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Iowans should be lauded for their support for the arts

May. 25, 2025 5:00 am
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The smell of hot buttered popcorn, comfortable seats, the lights dimming before the main attraction. There have been some changes, sure, but unlike so many institutions that have disappeared, the theater continues to draw people in.
And for at least two nonprofit Iowa theaters, going to the theater is about much more than blockbuster movies and the concessions. It is the experience, it is about human connection. “There might be a panel conversation afterward or a Q&A. Or just an interaction in the lobby. We hear from our audience that that's one of the things that they value most about what we do,” said Ben Godar, executive Director of Varsity Cinema in Des Moines. “I grew up in central Iowa, did my undergraduate at Iowa State and then I moved out to LA. After I moved back to Iowa a good friend of mine co-founded FilmScene in Iowa City.” Des Moines didn’t currently have a nonprofit film organization, so he decided to reopen and reinvent the Varsity.
That friend, Andrew Sherburne, describes the goal of FilmScene to be a “Home away from home, a community space where people can come together, have that shared cultural experience, but also feel welcome to hang out and after the show and talk more about it with the other moviegoers.” The Executive Director and cofounder says those moviegoers may be friends they came with or complete strangers. “We create space that makes those sorts of conversations possible so that through art we can better understand the world that we live in and our place in it.”
Both FilmScene in Iowa City and Varsity Cinema in Des Moines had their funding from National Endowment for the Arts abruptly ripped away in May. According to NPR, organizations received emails telling them “the NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.”
While these cuts may have devastating consequences for smaller communities and organizations, Iowans have rallied around Varsity Cinema and Film Scene.
“We made a choice to do a direct kind of fundraising after this happened. We thought, hey, this is a very specific gap that we can kind of show to our audience and I think they'll step up.” Godar said they surpassed the $20,000 fundraising goal to replace NEA funding within 5 days.
Sherburne experienced a similar outpouring of support. “Our community stepped up to fill that gap, so we're not going to change our programming immediately. We'll keep doing everything that we plan to do this year. That won't change. But I think it's a warning. That there will be challenges ahead.” Andrew
Art is crucial for a democratic society, and now joins freedom of speech, faith in elections, and due process in current attacks on our society. This is not an exhaustive list.
Sherburne is waiting to see what will unfold next. “I guess it's a bit wait and see how much exactly the loss will be. But I think the message is clear that the arts are being devalued and disinvested from. The arts are crucial to functioning democracy and quality of life. So many of us value our communities and the free exchange of ideas and a healthy arts ecosystem. They are part of a healthy society and if there are forces working against that, that's a problem.”
Godar quotes Roger Ebert in highlighting films’ importance and accessibility, “movies are like a machine that generates empathy.”
“I think that goes to the core of what film and movies can do because just by nature, wherever a film is made, it takes you to that place. And it brings you to those people. Film is great — it is a fairly cheap, accessible thing,” Godar said.
After multiple failed attempts during his first term, Trump is looking to once again cut NEA funding. Combined with proposed cuts to other humanities, library, and museum agencies and vengeful acts against Kennedy Center, it is clear that art that stimulates empathy and broader understanding of society is not a priority for the current administration. An advocacy organization listed the priorities that affected grantees received via email, and they include Making America Healthy Again, disaster recovery, veterans, houses of worship, and artificial intelligence. Not that all of these are bad on the surface, including the first on the priority list, which is elevating the nation’s HBCUs. But the link to funding for the arts is mysterious to say the least.
Given the support Iowa nonprofit theaters have received, Iowans have demonstrated that their priorities do not coincide with the president’s. The theaters’ goal of creating connection and understanding is one that Iowans have gotten behind not only philosophically, but financially as well. Sherburne explains the value they see. “Probably weekly from somebody that. That their understanding of the world has been changed.”
And he explains that fostering these connections and ensuring all are represented in the films they screen and events they host makes good business sense as well. “We want to appeal to everybody; we want everybody to find something that they love here. I do think that it is important we are always conscious of the choices that we make of what we put on screen, and we want film that does that. We're always trying to push ourselves and our audiences a little bit outside of their comfort zone to broaden their horizons.”
He says advocacy to legislators is appreciated, but “the most important thing you can do is just keep showing up. Keep being in community with each other. At the movies or at your local arts or cultural institution. Just keep showing up. That's the thing that we can do to make sure that our cultural institutions are strongest. But if you're able to do something beyond that, we certainly appreciate it.”
Chris Espersen is a Gazette editorial fellow. chris.espersen@thegazette.com
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