We can ill afford the recommendation to trim the City of Scottsdale’s arts budget by 20% as recommended by Planning Commissioner Larry Kush in last week’s Point of View “Time for Scottsdale Arts to take a Time Out.”
Why are the arts so frequently the target of politicians’ budget cuts?
There is no doubt the current COVID pandemic is putting a tremendous strain on our community’s resources, but to suggest the $13 million annual budget of Scottsdale’s Cultural Council is funded in its entirety through the City of Scottsdale is misleading.
The Cultural Council is actually a private, non-profit organization with whom the city has partnered to promote the arts. The Cultural Council generates much of its revenue from the enthusiastic support of individual contributors, corporate donors, subscribers, and individual ticket holders, among others.
Over 300,000 residents and visitors have been enriched by the 1,800 programs that are presented annually by the Cultural Council’s Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) and Scottsdale Public Art.
So many among us have enjoyed and been enriched by attending such events as Canal Convergence, The Scottsdale Arts Fair, or a performance by a world-renowned entertainer or orchestra. What city wouldn’t want to partner with such a prominent arts organization that brings so much to the community?
More than ever, it is precisely during times of social and economic dislocation, that the arts play an outsize role in keeping a community whole in both mind and spirit, not to mention also making a significant positive economic impact.
Nationwide, the arts and cultural sector contributed $804.2 billion or 4.3% to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 5 million people, earning $386 billion in 2016 alone, according to the National Endowment for the Arts.
The vibrant art and cultural scene of Scottsdale plays a large part in attracting so many new residents (myself included), as well as thousands of annual tourists --- all of whom boost our city’s tax revenues.
The arts are not a luxury; they are very much a necessity to life. Art gives us meaning, excites the soul, breeds more creativity, engages us with our world and ultimately has a way of bringing us happiness --- all things that are needed to confidently face the challenges of our current times.
Editor’s Note: Eric Lilja recently relocated to Scottsdale with his family, and has worked and consulted to many arts organizations worldwide, as well as serving as Director of the Australia Business Arts Foundation while living in Melbourne, Australia.
