May 2009 Archives

I missed my weekly Thursday entry last week to devote the night before to prepping the CA Arts Advocates Action Alert calling for support of Assembly Bill 700, The Creative Industries Economic Revitalization Act. Today, we'll find out if it moves from the Appropriations Committee to the full Assembly, remains in the "Suspense File" until next January, or is voted down. If you are in California and haven't emailed your legislators in support of the bill it's easy to do so here.

Because the budget news in Sacramento is so bad (we have over a $20 billion deficit if you hadn't heard) the pressure on local governments across the state is building fast with balanced budgets due by July 1. The arts and arts education are likely to suffer acutely. That is certainly the case at the San Diego Unified School District with its $180 million gap to close.

Fellow AJ blogger Richard Kessler highlighted SDUSD's inovative approach to gathering parent and community input on educational/budget priorities through a survey in this March posting. Despite the fact that 63% of survey respondents said the Visual and Performing Arts Department (VAPA) should never be considered as a solution to balancing the budget (coming in a close second to athletics' 66%) the Superintendent and three of the five members of the Board of Education are on track to eliminate it instead of opening up labor contracts to renegotiation; the parents' preferred method of balancing the budget according to the survey. And the local paper has missed the threat to arts education in its most recent coverage.

This is a stark reminder that surveys and online voting might be effective for game shows and reality tv contests but they are not an advocacy substitute.

So, a week after calling all hands on deck to communicate with legislators in Sacramento, we're doing it again in San Diego. The Board of Education will likely vote on Tuesday, June 2nd at a Special Meeting. Of course, the meeting agenda isn't clear - its taken conversations with arts supporters inside the district to know what is coming.

This is the nightmare side of the "government rewrite" I focused on in my first blog posting. In San Diego's case, the elimination of the VAPA department means the elimination of 29 elementary music and art teachers travelling to multiple schools each week. We are not talking about beaurocratic shuffling, we're talking about a reduction in teaching.

There is unquestionably more advocacy work to be done than ever before and more people needed to make it successful. Get involved and get others involved. And if you know anyone in San Diego, send them word of this impending vote and direct them to this website to find out how they can contact our local Board of Education members.

If you have similar situations developing in your community, post a comment below with details and resources. You never know who will be reading and can help spread the word.

I've been thinking all week about the passing of Augusto Boal at the beginning of the month. His impact as a theater innovator spans generations, though he started with work similar to others. Luis Valdez's early work amongst migrant workers in the fields of California was agit prop just like Boal's work amongst Brazilian farmers. It's Boal's evolution and codification of his work from agit prop into the Theatre of the Oppressed that has influenced performing artists and companies since. Los Angeles Poverty Department and Cornerstone Theater are two west coast companies that have expanded Boal's legacy in different ways. There are many others across the globe.

Now, I'm wondering how Boal's ideas for the spectator becoming part of the creative process can be applied to the institutions where most Americans spend their time and have their community. I'm thinking of corporate work environments, the military, non-profits, universities, hospitals, and government offices. We don't think of people in these institutional settings as oppressed. However, as we're being reminded everyday, people live knowing they can lose their jobs, their health insurance and their retirement without having recourse to protect themselves. The vulnerability we live with in middle and lower income society is generally less vicious and violent than when our ancestors were creating the middle class, but it's still real. Boal worked to give vulnerable people a mechanism for using their voice. It seems to me working people meet this criteria.

My proposal is for artists-in-residence to become common inside all of our institutions. I don't propose this to see them create work for or about the people employed by the institution, but to collaborate with employees in creating work together. Laurie Anderson was the first and only ever artist-in-residence at NASA. From the performance she created afterward and the stories I've heard her tell, she didn't make art with the NASA engineers. Too bad. Maybe if she had, they would advocate to continue bringing an artist into their environment.

The more companies depend on creative output from their employees the more they give them opportunities to expand their creative skills. A friend of mine taught a collage class at Pixar. That's professional development for Pixar employees who are already creating together, though they are vulnerable like the rest of us. But what about the employees at Costco? They don't have a creative life together. Giving them the opportunity to create art would surely strengthen them as a community of people, and give them shared experience and purpose that extends beyond the execution of their jobs.

The art doesn't have to be theater. It has to be the medium that is right for the people and business culture of each employer as well as the local neighborhood or city. It could be a chorus, an ever evolving mural, or an annual festival. It could include employees' families and integrate customers or clients. Whatever the form, it is sure to become a source of pride, provide personal development, and be a means of integrating new employees into the environment.

Many people are talking about using this economic downturn as a mechanism for redesigning government and business. In the arts, we've tended to focus on the government side of the equation because we're most familiar with it. I'd like to see some attention given to the business side. Business income will rebound before state and local budgets, and businesses are usually quicker to innovate and experiment. If we want to see more people participating in the arts we need to go to where they are and where they want to be. Right now, they want to be at work.

State and local government budgets are in free fall and arts funding as well as arts education is more vulnerable than ever. What's happening in your corner of the country? When you receive the call to take action to sustain government support for the arts be sure you do it immediately.

This week, the Pennsylvania Senate voted to completely eliminate arts, film, and public television funding. The budget isn't complete though. Go here immediately if you live in Pennsylvania to contact your state House of Representatives member.

The Governor of Indiana proposed a 50% cut to the state arts budget. It isn't clear from the Indiana Coalition for the Arts website if the cut has been restored or not.

Congratulations to the Maryland Citizens for the Arts and the state's arts advocates who convinced the legislature to reduce the governor's proposed $6 million cut by half. The arts council will receive $13.6 million for this year and next as well maintain its formula funding.

California suffered a 95% cut to the Arts Council five years ago, but we need action here too. We've proposed a new mechanism for arts funding that shifts a small portion of the current sales tax collected on art and art making materials to the CA Arts Council. If you live in California, go here right away to download the "Sample Letter" and insert your name/organization to communicate your support AB 700 - The Creative Industries and Community Economic Revitalization Act 2010

Cuts to state budgets are being echoed in cities and school districts. There is more arts advocacy to done now than I've ever seen. Even as you are working harder to keep the doors of your organization open or your family fed if you are an independent artist, I urge you to make time for arts advocacy. If many people do it in coordination, the load isn't too much and the achievements can be great.

To the right on my "Blogroll," I've listed most (maybe all) of the national and state advocacy organizations. Sign up for the email alerts from yours. Send letters or emails when they ask you. They will do all they can to make contacting your legislator easy and quick when the time comes, but you have to take that last step for mass campaigns to be effective. And remember that time is always of the essence.

Get on the email list of your local advocacy coalition. And if there isn't one, gather three other people to start one.

We have the reason and opportunity to become more mobilized in this current era of government overhaul. All it takes is a little time and action from everyone that loves the arts so we are a voice to be heard.