The Siberian city of Perm, population under one million, has dedicated 3 percent of its annual budget to arts funding, according to The New York Times. That’s $53 million, which at this point is probably more than allotted by New York state. The new spending is the result of Oleg Chirkunov’s efforts, a man who was appointed as the city’s governor in 2004. “A city must have a dream”, he told the Times, explaining that when he was appointed Perm was losing a lot its young people. “160,000 in eight years.” he said, adding, “Something needed to be done to make this an attractive place to live.”
