“We can’t do what AB5 is asking us to do,” she added, noting that given the gig structure of much work in the arts, independent contractor relationships often make sense. To that end, her partner organization, California Arts Advocates, has put its support behind SB805.
Read MoreCalifornians for the Arts surveyed arts and culture non-profits and found 64% had shrunk their workforces. Similarly, Reed says it took a toll they couldn’t expect.
Read MoreThe Otis College of Art & Design and Californians for the Arts released several studies on the impact of the pandemic on the cultural sector in California. Over 175,000 creative jobs were slashed in 2020, and over $140 billion was lost in creative economic output.
Read MoreReleased concurrently with the Otis report, two Covid-related surveys commissioned by advocacy group Californians for the Arts and taking place between October 6 and November 20, 2020, focused on nonprofit arts and cultural organizations; creative businesses whose income is generated by ticket sales, contract work, and sales of artwork; and individual arts workers.
Read MoreNEW YORK — More than one-third of U.S. nonprofits are in jeopardy of closing within two years because of the financial harm inflicted by the viral pandemic, according to a study being released Wednesday by the philanthropy research group Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
Read MoreThe financial impact of the closures has been felt deeply by thousands of arts institutions state-wide and has left many frustrated and questioning the motivation behind the decision. As Julie Baker, the executive director of Californians for the Arts, suggests: “Perhaps it is time to prioritise arts over alcohol?”
Read MoreRead the full letter signed by the more than 400 organizations below:
Over 400 Organizations Urge Passage of $350 Billion for State and Local Assistance
Read MoreAlongside Otis’s report, arts advocacy organization Californians for the Arts released two statewide COVID-19 “Economic Impact” surveys, the result of interviews with almost 1,000 arts workers and over 600 creative businesses. […] People of color were also disproportionately affected, with 100% of African American identified respondents noting a loss of income.
Read MoreA further study by Californians for the Arts noted that, of the roughly 1,000 creative workers it surveyed, 88% of respondents confirmed that they had lost income or other arts-related revenue as a result of the pandemic. And 43% of respondents said they were unsure whether they would be able to continue to make a living in their chosen field moving forwards.
Read MoreAs Julie Baker of CA Arts Advocates recently noted on Facebook, “From the CA $227 billion budget, CA is in good shape financially with a $15 billion projected surplus. Preliminary read for creative industries, looks like state arts agency stays around the same with $25 million for Cultural Institutions in grants in the next round of $575 million for small businesses.”
Read MoreOf the nearly 1,000 creative workers surveyed in those studies, 83 percent said the pandemic had impacted their employment, and 88 percent said they had lost income.
Read MoreShe added that the surveys had found racial disparities in loss of income and access to federal money: All of those who identified as Black or African-American indicated a loss of income, while an average of 12 percent of those in all other ethnic groups identified a similar loss.
And 18 percent of Black, Indigenous or people of color individuals or organizations said they were denied funding through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The report added that 5 percent of other people and organizations said they were denied.
Read MoreOver the last four weeks Capitol Weekly presented a series of live panel discussions and presentations on Zoom, examining the topic “The Future of Work.”
Read MoreJulie Baker, executive director of Californians for the Arts, tells the Chronicle that the programs are not just a bailout for a devastated industry: "We’re not here asking for handouts; we are here saying, ‘Use us in service.’"
Read MoreSmaller institutions have been particularly hard hit. Revenues at the Museum of African American Art, which is on the third floor of a Macy’s store, have declined by 68 percent. “We are inside a retail space that is open,” Keasha Dumas Heath, the museum’s executive director, said in Feb. 2 testimony at a State Assembly arts committee hearing on how to safely reopen arts activities. “People don’t understand why we’re closed.”
Read MoreMore than 40 artists are creatively responding to the COVID-19 crisis using their respective art forms to paint a picture and help define how the panedmic has affected all of us.
“Artists in Action!” is a collaboration with Californians for the Arts, California’s Latino Art Network and the Sacramento Artist Corps.
Read MoreThe narrative Baker wants to put forth is that artists are “second responders.”
“We’re not running into a burning building pulling someone out, but we’re right there right as they come out and rebuilding a life and rebuilding a community,” she says. “That’s what the arts do.”
Read MoreOrganizations like Californians for the Arts, where Arts Council Executive Director Jennifer Laine serves as a board member and co-chair of the Programs Committee, is working with elected officials to develop reopening guidelines for the arts sector and also on several initiatives to activate and employ creative industries in service of public health and other public-led campaigns.
Read MoreAll of those who identified as Black or African-American indicated a loss of income, while an average of 12 percent of those in all other ethnic groups identified a similar loss.
And 18 percent of Black, Indigenous or people of color individuals or organizations said they were denied funding through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The report added that 5 percent of other people and organizations said they were denied.
Read MoreIf the pilot program becomes permanent, she continues, California can marshal its artists to help combat homelessness, the opioid crisis, climate change and wildfires. No matter the emergency, “we can use the creativity of artists to heal and help communicate.”
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