Arts Council’s vital support role isn’t always visible

Christopher Knight, in his commentary on the California Arts Council (“Politics Left Little for the Economy to Ruin,” Calendar, March 26) fails to comprehend the vital mission of government agencies funding the arts and the dire results of slashing their budgets.

Los Angeles County arts organizations and artists received $5,077,818 in grants from the CAC in fiscal year 2001-02; this was the largest share of any county in the state and a larger grant pool than either the county or the city distributed that year. The 274 organizations and artists receiving support were big (Autry Museum) mid-size (Deaf West Theatre) and small (Danza Floricanto), and represented every discipline and geographic part of our region.

The creation of art doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It is impossible to separate grants aimed at making art from those that support staff, fund-raising efforts, marketing and technical upgrades. If a wonderful work of sculpture goes unseen because there are no curators to discover it, no access to exhibition space or no marketing plan to advertise and promote the exhibition, what has been accomplished?

Support systems are necessary for artists to work successfully, and government arts agencies have a responsibility to define, build and maintain this infrastructure. Our particular challenge in the United States is that government support of the arts is only a fraction of what it is in Europe. Artists and organizations often must raise 95% or more of the cost of a project from private funds or earned income. Public funders need to assist that effort. In many cases it is the imprimatur of funding from a government agency that enables an arts organization to leverage the additional private dollars it needs for a project.

Public arts agencies cover all disciplines and wide geographical areas. They are in a singular position to spot problems and trends and address them. Grant programs are designed to accomplish overarching goals that may take a decade or more to come to fruition. For example, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission became aware five years ago that our arts organizations were being left in the dust of technological advances. Since that time, we have allowed up to 25% of grant awards for small and mid-size organizations to be used for technology needs. A recent study by Washington-based National Arts Strategies compared technological sophistication of arts organizations in communities throughout the country. Los Angeles is now out in front in not only the electronic making of art, but also more efficient and effective communication with audience members and potential patrons.

The arts community agrees in principle with Mr. Knight that the responsibility for funding arts education should rest with the educational system, not the nonprofit arts community. But the reality today is that arts organizations are the principal delivery system for arts education in Los Angeles County. Pulling the funding rug out from under this system is not the way to fix the problem -- it would only result in the wholesale elimination of arts education programs.

The California Arts Council is playing a critical role in effecting change in the way arts education is funded in partnership with the Arts Commission.

The CAC is the principal funder of Arts for All: The Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education, a plan for shifting the responsibility for arts education back to the schools. The project lays out a sweeping set of strategies with a 10-year time frame to make the arts part of the core curriculum for each of the 1.7 million K-12 public school students in the county. Its first goal is to have each of the 82 school districts in the county adopt a policy, plan and budget for arts education. Arts for All is the kind of visionary project that public arts agencies can best spearhead.

Finally, the common perception that California’s arts constituency is “toothless” is incorrect: There are more Los Angeles County residents employed in the arts industry than the defense industry, and a 1994 study of artists conducted by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, as part of the CAC’s economic impact study, showed that 87% of them vote.

In these difficult budgetary times, it is to be expected that all government departments will face funding reductions, but these cuts should be fairly apportioned. The CAC’s budget, unfortunately, has been singled out disproportionally for cuts by the governor -- a whopping 55% from the 2001-02 to 2002-03 fiscal year, with an additional 4% trim in the current year and yet another 37% for next year. Next year’s projected cuts can still be, and should be, rectified by the state Legislature. The cuts to the CAC matter a lot. The end result will be a lot less art for everyone.

Laura Zucker is executive director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.