Updates To Budget Restoration for Miami-Dade County’s Arts and Culture Sector

Renee Pesci, Executive Director at the Arts & Business Council of Miami, and member of The Arts Action Alliance of Miami-Dade County, speaks at the final Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners budget hearing on Sept. 18.

The announcement of an Arts and Cultural Innovation Task Force to provide community input as well as the introduction of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs interim director capped what has been a turbulent budget season for the Miami-Dade arts and cultural community.

The 2025-26 budget proposal initially called for a cut of 52 percent ($12.8 million) in county financial support for the cultural arts in Miami-Dade County. Also, in the FY2025-26 budget proposal, the Cultural Affairs Department would be eliminated as a standalone entity and instead would be consolidated into the Miami-Dade County Department of Arts, Culture and Library Services.

In an update from Ashlee K. Thomas, who was named interim director by Mayor Danielle Levine Cava, it was confirmed that the Department of Cultural Affairs would remain independent.

“The Miami-Dade County Mayor Levine Cava and the Board of County Commissioners held the second and final County Budget Hearing on Thursday, September 18, 2025. As a result of this process, the Department of Cultural Affairs remains an independent department and will continue its mission to support and grow our vibrant cultural ecosystem,” wrote Thomas.

[Read the Director’s Message here]

Marialaura Leslie was named the Department of Cultural Affairs director as successor to Michael Spring, who was director for more than 30 years, after he announced his retirement in September of 2023. Leslie announced she would resign from her post effective Aug. 31, 2025, in the midst of the proposal that the department would be eliminated.

In her update, Thomas reported that the FY 2025-2026 budget includes $23.19 million in grants funding. “Importantly, $12.8 million in General Fund support was restored, reaffirming the County’s commitment to the arts and recognizing the essential contributions of our cultural organizations and artists in our cultural life and local economy. This will allow the Department to award nearly 800 grants, continuing to expand access and opportunity across Miami-Dade County.”

Also acknowledged were representatives of cultural organizations and artists who advocated during the county’s budget hearings. “Their presence underscored the strength and unity of the cultural sector and reinforced the importance of sustained investment in the arts.”

A letter from the chairman of The Cultural Affairs Council, Brian May, which was addressed to members of the Miami-Dade Cultural Community and Miami-Dade Arts Action Alliance, was also included.

[Read the Chairman’s Message here]

In read, in part, “For the past two months, your unwavering advocacy for the restoration of cultural grants funding and the preservation of an independent Department of Cultural Affairs has been inspiring. Your efforts powerfully conveyed to the Mayor and County Commission the vital importance of arts and culture to our community and underscored the importance of its priority within the County budget.”

And while the budget has been restored this year, it is not a long-term solution. The Department of Cultural Affairs is establishing an Arts & Cultural Innovation Task Force to “advance long-term, sustainable strategies that will strengthen and support the cultural arts sector throughout Miami-Dade County.”

Click here for details regarding the task force and how to get involved.

The Department of Cultural Affairs will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2026.

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