Equity can only be achieved if students of need can perform at the same level as their peers who have the benefit of financial access. If the end goal is artistic excellence, regardless of socio-economic status or ethnicity, we must develop a funding model that provides deep access to training for students at the onset of their arts education journey.  

Colburn’s mission is to provide performing arts education at the highest level. The organization is uniquely situated to provide access and equity because Colburn offers a complete sequential learning program in the arts for children aged 7 months through college. There are no limits to the heights at which a Colburn student can achieve.

KRIS Wines has partnered with Americans for the Arts to celebrate the value of public art in American communities, and reward the artists who create it. They’re giving away $25,000 in prizes to artists who have recently completed projects in the United States, and your votes—up to once per day at kriswine.com/giving—will determine the winners.

Even within our own sector, artists are expected to forgo compensation for the greater good—building a system of support for social service agencies and nonprofits that excludes the arts, and specifically individual artists. We all know that artists, not organizations, make art—yet why is it so often like pulling teeth to solidify artist fees? And why are there so few funding opportunities for individual artists?

Although the average household income in Marin County is high, the income gap in the county is wide. And Marin public schools serving lower income families are as cash-strapped as any in California. Yes, Marin’s pricy private schools offer rich arts experiences. But most of our public-school students receive a haphazard mix of programs hustled together by hardworking PTAs. And in our lowest income communities, where schools often serve predominantly immigrant youth of color, many have no arts at all. During National Arts in Education Week, my organization Youth in Arts and a team of stakeholders will present data illustrating local inequities in arts services before unveiling the first ever Marin Arts Education Plan. This plan offers first steps towards addressing the arts divide and creating a framework for all students to access quality arts learning.

Being an artist is a really grueling and unrewarding career choice, almost all the time. We all strive to find more moments when everything feels worth it. If you are going to commit your life to an industry that basically guarantees that you're going to live poor, you have to have a really powerful reason. For me, it's the moment when an audience member finally gains new insight and compassion for their transitioning son; when fellow artists are brought to tears as they are reminded of the power of art to create change; when community members see themselves authentically represented onstage for the first time. As the Managing Director of a theatre company, those moments also come when I am able to meet (and surpass) fundraising goals, pay the artists working for me, and having community members beg the box office for tickets that don't exist, because we've sold out every performance.

City Lights Theater Company treats patrons, artists, staff, and board members with the utmost warmth, respect, and what we call “radical hospitality.” Since we have established this core value, we have seen a significant increase in ticket sales, season-pass holders, individual contributions, and board engagement.