April is Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month in California

California ranks 35th in the nation for arts funding despite the importance of the arts to the state’s economy

SACRAMENTO , CA, UNITED STATES, March 18, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- California for the Arts today announced that the seventh annual Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month will kick off April 1. Public celebrations will focus on the vital role of the arts in promoting “Health, Healing, and Hope” across the state.

“We call artists ‘second responders’ because after a first responder comes in and saves a life, artists and creative workers step in to help communities heal and rebuild,” California for the Arts CEO Julie Baker said. “Research shows that not only do the arts help people cope, find their voice and agency, and build compassion and empathy, they are also essential drivers for community health and economic wellbeing. California should be leading, especially now, in recognizing the value and impact of culture and arts and the critical need for creativity. Instead we are 35th in the nation for arts funding.”

According to the recent California Arts Advocacy Survey, both arts organizations and creative workers in California report that long-term public underinvestment in the arts is their top concern. Rising rents, employee costs, and operational expenses are additional stressors that threaten to displace artists from their communities and even the state. If that happens, California risks losing its position as the leading creative state, currently home to 16% of the nation’s creative workforce.

“California’s creative workforce plays an outsized role in driving the state’s economy, yet California under-invests in arts funding. This Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month, we urge the Governor and Legislature to focus on policies and investments that support artists with living wages, affordable housing, health care, and much more. With federal cultural policies and funding threatened, we hope California lawmakers will prioritize restoring critical arts investments,” Baker said.

Funding for the California Arts Council, the state’s arts agency, has remained stagnant since 2018. California now ranks 35th in the nation for arts funding, behind Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, New York, and Minnesota.

EVENTS STATEWIDE

Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month events will be held in San Diego on April 4, Fresno on April 17, Oakland on April 18, and Sacramento on April 23. On April 22, Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D., national urban planning and culture policy resource, who served as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts until January of this year, will deliver the keynote address at the CA Arts & Culture Summit in Sacramento.

ARTS ADVOCACY DAY

The following day, advocates will rally at the Capitol and meet with elected officials for Arts Advocacy Day to discuss the need to restore investments in programs that support arts jobs. Advocates will be urging their representatives to reverse a $5 million cut to the California Arts Council’s budget, and to support the Film/TV Tax Credit. Additional advocacy priorities include seeking support for funding and expanding the California Cultural District Program and for reinstating funding for the Museums Grant Program. Both programs lost their allocations in previous budget cycles.

Arts Advocacy Day will also focus on legislation that has been introduced to support arts workers, including SB 456, authored by Senator Angelique Ashby of Sacramento, which creates a licensing exemption for muralists that will allow them to continue to engage in commissioned work for public and private art without obtaining a contractor’s license.

California for the Arts will also launch an “Arts & Health Guide” and host webinars educating the public about the role of artists as “second responders” to support public health strategies in mental health, trauma recovery and community healing, and the integration of arts into healthcare systems.

For a complete list of Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month events, visit https://www.caforthearts.org/programs/arts-culture-and-creativity-month.

About Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month

In 2019, California for the Arts successfully campaigned for the state to recognize and celebrate the arts by declaring April as Arts, Culture, & Creativity Month through a concurrent resolution passed in the California Senate. In 2021, an additional resolution was declared to recognize artists as second responders.

About CA for the Arts

California for the Arts is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary advocacy service organization focused on building resources and public awareness of the value and impact of arts, culture, and creativity across California. Learn more at www.caforthearts.org.

Nerissa Silao
Haines & Co.
+1 310-874-9230
nerissas@ca.rr.com