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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Pinto

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/26/08

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM-Gallup Indigenous Media Art Center

SB 274

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$250.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplication HB319

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

University of New Mexico (UNM)

Indian Affairs Department (IAD)

Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 274 appropriates $250.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico to the indigenous media art center at the Gallup campus of the

University of New Mexico for the development of a production studio for traditional and

contemporary native stories and media content.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert to the

general fund.

This request was not submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for

review and is not included in the Department’s funding recommendation for FY09.

Senate Bill 274 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to UNM:

•

The goal of the Indigenous Animation and Digital Art Program (IADAP) is to provide

training and education to native youth and professionals to produce traditional and

contemporary animated stories and digital art using technology for the purpose of

restoring native culture and language, increasing student and professional learning, in

addition to developing production studios for tribes and pueblos in New Mexico. The

objectives of the (IADAP) are to motivate native youth and professionals to study and

present Native history, government, technology, language and other aspects of native

cultures, gaining valuable technology skills in the total animation production process, and

sustaining these programs by marketing digital products nationally and internationally.

•

The program includes training, mentoring and a production studio for fifty students and

professionals from the Navajo Nation and Laguna, Taos and Jemez Pueblos. Currently,

many native authors, illustrators, film makers, bilingual educators, administrators and

tribal leaders are supportive and ready to begin this important initiative for the restoration

of native culture and language, and to increase opportunities in the native learning

community and tribal workforces.

The DCA comments that:

•

Fostering media industries in New Mexico is one of the cornerstones of the State’s

economic development and educational strategies. If residents of rural and tribal

communities are going to be able to participate in this emerging economy, students will

need opportunities to acquire the necessary new technological skills using industry-

standard equipment and software.

•

The facility and educational program proposed in HB 274 would be a welcome addition

to the other media arts centers cropping up at other academic institutions around the state.

It would serve an under-served region and target population.

•

The media arts center would also be an asset to McKinley County’s Cultural Enterprise

Network, a project sponsored by the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments,

whose purpose is to enhance the region’s economic progress and cultural enrichment

through support and promotion of cultural enterprises. Local cultural organizations and

arts-related businesses would be able to rely upon a home-grown workforce to help them

tell their stories and provide educational experiences instead of having to seek creative

talent and technological services elsewhere.

The IAD states that indigenous media production allows Native ideas and perspectives to be

disseminated through modern media technologies and “contribute to the understanding,

strengthening, and support of Indigenous people and communities." Universities in the US and

Canada have developed similar programs. For example, the University Of Washington

Department Of Communication houses the Native Voices-Indigenous Documentary Film Center.

This Center gives students and film producers the “opportunity to explore documentary [film

making] from an Indigenous perspective, and to create projects that speak to critical personal,

Senate Bill 274 – Page

3

social and political issues in their lives." Students in this program earn undergraduate and

graduate degrees from the Department of Communication while concentrating on developing

indigenous film and media at the Native Voices Center. SB 274 would allow UNM-Gallup to

develop a similar center dedicated to the development of indigenous media. This would provide

an opportunity for Native and non-Native students in New Mexico to explore indigenous and

Native perspectives through media and film.

DUPLICATION

House Bill 319 is a duplicate.

GH/bb