The General Motors Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the automaker giant, has announced that it will be drastically cutting back its annual sponsorship of metro Detroit cultural institutions as GM struggles to stay afloat. Affected organizations include the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Music Hall Center, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Michigan Opera Theatre.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the GM Foundation, which is funded entirely by General Motors and has no separate endowment, told some organizations as early as November not to expect funding in 2009. The loss amounts to more than $1 million for metropolitan Detroit arts institutions, putting the Music Hall Center out $350,000, the Michigan Opera Theatre out $250,000, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra out $100,000 or more.

In 2007, the foundation gave out nearly $12 million in philanthropic awards; Rod Gillum, the foundation's chairman, would not specify the amount set aside for charity for this year, but according to the Free Press, "any organization previously funded by GM should be making contingency plans."

The Michigan Opera Theatre has thus far attempted to deal with the crisis by canceling its 2009 spring production and eliminating jobs. This will be the first spring season that GM hasn't underwritten the Detroit Opera House since it opened in 1996.