I am concerned about the misconception of Councilman Bob Yousefian
and subsequent reporting by the News-Press that the Arts Commission
has not raised any funding. In fact, the Arts Commission raised a
total of $191,489 in the past two years ($106,703 in fiscal year 2002
and an additional $84,786 in fiscal year 2003) to support arts
programs within Glendale Unified.
It is true that the Arts Commission does not raise money to
support itself, but then neither does any other regular city
commission. Staff that support the Arts Commission also manage the
Parks and Rec Department's long-standing and successful Lifelong
Learning Program that is available to the citizens of Glendale,
offering a variety of low cost classes for adults and young people
within the community, as well as support other Parks and Recreation
and city programs such as the Unity Fest. It would be a shame to lose
these valuable community resources through budget cuts. It is also
important to look at the overall impact of the nonprofit arts on the
city of Glendale.
In addition to funds raised by the commission to support arts
programs in the schools, one should look at the economic activity
generated by nonprofit arts organizations nationwide and specifically
in Glendale. The nonprofit arts themselves have a significant
positive impact on the revenues of local businesses. According to the
Arts and Economic Prosperity Study that was done nationwide in 2000
by Americans for the Arts, "the nonprofit arts industry generates
$134 billion in total economic activity by arts organizations and
their audiences, which is more than the gross national product of
most nations of the world."
Specific to Glendale, the study found that the nonprofit arts
generate $10.5 million in local economic activity. This includes $3.8
million in spending by nonprofit arts organizations themselves and
$6.7 million in event-related spending by their audiences in
restaurants, stores, hotels and other businesses. These amounts do
not include the cost of admission to the arts events themselves.
Based on attendance records during that period, attendance at arts
events was 333,851 -- this is an average of $19.96 per person, per
event, not including the cost of admission. Also according to the
survey, the nonprofit arts industry supports 308 full-time jobs and
delivers $1.2 million in local and state government revenue to the
city of Glendale.
So let's add this up:
An investment of $100,000 (using the figure quoted by the
