Restore Volusia County’s Cultural Grant Program
For 36 years, Volusia County’s modest annual investment in arts and culture has helped create the vibrant community we enjoy today — supporting concerts, museum exhibits, children’s programs, festivals, and historic preservation efforts that make our county unique.
In October 2025, the Volusia County Council suspended the allocation of its long-standing Community Cultural Grant Program, despite $611,758 already being budgeted. This small amount — just 0.04% of the County’s $1.4 billion budget — delivers an outsized impact, generating nearly $2 in local tax revenue for every $1 invested and enriching the lives of thousands of residents and visitors each year.
Ending this funding threatens local jobs, children’s arts programs, summer camp scholarships, concerts, and exhibitions that keep our cultural institutions alive. Without this support, organizations may cut staff, cancel events, and close doors — leaving a lasting gap in the community’s creative and economic vitality.
Arts and culture are not luxuries — they are essential to our economy, our education, and our identity as a community.
Sign now to protect Volusia County’s cultural future.
We encourage you to email the Volusia County Council members who have publicly expressed their intent to eliminate the Volusia County Cultural Grant Program. Let them know how much the arts matter to our community.
- County Chair Jeff Brower: jbrower@volusia.org
- Councilman Don Dempsey, District 1: ddempsey@volusia.org
- Councilman Danny Robins, District 3: drobins@volusia.org
- Councilman Troy Kent, District 4: tkent@volusia.org
- Councilman David Santiago, District 5: dsantiago@volusia.org
- Councilman Jake Johansson, At Large: jjohansson@volusia.org
