SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Mar. 29, 2024) — April is Arts Month in Santa Monica, and the city is highlighting the vibrancy of arts and culture with events and activations, all kicking off with an opening reception March 30. 

The month-long celebration showcases the city’s key strategic priority of Economic Growth & Cultural Vitality.   

Santa Monica has celebrated Arts Month since 2019, when Senator Ben Allen, with support from Californians for the Arts, was instrumental to having the state officially recognize and celebrate the arts by declaring April as Arts, Culture & Creativity Month. This initiative aims to raise visibility and awareness about the value of the arts within communities, empower arts advocates and encourage greater investments in the arts industry and workforce.  

A free community reception is set for Saturday, March 30, from 2-4 p.m. kicking off Arts Month at the Annenberg Community Beach House. Photographer Sam Comen will speak about his “Our Pico” portrait collection, now on view in the Beach House Gallery.  

Economic Growth & Cultural Vitality: City celebrates Arts Month

Let’s build a more creative California. We’re helping every Californian become an advocate for the arts – from raising awareness on why the arts are so important, to providing programs and services that make our state’s creative sector stronger than ever.

California for the Arts

News

Resources

Video Library

Creative + Funding Opportunities

Learn

Campaigns

Events

Casemaking Resources

Programs

Engage

Mission

Team

Careers

CA Arts Advocates

About

Join the Movement

Every year, the Arts Action Fund creates detailed data and narrative driven state factsheets that help tell the story of "Why the Arts Matter" in each state. We work with our state and district arts captains to make sure every state has the most updated economic, funding, and organizational information to promote the impact of the arts throughout our country's diverse communities. These factsheets can be used as both an educational and advocacy tool, empowering arts advocates with a stronger case for the arts that they can bring to their political representatives at the state and local level. Each factsheet also comes with a social media graphic for you to share on your platforms! #WhyTheArtsMatter

Why the Arts Matter in California

Artists, performers, museums and historical sites are vying to be seen, heard and appreciated by Americans every day. Yet the economic impact of these varied arts and cultural activities, and of supporting industries that range from Hollywood studios to hand carvers of musical instruments, is easy to miss.

BEA's satellite accounts spotlight economic activity that can be difficult to find within our core accounts – in this case, the impact of arts and culture on U.S. and state economies.

Report - BEA data 2024

AB-5 Impacts Employment Relationship Between Arts Fiscal Sponsors + Fiscally Sponsored Arts Projects

Historically, small non-profit arts organizations (SNPAOs as described in SB 1116, 2022) pay artists as contractors compensated at a less than hourly minimum wage. To bolster business operations and capacity to raise funds some SNPAOs become fiscally sponsored arts projects of arts fiscal sponsors. Prior to AB-5, California arts projects under fiscal sponsorship were primarily run by project directors and artists working as independent contractors. However, to comply with AB-5 some arts fiscal sponsors have converted independent contractors to employees.  

Executive leadership and Boards of Directors of arts fiscal sponsors have had to search for compliance guidance from California employment law advisors who also are unclear about interpreting AB-5’s employment requirements for artists. Ultimately, arts fiscal sponsors that implement AB-5 to the letter of the law have taken on additional responsibilities and liabilities by becoming the Employer of Record for project directors and artists of fiscally sponsored arts projects. Fiscal sponsors have had to hire more staff and develop expertise in interpreting, advising and implementing employment services on behalf of the fiscally sponsored arts projects. Additionally, arts projects with employees now need to generate additional funds to both cover payroll costs and the cost of the fiscal sponsor’s administration of employment benefits and services. 


Research Study
Dr. Amy Kweskin, Principal of Artsightful, under the guidance of Dr. Anne W. Smith, conducted a qualitative study in 2023 examining the result of AB-5 compliance on six arts fiscal sponsors in San Francisco. The research, conducted via written surveys and Zoom-based one-to-one interviews, resulted in a hyperlocal case study of an anonymous arts fiscal sponsor and its fiscally sponsored arts projects. Participants included Executive leaders, Board members, administrative staff, a California employment law expert as well as project directors of fiscally sponsored arts projects. 

(Full research study: Exploration of California worker status law compliance on arts fiscal sponsors and fiscally sponsored arts projects: A case study.)


Four Key Themes and correlating sub-themes emerged from the study: cost, comply, change, confuse. What follows are definitions of the Key Themes supported by verbatim statements gathered anonymously from study participants.

Describes the origins of AB-5 in relation to the Gig worker platforms Uber and Lyft that result in fiscal sponsors and arts projects needing to design and implement business policies, procedures and systems to adhere to the law. 

“AB-5 was basically designed to counter the Ubers and the Lyfts of the world. It was not designed or implemented or put in place to affect the arts. In a lot of ways they were cannon fodder for the bigger target” (Legal expert on California employment law). 

“But Lyft and Uber lobbied to get out from this bill” (Project Director of a fiscally sponsored arts project). 

“The rest of us just got left with it and there didn't seem to be an acknowledgement from the state legislature” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor). 

“Now it's not even protecting the people it was supposed to protect and it is just negatively impacting these smaller arts organizations” (Administrative staff of an arts fiscal sponsor).  

“All of these positions that had previously been independent contractors for years suddenly needed to be onboarded as employees” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project).

“It'd be great to have like a workshop or a webinar or something… checklist of things that you need to consider when you're hiring people as independent contractors and make sure that we’re in compliance” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project).

“I mean the good side of AB-5 is that as artists we need to be paid. Right. We need to be paid and we need to be given benefits” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project). 

“As an artist, I think there’s a huge difference between gig and creating” (Board member of an arts fiscal sponsor). 

“I'm kind of like, yeah, that’s kind of a good fat paycheck that I’ve never received from my acting so I get it that maybe the intention was in a good place, but some organizations like us are getting impacted by this” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project). 

Describes risk and emotional responses such as anger, frustration, panic, and fear related to confusion about AB-5’s impact on fiscally sponsored arts projects, independent contractors, employees, and the arts sector at large.

“They are asking themselves if they should try and comply and fail or take the risk. There is a risk of a lawsuit or that the state comes after them. But if compliance puts them out of business we have no choice” (a legal expert on California employment law). 

“From the employer's side, my god, it's such a moving target practice” (Administrative staff of an arts fiscal sponsor). 

“I just don't get it. I really don't get it” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project).

“We now have to comply to this, you know, like I don't even understand all this stuff” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project). 

“The panic amongst working artists this law caused meant they looked to us for guidance, when we had no better understanding of the issue” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor). 

“I’m so angry and tired” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project). 

“I am super frustrated with the bill” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project).

Describes the result of AB-5 on fiscal sponsorship models as it impacts relationships between arts fiscal sponsors and fiscally sponsored projects in relation to operations, procedures, workload, and staffing structure.

“It is something that is unfolding as we go. This is something that we all keep figuring out as we all move on it” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor)

“How do we support the project directors” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor)? “As a society and a government, we have a lot of work to do to find a balance that supports” (Board member of an arts fiscal sponsor).

“The general outlines of a Model C relationship just don’t fit well with an employer-employee relationship” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor).

“Model A is the comprehensive fiscal sponsorship where they’re legally rolled into us” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor).

“In some ways, it actually connected the fiscal sponsor with the sponsorees even more so” (Board member of an arts fiscal sponsor).


Describes the financial, human and technological resource investments required for AFS-Z, fiscally sponsored arts projects and artists to comply with AB-5.

“I'd say across the board the additional cost has just been a shock and a challenge” (Executive leader of an arts fiscal sponsor).

“It's killing us! It's killing us” (Project director of a fiscally sponsored arts project). 

“I think that it might also then cause artists to leave California, because of the cost of just operating here” (Board member of an arts fiscal sponsor). 

Additional research into AB-5 compliance is needed as indicated by CA Arts Advocate and CEO Julie Baker on August 18, 2023 at the Adapting in Crisis: Toward a Resilient Performing Arts Sector convening in Sacramento, CA. “We are not against AB-5. We believe artists should be paid a living wage. As an industry we are undercapitalized.” 

California AB-5 Worker Status Law: 4 Key Themes of Compliance Concerns Shared by Fiscal Sponsors and Fiscally Sponsored Arts Projects

Eduardo Robles
eduardo@caforthearts.org 
Senior Manager of Communications
916.520.6049 ext.102


Sacramento, CA - On Wednesday, April 17, arts champions from around the state will meet in Capitol Park for a rally and press conference for Arts Advocacy Day and to celebrate Arts, Culture & Creativity Month (ACCM). After the rally, over 250 advocates will meet with their legislators about the need to protect current levels of arts and culture funding, urging them to sustain investment in key state-mandated programs that are not being funded in this cycle and educating them to the foundational issues impacting the field that will require policy innovation to truly activate the state's underutilized creative workforce, develop a thriving creative economy and keep California's edge as a global leader of culture.

“California must create favorable conditions for artists to live and work here if we want to retain our standing as the leading creative state with 25% of the creative economy workforce. We need policies and investments for good-paying jobs with benefits, worker protections for independent contractors, affordable housing and live-work spaces, universal healthcare, and much more. It is high time that artists are recognized as an essential workforce and that their contributions to communities are met with the sustained economic security they need to thrive, not just barely survive,” says Julie Baker, CEO of CA for the Arts.

ACCM programs including the CA Arts & Culture Summit on April 16 and Advocacy Day at the Capitol on April 17,  help build awareness that the creative industry is more than entertainment, it is an essential workforce and economic engine ready to help lead across California’s key initiatives. This year’s thematic focus is “Art Work is Real Work.” The general public is invited to attend the press conference rally between 9-11 a.m., on the south side of Capitol Park on N Street between 12th and 13th Streets.

Featured rally speakers include Assemblymember Mike Gipson, Chair of the Assembly Arts Committee, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Senator Anthony Portantino, Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, and representatives from a wide variety of networks and organizations including National Independent Venues Association of CA (NIVA CA); California Association of Museums, CreateCA, Assoc. of CA Symphony Orchestras, Actor’s Equity, youth activist Penelope Louise Oliver and more to be announced.  There will also be performances by MovimientoyAyA Teatro , Sacramento Poet Laureate Andru Defeye, Placer County Folk singer Rita Hosking and drumming by Brian Jackson Jr. and QLynn SMOOVE. The rally will cover some of the issues facing arts workers and the creative industries including policies being discussed in the Legislature today including AI, Ticketing, housing affordability, mental health, youth access to arts education and more. In addition, the need to increase state investment for public funding for arts and culture will also be addressed.

At the rally, CA for the Arts will present Legislative Arts Star awards, which recognize elected officials each year for their commitment and contribution to supporting the arts, culture, and creative industries and workforce. Mayor Steinberg will be honored for his leadership and support for Arts, Culture & Creativity Month since its inception in 2019 and for his leadership in Sacramento introducing programs such as Guaranteed Basic Income for artists and a creative economy cultural plan and historic funding during COVID. Senator Anthony Portantino will receive the award for his support of the nonprofit performing arts sector with his authoring of SB 1116 Equitable Payroll Fund and Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo will receive an award for her championing of a $1 million budget appropriation in the 23-24 CA budget for the establishment of a creative economy working group and strategic plan under the leadership of the state arts agency, the California Arts Council.

Participants will then parade to O street, where Legislators’ offices have moved due to Capitol construction, for meetings with their representatives to build awareness of arts, culture, and creativity as key drivers for California’s economic health and community wellness. 

Arts, culture and creativity are vital to the state’s identity and economy. Arts & culture industries drive 8% of our state’s economy, compared to the 4.3% the sector contributes to the nation’s GDP, and supports over 847K jobs [Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024]. But sustained state investment in the sector has not matched the impact. From 2003 to 2013, California funded its state arts agency with just $1 million a year to serve the whole state. Currently at $26 million for local assistance grants, the state ranks 36th in the nation in per-capita arts funding that is distributed to the field through the CAC, behind states such as Florida, New York, and Minnesota.

With 15,000 new jobs on the line for teaching artists in schools as a result of Prop 28, and a one-time now expended $60 million invested in the state arts agency pilot program Creative Corps, embedding artists in California’s Healthy Places Index communities to provide solutions around issues such as climate change, emergency preparedness, public health and civic engagement, arts workers are beginning to be seen as an essential workforce for the state. Continuing on the momentum from the 23-24 legislative session and passage of AB 812 (Boener), allowing up to 10% of affordable housing in cultural districts to be reserved for artists and a budget inclusion of $1 million for a multi-agency creative economy task force and strategic plan, CA for the Arts will continue to advocate for policies to support thriving working conditions for artists, culture bearers and creative workers. 

CA for the Arts is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary advocacy service organization focused on building resources and public awareness of the value and impact of arts, culture, and creativity across California.

In 2019, Californians for the Arts (CFTA) successfully campaigned for the state to recognize and celebrate the arts by declaring April as Arts, Culture & Creativity Month (ACCM) through a concurrent resolution passed in the California Senate. In 2021, an additional resolution was declared to recognize artists as second responders. 

Arts Advocacy Day Press Release: 2024

Notes prepared by Teri Ball, Program Manager, CFTA

Summary notes – The final decisions on most of the 2024 grant program guidelines were made, the State-Regional Network Guidelines will be finalized at the next meeting.  After some discussion, all of the Program Guidelines were passed as presented. Additional details are included below, under Item 9.

CFTA is tracking these program changes and voting items on our webpage, #FundCAArts and we will provide updates as the new guidelines are being proposed and approved. We encourage everyone to stay involved and informed. Please contact Tracy Hudak, Director of Field Engagement, should you have any comments or concerns that you’d like us to be aware of, at  Tracy@californiansforthearts.org

Full agenda and 02/1/24 meeting packet are available on the CAC website.

It was noted in the meeting that applications are currently being accepted for Grant Review Panelists, applications can be submitted on the CAC website. The deadline is March 8.

The meeting began with a call to order land acknowledgement, introduction of the parliamentarian and establishing a quorum. The meeting took place at The Ebell of Los Angeles, and the Executive Director Stacy Brightman opened the meeting with a welcome. New CAC Chair Roxanne Messina Captor and Executive Director Brazell each offered reports.  The text of their remarks is available in the meeting packet on the CAC website.

Item 7: Presentation on CAC Decision Support Tool Race Equity Manager, Megan Morgan, reviewed the CAC Decision Support Tool. Her presentation deck, and a copy of the Decision Support Tool itself, are included in the meeting packet. The tool grew out of the CAC Strategic Framework and is an equity-focused tool to assist both Council Members and Staff in making decisions by doing research and asking important questions to help facilitate and guide equitable decision-making. It was noted that a new version of the Decision Support Tool is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. 

Item 8: Presentation on CAC Strategic Framework Programs Manager Elisa Gollub reviewed the CAC Strategic Framework. The presentation deck is included in the meeting packet and The Strategic Framework can be found on the CAC website.

Voting Item 9: 2024 Grant Program Guidelines presented by the Programs Policy Committee, Ellen Gavin and Leah Goodwin. The complete text of their recommendations is included in the meeting packet. Proposed guidelines were presented for 7 of the 8 approved programs, the Guidelines for the Statewide and Regional Networks program will be presented and voted on at the March Council Meeting. Each guideline was presented, reviewed and voted on individually. The guidelines were presented, then there was a period of public comment, followed by Council discussion and vote. Each Vote is listed below, with notes and the final vote. The recommended Program Guidelines all passed as presented, without any changes. The details of the votes are included below.

There was a motion passed at the beginning to take items 2-4 as a single vote, and items 5-6 as a single vote.  The committee recommends that the following guidelines be approved, with the noted policy changes: 

Voting Item #1: Impact Project guidelines including the following policy changes: 
Restrict applicants with TRs of less than $3M in the most recently completed fiscal year from applying for Impact Project grants.
 Discussion: There was an amendment made to remove the $3 million cap, that motion failed. Then a second motion was made to accept the recommendation as is.
 VOTE RESULT: Passes 9-0

Voting Item #2: Creative Youth Development guidelines including the following policy changes: 
 • Restrict organizations from applying to more than one Arts & Youth Grant Program (either Creative Youth Development, Arts Education Exposure, or Arts Integration Training). 

Voting Item #3: Arts Education Exposure guidelines including the following policy changes: 
 • Restrict organizations from applying to more than one Arts & Youth Grant Program (either Creative Youth Development, Arts Education Exposure, or Arts Integration Training). 

Voting Item #4: Arts Integration Training guidelines including the following policy changes: 
 • Restrict organizations from applying to more than one Arts & Youth Grant Program (either Creative Youth Development, Arts Education Exposure, or Arts Integration Training). 
 VOTE RESULT FOR ITEMS 2-4: Passed with a vote of 8-1

Voting Item #5: State-Local Partner guidelines including the following policy changes: 
 • Allow CAC to waive the county Board of Supervisors partner designation on a case-by-case basis. 

Voting Item #6: State-Local Partner Mentorship guidelines including the following policy changes: 
 • Make optional the previously required Letter of Commitment from the mentee county. 
 VOTE RESULT FOR ITEMS 5-6: the motion passed 9-0.

Voting Item #7: Arts & Cultural Organization General Operating Support guidelines.  
 The Council voted in December to allow applications only from Tier 2 (budgets from $250,000 to 1 million) and Tier 3 organizations (budgets from 1 million to 1.5 million).  
 • There are no additional substantive guideline changes proposed. 

VOTE RESULT FOR ITEMS 7: Motion passes 9-0.

Item 10 – 2024 Committee Assignments Chair Messina Captor presented the Council committee assignments for 2024, the complete list is included in the meeting packet. The new committee assignments take effect March 1. There was some discussion with the following notes:
 The function of the Nominating committee should be reviewed.
 The Committee Structure overall needs to be reviewed in terms of continuity and transition when new members are appointed.
 The Council needs to be a joint public meeting where Appropriations and Program Policy committees can talk to each other.

Item 11: General Public Comment There was a period of General Public Comment. that included numerous statements from members of the field from across the state. Without enumerating the contents of all of the comments, it is worth noting that multiple Council members noted during the meeting the impact that the Public Comment has. 

Item 12: 2024-25 Governor’s Budget Proposal 
The presentation was made by CAC Deputy Director Ayanna Kiburi.  The contents of this presentation were not included in the meeting packet, but hopefully they will be updated and included eventually. It was noted that this is the first of a series of Budget Updates that will be made as the state budget processes continues.  The next update is expected following the May Revise. The information reported can all be found on the state Department of Finances website, where it will be updated throughout the process. On the website you will see 3 columns, with the following information.
FY 2022-23 (PY prior fiscal year) $222.956 - actual expenditures (Included a lot of one-time funding)
 FY 2023-24 (CY current fiscal year) $82,711 - projected expenditures (still included some carry over of the one-time funding.)
 FY 2024-25 (BY budget year) $38,862 - proposed expenditures

General Fund
 -Operations
 -Local Assistance

Federal Trust Fund - from the National Endowment for the Arts

Proposed Appropriations to Support CAC-Operations (these are all approximate figures)
 General Fund: $4,474,000
 Federal Trust Fund: $1,174,000 (not finalized yet by NEA)
 Graphic License Plate Account: $870,000 (spending authority - not final)”

Proposed Appropriations to Support CAC-Local Assistance (grants) (these are all approximate figures)
 General Fund: $31,500,000
 Federal Trust Fund: $100,000 (not finalized yet by NEA)
 Graphic License Plate Account: $298,000 (spending authority* - not final)”
 Keep Arts In Schools: $250,000 (spending authority*)
 *If revenues in these two programs exceeds the spending authority amount then the funds rollover to the following year.
 It was noted that the $8 million for the Arts in Corrections is included in the General Fund appropriation of $31,500,000.


Executive Director Brazell noted that though the budget is going back to pre-pandemic levels, it is at least not being cut.  She noted that to her knowledge every other department has received cuts. She also noted that the minutes for the last 3 meetings will be presented at the March meeting.  That in an effort to increase transparency the CAC Staff is working to streamline the note taking and recording of the meetings and that all of that will be made available.

Item 13 Committee Reports:
There were no Committee reports

Report from California Arts Council's 2/1/24 Public Meeting

Summary notes – 
CFTA has been tracking the program changes and voting items on our webpage, #FundCAArts as the programs and now guidelines are proposed and voted on. With this meeting that portion of the process concludes, and the next step will be appropriations which will be determined at a future meeting. We encourage everyone to stay involved and informed. Please contact Tracy Hudak, Director of Field Engagement, should you have any comments or concerns that you’d like us to be aware of, at  Tracy@caforthearts.org 

During the meeting the final set of guidelines for the Statewide and Regional Networks was approved as recommended by the Programs Policy Committee, including the change to cap eligible applicants to those with total annual revenue of $5 million dollars.  Complete details on this discussion and vote are included below.

Full agenda and 03/1/24 meeting packet are available on the CAC website.

The meeting began with a call to order land acknowledgement, and establishing a quorum. The meeting took place at The Center for Healthy Communities in Oakland. Alameda County Arts Commission Executive Director Rachel Osajima, and Oakland City Cultural Affairs Division Manager Roberto Bedoya each offered welcoming statements. CAC Vice Chair Leah Goodwin, presided over the meetings in the absence of Chair Roxanne Messina Captor. Vice Chair Leah Goodwin read a report from Chair Messina Captor and Executive Director Brazell provided a report.  The text of their remarks will be available in the meeting packet on the CAC website.  New members of the CAC Staff were introduced.

Note on Minutes from Director Brazell:
Director Brazell noted that of the four minutes October, December and February are fairly straightforward but November, where there were no voting items, read more like a transcript. The purpose of the minutes being that there is a record of the meeting, primarily around voting items including the items being voted on, discussion had, who voted on what and what passed. This sets forward the staff’s role in executing the Council’s policy decisions. It was noted that there is a new format for minutes and for recording of minutes, which hopefully will be more clear going forward.

Voting Item 8: Minutes from Previous Meetings:
The minutes from the Council Meetings on 10/25/23, 11/17/23, 12/12/23, and 2/1/24 were presented individually, discussed. The November minutes were tabled for further discussion because they were not included in the Council’s electronic package for the meeting.  The other three sets of minutes were approved.

Item 9– Presentation by Favianna Rodriguez of the Center for Cultural Power
Presented on the folk and traditional arts programs administered in partnership with the California Arts Council. 


Item 10 - Presentation by Amy Kitchener of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts
Presented on the folk and traditional arts programs administered in partnership with the California Arts Council.

Item 11 - General Public Comment There was a period of General Public Comment. that included numerous statements from members of the field from across the state. Without enumerating the contents of all of the comments, it is worth noting that multiple Council members noted during the meeting the impact that the Public Comment has. 


Voting Item 12: 2024 Grant Programs Guidelines - Statewide and Regional Networks
Prior to the vote there was a presentation by CAC staff providing an overview of the Statewide and Regional Network program. 

The Program Committee then presented an overview of the Proposed Guidelines.
 Key technical updates include: 
 1) Clarifying the definition of a “network” and “an arts service organization;” 
 2) Requiring data collection, outreach and survey efforts to support the CAC’s 2025 program priorities; 
 3) Further delineating services and activities that might be provided with SRN funding. 
 4) limit the annual budget to organizations under $5 million
 *It was noted in the opening remarks that the budget amount would exclude any amount they have that is “pass-through” or regranting funds. However, later in the meeting CAC staff confirmed that this was not how the TR would be determined.  That TR did include pass through and fiscally sponsored funds.
 - During the discussion it was suggested that the revenue be based on a 3-year average instead of a single year.  The committee said they were open to this idea, but ultimately the staff pointed out that this is a change that would need to go through the Decision Support Tool to examine the implications and how it would work. Therefore since the Guidelines have to be passed today this change cannot be made at this point.
 - It was noted in part that $5 million was selected because there was a gap after that before the next group of grant recipient total revenues
 - It was clarified by staff that TR does include pass-throughs and fiscal sponsorships. (Contrary to what had been stated earlier.) It was asked if this change could be made by staff as a technical change, and the answer was it would need to be explored.
 There was a motion to amend the guidelines to add “outreach and communications” to the list of areas that must be demonstrated by the applicant in terms of their accessibility and additionally that the list of disabilities in that section be deleted. The motion passed 7-0.
 It was then noted that the section under Staff assistance that the language is not inviting and could be discouraging.  That this language should be adjusted, and that there should be a discussion about how the outreach is described so it makes it seem more inviting to people. That the language just talks about what CAC staff cannot do, as opposed to talking about the support or assistance that is offered. 
 It was also noted that the Guidelines say that large print format is available upon request, but staff confirmed that there really is no ability to provide any written copy of the Guidelines. It was suggested that this sentence should be deleted, and maybe replace it with a note about how accessibility assistance can be obtained. 
 Staff pointed out that wording changes like this can be made as technical changes by staff, and do not necessarily need to be addressed in motions or amendments. 
 The motion then was then restated and put to a vote: to accept the recommendation of the Programs Policy Committee, as amended, to approve the Statewide and Regional Networks Guidelines including the policy change to restrict applicants from applying for the SRN grant if they total revenues equal or greater to $5 million in the most recently completed fiscal year.  The motion passed 7-0.


Item 13 Presentation by Julie Baker of California for the Arts on their Legislative policy agenda
The presentation will be included in the meeting packet online.

Item 14 Committee Reports:
Report from the Equity Committee was presented and is included in the meeting packet. It was suggested that this report be passed on to the new committee members to continue this work, and not lose ground on the work that has been done.

Report from California Arts Council's 3/1/24 Public Meeting

Arts professionals work for the betterment of society as they give voice to the difficult questions that communities face across generations. Issues of belonging, acceptance, existence, and quality of life are framed, addressed, and challenged within the creative industries in Los Angeles. As the field-wide artistic community collectively celebrates our ancestries, engages our present, and envisions a better tomorrow, undocumented artists and arts workers in Los Angeles are largely invisible.

This report serves as witness to the undocumented labor force of the LA creative industries, an essential community within the arts sector. Today, there is a widespread lack of awareness of this segment of the population within the arts and culture community, underscoring the need for improved systems and practices to promote the inclusion and vitality of undocumented artists and arts professionals.

The focus of this document is undocreatives. The term refers to undocumented members of the creative industries (artists and arts professionals). Further key terminology is defined in the Appendices. This analysis utilizes testimonios to highlight their lived experiences, the systemic challenges they face, and the support that they need from the arts sector. As the first analysis of its kind, this study acknowledges the significance of creating space for undocumented arts professionals within larger studies, dialogues, and practices surrounding cultural equity and inclusion.

Undocreatives

There are no quick fixes for many of the challenges we face, from rapid technological change and increasing costs of living to the climate crisis and geopolitical instability. But with cities now representing over 80% of global GDP and half of the world’s population, the role of cities in addressing these issues is critical.  

At World Cities Culture Forum, we believe in culture’s role as a ‘golden thread’ through urban policy – supporting communities, improving health and wellbeing, attracting tourists and boosting economies. 

World Cities Culture Trends 2024

This report uses publicly available data to assess the distribution of aid from four federal programs: The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) Program, the American Rescue Plan (ARP), and Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act grants. The PPP and the SVOG programs were administered by the Small Business Administration and open to commercial and nonprofit establishments. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered the other two, which were open to nonprofit but not commercial establishments.

To create this assessment, we compiled data from sources specific to each program, then identified funding that went to arts and culture. Since there is no clear-cut definition of which industries should be considered part of the arts and culture field, we used multiple approaches to defining the sector with varying levels of emphasis on for-profit versus nonprofit entities to see where distribution differences lie.

$53 Billion Awarded to Arts and Culture During the Pandemic

This report, commissioned by Grantmakers in the Arts, is about the ways that arts and culture grantmakers can engage in systems-change work. The cultural sector is actively seeking alternatives to business-as-usual to create economic and racial justice in the sector and beyond. Grantmakers can play a role in the transformation of the sector by following the lead of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, disabled, queer, trans, and working class creatives who are innovating models for self-determination and community wealth.

Solidarity Not Charity: A Rapid Report

This report highlights key findings from a multicomponent Field Scan of equity in California’s non-commercial arts ecosystem. It was commissioned by the California Arts Council (CAC) as part of an evaluation of the agency’s grantmaking. The Field Scan was intended to assess how well CAC is serving the diverse communities across the state, and inform the agency’s strategies going forward by painting a picture of the distribution of resources within the non-commercial arts ecosystem and highlighting what CAC contributes to that ecosystem.

The core questions driving the Field Scan were:

1. How does the infrastructure of nonprofit arts organizations (in terms of overall distribution, budget sizes, etc.) relate to the demography of California?

2. How equitable is access to government support, foundation grants and private philanthropy (e.g., gifts from individuals) across arts organizations serving different populations and geographic areas?

3. What role does CAC currently play in the arts funding ecosystem?

To answer those questions, we combined statistical analysis of the available data on nonprofit arts organizations in California with qualitative research on how the arts are supported in three local communities.

The Field Scan consists of four components, which can be downloaded for free on CAC’s website and can be made available in other formats upon request:

• An Analysis of Equity in Nonprofit Arts Funding in California , prepared by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, complemented by a Technical Report

• Portrait of an Arts Ecosystem: Fresno, by Salvador Acevedo and Nikiko Masumoto

• Portrait of an Arts Ecosystem: Imperial County, by John Carnwath and Sarina Guerra

• Portrait of an Arts Ecosystem: South Los Angeles, by John Carnwath and Anh Thang Dao-Shah (with a foreword by Peter J. Harris)

The methodology section at the end of this report provides an overview of the rationale behind the case study selection, sources of data, and research methodologies used in this work.

Equity Challenges in California’s Arts Ecosystem

Californians for the Arts announces the launch of CalPayArt, a nonprofit paymaster program designed to support small nonprofit performing arts organizations.

Californians for the Arts is pleased to announce the launch of CalPayArt, a mission driven nonprofit paymaster service program, specifically designed to support payroll compliance and aggregate lower insurance and unemployment coverage costs for small nonprofit performing arts organizations in California. All qualified applicants will be accepted, and custom solutions will be designed for each participant’s unique circumstances by program administrators at Austin Creative Alliance, who have over a decade of experience providing this service to small arts nonprofits in twenty-eight states. The service is now available for interested parties to sign up and access the benefits of a nonprofit paymaster. 

“Austin Creative Alliance’s mission is to serve others in the Arts so that they may thrive,” says John Riedie, Chief Executive Officer of ACA.  “We are honored and excited to pursue this mission through CalPayArt, an unprecedented opportunity to serve cultural workers and small nonprofit arts organizations in California.”

CalPayArt is a program of Californians for the Arts, paid for by a grant from the California Arts Council, a state agency.  Funding for this program was secured in budget trailer bill 164 in 2021, through the advocacy efforts of California Arts Advocates, Californians for the Arts, Actors’ Equity Association and Theatre Producers of Southern California, working in partnership with Senator Susan Rubio. It represents an important advocacy win for California's nonprofit arts ecosystem.

“We are excited to launch CALPAYARTS as a service to support nonprofit performing arts organizations as part of our mission to build sustainability for this sector. We encourage nonprofit performing arts organizations that have been overwhelmed by the increasing administrative labor of onboarding employees, managing unemployment and workers compensation to sign up for this program and share the information with colleagues,” says Julie Baker, CEO of Californians for the Arts. “As more organizations use the service, there is increased ability to negotiate and aggregate costs which will result in lower fees overall.”

The California Nonprofit Performing Arts Paymaster is a program of Californians for the Arts, with paymaster services provided by Austin Creative Alliance. This activity is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.  Any findings, opinions, or conclusions contained herein are not necessarily those of the California Arts Council. 

CA for the Arts announces the launch of CalPayArt

Many businesses were affected by the economic downturn spurred by COVID lockdowns and social-distancing mandates. Especially hard hit were local performing arts organizations including theater, dance and music.

“The nonprofit performing arts sector is facing an existential crisis like never before,” said Julie Baker, CEO of Californians for the Arts. “During COVID, we were the first to close and the last to reopen.”

Baker made these stark remarks at a workshop held in Sacramento on Aug. 18 in response to the growing concern about the impact of COVID and other challenges facing arts nonprofits. Californians for the Arts organized workshops in four other cities – Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Diego – titled “Adapting in Crisis: Toward a Resilient Performing Arts Sector.”

Local nonprofit arts organizations gather to discuss filling venue seats

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Arts Council (CAC) today announced members of the Creative Economy Workgroup (CEW), which will develop a strategic plan to expand workforce opportunities to benefit the state’s creative sector, with a focus on developing new and additional pathways into California’s competitive creative fields. The workgroup is led by the Executive Director of the CAC.

CAC announces Creative Economy Working Group

Governor Newsom signs 2022-2023 CA Budget – New investments for Arts & Culture – But urgency remains to fund Creative Workforce Development 

When Governor Newsom signed the FY 22-23 $307 billion California Budget on July 1, 2022, key investments were included for arts and culture including: $30 million for the California Cultural Districts Program, $25 million for the California Cultural and Art Installations in the Parks Program through Parks and Recreation, and over $120 million in local arts and culture investments. Big wins for the arts also include additional investments in relief funds for cultural institutions and expanding and clarifying eligibility for CA Venues grant program through California Office of Small Business.

“We are delighted that the CA 22-23 Budget package includes new investments in arts and culture for vital programs such as lifting up community cultural districts and art installations in parks. We also celebrate the $120 million investment in thirty one districts across the state. We are however disappointed that the $307 billion budget does not include specific investments in laws such as SB 628 (Allen) that mandate creative workforce development as a state priority,”  stated Victoria Hamilton, Board President of  California Arts Advocates (CAA), California’s comprehensive lobbying organization for the arts, culture and creative industries and workforce.

Between 2019 and 2020, California’s Creative industries lost 100,000 jobs. CAA argues that it is imperative the state of California invest in programs to support earn and learn opportunities. “We look forward to working with the Newsom Administration and California Legislature to ensure California maintains its position as the leading creative state by investing in building an equitable workforce pipeline for thriving wage jobs in the creative industry. Artists, culture bearers and creative workers are at the heart of every community. It is time we elevate our support for their contributions to the health and vitality of the golden state by investing in this innovative workforce,” adds Julie Baker, CEO, California Arts Advocates/Californians for the Arts.

During the budget season, Californians for the Arts (CFTA), CAA’s partner nonprofit organization that focuses on building public awareness and advocates for arts and culture, steadfastly organized the field, collecting over thousands of signatures in support of funding for the CA Creative Workforce Act while CAA testified at numerous budget and committee hearings and worked to directly influence the Legislature and Administration to advocate for to increase public investment in arts and culture.

“We encourage all Californians to join us as we continue to build awareness of the positive social and economic impact of our sector to the economy and the continued need for sustained investment in arts, culture and the creative industry and workforce,” states Eduardo Robles, Field Engagement Manager for CFTA. 

To learn more about what’s in the budget for arts, culture, and the creative industries, sign up up to our Action Alerts at: bit.ly/CAA-ActionAlerts

Governor Newsom signs 2022-2023 CA Budget

Jonathan Moscone presents for the first time at the monthly Council meeting as newly appointed Executive Director. Click to read the entire presentation.

California Arts Council's 7/28/2022 Public Meeting

The December 8, 2022 California Arts Council meeting opened with a report from the Council Chair Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez. Chair Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez thanked the board and staff for their support during her tenure, and noted the many challenges encountered during the pandemic and the many accomplishments of the CAC despite these challenges. 

The Executive Director’s report by Jonathan Moscone, followed. He began by thanking the staff and council for their support during his bereavement leave. He noted that the Council plans 23 in-person meetings throughout the coming year to get in touch with the field. During today's meeting issues that are raised and need a greater examination will be recorded and addressed during an upcoming retreat. In an effort to open up the decision making process, a public comment section will be added prior to each voting item. The Council is also opening up the process around the Arts and Corrections program. Executive Director Moscone also noted that the council is dedicated to improving processes to get all grant monies out the door in a more time effective manner.

California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick was introduced and the council members then recited one of his poems. Mr. Herrick then shared how excited he is to begin his tenure as Poet Laureate and how grateful he is for the honor.

The minutes of the October 27 meeting were then reviewed and approved.

A period of public comment followed, after a brief explanation of the new public comments policy.  There will now be an open public comment section followed by public comment sections related to each voting item on the agenda.

The next agenda item was a voting item: Recommended Grant Program Guidelines. The Programs Policy Committee presented recommendations on the following three program

1. Cultural Pathways-Technical Assistance (CP-TA)

2. Individual Artists Fellowship, Region 4 (IAF)

These are existing programs, the guidelines are being voted on so that allocated funds can be utilized.

The first two programs were already approved but did not receive sufficient applicants. Council voted in earlier meetings not to fund ineligible applicants but to clarify the guidelines, and reopen the program for applications.

The third program is being reopened to solicit more applicants as additional funds have been allocated. At the October meeting the council voted to reopen the process to allocate the funds by June 2023.

The guidelines have undergone very minor changes, which are outlined in the Memo.

There will be robust efforts to better promote and publicize the reopen program

The Policy Committee recommended that the Council vote to approve the Attached Guidelines for the three programs.

There was a period of public comment on this item followed by council discussion

During the discussion, Ellen Gavin, proposed that a system be considered where instead of doing an RFP for one consultant that could help all grantees that instead the funds be allocated through an application process in small amounts to each of the 78 Cultural Pathways recipients to use for individual consultancy on their identified needs.

Staff clarified that it would be possible to augment the existing recipients in this way, and that it was important to make this decision quickly because the projects are already underway and the technical assistance is needed. It was also clarified that it would not be an RFP it would be a grant process. So it would be another set of guidelines to be approved.  If the decision is made to do an additional allocation to the existing recipients that can be done, but is ultimately more work than simply identifying one new consultant to provide support to all of the recipients.

Alex wondered if the Cultural Pathways recipients would have the resources to identify providers of the technical assistance they need.

The motion was changed to only move forward at this point with a vote on the Individual Artist Fellowship/Region 4 and Creative Youth Development.

There was an extended conversation about the pros and cons of the proposal to change the approach to the Technical Assistance funding

There was a vote on the motion to change the approach for the Technical Assistance funding and the motion failed.

There was a motion that the recommendations of the committee be accepted, and the motion passed

The next agenda item was a Staff Presentation on the California Creative Corps and Cultural Districts Updates, presented by Kristin Margolis, The Director of Program Services for the State Mandated programs and Legislative Affairs. In the presentation the following points were made:

In 2015 assembly Bill 189 (Assembly member Richard, Bloom) established the authority for the Arts Council to Designate Cultural Districts, which produced the designation of the 14 original cultural districts.

The 2022-23 Budget included a $30 million allocation to expand the cultural districts program

CAC has temporarily designated staff for this program, and they are currently meeting with each of the districts

Have heard repeatedly about the need for unrestricted funds, dedicated staff and technical assistance, as well as assistance with developing relationship with different government agencies

During the first 5 years the districts have formed strong connections with their communities and proved their value

Examples were shared from some of the existing cultural district programs

The 202-221 Budget included a $60m general fund allocation for the California Arts Council to implement the California Creative Corps pilot program

The intention of this pilot program is to provide as broad geographic reach as possible and to serve all 58 counties while prioritizing communities that demonstrate the Highest level of need as indicated by the healthy places index 

There are 14 administrative organizations selected to administer these funds, 9 regional organizations and 3 statewide organizations

The next agenda item was:
Creative Corps AO Presentation: City of Sacramento, Office of Arts and Culture 
by Melissa Cirone with the following highlights:

The creative Corps program centers the individual artists as the driver of change and the creator of more effective communications around California's most challenging issues and this program has mandated specifically that at least 60% of the funds go directly to artists 

It allows art works to regionally tackle issues and share resources

Program will be multi-pronged and include up to 5 large grants funded to organizations, or art-focus units of government that are either already engaged in cross-sector work or have developed cross-sector relationships, and are positioned to tackle one of these priority issues

At least one of these large grants will specifically be focused on either a rural community or one that's in the lowest quartile of the Healthy Places index

There will be about 20 grants that are smaller in size that can be more responsive to emerging partnerships, and can be led by artist co-ops, nonviolence, or Fiscally sponsored groups 

A cohort of 5 artists will be awarded full-time temporary positions for up to one year, in a Sacramento city department or division

The committee recommends opening the following 2023 programs with local assistance funds.

Economic Growth & Cultural Vitality: City celebrates Arts Month

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Mar. 29, 2024) — April is Arts Month in Santa Monica, and the city is highlighting the vibrancy of arts and culture with events and activations, all kicking off with an opening reception March 30.

Related Posts

Why the Arts Matter in California