To the editor:

I was very disturbed to hear that 10th Legislative District Rep. Barbara Bailey, among others, supports a bill that would suspend funding for the Washington State Percent for Art Program.

My wife and I are among the hundreds of professional artists who live and work in the 10th District. Many of us earn a significant part of our income, as well as supporting numerous local businesses, as a direct result of the Percent for Art programs.

Even suspending these programs for two years will hurt local businesses. In some cases the damage to small businesses such as ours could be fatal, and the long-term negative effects on our local economy will be magnified.

When a small business fails, it puts a much larger hole in the economy than is created simply by the loss of employee wages and health coverage. Most artists are manufacturers, or they employ local manufacturers.

Better yet, our work is value-added manufacturing, where raw materials are turned into products of much higher value through long hours of skilled labor. Because this work is carried out locally, it keeps local people employed.

All the trickle-down benefits to the local economy, as well as much of the tax revenue generated, stays in the state of Washington. Much of the benefit stays right here in Island County.

Like many artists, we are educators; many of our trainees have gone on to start their own businesses, or have found employment as highly skilled metalworkers.

The arts are among the most important components of Washington state tourism, and are absolutely vital to the local economies of Whidbey Island and LaConner. Please discourage our representatives from supporting this bill. I believe that passage of this bill will do more to damage our local economy than it can possibly help.

Nick Lyle

Freeland