 20 at the Clinton Lake Marina. Last year, the event raised $60,000, a hefty chunk of the organization’s $850,000 budget.

This year’s Van Go budget is about the same as last year. But with the new building open, Green had hopes of expanding its capacity by a third.

“We typically have twice as many kids apply than we can hire,” Green says. “It can be very frustrating. It’s just reality.”

Leamon and the arts center also are working on a fundraiser — the first-ever Ball d’Artes, which is Saturday. He’s not sure how much it might bring in with its silent auction, but he has hopes it’ll be between $5,000 and $10,000, and every little bit helps.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” he says, “and I think everybody is.”