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Californians for the Arts
State of the Arts

Mission 

Californians for the Arts is the only comprehensive, multidisciplinary organization focused on advancing and building public awareness of the value and impact of arts, culture and creativity across California. With over 15,000 active subscribers and hundreds of members representing thousands of artists and arts and cultural organizations, we take on opportunities and challenges that no single organization or artist can represent alone. Moved by our deep conviction of the civic and personal value of the arts, our mission at Californians for the Arts is to ensure that the arts are accessible to all Californians; are an ongoing part of the public dialogue and to encourage Californians to care about the arts as a critical component of their own lives and the lives of their communities. We fight for arts resources and policies that benefit our members and all residents of California. Our work and support of civic engagement, arts education, cultural equity and the creative economy, positively impacts every community across the state.

Vision

Building a sustainable & vibrant California using arts and creativity as the driver for social change and wellness.

•Increase Arts Funding to Historic Levels

•Make Arts Accessible for All Californians

•Campaign for California to be the leading State of Creativity

•Strategize Policy Development 

•Demonstrate Solutions to Socioeconomic Issues such as Artists as Second Responders, Arts & Corrections, Veterans, Neighborhood Revitalization, Health and Wellness

•Valuing the Sector with Equitable Pay and Cultural Equity

 Racial and Cultural Equity Framework

Read More Here

Policy Framework

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR THE ARTS

We advocate for the restoration of reduced arts funds, maintenance of existing funding, and support increased funding and resources for public arts and culture agencies, nonprofit arts organizations, and individual artists.

PUBLICLY SUPPORTED ARTS EDUCATION

We advocate for public funding for arts education. We support arts education as a core subject for all students, including the ongoing inclusion of arts education in the education code, ensuring schools compliance with education code, and integrating the arts throughout all core subject areas. We support resources for teachers, their professional development, and increasing the number of credentialed arts specialists across the state. We support the inclusion of professional artists, teaching artists, and community arts organizations in all aspects of California's public education system.

STRONG CREATIVE ECONOMY

We advocate for a strong creative economy. We support creating more employment opportunities within the creative economy. We support keeping and incentivizing creative industries in California. We support keeping charitable tax deductions benefiting individuals and nonprofit arts organizations. We support creator’s rights, cultural districts, microloans, business loans, technical assistance for artists, and public art in public places. We support resources for increasing cultural tourism across the state.

CULTURAL EQUITY

We advocate for equitable access to arts and culture across all parts of the state, including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion; to support for artists, nurturing accessible, thriving venues for expression; and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources.

ARTS AS TOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

We advocate for using arts and culture as a tool for social change. We support embedding artists and arts practices in government departments such as health, justice, education, and transportation as a way to innovate and connect people in better, more effective and efficient ways. We support the creation of neighborhood health indicators that include the arts. We support including arts and culture in land use policies.