Every year in April, we celebrate Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month (ACCM) across California to uplift the intrinsic value of arts, culture, and creativity not only as a public good like water, education, and clean air, but also as a driver of prosperity for the California state economy.

The creative economy contributes $507.4 billion to the state’s Gross Regional Product (GRP) and employs over 1.8 million workers, nearly 7.6% of the state’s workforce. And yet, with only .67 cents/person in state arts funding, CA ranks 32nd in the United States in per capita funding in the arts, putting our state behind Florida, New York, and Minnesota. We need to fix this!

Our organizations, the San Benito County Arts Council, Arts Council for Monterey County, and Arts Council Santa Cruz County, serve as the State Local Partners to the California Arts Council (our state arts agency). We work tirelessly to bring state dollars into our counties to fund critical art programs and services, but clearly much more needs to be done to achieve greater equity in arts funding, especially in the rural parts of our communities.

The arts are also a jobs creator. As a result of Prop 28, which was passed overwhelmingly by voters in November 2022 to support arts education in our public school system, California needs another 10,000-15,000 credentialed art teachers. These are good paying jobs with benefits, and we need to invest in new educational pathways in the arts to train and prepare this expanding workforce. Our organizations employ dozens of diverse and dynamic teaching artists who together teach hundreds of visual and performing art classes every week in our public schools, from Hollister and Aromas to Watsonville and King City. Looking ahead towards next year, we are working closely with our school districts to ensure that Prop 28 funds are used to expand student access to arts learning and to create meaningful jobs in the arts that support local families.

Fittingly, this year’s theme for ACCM is “Art Work is Real Work,” and we will use this month to highlight how artists play an essential role in our economy, our health and education and in areas around social justice. On April 16^th, we will join fellow artists and advocates in Sacramento for the second annual California Arts & Culture Summit, where we will engage in discussions around artist housing, arts and health, and current and proposed legislation that impacts our sector.  We will also spearhead local delegations to meet directly with our state representatives, including Speaker Robert Rivas, Senator John Laird, Assemblymember Dawn Addis, and others, to talk about arts and culture needs, challenges, and opportunities in their district.  Together, we are proud to represent the Central Coast and will bring an invaluable perspective from our region to these very important statewide conversations.

For a complete list of events and programs associated with ACCM 2024, please visit: https://bit.ly/engage-accm  ACCM is coordinated by California for the Arts, a statewide arts advocacy organization. Get involved at www.caforthearts.org! You may also visit www.sanbenitoarts.org, www.arts4mc.org and www.artscouncilsc.org