State arts funding took a $6 million hit last week, leaving stunned arts groups scrambling to convince lawmakers to restore some or all of the money.

In a move that surprised many, the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee slashed Republican

for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, an agency that is chaired by first lady Susan Corbett.

Under the committee’s amendment to the budget bill, grant money for arts groups statewide would be reduced from $8.62 million to $2.5 million. Administration costs for PCA would be cut from $895,000 to $500,000.

Total reduction: $6.157 million from Corbett’s proposed PCA budget of $9.157 million.

If approved, the reductions would mean more staff cuts at PCA and millions less to support programs such as the Harrisburg-based Caitlin’s Smiles project that provides arts-and-crafts kits to sick children facing long hospital stays.

“It caught me by surprise,” said Jenny L. Hershour, managing director of Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that lobbies on behalf of arts groups. “We had been led to believe there might be some cuts, but indications were that they would be small.”

PCA’s grant money is funneled to communities through a grassroots partnership program. In central Pennsylvania, money goes through Jump Street, a nonprofit arts advocacy organization in Harrisburg.

Jump Street Executive Director Robert C. Welsh said his organization gives PCA money in the form of small grants to a variety of local arts-related programs and projects.

In addition to Caitlin’s Smiles, money this year went to groups such as Danzante, Concertante, N’Gozi, the State Street Academy of Music and the Pennsylvania Immigrant and Refugee Women Network and summer arts camps.

“This is going to hit hard in the arts community,” Welsh said. “We are going to work as hard as we can to expose legislators to all the good that this money does.”

PCA has been on a fiscal roller-coaster ride during the past few years, going from annual grant levels that once approached $15 million down to the current total of about $8.2 million.

Two years ago, the agency was zeroed out of the state budget at one point, only to be restored with a $2 million budget in the spending plan signed by former Gov. Ed Rendell.

Along the way, PCA Executive Director Philip Horn said, the agency already has had to cut four staff members, leaving 12. “That’s a pretty substantial cut,” Horn said. More would have to go under the new proposed cuts, he added.

Horn said he was happy with Corbett’s original budget proposal, which kept PCA funding levels relatively stable.

“We gave out over a thousand grants last year,” Horn said. “We support things that people throughout communities in Pennsylvania think are important, whether it’s big things like a symphony orchestra or just a small project.”

Horn said he was stunned to learn about the House cuts, approved May 11, that took aim at an agency the first lady is chairing at her husband’s request.

“I’m not really sure what happened there,” Horn said. “I was more than a little surprised. All I can tell you is that Susan is a fantastic choice as chairman.”

Eric Shirk, a spokesman for Gov. Corbett, declined to discuss the governor’s position on the PCA cuts.

“All I can say is they are part of an ongoing negotiation,” Shirk said Monday. “We are looking forward to negotiating with both Democrats and Republicans as the budget process moves ahead.”

Steve Miskin, a spokesman for the House Republican Caucus, said the PCA cuts are part of an overall effort to secure more money for education. He said the House plan adds about $210 million to Corbett’s education budget.

“The priority we heard from Pennsylvanians was to fund education over welfare spending and other things,” Miskin said. “We are looking at every line [in the budget]. It’s all difficult.”

The House Appropriations Committee is chaired by Rep. William Adolph, a Delaware County Republican. Efforts to reach Adolph for comment about the PCA cuts were unsuccessful Monday.

Adolph did express support for Corbett’s overall 2011-12 budget when it was announced in March, while warning it would be subject to change.

The PCA cuts still face approval in the House and Senate, as well as by Corbett. Budget votes in both chambers could begin next week.

Hershour’s organization is calling on arts groups throughout the state to contact their local legislators and ask them to oppose the cuts.

“If these [cuts] are approved, a lot of arts organizations would have to eliminate some programming,” she said. “Some of the smaller ones would probably close their doors.”