Barry's Arts Blog and Update

The CAC convened the first statewide gathering of arts leaders in over four years in Sacramento on Tuesday, January 30th. 450 arts leaders attended.

Here is my report:

This was a one day conference, and the program featured Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA, CAC council members, John McGuirk the Director of the Arts Program for the Irvine Foundation , Andrea Faiss,Program Officer, standing in for Moy Eng from the Hewlett Foundation, and a panel of advocacy experts. As with all conferences, the networking opportunities were as valuable as the program itself. While this conference was not billed as an Advocacy / Lobbying stategy session per se, clearly addressing the issue of re-funding of the CAC as the state agency was the underlying theme.

Dana Gioia - in response to questions from CAC Executive Director, Muriel Johnson, opened the session and opined that (said without criticism or judgment - but more as sad fact) "California has done a lousy job at selling the arts." Gioia offered that we need to sell the arts as one of the means that enables people to be productive people in a free society, and that the dialogue we have with politicians, the media and with the citizenry, should revolve around how the arts benefit everyone; how the arts help California to create communities in which people want to live, to which businesses want to relocate. He noted that we should remind our public that the purpose of arts education is NOT to produce more artists, but rather to produce "complete human beings". Dana also noted that artists in America are largely under employed, not unemployed. Finally, he suggested that we need a "win-win" argument that centers on the value of the arts to civic life - contributing to "why" we all live here.

As to the disaster of California remaining 50th of the 50 states in per capita support for the arts, Gioia sadly concluded "California should do better."

John McGuirk, Director of the Arts Program for the James Irvine Foundation, presented a summary of the previously circulated Irvine paper "Critical Issues Facing the Arts In California" delineating the five broad challenge areas facing the arts & culture sector in California - which are:
1. Access
2. Cultural Policy
3. Arts Education
4. the Nonprofit Business Model
5. Preparing the Next Generation of Artists & Arts Managers

click here to go to the Irvine website to download the full paper. Click on publications, then arts. www.irvine.org

John announced that the Irvine Foundation will commit $20 million to the arts next year, up from $16 million this year, and that will mark the largest committment to the arts in the history of the foundation.

Andrea Faiss, Performing Arts Program Officer at the Hewlett Foundation, commented on a study commissioned by the Hewlett Foundation by SRI (Stanford Research Institute)which surveyed some 1800 schools in California to map the arts education offerings. The study was supposed to be released at the conference, but is still being prepared for publication. Basically, it confirms the previous anecdotal evidence that there is wide disparity in what arts classes and programs indiviudal schools and districts offer in the state - with many schools and districts offering virtually no curriculum based / standards alligned arts courses whatsoever. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara counties seem ahead of other urban areas in the state.

Andrea also noted that Hewlett and other foundations were working together to try to address some of the issues attendant with re-establishing the arts in California's (and other states) schools, including the Grantmakers In the Arts meeting next year dovetailing with a meeting of education people in Santa Fe, New Mexico, bringing together people from both sectors for the first time.

Several of the council members, including outgoing and retiring Chair Marcy Freedman, prior chair Barbara George, and councilmember, Phyllis Epstein, noted the efforts to keep the CAC alive during the past three years as its state funding disappeared. Barbara George noted that over 50% of the current CAC budget comes from the sale of arts license plates, and then she asked for a show of hands on how many in the audience had an arts license plate - and fewer than one third of those in the audience did. Councilmember and noted actress, Annette Benning made the point that the problem with expecting the agency to function with private sector funding, is that "far too many people then get left out." Incoming CAC chair, Michael Alexander, putting arts funding in perspective in the state's $1.2 billion budget, noted that it has been pointed out to him that $25 million (which wouldn't even bring the CAC funding up to its high water mark of $32 million - and which would be less than one dollar per capita)is about the amount of money invovled in the "rounding off errors" for the department of corrections budget.

The last panel of the day - led by WESTAF Executive Director Anthony Radich, dealt with advocacy issues, and it cut to the chase of the matter, advising the audience:
1) If the arts are really a $5 billion a year industry in California, then they ought to act like one - and that means stop whinning and complaining, and get political.

2) Unless the arts can get people in each legislative district to demonstrate some "demand" for the arts, nothing will likely change.

3) That the arts do not have their own financed PAC (political action committee) is unfathonable, and indicative that as an interest group, the arts obviously do not care enough about what they want to step up to the plate themselves and work to get it.

One panel member, Steve Merksamer, former Chief of Staff to California Governor George Deukmejian and now senior government law partner, Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller & Naylor, and an expert in ballot initiatives, advised the audience of the high cost and many obstacles to be overcome in any attempt to launch and pass a ballot initiative in California (minimally two million dollars).

Also on this last panel was Allan Zaremberg, the Executive Director of the California State Chamber of Commerce, who quite honestly and forthrightly told the audience the considerations the Chamber would take into account in determining if it would or would not actively support the aims of the arts sector. The Chamber basically represents business interests. I couldn't help but think that if all of the arts organizations in the audience (which are really just small businesses themselves, with the same issues and concerns (from workmen's comp, to buying supplies, to IT concerns)as any other business were all dues paying members of the statewide Chamber of Commerce, how different would have been his remarks knowing that he was addressing a body 90% of which were his members. And that's the point of it all -- the arts have got to start thinking politically and smarter and play the damn game like everybody else is playing it. Without any political power, without involving itself in the politics of the budgetary process, the arts sector will continue to operate at a crippling disadvantage.

I'm all for making a good case for the arts - to the media, to elected officials, to the public -- but by itself, we can make the case all we want - make it superbly, in fact - make it until our faces turn purple, and without exercising political power, without being active members of the Chambers, without having our own PAC, without supporting candidates who support us when they run for election - without being political - we might as well just lay down on the couch and close our eyes and get some more sleep because making the case doesn't demonstrate demand by voters for the arts and without that - we will NOT, repeat NOT get what we need (let alone what we want).

BTW - people can join the California Arts Advocates by going to their website: www.CaliforniaArtsAdvocates.org

Though it is stiffling to sit in a large convention center room, with no windows, and listen all day long to 'talking heads' - nonetheless this was a very important gathering. It gave people a reminder of how large and diverse the field is; allowed them to again network with each other and understand that none of them operate in vaccum (although it must seem that way to many organizations that have few chances to interact with the wider field), and finally, it reminded everyone again that the state agency (CAC) is alive, and is trying to stay relevant and move towards its ultimate goal of securing refunding back to the one dollar per capita level - which would directly and significantly benefit all the arts in California. There was palpable energy in the room, and my sense was that many, if not most of those in attendance, were waiting for someone to ask something specific of them, to which I think they would have responded enthusiastically. I hope the outcome of this conference is a movement towards yet another campaign to convince a Governor (Mr. Schwartzenegger in this case) to fund the arts at a level competitive with the national average ($1 per capita would be some $37 million).

Congratulations to Muriel Johnson, the Council and the staff for organizing this event. One would hope it would be an annual event - and would move its location around the state to allow more people to attend.

IN MEMORIAM:
When I was the Director of the CAC, I had the pleasure to work with the Directors of the other western state arts agencies as part of both WESTAF and NASAA (the National Association of State Arts Agencies). That's where I first met Dan Harpole, Director of the Idaho Arts Commission. Dan was a young, energetic, committed, smart leader in our field who quickly rose in the ranks of national leadership in our sector and was elected Chairman of the Board of NASAA just last year. He was one of our best and brightest, and I was saddened to learn that he passed away this last December, the victim of cancer. Often, it seems that good people are taken away too soon. The arts lost a very dedicated, passionate and capable leader with Dan's passing - and our field, and each of us - particularly those of us fortunate to have known him - lost a colleague, comrade and friend. My deepest sympathies to his family and friends in Idaho. Rest in peace Dan - you will be on my mind many, many times in the coming years.

Wishing you all a good weekend.

And remember,

Don't Quit!

barry

Posted by BarryH at February 1, 2007 01:26 PM

Comments

Posted by: Kristine Stanik at February 3, 2007 09:21 AM

Posted by: Earl Sherburn at February 4, 2007 03:08 PM

Post a comment