We're badly late on this gem: The Dallas Morning News reported last month that Austin gets far more state funding for the arts than larger cities in Texas. Specifically, the capital has received $3.6 million
since 2002, or $5.50 per capita, compared to about $1.50 per person in Dallas and San
Antonio, and about $1.80 per person in Houston. (The DMN goes on to admit that some smaller cities, such as Round Top, got far more per capita due to their very small populations.) Jeanne Claire Van Ryzen all but defends the practice in her Austin 360 blog, because Austin gets less philanthropic funding from individuals than its larger neighbors. We always knew it would take a generation for the Dellionaire money to age enough to start funding the arts (as opposed to speedboats and Z4s), but does that mean Austin merits so much more of the pittance of state art funding there is to go around?