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Thanks to everyone who attended the ArtistSpeak! event last Thursday.  Approximately 125 people heard from our panel and contributed their thoughts to the conversation. Moderated by long-time journalist Brenda Payton Jones and hosted by the Oakland Museum of California, panelists included Drew Lisac, President of Altamira Enterprises and Uber Arts Advocate; Margo Dunlap, Executive Director of Pro Arts Gallery; Pamela Mays McDonald, Managing Editor of OaklandSeen and Founder and CEO of Cultural Cross Currents; and Randolph Belle, Executive Director of Support Oakland Artists.  Stay tuned to ArtistSpeak.org for commentary on the issues as well as additional reports from the October 14th event.  Anybody who would like to contribute their comments on the event, please do.

Topics for the event included:

• The arts as a vehicle for economic development
• The arts as a tool for community development
• Artists and the political process
• The candidates in Oakland’s upcoming mayoral election

ArtistSpeak! is the beginning of an ongoing conversation amongst the arts community that will continue online and at future ArtistSpeak! public forums.

If you would like to be considered for a future panel discussion, or would like to suggest a participant, please contact SOA at: (510) 84-ARTS1 or by e-mail at info@supportoaklandartists.org

Discussion Materials:

1. Arts and Economic Development
   The arts provide a tremendous impact on the local economy and represent a growth industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism.  The arts are one of Oakland’s most abundant natural resources.  Examples of the arts community’s impact include:
   • • Household income generated by working artists which is subsequently spent at local stores and services
       • Money spent by artists and arts organizations in making and presenting their work which is injected directly into local economy
       • Money spent by patrons of the arts as a result of sales and attending cultural activities, i.e., framers, restaurants, vendors and peripheral businesses
       • Tax revenue from arts businesses and arts-support industries
       • Revenue to municipalities from licensing fees
       • Individual artists as small businesses
         • The arts are often considered something that magically happens FOR the public and community at-large without consideration of the artists and what is required for them to make a livable wage.  Individual artists are not considered and treated as small businesses.  Additionally, neither are nonprofit arts organizations.  Therefore the arts are routinely viewed as something that requires mandatory subsidies, and in difficult economic times, are expendable.  The arts are not a luxury, but a necessity to maintaining a high quality of life.  The cultural and creative diversity of Oakland is a major factor in what attracts people here from all over the world, and for that reason, our world-class city requires world-class support for the arts.
         • Arts Policy
           • The following represents a framework and the beginning of a discussion of what measures can be taken from a policy perspective to better support the advancement of the arts in Oakland.
             • Planning, Zoning and Permitting
               • Housing and Work-Live
               • Festivals, Street Fairs and Special Events
               • Cabaret licensing
               • Administrative expediting
             • Incentives and Investment to encourage growth in the sector
             • Technical Assistance and business development support
             • Artists on all boards, commissions and other legislative processes
             • Inter-departmental coordination- CEDA/Redevelopment, Parks and Recreation, Health and Human Services, Public Works, Cultural Arts and Marketing
             • Marketing support for artists and the utilization of local artists in external marketing efforts

2.     Community Development

The arts and cultural activity are arguably the best method to build community cohesion, empower residents to participate in their neighborhood and develop confident, creative and intelligent young people.  The arts transcend race, class, age, gender and other persuasions that can be divisive deterrents to positive community development efforts.  Art is a wonderful way to encourage discussion, and spark participation and collaboration.

Additionally, the arts improve academic achievement when comprehensively integrated into the curriculum of students.  The arts remove barriers to learning for many students who struggle in the traditional school setting.  Unfortunately, the tradition in schools has become the elimination of the arts and a focus of stringent teaching frameworks with little opportunity for creativity and innovation.  The follow are ways in which the arts are used as community development tools:

• Community art

• Public Art
• Community Gardening
• Festivals and Street Fairs

• Arts Education and Youth Development

• • In-school
  • After-school
  • Nonprofit arts

3. Political Participation

Artists have historically held a significant place in politics around the world in the form of posters, cartoons and an enlightening perspective. Oakland has experienced it’s fair share contributions- from the art of Emory Douglas for the Black Panther movement, to the graffiti art featured in Pro Arts’ “No Justice, No Peace”, and recently with the powerful and spontaneous images created after the murder of Oscar Grant.  These images are strong representations of the impact of the arts in politics, but it’s also vitally important for artist’s voices to be heard in the political and legislative processes, which is largely absent in Oakland aside from a handful of dedicated artists and arts organizations.

The arts community needs to employ a coordinated, and even more importantly, a sustained campaign to influence public policy through civic participation.  A few ways that the arts community can make a difference are:

• Service on Boards, Committees and Commissions
• Attendance at Board, Committee and Commission meetings
• Vote!

Through public forums such as ArtistSpeak! and the Oakland Cultural Trust, the arts community can come together to have substantive discussion on the crucial issues impacting the ability of the arts to thrive.

4.     The Oakland Mayoral Election

A key to the formula for success in advancing the arts platform is the City’s top administrator.  The Mayor has the ability to propose policies, give directives to departmental leadership and set the tone for how the arts are deployed in the City of Oakland.  While we may find common ground on the issues and strategies to advance the arts, deciding who is best suited to implement and successfully deliver on these plans is generally the point of divergence.

ArtistSpeak! panelists will provide some input into their processes of selecting a candidate and start what should be an ongoing discussion about our elected leaders.   This discussion must continue åbeyond Election Day, to sustain our voice and ensure accountability amongst the City’s leadership.  Come November 3^rd, one candidate will prevail and many more will fall short.  While the Mayor’s office has great ability and influence to advance or hinder the arts cause, the community of artists in Oakland should make certain that personality politics, group think and personal bias does not drive their decision, and that we maintain focus on the long-term goal of inextricably inserting ourselves into the conversation, whoever holds the position of Mayor.

• Next steps- Continue the conversation

• Visit ArtistSpeak! online at www.artistspeak.org
• Submit names and topics for future forum speakers
• Visit the Oakland Cultural Trust- www.proartsgallery.org/trust
• Participate in the process and sustain the effort!