From Brad at theatrebayarea.org Mon Oct 20 16:08:39 2008 From: Brad at theatrebayarea.org (Brad Erickson) Date: Mon Oct 20 16:09:31 2008 Subject: Oakland Arts Funding in Jeapordy Message-ID: <8CDB7716FBA6AD4E9280E623959545883AFBD8@tba-sbs.fileserver.theatrebayarea.com> Dear Arts Forum Supporters An urgent message about arts funding in Oakland: >From Lori Zook Acting-Chair City of Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission Funding for the Cultural Arts and Marketing Department is on the chopping block and will be voted on by the Oakland City Council this Tuesday, October 21. The meeting begins at 6pm and this topic is currently Item 19 on the Agenda, so it could be a long night. Grant funding is in jeopardy, as are all of the staff positions. This is a serious threat to a thriving but already under-funded community. We do understand that the City's finances are in a dire situation, but the fact of the matter is that the cultural arts department has historically borne more than its share of cuts and now represents only .4% (4/10 of 1%) of the overall city budget, yet serves 6,273 children and youth through the art in the schools program (most of whom would not have access to arts without these programs), and another 957,650 people through performances, events, etc. Not only will department staff lose their jobs: staff and teachers in the already-fragile arts sector will also lose jobs. The arts are The case to be made to the City Council: * The arts are not a luxury. * Children and youth who participate in arts programs and learn positive ways to express themselves are less likely to engage in unsafe or criminal activities. * Neighborhoods with visual and performing arts venues bring in revenue to the local economy, help prevent crime and violence by "keeping the lights on", and add to the overall quality of life in our city. There are currently three council members who are opposed to cutting arts funding: Nancy Nadel, Jane Brunner, and Desley Brooks. All other council members have indicated that they will vote to cut the program. Please don't let this happen!! Contact your council person immediately (preferably before Monday) and let them know that cutting the arts program is unacceptable. Also, let the three council members that support the arts know how much you appreciate their support. Below is contact info for each of the district council members: District 1, Jane Brunner, jbrunner@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7001; District 2, Pat Kernighan, pkernighan@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7002; District 3, Nancy Nadel, nnadel@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7003; District 4, Jean Quan, jquan@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7004; District 5, Ignacio de la Fuente. idelafuente@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7005; District 6, Desley Brooks, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7006; District 7, Larry Reid, lreid@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7007 At-Large, Henry Chang, Jr., cityochang@aol.com Please forward this to your staff, board, friends, students, their parents, your mailing list, etc. It is our responsibility to make our voices heard - and to let the officials know that we represent a larger portion of the public than they think! Lori Zook, Acting-Chair City of Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission RECAP of three things YOU can do to make a difference: 1) Forward this to your people 2) Contact your council member and let them know how important the arts are to you - a voting member of their district 3) Come to the 10/21 city council meeting Brad Erickson Deborah Cullinan Jessica Robinson Executive Director Executive Director Executive Director Theatre Bay Area Intersection for the Arts CounterPulse 415-430-1140 x11 415-626-2787 x105 415-317-2888 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://gdc.groupd.com/pipermail/artsforum-sf/attachments/20081020/728646b5/attachment-0001.html From Brad at theatrebayarea.org Wed Oct 22 15:54:31 2008 From: Brad at theatrebayarea.org (Brad Erickson) Date: Wed Oct 22 15:55:21 2008 Subject: Oakland Arts Funding Saved Message-ID: <8CDB7716FBA6AD4E9280E623959545883AFD02@tba-sbs.fileserver.theatrebayarea.com> Dear Arts Forum Supporters Good news from Oakland! At last night's meeting of the Oakland City Council, arts funding was spared from the axe through the energetic intervention of arts activists. According to this morning's Chronicle, "Hundreds of residents packed Oakland City Hall, many of them urging the council to spare the city's cultural arts programs. In the end, the council voted 7-0...to get rid of the deficit. The council agreed to preserve the arts programs, which cost the city $1.4 million a year. 'Arts are about keeping kids from dying,' said Eden Jequinto, a theater instructor at Eastside Cultural Center.'" Kudos to everyone in Oakland - and beyond - who made their voices heard. And kudos to Oakland's City Council for understanding the value of the arts in their community. Brad Erickson Deborah Cullinan Jessica Robinson Executive Director Executive Director Executive Director Theatre Bay Area Intersection for the Arts CounterPulse 415-430-1140 x11 415-626-2787 x105 415- 317-2888 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://gdc.groupd.com/pipermail/artsforum-sf/attachments/20081022/6899c915/attachment.html From deborah at theintersection.org Wed Oct 29 11:48:06 2008 From: deborah at theintersection.org (Deborah Cullinan) Date: Wed Oct 29 11:49:33 2008 Subject: 08 Elections! Message-ID: <4908AFE6.9020803@theintersection.org> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ObamaArtsPolicy_ArtstisforObama_102108.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 1170155 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://gdc.groupd.com/pipermail/artsforum-sf/attachments/20081029/a1fdcea8/ObamaArtsPolicy_ArtstisforObama_102108-0001.pdf From deborah at theintersection.org Thu Oct 30 14:24:22 2008 From: deborah at theintersection.org (Deborah Cullinan) Date: Thu Oct 30 14:25:52 2008 Subject: 08 Elections Follow Up Message-ID: <490A2606.7060407@theintersection.org> Arts Forum Community! Thanks to the many of you who responded to our "08 Elections" email with thoughts, ideas, and enthusiasm around the role of art in the national, state, and local discussion. As part of Arts Forum's Strategic Planning process we are exploring the possibility of launching an open online forum to promote exchange around good arts policy and best practices. We look forward to playing a continued role in deepening the conversation and building on the momentum. We also want to thank folks for directing us to the Arts Action Fund's Arts Vote website. Here you can find additional information about candidates' Arts Policies - including links to Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's Arts Policy Briefs and a statement regarding Arts Education from Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain. http://www.artsactionfund.org/artsvote/001.asp Please continue to forward information to us to share. See you on Election Day! Deborah Cullinan and Brad Erickson, Arts Forum SF -- Deborah Cullinan Executive Director Intersection for the Arts 446 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415.626.2787 x 105 voice 415.626.1636 fax http://www.theintersection.org/