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

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.

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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

On August 31, the state Senate and Assembly passed bills out of the regular session, bringing a close to the 2023-24 legislative session. Hundreds of bills now go to the Governor’s desk where by September 30, he will decide which become law. CAA tracked over sixty bills this session ranging from regulating Artificial Intelligence, to commissions on Guaranteed Basic Income (AB 2263, Friedman)  and screenings and testing related to Social Determinants of Health (AB 2250, Weber) to protections for Freelance Workers (SB 988, Wiener) to 14 bills on Reparations, and housing bills including AB 3068 (Haney) uniting YIMBYs and Historical Preservationists in an unprecedented partnership to cosponsor office-to-housing conversions. We also supported two nonprofit bills sponsored by CalNonprofits that are critical to easing the unfair burdens nonprofits face when contracting with the state. SB 1246 (Limón) incentivizes the state to make timely payments, and SB 336 (Umberg) ensures better coverage of indirect costs. 

CA Arts Advocates collaborated with NIVA CA in support of SB 785, authored by Senator Caballero, a consumer protection bill that banned fraudulent ticketing practices, an issue many nonprofit performing arts organizations, the artists presented and their patrons have lifted up as a prevalent problem that needs to be addressed in legislation. Unfortunately, the bill was amended in such a way that would undermine the purpose and it was moved to the inactive file, killing the bill. 

While we wait to see which bills become law this session, we are actively preparing our priorities for 2025, meeting with a variety of coalitions and legislative offices, in response to the needs outlined from our 2024 field engagement survey while focused on our ongoing strategic policy priorities. As always, we welcome your feedback on what matters most to you and the issues that you are facing that are making it more difficult for you to thrive as an arts worker in California. 

News From the Capitol - September 11, 2024

Creative placemaking integrates arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. Sometimes also called creative place-keeping or place-knowing, this work is rooted in the understanding that all communities have intrinsic value, unique assets, cultural significance, and that projects in the community must be informed by and relevant to the members of that community. 

Since 2016, the Creative Placemaking Technical Assistance Program (CPTA) has offered resources to support community groups, artists, government agencies, and other stakeholders in their creative placemaking efforts. The CPTA program is a partnership program between National Endowment for the Arts’ Design & Creative Placemaking team and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

Creative Placemaking: Strengthening Communities with Arts at the Core

We’re in a hole. A deep hole. The state recovered much less tax revenue than expected this year. (Remember the tax payment deferrals during the pandemic? Budget planners and legislators had to guess how much they’d eventually collect. They guessed wrong. Good times.) That, plus inflation, a volatile year for Wall Street, and a weakened Silicon Valley left the state an estimated $28 billion in the red – and that’s on the low end of the estimate. That means Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators are making unpleasant, unpopular cuts in fiscal year 2024-25, including an across-the-board 7.95% reduction in funding for nearly all state departments. 

If you are in the arts, or have attended arts events, or are vaguely aware of the word “arts,” you know that the cuts will hit that field particularly hard. An across-the-board reduction means exactly that, shared pain with no exceptions, but considering the impact the arts make on the state economy – an estimated 740,000+ jobs and 7.7% of the state GDP – the field routinely subsists on a very tiny slice of a very large pie.

California's Budget is in the Red - Its Arts Programs are Black and Blue

This report represents how Threewalls is mapping a course towards a more just and care-centered approach to artist support, beyond funding their practices. In presenting our reflections and findings, we see ourselves contributing to a cartography that models a more just reality for artists and cultural producers.

From Living to Thriving: Threewalls’ Wage Policy Report

Creative Economy Tracker

In its second evaluation of the Creative Wellbeing approach, Harder+Company Community Research found that young people who participated experienced positive social-emotional benefits while also exploring their interests, building technical art skills, and increasing their access to the arts. Adults who participated in the program are experiencing and embodying Creative Wellbeing values and healing themselves through this work. They further found that

Teaching artists in the program make students feel comfortable, included, and safe to express themselves freely and make mistakes,

Professional development participants appreciated the hands-on learning approaches of the sessions, and

Internal champions and responsiveness to program and school needs have supported the Creative Wellbeing partnerships and their ability to implement the program.

The report concludes with recommendations for how to continue to improve the program.

Creative Wellbeing: Second Evaluation Report

Notes prepared by Teri Ball, Program Manager, CFTA

This was a special meeting called to address the issues around the Governor’s May Revise proposed budget.

Full agenda and 05/24/24 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 Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles and Ann Burroughs, President and CEO offered welcoming comments. 

Item 5: May Revise Proposal - Relocate the California Arts Council within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development 
by Executive Director Danielle Brazell and Deputy Director Ayanna Kiburi.  
A written copy of the presentation should be posted to the CAC website in the coming days, but these are some highlights:

The presentation began with a note that at this point there are limited details available about the proposals but the desire is to share what is known. It was also noted that the contents of the May Revise were a surprise to the CAC.

The presentation included background information on the California Arts Council and also the budget process.  Highlights are included below:

The CAC enabling legislation established the Arts Council: “to, among other findings, promote the employment of artists and those skilled in crafts in both the public and private sectors.”  It was also noted that The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-BIZ) is the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment and economic growth.

The policies and allocations for the CAC’s local assistance grantmaking are set by a policy Council consisting of eleven council members; one appointed by the Senate, one by the Assembly and nine by the Governor.

Budget Process overview: On January 10 the Governor releases a budget for the following fiscal year. Mid-May the Governor releases a revised budget in light of the fiscal outlook, this has to be done by May 14th. The Legislature then reviews, debates and makes proposed revisions by June 15th. The Governor finalizes the budget 12 working days later and the budget becomes law.

The May Revise included a relocation of CAC to Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GO-BIZ), with no other changes to the authorizing structure or the policy structure of the body, or its structure, mission or scope.

This decision is not definite until the budget is finalized.

To make this change, the proposal is to revise the authorizing legislation to place CAC within GO-BIZ; facilitate a net-zero transfer to the CAC budget and staffing positions; complete the transfer by July 1, 2024.

Ex. Director Brazell posed the question to Council and the field wondering what other needs there might be, beyond grantmaking, that might be facilitated by the move.  Things like capital resources and finances. What are the possible positive impacts of being housed within GO-BIZ, and being put within an economic development frame.  She noted she is Interested in looking for new models to make the sector sustainable and resilient. She wondered what it could mean “if we are actually able to have an agency that can meet the diverse needs of California’s creative sector at scale?”

The presentation was followed by a period of public comment. There was a strong turnout for public comment and they actually ran out of time before finishing the in person speakers.

The Council then had a discussion period on this subject. The general consensus was that there is concern about the move to GO-BIZ, and that there definitely needs to be more information before this move is considered. 

Lauren Pizer Main, consultant for the Joint Committee on the Arts, made brief comments including stressing the importance of advocacy and for everyone to be contacting their representatives on these issues. 


Agenda Item 6: 
Presentation on Budget Proposed Cuts by Ex. Director Brazell and Deputy Director Kiburi
The presentation had the following highlights:

- Proposed to cut $10 million from Local Assistance Budget for this year and next, and 7.8% cut to operations budget.
- The Council Proposals being made today are intended to help prevent disruption to the field if these cuts are not reversed.

Presentation was followed by Council discussion.



Agenda Item 7 – Voting item – The final vote was 4-4 and therefore failed.  There will be no change to the grant programs.
Program Policy Committee Recommendations for revision of Program Guidelines

Voting Item: The Programs Policy committee recommends that the Council vote to close the GEN-24 grant program.

Considerations for Council on Policy recommendation:
All eight 2024 programs could not possibly be funded at meaningful levels with the Governor’s proposed $10M reduction. GEN-23 awarded two-year grants to Tier 1, 2, and 3 organizations, with an additional augmentation of $400,000 for Tiers 2 and 3. Since GEN funding is active through 2025 while other 2024 programs are not yet funded, the Committee recommends that Council vote to close GEN-24. This closure would redirect resources from expanding a currently funded program to other un-funded programs.

Voting Item: The Programs Policy committee recommends that the Council vote to extend the grant application deadline from June 6 to June 20, 2024 for all open programs.

The committee presented their recommendations.  Their presentation was followed by Public Comment and full council discussion.

There was a motion to accept the committee recommendations, the vote was 4-4 so the recommendations were not approved and the programs will stay as is.  No change to the announced programs and no change to the deadlines.  The second voting item was contingent on the passage of the first item so a vote was not required on the second item. 


Report from California Arts Council's 5/24/24 Public Meeting

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

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

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

The first of Otis College’s reports on the Hollywood workforce assessed the immediate impact of the Writers Guild of America (WGA)-Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, concluding that those events were as much a consequence of major changes in the industry as they were the cause. This second report digs into the very nature of recent changes in the industry, from the onset of the streaming era in 2013, when Netflix released its groundbreaking drama, House of Cards, to the immediate post-strike period in 2024. This report identifies three major transformations in Hollywood over the past decade.

Otis Report on the Creative Economy 2024

California Arts Council 12-12-23 Public Meeting

Summary notes – The final decisions on the 2024 grant programs were made, but only the decision on which programs would be available.  The Programs and Policy Committee will now work on Guidelines for each of the programs which will be presented at the January meeting, and then voted on at a subsequent meeting.  

CA for the Arts is tracking these program changes and voting items on our webpage, #FundCAArts and we will provide updates as the new guidelines are being proposed. 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 12/12/23 meeting packet are available on the CAC website.

The meeting began with a call to order land acknowledgement, and establishing a quorum. The Chair introduced the Parliamentarian who would help monitor the meeting.

Item 5: 2024 Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act Updates Chief Deputy Director, Kayla Unger, presented a briefing on a new update to the Bagley-Keene Act that will take effect in January 2024. The goal of the update is to ensure that for public meetings there are a majority of members in one location, with staff, where the public can have physical access to the meeting. Remote participation by Council members will be allowed, but very specific circumstances will be required. This is a preliminary presentation on the new requirements and staff expects further clarification to come in the new year. 

Item 6: The minutes from the October and November meetings were presented. It was noted that the format of the minutes have been changed at the suggestion of the Parliamentarian. The format will be a list of the actions and decisions but not a full transcript of the proceedings. Council members expressed concern about the format and content of the minutes and so they were not voted on.  They will be returned to staff for revision and voted on at a future meeting.

Item 7: There was a period of 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 8: The Programs and Policy Committee presented the 2024 Programs to be voted on. 
The programs committee recommendations were passed largely as presented.  The one change was that instead of just saying Arts & Youth Programs they spelled out 3 specific programs. 

The CAC Programs to be funded for 2024/25 cycle will be: 
- Impact Projects
- Arts & Cultural Organizations General Operating Support Tier 2 (budgets $250,000 to $1 million) and Tier 3 (budgets $1 million to $1.5 million) only
- Statewide and Regional Networks
- State-Local Partners (SLP)
- SLP-Mentorships
- Arts Education Exposure
- Arts Integration Training
- Creative Youth Development
- Emerging Cultural Districts

This vote only determined the programs to be funded, the guidelines which will determine things like the $3 million cap will be presented and voted on at the January 12, 2024 meeting.  The GenOps for Tier 2 and Tier 3 will be just a one year grant as opposed to the 2 year grants that were done in 2023.  That way everyone gets back on the same cycle in 2025

There was discussion about the impact of Prop 28 and how that should or should not impact the CAC funding.  The idea was that three included programs would be the areas of arts education that would not be supported by Prop 28.

Council Member Gerald Carpenter made a motion, seconded by Council Member Caleb Duarte to add Cultural Pathways and Cultural Pathways Technical Assistance, but that action failed.

The council expressed gratitude for all of the input from the public to help shape these decisions. 

The CAC staff will research, convene, and design up to four new programs for 2025: a Native American Initiative, Touring and Presenting, Disability Program, and Anchor Institutions Project.

It was noted multiple times during the conversation that there is a profound need to increase overall funding for the Council so that the full ecosystem of artists can more effectively be supported.

Voting Item 10 – Governance Committee presented revised Bylaws to be voted on (Tab M in the meeting book) The complete text of the changes to the bylaws are included in the meeting book.  The meeting book includes a comparison copy of the original and revised bylaws. According to the Committee presentation most of the changes are included in confirming what council members duties are, attempting to clarify some vagueness. There were also updates to the responsibilities and duties of the Chair, Vice Chair, and Executive Director. 

Within the Council Members section of the bylaws, the following change was made: 

CURRENT BYLAWS LANGUAGE: Establish general policy within the framework of policy established by the Legislature and the Governor; and in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations.

NEW BYLAWS LANGUAGE: Establish and approve policy regarding the Council's programs and allocations in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations. Agency Director and staff abide by the policies set by the Council regarding programs, procedures, and allocations.

The revised bylaws were voted on and passed unanimously.

Voting Item 11 – 2024 Executive Committee Elections
The new chair of the CAC will be Roxanne Messina Captor and the Vice Chair will be Leah Goodwin.  The vote for chair, between Roxanne Captor and Vicki Estrada, ended in a tie 3 times and was ultimately determined by the flip of a coin.

Item 12 Committee Reports:
The Equity Committee presented a year-end report reviewing what they worked on during the year.  The report is included in the meeting book.

Report from California Arts Council 's 12/12/2023 Public Meeting

The US report “For a Resilient US Theater—Report and Recommendations” is part of Pandemic Preparedness in the Live Performing Arts, a comparative transnational study on the resilience of theater post-COVID pandemic, funded by the British Academy.

Between April 2023 and January 2024, a UK-led research team with partners in the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan surveyed the lessons learned from the responses of the live performing arts sector and governments to COVID-19.

The aim was to support sector preparedness for future crises, whether caused by new pandemics, climate-related disasters, demographic changes, economic pressures or the impacts on the live performing arts of national and international politics.

For a Resilient US Theater

In recent years, arts and cultural strategies have been increasingly engaged by the public health sector to enhance community health and well-being, as well as to address social drivers and causes of health inequities and disparities in the United States (US) (1–4). This uptake is in part due to the growing body of evidence that links arts and cultural participation to notable impacts on health and well-being at the population level in this country, including on mental health (5), flourishing among young people (6), healthy aging (7), and even mortality (8). Additionally, as the significant health risks posed by social isolation and loneliness are better understood, arts and cultural strategies are increasingly recognized as available resources for countering isolation and building social cohesion in communities (9, 10).

Relationships between arts participation, social cohesion, and wellbeing

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

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

CFTA_covidsurvey_report_workers_final1 (1).pdf

Using the data provided through this survey, the following policy or programs, policies, and services are recommended:

Ongoing reauthorizations of PUA benefits for self-employed individuals without access to UI. Consider, too, that there will be a lag-time between when the sector reopens and when work opportunities are available.

Continued financial support in the form of forgivable loans and artist relief grants for independent artists and self- employed workers.

Consider the creation of an unemployment assistance program and payroll system at the state level for self-employed individuals to ensure that post-pandemic they can enjoy the financial support system currently only available to employees.

Work with arts service organizations, local arts agencies, health agencies and departments statewide to identify ways to provide affordable access to mental health support for arts and cultural workers of all types.

Support the CA Creative Corps Pilot Program introduced by Governor Newsom in his 21-22 budget proposal to the Legislature. This could come as increased funding to the CAC and/or cross-departmental collaborations such as K-12 education, the environment, public health etc.

Expand the CA Creative Corps Pilot Program to ongoing legislation to employ and/or commission creative workers as artists-in-residence, community organizers, and teach-ing artists, and creative economy businesses to produce free and low-cost cultural experiences, with a specific focus on living- wage creative jobs.

Identify sources of financial support or other ways to help those with housing insecurity and access to affordable health care.

Depending on the assistance available in future federal pandemic support funding, consider creating and implementing an initiative to ensure that independent workers have access to information early and often as well as to workshops or other technical assistance to help them make an application for financial relief.

Summary Analysis of the Statewide Covid-19 Economic Impact Survey for Artists & Cultural Workers

CFTA_covidsurvey_report_orgs_final3.pdf

Using the data provided through this survey, the following policy or program/service recommendations are offered:

Urge policymakers to continue dedicated state and federal support for California’s creative industries. If and when a second relief package includes state funding, advocate for a dedicated funding stream to creative businesses and organizations that are still closed due to the state’s blueprint for reopening.

Urge the Newsom Administration to issue guidelines for live events and performing arts so businesses have ample time to prepare venues and staffing for a safe reopening.

Consider state supported outdoor pop-up events across the state to acclimate patrons to return to live events safely and demonstrate that safe behavior protocols are possible while experiencing something that brings communities together.

Urge policymakers to recognize that California’s recovery must include the reopening of live events and a successful return of the creative industries.

Consider financial assistance programs that both support organizations to reopen more quickly, while providing interim support to keep them working until it is safe to reopen.

Explore the ways in which small investments can have strong results such as grants of less than $10,000 to organizations that have minimal requirements for reopening.

Provide not only financial assistance in the form of operating grants, but funding for organizations to prepare to reopen in compliance with AB 5, create new business models for future sustainability, and organizational development to restructure when they start to rehire.

Create a state level payroll system to make compliance with wage and benefits requirements easier for small organizations and businesses.

As relief funding opportunities arise, consider creating and implementing an initiative to ensure that organizations have access to information early and often as well as to workshops or other technical assistance to help them make applications for financial relief.

Summary Analysis of the Statewide Covid-19 Economic Impact Survey for Creative Organizations and Businesses

The Otis College report said that between February 2020 and December 2020, total job loss in the “creative economy workforce” reached about 13 percent statewide and 24 percent in Los Angeles County.


During that period, the state lost 175,000 jobs in that economy, which was said to include architecture and related services, creative goods and products, entertainment and digital media, fashion and fine arts, the report said.

The surveys from Californians for the Arts were conducted between Oct. 6 and Nov. 20, 2020, and focused on nonprofit arts and cultural organizations; creative businesses relying on income from ticket sales, contract work and sales and commissions from artwork; and individual arts workers.

Among the 607 organizations surveyed, 72 percent reported dismissing paid staff members and half said they dismissed contractors. Among nearly 1,000 workers surveyed, 88 percent reported losing income or other arts-related revenue. Some were considering giving up arts work or leaving the state.

California Lost 175,000 ‘Creative Economy’ Jobs, Study Finds

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

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

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

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.

Local nonprofit arts organizations gather to discuss filling venue seats

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