Whenever dialogue begins about arts funding there are some who run into the streets screaming that the world as we know it is coming to an end, and that we’re just a few dollars away from being reduced to drooling, inarticulate cretins. Others declare that municipal support for the arts is a waste of critical and diminishing resources, and should be abolished. I’m not sure that either rhetorical position is actually productive. We need to honor our commitment to funding the arts, but meaningful dialogue about priorities is important, and often the ‘sacred cows’ are exactly the subjects that need closest examination.
Long Beach decided more than 30 years ago that funding for the arts would be managed by a quasi-governmental organization, then called The Public Corporation for the Arts. The City cut checks, part of which paid for the PCA’s operational expenses, and part of which was used to fund local arts organizations through grants. Grants were given to organizations with large operational budgets, thus guaranteeing that the biggest organizations would receive the most funds.
The City’s elected leaders could point to this funding proudly, proclaim that they were supporting the Arts and, at the same time, avoid messy debates about who got what. Over the intervening years, however, two significant things have changed. First, the number of organizations that meet the funding threshold has increased significantly. Second, the amount of municipal funding has dropped significantly. Thus, the current funding for these organizations has become less and less significant. I don’t mean to suggest that the funds don’t help. I’m sure they do. They’re just a smaller fraction of the total operational budgets of the recipients, somewhere between 2-5 percent.
Currently, the City pays $300,000 in overhead to distribute $300,000 in grants. I’m not sure this is the best we can do. It may be the best we can expect while using the current model, but there may be other models that provide better value for each dollar we’ve committed. When times are tough, it is a natural instinct to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and get the most value we can from every dollar we spend. Everyone does this. It makes sense.
We need an ongoing process where the public, municipal leaders, non-profit organizations, and corporate donors can talk openly about the unique 21st Century challenges and opportunities that face us, and how best to benefit from them. After all, 30 years ago the internet was known only to a handful of scientists and academics, cellular telephones were the size of bricks, and cable TV was a novelty.
Soon, if things go as planned, the Arts Council for Long Beach will undertake a process of formulating a new Cultural Master Plan for the City of Long Beach. They cannot do the job effectively. They have a vested interest in preserving the status quo, and would find it very difficult to sacrifice themselves to an alternative model, even if it offered higher value for the financial commitment we’ve made to the arts.
We need a completely autonomous task force, one that has no ties to the current model, to carefully examine successful funding models in other cities like Toronto, Austin, Seattle, San Diego, and Pasadena. We need to examine the whole picture, including how these cities support live music, art galleries, book stores, restaurants, and even tattoo parlors.
I’d certainly volunteer for such a task force, and I know at least a dozen qualified, passionate, hard working members of the community who would welcome the opportunity to participate. How can we make this happen? We need to speak with our City Council members, to our Mayor, to our City Manager, and tell them that we’re willing to take a hard look at our priorities, that we want our funds to be used in the best way possible, and that we want ongoing accountability and oversight in how they’re distributed. They’re listening. They want to serve our interests. That’s their job.
Despite the rhetoric of catastrophe that some have been using of late, arts and culture in Long Beach are not dependent upon municipal funding for survival. There are thousands of artists: painters, musicians, dancers, writers, photographers, and poets who live their lives, and do their work, with no municipal support. There are bars, galleries, book stores, churches, restaurants, schools, and sidewalks where the arts thrive without a penny of municipal money being spent. Our government has the ability, and the obligation, to find ways to make these things flourish. An examination of current zoning and permitting laws would be a great place to start. Sometimes simply stepping out of the way can be the best way to help.
We all know that the arts play an important role in creating and maintaining the quality of life we enjoy in Long Beach. Although there are fantastic resources that show statistical data about the social and economic benefits of the arts, we don’t need charts to understand. We know. For many, that’s why Long Beach is our home.