Learning to lobby: arts advocates seek to save state funding

State appropriations for the arts in Alabama have declined steadily the last four years, due in part to budgetary pressures caused by the nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

In the last Alabama legislative session, the Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) saw its funding cut by about 25 percent – from $4.4 million in fiscal year 2011 to $3.4 million in fiscal year 2012 – according to ASCA executive director Al Head.

And things could get even worse for public arts funding, given the state’s continuing fiscal  difficulties, Head warns. “There is reason for concern regarding the appropriation process in the upcoming legislative session, especially if the importance of state support for the arts is not articulated and understood,” he told Weld in an email. “The ‘essential functions of government’ conversation continues to narrow the circle of priorities.”

Arts advocates from across the state were scheduled to meet today at the Alabama Shakespeare Fesitval in Montgomery to discuss ways to lobby the state legislature to preserve arts funding.

To help prevent further precipitous drops in state arts funding, Head and the ASCA believe that Alabama artists and art advocates must become more involved in the legislative process. To encourage this involvement, the ASCA was scheduled to host a public meeting for its fiscal year 2011 grantees and others concerned about the arts in the state at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Montgomery, Wed., Jan. 11.

The informal public meeting is intended to provide attendees with tips on how to persuade public officials – including the Alabama legislators who go back into session Feb. 7 – to provide adequate support for the arts.

“The content of the agenda will center around the importance of communication back home, how the appropriation process works, talking points regarding impact of the arts economically, educationally, culturally and as an investment in the future of Alabama,” according to Head. ”Information will be provided to facilitate communication and action.”

The purpose of the meeting was to help provide some political skills to a group of people who often do not possess them, according to Buddy Palmer, president and CEO of the non-profit Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham. “There are a lot of artists and arts administrators who don’t know how to work with the legislative process and are uncomfortable contacting legislators,” Palmer told Weld on Tuesday.  “This is about training and arming the cultural sector to do that work of advocacy.”

This is not a time for artists to sit back and hope for the best, Palmer said. “When things are good with the economy and things are status quo, we in the arts community are good at creating dynamic programming, but we’re not so good at being politically active,” he said. “And when things are bad financially, we cannot be in a passive position. We have to advocate for the value of arts and culture for the state of Alabama.”

In a Dec. 15 letter to ASCA grantees, Head underscores what he sees as the urgency of this grass-roots effort by referring to the Jan. 11 meeting as a “call to action” and a “gathering of troops.” He also warns of the possibility of additonal funding cuts. “The potential for continuing downward slides in appropriations is great, and we can’t be complacent about legislators realizing the importance of the arts and arts education in their district and the state,” Head tells the grantees. “We have to be engaged in the process, tell our stories and make out voices heard.”

Approximately 100 to 150 grantees and others were expected to attend the Jan. 11 meeting, according to Head in his email.

Numerous Birmingham area artists and art advocates – at least 25 or 30 – were expected to attend, according to Palmer, who has been active over the last two weeks in encouraging Birmingham area arts groups to send representatives to the meeting to learn how to better tell their stories to public officials.

Among those planning to attend was Chloe Collins, executive director of Birmingham’s annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival since May 2009. “Every year since I’ve been here, we’ve had a slight decrease in funding from the state arts council, and this year is no different, except that this year was not what I would consider slight,” Collins told Weld. “It was more significant.”

The cuts will hit arts groups hard, Collins said, especially given an overall tough funding environment. “Losing 25 percent [of state support] when the total amount you receive is $7,000… is a really big deal, and you’re talking about hundreds of organizations that count on every little penny from multiple sources,” she said. “And they’ve seen their corporate dollars drop, and they’ve seen foundation dollars drop, and now we’re seeing state dollars not prorated, five percent or 10 percent, but an across-the-board cut of 25 percent.”

The Sidewalk festival has a significant economic impact on the city of Birmingham, according to Collins, who cited an estimate made in 2009 by the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau that the festival generated at least $1.25 million for the city.

Jesse Chambers is a contributing editor at Weld for Birmingham and a contributing writer at B-Metro magazine. Send your feedback to editor@weldbham.com