Californians for the Arts is honoring the fifth year of Arts, Culture & Creativity Month by building a program for April 2023 that will continue to expand upon our successful program that engages arts advocates across the state and raises awareness of the impact of the arts within communities of all sizes through free events, resources, and advocacy opportunities offered all month long.
Over the last four years, the impacts of this program have cumulatively included: 30+ local municipalities adopting resolutions declaring April as Arts, Culture & Creativity Month; 600+ delegates from every region of California joining meetings with their elected representatives; 1500+ media mentions and shares of ACCM-related content; and 40,000+ visits and views to ACCM webpages and event pages. Each year builds on the momentum of the last to advance the ecosystem of the arts, support the sustainability of the sector, and to encourage Californians (and other sectors) to value the arts as a critical component to health & wellness, education, civic life, thriving communities, and thriving economies.
This year, ACCM 2023 focuses its thematic lens on the impact the last five years of arts advocacy has had on cultural policy and public funding. We will demonstrate how art, culture, and creativity are a smart investment by sharing stories and resources that highlight the positive impact arts and culture have made in our communities, the significant contribution of the creative workforce to innovation and the CA economy, and the importance of reaffirming our commitment to cultural equity and accessibility within our field.
We will do this by partnering with organizations across the state, developing messaging campaigns, using our platforms to amplify voices/models/practices from the field, and ensuring that our materials and outreach adhere to our values of centering diversity and belonging.
We will also be hosting press conferences and launch events across California.
Inaugural CA Arts & Culture Summit | Arts Advocacy Day | Party for the Arts
Join Californians for the Arts for the second annual CA Arts & Culture Summit in Sacramento to celebrate, innovate and advocate for arts education, arts workers and the creative economy. The summit will unite arts and civic leaders for two days of events filled with knowledge-sharing, coalition building, and movement visioning:
CA Arts & Culture Summit | April 16, 2024
Advocacy Day at the Capitol | April 17, 2024 9am Rally followed by Legislator Meetings | FREE
Visit the Summit webpage for details and to register and for information on discounted hotels.
Meet with Legislators
3 Opportunities to Advocate with Legislators During ACCM2023
Join us for Arts Advocacy Day in Sacramento, meet with representatives in-district during Advocacy Week or meet with them on zoom throughout Arts Advocacy Month. Californians for the Arts will help organize your groups and provide all the resources you need, including training and talking points.
We can also prepare you to organize and lead these meetings as a Captain. We provide everything you need to schedule, organize, conduct and report out from your meetings, including a training and toolkit. Click here to learn What Captains Do.
Sign ups closed to be a captain or delegate but you can still attend the Arts Advocacy Day rally!
Arts Advocacy Day Rally
9 am
Press conference + Rally
Location: Park near the Capitol Building
FREE.
Toolkits and Resources
Our goal is to activate the state and make it easy and educational for you to participate in ACCM. Use the following FREE toolkits and resources to generate a social media campaign, get your local government to proclaim April as Arts, Culture & Creativity Month, learn how to conduct a visit with your legislator and leverage local media to support getting your community talking about the value of the arts.
Workshops and Webinars
Take Action
Sponsorship Opportunities
Become a Sponsor & Amplify Arts, Culture & Creativity Month
ACCM Sponsors are our vital partners in elevating the visibility and impact of ACCM, developing and activating arts advocates, and educating the public and elected officials on the value that arts, culture and creative workers create in our state. ACCM Sponsors are our vital partners in elevating the visibility and impact of ACCM, developing and activating arts advocates, and educating the public and elected officials on the value that arts, culture and creative workers create in our state. With direct reach to over 20,000 engaged arts advocates in the State and networks to hundreds of thousands arts organizations, creative businesses, arts workers, cultural bearers, elected officials, funders and arts patrons– your sponsorship puts you in front of committed and influential arts, culture and creative industries leaders.
We look forward to working with you to create a customized Sponsor Visibility Package that honors your support.
About ACCM
In 2019, Californians for the Arts (CFTA) successfully campaigned for the state to recognize and celebrate the arts by declaring April as Arts, Culture & Creativity Month (ACCM) through a concurrent resolution passed in the California Senate. In 2021, an additional resolution was declared to recognize artists as second responders.
CFTA directs this annual month-long spotlight on the arts to raise visibility and awareness about the value of our sector, to empower arts advocates to take action, and to spur greater investments in our industry and workforce.
We celebrate and elevate our impacts through media campaigns and calls to action that increase our visibility and change the way that the arts are perceived.
We lift these impacts to the Capitol during Advocacy Week, where arts delegates meet with legislators to press for their support.
We activate the state with training and toolkits that spur local actions and increase the capacity for arts advocates to effect change.
We educate with messaging campaigns and related webinars that generate discourse and new strategic possibilities for positioning the arts, culture and creative workers as essential partners in helping California address challenges and meet its promise.
Arts Champion Awards
We are bringing back the Arts Champion award where we recognize state arts and culture policy leaders.
Stay tuned as we announce the 2023 awards for statewide policy leaders for arts advocacy.
Past Legislative Arts Star Award recipients include:
2023
Speaker Emeritus, Anthony Rendon
Senator Toni Atkins
Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath
2022
Governor Gavin Newsom
Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva
2019
Assemblymember Richard Bloom
Senator Scott Wilk
2018
Senator Ben Allen
Senator Jim Nielsen
2017
Assemblymember Ian Calderon
*Note: in 2020-21 : No awards were issued
