Arts Funding Initiatives in Portland and San Francisco

Alexa Pengelly — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:56:35 -0700

In addition to facilitating MilePost Five affordable live/work space for artists, working with ArtPAC (Art Political Action Committee) and helping save the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, Commissioner Sam Adams is spearheading an initiative to address the crucial issue of arts funding in Portland, Oregon. In his Creative Capacity Town Hall on June 12th, 2007 at the Armory, Sam asked the community for their input.
Art and Economic Health The city only invests 6/10ths of 1% of the entire city budget towards arts and culture in Portland. This small percentage leaves the creative community spending enormous amounts of time and resources fundraising for their organizations. Portland hosts a high degree of self employed "creatives" that include 111 non-profit arts and culture non-profit groups. According to a study posted online by the Regional Arts and Culture Council, "The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $27.12 million in local and state government revenue." Today the City of Portland spends $6.11 per person, on arts and culture. This is not enough.

Our challenge as a creative community is to expand our notions of art and culture and generate partnerships in areas not previously considered. We must also recognize economic impacts that creativity truly has in our region. A study posted on the Regional Arts and Culture Council's website out lines links between the arts and economic prosperity.

Portland's 1980 Initiative for Arts Funding; Measure #51

Passing an initiative imposing a new tax for the arts is no easy task. It takes a united arts community, strong partners and a sound campaign. In the late 1980's Portland's arts and culture community organized and put an initiative on the ballot, measure # 51, to develop an avenue for arts funding. At that time the arts received 3/10ths of 1% of the general fund budget. Portland's arts funding campaign centered on the need to fund Portland Center Stage, a new venue at the time, as well generate regular funds to distribute to arts organizations in the city. Following San Francisco's lead Portland proposed a motel/hotel tax advertised it as the "best tax you'll never pay." This initiative lost 60/40 in the polls. Portland's 1980 proposal was a 2% tax.

Money for the ArtsA Brief History of San Franscisco's Hotel Tax Fund for the Arts; A strong example of successful municipal arts funding and leadership

      San Francisco passed a Hotel tax fund for the arts in 1961. The San Francisco hotel tax comes from the belief that arts must be considered "on equal footing to other municipal services." Yet, this belief took years to cultivate.
      When the San Francisco hotel tax was proposed in 1956 the opposition was so fierce that the initiative was tabled by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee. In 1960, the re-elected Mayor, George Christopher, brought the hotel tax proposal forward again. Though rejected numerous times, Mayor Christopher called for a full-dress debate on a hotel tax fund proposal and for the first time the board was forced to vote on the issue. For ten weeks the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors fought over the details of the proposal. In 1961, when the hotel tax bill finally passed by a very narrow margin. Funds raised were to be used primarily for "advertising and publicity."
       The next months were spent debating what constitutes "advertising and publicity" Questions were posed such as: Should the hotel tax fund go to the Convention and Visitor's Bureau or the ballet, museums, and the symphony? How much money should go to cultural activities? What activities? The original bill slated the money to go to "arts and cultural" groups whereas the legislation that passed specified that the majority of the hotel tax fund go to "publicity and advertising." Could cultural activities legally be supported under the wording of the new statute?
Up until 1964 there were acute disagreements about how to distribute the hotel tax fund. During these early years 20% of the hotel tax funds, distributed by the Chief City Administrator Sherman Duckel, were given to arts and culture.
       In 1964 when Mayor Christopher was succeeded by John F. Shelley, a new Chief Administrative Officer, Thomas J. Mellon, also came on board. During Mellon's time, the percentage of funds allocated to arts and culture moved from 21% to 53%. Mellon dealt with the major conflict between mainstream and community arts. Distribution of money to the arts community was extremely difficult and the need for fair and visible distribution criteria became an apparent need. Yet by the time Mellon retired in 1976 the San Francisco hotel tax fund became more of the progressive arts fund that it is today.
       Roger Boas took over as San Francisco's Chief Administrative Officer in 1977 and served through1986. Under pressure from the San Francisco Supervisor Dianne Feinstein, Boas created an advisory committee to the publicity and advertising fund in order to set criteria for disbursement. The committee went through a collaborative and painstaking process of establishing guidelines for the distribution of hotel tax monies. Workshops, new criteria, an appointed full time administrator, and a citizens' advisory committee helped to "quiet the funds critics."
      The Publicity and Advertising Fund (P and A Fund) received a devastating blow with the passage of proposition 13 (1978) which slashed the San Francisco property tax assessment rate. The city diminished the P and A fund by 50% whereas other departments operated anywhere from 85% to 100% at previous funding capacity.
      After proposition 13 the arts community had to fight every year for allocations. This changed in 1982 when legislation guaranteed 12% of hotel revenues to the P and A fund. Along with this guarantee the Convention and Visitors Bureau received their own allocated percentage of hotel tax revenue. In 1984 Supervisors Harry Britt and Louise Renne proposed an increase from 12 to 19 percent and it unanimously passed.
San Francisco is now in its 25th year as an "exemplary municipal grantmaker" for arts and culture.

What is the future of an Arts Funding Initiative in Portland?

There is a lot of work to be done and Sam Adams, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland Development Commission, and Northwest Business for Arts and Culture cannot do it without the support of Portland's creative community.
What is the creative community in Portland? It is our job as part of this population to define that. Any successful Arts Funding Initiative in Portland will need to convince Portland voters of the crucial role arts, culture, and creativity plays in the sustainability and health of the local economy.

Sources:

Steinberg, Cobbett. The San Francisco Hotel Fund. ENCORE Vol. 3 Nos. 1-2 Spring 1986.

Buehler, D., Trapp E. The Economic Impact of the Arts in Oregon.

www.commissionersam.com/creativecapacity

Salmon for the Sandy

Alexa Pengelly — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:07:42 -0700

matsuda

You'll find them scattered around Portland this summer - vibrant, amusing and fascinating.

They are Salmon for the Sandy, presented by Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC) to celebrate the free-flowing future of our wild, backyard river, the Sandy River.

What's happening on the Sandy? Portland General Electric is removing
two dams and contributing land to a new 5,000-acre natural resource and
recreation area that Western Rivers Conservancy is creating with the
Bureau of Land Management along the river. No other city in the nation will have such a treasure in its backyard.

RawlingsTo celebrate, regional artists have painted, decorated and gilded 33
extraordinary salmon sculptures for public display. The fish debut July
5 at Jamison Square during a concert celebration.

Then the sculptureswill begin their display in public locations such as REI, the Lawrence Gallery and the Oregon Zoo, around Portland and the region. A traveling "school of salmon" display will make its way to locations from Portland to Timberline Lodge. On October 24, the salmon will be auctioned at a gala to benefit the restoration activities of the Sandy River Basin
Watershed Council.

woolsen

Written by Jenny Andrews

Alexa Pengelly's blog

Arts Funding Initiatives in Portland and San Francisco

Salmon for the Sandy