Contact Information: 359 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155. Phone: (651) 296-5158. E-mail: rep.cy.thao@house.mn.

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2006 MCA Candidate Survey Results: Candidate did not respond to survey.

Additional Notes from MCA: In 2004, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts featured an exhibition of Rep. Thao’s oil paintings. Called ‘”The Hmong Migration,” this exhibition of 50 oil paintings tracks the 5,000-year Hmong journey, from the creation of the universe, to the refugee camps in Thailand where Thao spent his early childhood, to the Hmong diaspora he now represents in the state Legislature. Click here to read the City Pages article on Rep. Thao’s artwork.

Contact Information: 563 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155. Phone: (651) 296-9714. E-mail: rep.carlos.mariani@house.mn.

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2006 MCA Candidate Survey Results: Candidate did not respond to survey.

Additional Notes from MCA: May 2000: Rep. Mariani voted to override the Governor’s veto of $1 million in bonding money for the Lanesboro Center for the Arts, and $3 million in planning money for the Guthrie Theatre. The override was successful. This is a good arts vote.

Contact Information: 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Capitol Building, Room 120, St. Paul, MN 55155-1606. Phone: 651.296.1802.

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2006 MCA Candidate Survey Results:

1. Minnesota’s nearly 1600 non-profit arts and cultural organizations provide access to the arts and support quality of life in every corner of the state. While providing over 22,000 jobs, arts organizations served nearly 4.5 million people in 2004.
What arts activities have you attended, participated in or supported in the last year?
Check all that apply: Music, Theater, Visual Arts, Literary Arts, Dance, Other.

Answer: Music, Theater, Visual Arts.

2. Over the last three biennium the State Arts Board and Regional Arts Council appropriations were cut by 34.5%. These are substantially larger cuts than the cuts to the overall state budget. Would you support an increase in arts funding to restore the cuts that were made, in recognition of the important role the arts and culture play in our economy and in our quality of life? Select One: Enthusiastically Support, Support, Neutral, Opposed.

Answer: Enthusiastically Support.

3. During the 2006 legislative session the legislature considered a constitutional dedication of funds for water, hunting and angling and various cultural purposes including the arts. Would you support a similar constitutional amendment in the 2007 legislative session? Select One: Yes, No, Don’t Know

Answer: Yes.

4. Research shows that students with high levels of arts participation outperform other students on virtually every measure from standardized tests to community participation, and that learning through the arts has a significant effect on learning in other areas, particularly in the early years. Would you support policies and funding to increase the availability of the arts in our schools? Select One: Enthusiastically Support, Support, Neutral, Opposed

Answer: Enthusiastically Support.

5. We would welcome any additional comments you would like to make with regards to the arts in Minnesota.

Comments: The arts are necessary for personal enrichment as well as vital to the cultural life of our cities and communities. I am proud to have been the senate author of the cultural STAR program in St. Paul. Q3: Only if its new $.

Additional Notes from MCA: May 2004: As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Pappas voted against motions that would have reduced or stripped arts funding from the Outdoor and Cultural Heritage Amendment.

In May of 2000, Sen. Pappas voted to override the Governor’s veto of $1 million in bonding money for the Lanesboro Center for the Arts, and $3 million in planning money for the Guthrie Theatre. The override was successful. This was a good arts vote.

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2006 MCA Candidate Survey Results: Candidates did not respond to survey.

Additional notes from MCA:

April, 2006 : In a statement made regarding the Senate passage of the proposed consitutional amendment on conservation, clean water, public broadcasting and the arts, Governor Pawlenty displayed his neglect of the value of the arts: “While I appreciate the Senate’s willingness to vote on this important issue, I hope the bill will be more focused in its final version. Conservation and clean water are too important to be watered down by other issues. While the arts and public broadcasting are important, they do not rise to the level of being in need of dedicated constitutional support.”

May, 2005: Governor Pawlenty vetoed a measure to create an official poet laureate in Minnesota, remarking: “Even though we have a state ‘folklorist’, I have concern that this will lead to calls for other similar positions. We could also see requests for a state mime, interpretive dancer, or potter…”. Minnesota would have joined its neighboring states North and South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin in having an official poet laureate if Pawlenty had not vetoed the bill.