Funding the arts is tricky…
This week, I came across two articles that had to do with funding the arts. I am highlighting not to fuel the arguments against funding the arts, but to inspire all of us to take a good look at ourselves for better arts advocacy.
Who Gets Most Arts Money? Still Large, White Organizations
The American Theatre — a publication of Theatre Communications Group (TCG)- posted this article citing:
A study from Helicon Collaborative shows that 58 percent of arts funding goes to 2 percent of big-budget arts organizations — and it’s a trend that’s worsened.

A few points have been made:
- Arts funders are looking at numbers and attempting to fund the biggest bang for their bucks, which generally means funding the larger organizations. Until we find better ways to show community impact, which will narrow the playing field for smaller organizations, funders will continue to place the money in the hands of the larger organizations, which tend to be older and whiter.
- If we want equity, inclusiveness, diversity in the arts, we will want arts funders to look at their unconscious bias, and/or make a conscious effort to start funding multicultural organizations and projects.
- Larger organizations, when funded at huge amounts, could be more involved with smaller organizations to help the general arts community as a whole. Arts funders also could realize that bigger does not always mean better. ;O)
A decision on a collective level could be made so there is agreement among funders. A strong and healthy arts community means funding valuable arts organizations of different colors, shapes and sizes.
More than an arts tax: King County Proposition 1 prompts debate about regressive tax system and cultural access
From the Seattle Times: Entertainment Local News Local Politics
Prop. 1 is the culmination of a decade-plus struggle to pass a state law allowing counties to tax themselves for arts and culture education, and asks voters to approve a sales tax of 0.1 percent — a penny for every $10 — to support arts, culture and science access and education. In the campaign’s projections, that means $30 a year for a household with an income of $80,000.
That might sound like a small ask, but Prop. 1 is provoking a large debate about our state’s tax system and whether this measure asks voters to make an either/or choice about funding priorities: homelessness or culture education? Mental-health services or the Wing Luke Museum?
Some quotes from both sides of the issue:
“This is horrifically disproportionate,” Gossett said. “This is asking a huge amount of money from taxpayers for big entities for white, middle-class people.”
The biggest donors have been larger organizations (Seattle Art Museum, the Woodland Park Zoo, Pacific Northwest Ballet), which would get the lion’s share of the money, though, through Prop. 1’s lengthy amendment process, they now have to spend at least 20 percent on public-school programs — both to bring students to their institutions and to help pay for teacher training and curricula for hands-on learning in the school districts.
Many studies — including some from the National Institutes of Health, and a longitudinal study by the National Center for Education Statistics — show strong links between arts-and-culture education and positive outcomes for young people, ranging from mental health to school performance.
“Do Americans deserve aquariums and Iranian folk festivals and deaf theater and independent films and classical music? Or is the proper role of government only to erect highways and armies?”
But “artists and arts organizations are already doing social work. I hope we can turbocharge that work.”
Some points to consider for arts funding after reading this article:
- Many people still view arts funding as money for the elite, white people.
- Some people are not seeing the value of the arts in our society, especially when it comes to nurturing our up-and-coming generations.
- The role of government funding for the arts is still a big debate, and it will continue to be until the arts are valued by society as a whole.
- The arts are solutions for our society in education, health, and community. Why are the arts not seen as the valuable commodity for humanity? Why does this debate continue on?
Arts funding in general is tricky. Until we look at the arts as valuable and see the funding distributed equitably, the debates will continue on and on and…
