Can California Rise from the Arts Funding Cellar?
by Lisa Caretto, Executive Director, California Arts Advocates California is in its fifth year spending three cents per capita on the arts through the California Arts Council (CAC). At the Council’s height in 2000-2001, California was ranked 24 in the nation with a budget over $30 million (with over $1.5 million going to artists and arts groups in Santa Clara County). Today, California ranks dead last at $1.1 million proposed for 2008-2009, while Puerto Rico’s arts agency’s current budget sits at $28.2 million. Is it possible for the CAC to return to its heyday? We at California Arts Advocates believes it is. As a California lawmaker once said, “Politics is the art of the possible.” For some time now, Caifornia Arts Advocates (CAA) lobbyist Kathy Lynch and I have presented legislative briefings and advocacy forums to representatives of arts organizations and arts stakeholders throughout the state. (On May 1, Kathy Lynch, CAA Board president Brad Erickson, California Alliance for Arts E
