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Arts community pushes supervisors to preserve and reallocate grants, citing racial inequity in distribution
Summary
Artists and cultural organizations told the budget committee that city arts funding remains well below prior levels and that Grants for the Arts disproportionately funds organizations serving white audiences; they urged redirecting new funds to the Arts Commission—s Cultural Equity Grants program.
A long block of testimony at the June 20 budget hearing focused on arts funding, arts education and a contested distribution of grants-for-the-arts dollars.
Christine Lim, director of education and artistic administration at San Francisco Performances, urged continued support for grants that enable arts organizations to bring artists into schools and community settings. "Grants for the Arts ensures the ongoing vibrancy and diversity in our city's cultural life by supporting arts organizations large and small," she said.
Multiple speakers from the symphony, SFMOMA, SFJAZZ, community music programs, and smaller arts groups described how public funding supports education, youth workforce and community engagement programs and urged the board to maintain or increase grant levels that serve students and low-income neighborhoods.
Several witnesses raised equity concerns after a city budget-analyst report found that Grants for the Arts disproportionately funds organizations that historically serve white audiences. Andrew Wood of the San Francisco International Arts Festival said the report found 78 percent of GFTA funding goes to organizations serving predominantly white audiences while organizations serving people of color received only about 23 percent. "If you give more money to Grants for the Arts, they will continue to spend it in the same way," he said, recommending any new money be allocated to the Arts Commission—s Cultural Equity Grants program.
Artists and arts administrators representing small and mid-size, community-based organizations said current eligibility and distribution rules disadvantage emerging or culturally specific groups, and asked the board to use budget leverage to advance cultural equity.
Speakers also urged restoring general grants levels (testimony cited that Grants for the Arts was down roughly 22 percent since 2004) and highlighted the role arts organizations play in education and community health. The committee did not make funding decisions at the hearing; speakers asked supervisors to pursue add-backs or reallocation during budget deliberations.
Ending: The committee heard multiple requests to protect arts-education funding in the city budget and to prioritize cultural equity in any new allocations.
