Mr. Brad Erickson

How to Increase State Funding for the Arts by 800% (and still be in 47th place)

Posted by Mr. Brad Erickson, Apr 12, 2016 1 comment


Mr. Brad Erickson

For me, it all started the third week on my job, in June 2003, at an arts marketing conference hosted by the California Arts Council (CAC) in Sacramento. Right in the middle of the luncheon, someone came bursting into the banquet hall announcing that the Legislature was about to "zero out" the CAC. We conferees leapt up from our rubbery chicken and raced the two blocks to the Capitol. Engraged arts administrators stormed into the ornate office of the Senate Pro Tem, screaming at the staff, and demanding to see the Senator. I grabbed one of my board members, and we slipped out to see if we could meet privately--and quietly--with our local reprentatives. We ran into the Pro Tem (who happened to be our own progressive Senator from San Francisco) in the hallway. When we asked him what was going on, he told us he had to "feed the children." We made some limp reply like, "The arts are important too!" But perhaps our corridor pleas paid off: the CAC was not eliminated, but did it receive a 97% cut to its appropriations, and California's per capita investment plummeted from near a dollar to just three cents, placing the Golden State last among its peers—where it remained stuck for more than a decade.

This is a story of our long struggle to right that wrong, a tale with a happy ending, and a saga with far more ahead.

What happened? That was the first question we asked after those devasting cuts. How did California go from $30 million in arts funding in the year 2000 ($1 per person), to $18 million in 2003, to $1 million in 2004? What we saw was a combination of factors, including a structural state deficit that plagued California for another ten years. We also saw infighting among the advocates; a failure to "make the case" with legislators; complacency that a state government completely controlled by liberals would never axe the arts; and—gasp—petty, personal politics inside Sacramento.

What did we do? We licked our wounds for a while. We worked on our talking points—utilizing data like: arts and the creative economy, arts and tourism, arts and community vitality, arts and education, arts and corrections, arts as a means of giving voice, celebrating culture and building bridges for social understanding and tolerance.

We found champions in the Legislature, lawmakers willing to think creatively and push for the arts. We repaired relationships within the advocacy community. We worked hard to rebuild a partnership with the CAC. We reached out to allies across the state, within the arts community and beyond. We asked for and received help from national and regional partners like Americans for the Arts (AFTA), the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), Western States Art Federation (WESTAF), and local funders. We expanded and diversified our board. We contracted with some damn good lobbyists, and we listened to their advice—changing our tactics as needed and calibrating our message. But, we remained clear about our long-term goal: restoring fully adequate funding for the arts, so doors of access could be opened for every Californian.

Over time, the fiscal situation in Sacramento improved. Change came to the leadership in the Legislature, in the Governor's Mansion, and at the CAC. The decade-long log-jam broke in 2014 when the Speaker of the Assembly added $2 million as a "one-time" bump to the CAC's funding. The next year the Legislature upped the increase to $5 million, and this year the Governor has agreed to make the figure the new "baseline" for future years. With additional funds coming to the CAC from various sources—from Corrections (for arts programs in the prisons), the arts license plates, voluntary contributions solicited from the state income tax form, and annual contributions from the National Endowment for the Arts—the CAC's annual budget now stands at close to $10 million, a whopping 800% increase in just three years.

But as this blog's title suggests, arts advocates in California have a long road ahead. The state's per capita arts investment is still 47th out of 50, and $10 million in a state of 38 million people doesn't go very far. There are still way too many Californians—in rural areas, in inner cities, in the suburbs—who have little or no access to the robust arts programming that has proven so successful in changing lives and reviving communities.

So, what did we learn from our long--and ongoing--struggle? Five big lessons stand out:

1.) Be persistent.

2.) Hone your message.

3.) Be inclusive and find partners—including your Arts Council!

4.) Stay nimble and change tactics.

5.) Get a good lobbyist.

Oh. And don't lose hope.

Brad is a member of Americans for the Arts. Learn more about membership.

1 responses for How to Increase State Funding for the Arts by 800% (and still be in 47th place)

Comments

Ms. Sheila M. Smith says
April 12, 2016 at 3:07 pm

Brad, Congratulations on your persistence and success! I agree with your five big lessons, that's for sure.

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