October is National Arts and Humanities Month, a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. During the month-long celebration, Americans for the Arts and California Arts Advocates/Californians for the Arts encourage Californians to explore new facets of the arts and humanities in their lives.

Check out  #ShowYourArt2018,  Americans for the Art’s social media campaign which will highlight personal stories and engage arts advocates on local, state, and national levels. The campaign will feature a unique theme every day in October, and individuals and organizations are encouraged to share images on Instagram (tagging @americans4arts with #ShowYourArt2018).

Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts says, “National Arts and Humanities Month” is an opportunity to enjoy a little more art for yourself and also to recognize and celebrate the positive impact the arts bring to our communities, and I hope that everyone will take part.”

Your engagement is welcome by encouraging individuals and organizations to participate in the arts; allowing governments and businesses to show their support of the arts; and raising public awareness about the role the arts and humanities play in our communities and lives.

Thank you for your commitment to create a better California by advancing the arts, culture and creativity.

Best wishes,

Victoria L. Hamilton , President of CAA/CFTA

 

Dear Arts Colleagues,

I am so delighted to write to you today as the first Executive Director for California Arts Advocates. Like you, I am a culture maker, an arts warrior and advocate for arts, culture and creativity to be heralded, supported and cherished. I don’t need to tell you the value arts bring to a community but we do need to share the data and our success stories. I am proud to represent both organizations. CAA is your statewide arts advocacy organization building a movement of inclusivity, awareness, funding and support for the transformative and transactional impact of the arts in California. Californians for the Arts, our 501(c)3 partner organization is a Statewide and Regional Network providing professional advocacy tools and programs to represent the needs of artists and arts organizations across the State.

The arts have been my life’s work. From New York City to Santa Cruz and Nevada City, CA I have dedicated my time, talent and resources to building community through art. When most recently I was invited to speak on a panel at a symposium presented by our county public health department on building healthy communities, I was so grateful the arts were at the table and included in the conversation; that is arts advocacy at work! Nevada City along with its neighboring city Grass Valley are one of the 14 pilot California Cultural districts awarded by the CAC. It is exciting to see how this designation will help define and improve our rural communities and how it will make an impact in the 13 other awarded districts. We are watching this closely as there are great opportunities that come with these programs.

This is a busy month for Arts convenings and I plan to be at as many as I can! This week you will find me at Arts and the Public Good, 29th annual Envisioning California Conference in Sacramento. Later in the month, I will attend Grantmakers in the Arts, Create CA, a visit to Los Angeles and wrapping up the month with a board offsite to create our strategic action plan. Where will you be this month? We want to be your source for arts activities across the state.

If you have information you would like us to include in our monthly newsletter, you can email me directly at membership@californiaartsadvocates.org

In order for us to continue to employ our lobbyist and apply resources to fight for increased and permanent funding for the California Arts Council, in order for us to watch and propose legislation that benefits the arts and build relationships with legislators, in order for us to build new programs and professional web based tools for advocacy, we need you to invest in our efforts.

Membership is based on your organizational size and starts at $50.
If you are not representing an organization, but still want to support our efforts, please make a donation here.

I look forward to working with you in partnership to advance the arts, culture and creativity of California.

Julie Baker , Executive Director, CAA/CFTA

 

AB 2456 passes!
On September 28,  legislation to allow fair compensation for peer review panelists in the CA Arts Council was signed by Governor Jerry Brown. AB 2456, authored by Assembly member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), authorizes the California Arts Council to compensate grant program review panelists for their time spent reviewing and discussing grant program applications. LEARN MORE
SB 933 Vetoed by Governor
See his letter to the California State Senate HERE

October 04: 29th annual Envisioning California Conference , Arts & the Public Good, Sacramento, CA

October 09: CAC Grants Workshop , Irvine, CA

October 10: CAC Grants Workshops , Fresno / Oceanside, CA

October 10: Legal Clinic for Creative Artists and Inventors , San Jose, CA

October 15: CAC Grants Workshop, Bakersfield, CA

October 15-16: Create CA Annual Statewide Convening, San Jose, CA

October 16: CAC Grants Workshops, Placerville / Chico, CA

October 16: Creative Youth Development, San Diego, CA

October 16-18: Grantmakers for Education Annual Conference, Coronado, CA

October 21-24: Grantmakers in the Arts , Oakland, CA

 

SAVE THE DATE!

Thursday, November 8, 2018
2nd Annual Redding Cultural District Summit
Redding, CA. FREE!
Click HERE for more info & to register
ATTENTION SLP’s and SRN’s ONLY:
2 day free convening SLP / SRN Grantee Meeting sponsored by California Arts Council
December 10-11, Sacramento, CA  MORE INFO

Did you know that in California, 21 of our 53 U.S. House members received an A in this year’s Congressional Arts Report Card  and both of our Senators received a Thumbs Up?

See pages 9 and 21 of the report for details.

 

Join or Renew Now! We need your support. Membership is from July 1 – June 30 annually.

CAA has an impressive track record over the last six years in gradually restoring funding to the California Arts Council (CAC) but we are not back to the historic $32M peak from 2001 and California is still ranked 28th out of 50 states in per capita state arts funding for 2018-19. With all sources combined, the Arts Council’s total 2018-19 budget will be approximately $27.53 million but only $15.1 million is permanent general fund allocation.

We hope to see funding for the arts be at historic levels and be a permanent line item in the state budget but until that time we must continue to lobby and educate our legislators. The creative economy depends on it and all communities that receive CAC grants benefit from our work. Individual membership starts as low as $35 and organizational membership is based on your annual budget and starts as low as $50.

If you are a current member of CAA, thank you, your support made these efforts possible. If you are not a member or it is time to renew, JOIN NOW!

Please support CAA’s work through your personal or organizational membership. DONATE