The Arts Need More Than Lip Service

A couple of bits to share before the main portion of this weeks post which is another blast from the past that went out to those on the emails list for the former Michigan Association of Community Art Agencies.  MACAA has since merged with ArtServe, which is now pushing for a dedicated revenue source for the arts in Michigan.  

ArtServe seeks sustainable state funding 

BY AMY LANE | OCTOBER 5, 2009 (EXCERPT) With budget focus in the Capitol shifting to revenues that might be passed by month's end to lessen widespread cuts, advocacy group ArtServe Michigan is hoping lawmakers will consider the arts community's needs.

ArtServe is interested in pursuing a Senate bill and a similar House measure that it's working to get introduced that would provide funding through Michigan income taxes paid by nonresident entertainers and athletes.

Senate Bill 263, sponsored by Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, directs the Michigan Department of Treasury to calculate the amount of those taxes paid annually and to direct that amount to the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

From Americans for the Arts

National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast celebration of culture in America. Held every October and coordinated by Americans for the Arts, NAHM is the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation.  This year, Americans for the Arts is pleased to circulate the official proclamation issued by the White House in support of National Arts and Humanities Month. 


Unlike "letters of support" from previous administrations, this year's message is significant and historic because it is the first time that National Arts and Humanities Month has been recognized by an official Presidential Proclamation.  By issuing this historic public statement in his first year in office, President Obama has taken this opportunity to recognize the contributions that our cultural assets make to America's diversity, humanity, and economic health.

A Call for Action (2005)

I have attended the annual Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) conference the past three years and the 2005 Arts Alive Day will also be my third.  While I find the conferences inspiring and enlightening, there has been a lack of regional follow-up in the Detroit area and I imagine else where as well.

In the past year and a half, Richard Florida has spoken on several occasions in Michigan.  While Mr. Florida has borne the brunt of criticism, he continues to be in demand with cities and regions around the world, banking on his theories on creativity and its role in successful cities.

In the Detroit region and throughout the state, people have started to open their eyes to the benefits of embracing creativity.  Yet many still haven’t fully opened their minds to the impact an initiative such as the governor’s Cool Cities program can have in putting our cities and the state on the path to prosperity.  While the Cool Cities Initiative generated a media buzz at first, it has died down a bit and the arts & entertainment aspect of creating cool cities received marginal coverage.

In an interview a couple of months ago, Tim Skubick brought up Senator Shirley Johnson’s idea to support the arts with a fee on sporting events however I found the Governor’s response rather puzzling in that she doesn’t presently support such an idea.

She is ready to borrow the idea of bonding for high-tech and developing industries yet other states and regions are taking steps to develop the arts and creative industries as well.  Her Cool Cities Initiative would greatly benefit from more funding for arts related developments and programs and would be beneficial in the state’s efforts to attract just the kinds of businesses and workers her bonding proposal desires to draw to Michigan.

I came across a piece last year that is on target on what the arts community needs to do.  Another piece is about recent action in Massachusetts.  Here are excerpts from those pieces.

Arts supporters must make voices heard BY DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA, Pioneer Press, Minneapolis - St. Paul 

PostedSun, Feb. 08, 2004

Excuse me for going all Howard Dean on you, but it's time for us arts lovers to get uppity.  It's time to make some noise. Stomp our feet. Demand our due. It's the only way to get things done. The squeaky wheel and all that. We've been polite and politic for too long, and I — for one — am fed up with it.

I know, I know: Times are tough. But somehow, there's always money to give tax breaks to rich people or to throw money at solving problems, real or imagined.  So, clearly, politeness isn't doing the trick. How about, instead of placidly swallowing the indignities, we get red-faced in public once in a while?

Remember in 2002, when then-Gov. Jesse Ventura used his line-item veto to deny money to the Guthrie Theater? Artistic director Joe Dowling blew a gasket, chiding the governor for having done "a terrible day's work." Sure, his PR people winced, but the Guthrie eventually got their money, and Dowling probably knocked 15 points off his blood pressure.

Or perhaps arts advocates need to adopt the shrill, single-minded, take-no-prisoners mania of, say, the pro-gun lobby.  It sounds gauche, I know. But look around — we live in gauche days. The meek might someday inherit the earth, but it's the cranky who get what they want today.

 Rally seeks restored arts funding

BOSTON - Illustrating their cause with hip-hop dance and a swing band, supporters of the arts rallied on Beacon Hill to restore cuts to their programs over the past several years.

Hundreds of supporters and members of local councils came to the Statehouse to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of local cultural councils.   Daniel R. Hunter, of Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities, said it's difficult to get people to support the arts. Hunter said the arts are also good for the economy and attracting tourists. "We've demonstrated the arts and culture are good investments," Hunter said. "They generate state revenues. They create jobs."

We need to adopt an activist attitude to bolster advocacy efforts.  We need to get over the woe is me mind set and prepare for a battle to win over not just politicians but the media and general public as well.

The stockpile of ammunition has been mounting in the form of numerous reports, studies, books and print media citing the multi-level, positive impact of the arts & artists.

For the state of Michigan these are desperate times and desperate measures need to be taken.  The Creative Community can make the case for a state-wide arts tax if we mobilize and strategize.

An idea I have as a first step would be to break the state down into regions such as the thirteen used for the “Visioning the Arts in Michigan” sessions MCACA hosted a few years back and appoint “Advocate Generals for the Arts” with some working full-time & others part-time on a PR campaign to try and garner more media attention and raise awareness with the general public.  To cover salaries and other expenses, put out the hat to philanthropists with deep pockets & who support the arts, and to quote President Bush (months after 9-11 when charities saw a dip in donations) ask them to “dig a little deeper.”

After the second defeat of the regional arts tax proposal for Wayne & Oakland counties I submitted a commentary to the Free Press which ended up as a featured letter.  My sentiment was the campaign lacked vision by mainly focusing on the impact of the arts for children and you didn’t hear about the many other positive aspects of the arts unless you went to the campaign website.  Also the majority of the campaign funds went for television & radio spots which become increasingly more expensive the closer you get to Election Day.

Half the battle is to get a good portion of the general public to voice their support for the arts tax idea and the governor, who listens to the people, can change her position and the legislators would also listen to the voice of the people.

So the trick is to convince the public that banking on tourism & the arts to create jobs and spur economic development is a key piece of the puzzle to turning the economy around as well as future prosperity.

In a interview with the Detroit News on the budget, Governor Granholm (to paraphrase her statement) had this to say on asking people (during her budget town hall meetings), where the first dollar of the state budget should go, people generally agreed on K-12 education; for the second dollar a lot of people said economic development as a long-term strategy for growth.

So the questions that need to be put forth to the public are “do you want the state government investing more in economic/jobs development?” And “are you willing to pay a minor tax that will result in more tourism and jobs as well as tax revenue?”

I for one am tired of waiting for something to happen and desperately want to make something happen.  It’s time to enlighten and convert those who are ignorant to the power of creativity, to embrace the notions of “Unity through Creativity” and “Creativity for Economic Vitality.”

We are the Creative Community, we can make this happen.