Politics and Art: Don't forget the we are human seeking connections

Economic Romance by Patricia Frischer showing at the North Coast Rep during the run of Always...Patsy Cline from Dec 12-30  as part of the Encinitas Friends of the Arts Board Exhibition 

We so often have to think about the economic advantages of the arts for our community but it is nice to be reminded of the following sent to us by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt.

 “Artists are truth-seekers and storytellers. They create, translate, and illuminate. They influence, inspire, and build movements. When we need to escape the news and the day’s events, we sink into a moving work of art or performance or film or book and it restores us. When we need to find a way to process what’s happening in the world, we look to the artists who transport us. They remind us that we’re human and they connect us to one another again.” Suzy Delvalle, President and Executive Director of Creative Capital

California leads, as identified in the 2018 Otis Report, in the Creative economy output which totaled $407.1 billion (direct, indirect, and induced) and generated 1.6 million jobs (direct, indirect, and induced), and those wage and salary workers earned $141.5 billion in total labor income. With 789,900 direct jobs in the creative economy, California surpasses New York State which has 477,300 jobs followed by Texas at 230,500. If you want to check the similar figures for city of San Diego then take a look at the  2017 Arts and Culture Economic and Social Impact Report just releases from The San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture which, by the way, has now appointed Jonathon Glus as the new executive director. Glus was recruited from the City of Sacramento where he served as the Director of Culture and Creative Economy.  He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Houston Arts Alliance and held similar positions in Pasadena, and Evanston, Illinois. Glus studied urban economics and public policy at Indiana University and art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ballot Proposition E in San Francisco asks voters to allocate a small portion of an existing hotel tax to support the arts, but it will take a whopping two-thirds vote to pass. This same ballot measure almost passed in 2016, but came up short by just a few votes. We are pleased to share that it passed overwhelmingly by 74% of the vote, which will direct millions of dollars in hotel tax revenue to support the nonprofit arts and culture in San Francisco.  Additionally, pro-arts ballots in Tempe, AZ; Culver City, CA; and Tacoma, WA all passed.

California Arts Advocates is planning to bring back arts advocacy day but renamed as Arts, Culture and Creativity Month (ACCM) because one day to celebrate the power of the arts is simply not enough! ACCM will be a series of activities developed throughout California in April of 2019. CAA has has helped restoring funding to the California Arts Council (CAC) that peaked in 2001 at $32M. California is still ranked 28th out of 50 states in per capita state arts funding for 2018-19. With all sources combined, the Arts Council’s total 2018-19 budget will be approximately $27.53 million but only $15.1 million is permanent general fund allocation. 

Here is some analysis by American for the Arts executive director Nina Ozlu Tunceli of how the midterm election will impact the arts in the future.

• House Democrats will become the new chairmen of the various appropriations subcommittees and policy and tax committees, including Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) becoming chair of Interior Appropriations overseeing arts funding, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) on Labor-Education Appropriations, and Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) on the House Ways and Means tax committee, all of whom earned an “A+” in the American for the Arts 2018 Congressional Arts Report Card.
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will likely become the Speaker of House. She also earned an “A+” arts voting record.
• It’s interesting to note that 86% of the 36 House seats that went from Red to Blue were Republican members with a good arts record of “B” or better.
• The Arts Action Fund PAC supported a total of 64 congressional candidates and one ballot measure this election cycle. 95 percent of the pro-arts incumbents that were supported did win.