Greenville subsidizes religious art

[Vance R Koven]

Interesting situation. I would want to ask several questions:

* is there a local arts council or other established body that deals with
cultural programming and support? If so, was this grant an end-run around
that process? (a side note here: a certain prominent politician in
Massachusetts used to have the state legislature fund, as a direct line
item, an "educational" enterprise of which he was particularly fond, while
similar organizations were having their funding decreased within the
general shrinkage of the state arts and humanities council. Nobody (well,
few) liked it, but none dared protest lest their own funding be further
cut. I only wish there had been some religious or other actionable
aspect to the deal).

* if the BJAM is the only art museum in town, are there other cultural
facilities that receive local government support?

* do the BJAM charter documents and IRS filings refer specifically to the
promotion of a particular religio-artistic perspective, and if so is there
anything in the enabling act for government cultural funding that
prohibits sectarian support (I suppose you'd say "sure, the First
Amendment," but I'm looking for something sub-constitutional here)?

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