A message from our Executive Director, Jennifer Laine, and Board President, California Arts Advocates
Art Work is Real Work!
Every year in April, we celebrate Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month (ACCM) across California to uplift the intrinsic value of arts, culture, and creativity not only as a public good like water, education and clean air, but also as a driver of prosperity for the California state economy.
The creative economy contributes $507.4 billion dollars to the state’s Gross Regional Product (GRP) and employs over 1.8 million workers, nearly 7.6% of the state’s workforce. And yet, with only .67 cents/person in state arts funding, CA ranks 32nd in the United States in per capita funding in the arts, putting our state behind Florida, New York, and Minnesota. We need to fix this! At the San Benito County Arts Council, we serve as the State Local Partner to the California Arts Council (our state arts agency) and work tirelessly to bring state dollars into the county to fund critical art programs and services, but clearly much more needs to be done to achieve great equity in arts funding, especially in rural communities like ours.
The arts are also a jobs creator. As a result of Prop 28, which was passed overwhelmingly by voters in November 2022 to support arts education in our public school system, California needs another 10,000-15,000 credentialed art teachers. These are good paying jobs with benefits, and we need to invest in new educational pathways in the arts to train and prepare this expanding workforce. Currently, the Arts Council employs 12 diverse and dynamic teaching artists that together teach over 185 art classes per week in our elementary schools, from Hollister and Tres Pinos to Aromas and San Juan Bautista. Looking ahead towards next year, we are working closely with our school districts to ensure that Prop 28 funds are used to expand student access to arts learning and to create meaningful jobs in the arts that support local families.
Fittingly, this year’s theme for ACCM is, “Art Work is Real Work,” and we will use this month to highlight how artists play an essential role in our economy, our health and education and in areas around social justice. On April 16th, we will join fellow artists and advocates in Sacramento for the second annual California Arts & Culture Summit, where I will moderate a panel on “Policy Wins,” focusing on case studies of successful art and cultural policies in different regions throughout the state and Venecia Prudencio, who is an Arts Council Teaching Artist and Creative Corps Artist with the San Benito County Elections Department, will speak on a panel around “Artist’s Work,” bringing an invaluable rural voice to a very important conversation.
For a complete list of events and programs associated with ACCM 2024, click HERE. ACCM is coordinated by California for the Arts, a statewide arts advocacy organization. Learn how to get involved HERE!
SEE a calendar with ARTS EVENTS happening in April throughout Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara & Santa Cruz Counties HERE.