ATLANTA — Angela Harris is the executive artistic director of Dance Canvas , a nonprofit started in 2007 that promotes professional dance in Atlanta. The former professional ballet dancer praised the city's vibrant dance community, calling Georgia's capital city a dance mecca.

Harris said Dance Canvas has relied on funding from Fulton County for 15 years to support youth programs and provide other services to artists in the area.

"The arts really are essential to having a diverse and culturally relevant community," Harris said. "We've seen a significant cut in government funding, unfortunately, to the arts. It's been hard. We've lost about $30,000 in arts funding this year, so we're struggling to find ways to continue to provide services at the level we want to provide services to our

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