Arts Advocacy Week is all about raising your voice for the arts. So what are we asking our legislators for? We have three major requests this year:
General Operating Support
The SC Arts Commission is requesting an increase of $1,500,000 of recurring funds so that they may increase capacity, extend the reach of the agency, and strengthen more SC communities.
Why does it matter?
Each year, the Arts Commission makes grants to arts organizations across the state. The demand for this grant support is growing and the current level of funding simply does not meet that demand. In FY2021, the SCAC received an additional 22 new applications for operating support grant funding which had to be denied due to limited resources.
The requested $1,500,000 of recurring money will increase the per capita grant expenditures of the agency from the current $0.65 to $0.97, on the way to a target of $1 per capita.
Grants that are awarded to organizations state-wide create and sustain jobs, provide community space, and positively impact educational outcomes.
Arts Education Funding
The SCAC also requested an increase of $500,000 in recurring funds in support of arts education. With this funding, ABC Project* will expand its reach statewide, invest in research to study the intersection of the arts and student achievement and school accountability in South Carolina.
*ABC Project (Arts in Basic Curriculum) is a state-funded partnership of the South Carolina Arts Commission, Winthrop University, and the SC Department of Education.
Why does it matter?
The requested $500,000 in recurring funds would address the growing demand that ABC is seeing from schools across the state. ABC Institute has seen an average annual increase of 17% in ABC Advancement grant applications, though they have a static funding pool. Without a funding increase, ABC Institute will either have to continue to deny funding to new applicants or reduce grant awards across the state.
COVID Relief
The third request being made is $2,000,000 of one-time money to the Arts Commission for the deployment of relief funds to arts organizations statewide that have been and continue to be deeply affected by the pandemic’s related financial strains.
Why does it matter?
There are over 115,000 creative professionals in the state of South Carolina whose work contributes to the economic impact on the SC economy which surpasses $9.7 billion+ each year. The SC creative sector took a hit of over $1.2 billion, impacting over 30,000 jobs due to COVID-19. [Brookings Institute, August 2020] The arts were the first to close under state-mandated closures and were the last granted the ability to reopen, albeit with severe restrictions that continue to impede the ability to make artistic performance viable.
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Many organizations have had to furlough employees and let others go. Several arts organizations have shut down entire departments.
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Organizations that have pivoted to virtual offerings during the pandemic in order to continue operations and services while following health and safety guidelines have faced larger and new expenses including virtual platform fees, content creation, and more.
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Small and large organizations alike have felt immense financial hits to their bottom lines.
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Stable grant support has kept many organizations afloat during this crisis, and more is needed to ensure the arts return just as strong in coming years.
