At the Alberta ART HOP street fair on Saturday, I talked with several artists. In responding to their questions, I said I'd posted some of my views on funding for arts and culture here on this blog. In checking to make sure the links were clear, I found my previous statements on the topic hadn't been cross-posted on this site. So here they are:

From Mercury Blogtown several weeks ago:

Arts are vital to the cultural, educational, and economic infrastructure of our region, as well as our city. Yet although both the cultural/entertainment aspects and the economic factors benefit the whole Metro region, the City of Portland already picks up most of the funding for arts and culture organization through the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC). I will work to encourage Clackamas and Washington Counties, Metro, and the State of Oregon to contribute their fair share to support the arts in the community and in schools.

The traditional reaction on support for cultural resources and activities is to consider arts for their aesthetic and soul-satisfying qualities. In 2008, however, "Creative Arts" is one of the known growth industries for Portland, the Metro region, and Oregon. We tend to think of "starving" and "artist" in the same phrase, but for thousands of Oregonians,

Arts = Jobs
Graphic design and advertising fit well with our existing concentration of technology-based businesses. Arts industries generate over $300 million in spending in the Metro region, and support over 10,000 jobs. I will support economic development programs that promote good paying jobs in creative arts industries.

Right here in the heart of Portland, in the Central Eastside Industrial District, successful companies are producing films, commercials, and graphic art such as Nintendo games. If I am elected to the City Council, I will support not only leveraging funds for non-profits in the community via RACC, but also other ways the City can protect and add good jobs in creative arts industries. Keeping the Central Eastside's Industrial Zoning to ensure preservation of large warehouse spaces for production, is one example. Another is considering the impact of traffic flow changes in the Burnside-Counch couplet on sound studios nearby. I will work with the State to continue and enhance economic development incentives with proven success, to ensure that our film industry can compete with other locations.

My daughter is heading to Southern Oregon University in September, to try out for the Acting specialty in their Theater major. SOU hosts one of the premier drama programs on the West Coast, in partnership with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Knowing the odds of my daughter becoming a star are low, I'm glad I know there are many good-paying jobs off stage, in design and production. But hey, here's Ali's mom, with a good chance of winning a seat on the Portland City Council, thanks to Public Campaign Financing and my years of service in our community. Sometimes surprising things happen.

My response to the Regional Arts and Culture Council's questions is posted [below, after the break]. Willamette Week made fun of my answer, saying the details I gave on the sources of funding put the reporter to sleep. I believe we need a new City Commissioner who will pay attention to important details, particularly when watching over taxpayers' money and looking for ways to bring more good paying jobs to Portland.

My response to the Regional Arts and Culture Council's questions:

1) Arts and culture activities add measurable value to our region and quality of life, but the Portland metropolitan area lags behind the national average in public funding of the arts per capita. How much public funding do you believe is appropriate for arts and culture in the region, and what steps will you take to ensure increased public investment in the City of Portland?

The 2007 Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) Report states, "RACC has identified the need for public funding totaling $15 million per year. To meet this goal, RACC and other art community leaders are exploring the possibility of launching a Dedicated Funding Initiative, either regionally or citywide. " As a City Commissioner, I will listen to informed citizens and help our community find ways to reach the goals we set for the long term public good in Portland, using taxpayers' money wisely to provided needed services to every Portlander.

It is clear that there is inadequate funding for arts education programs, public art, and support of the many worthy non-profits engaged in the arts in Portland. RACC is beginning the process of evaluating ways to address that need. I will look to your lead, and use my experience and connections over 20 years in schools and neighborhoods all over Portland to draw more citizens into the conversation. If a funding mechanism is referred to city or regional voters, I will work to ensure citizens understand its importance and value.

The City of Portland already contributes 68.9% of RACC's income, $3.6 million. Cash-strapped Multnomah County gives 9.5%, at $500,000. Metro gives only $25,000, Clackamas County $70,000, Washington County $70,797. Although the City of Portland does benefit more than other jurisdictions, arts in the tri-County area is said to "compose a $318 million industry, including $166.7 million in direct organizational spending and $151.5 million in event-related spending by their audiences. This economic activity supports more than 10,300 jobs and generates $206.7 million in household income to local residents."

I will encourage Clackamas County, Washington County, and Metro, to pick up more of their fair share of funding responsibilities. I will meet with elected leaders in these jurisdictions regularly, to understand their views, address obstacles, and urge them to push for increased funding. Portland now requires a 2% dedication for art in public construction projects, and Multnomah County 1.33%. I will ask other communities to step up with assured funding. The Oregon Arts Commission provides only 1.6%, at $85,741. Portland is a cultural center for all of northern Oregon, and I will help seek greater financial contributions from jurisdictions whose residents and businesses benefit from arts and cultural activities in our city and region.

I will help publicize the work of both RACC and the Work for Art program, to increase community awareness of and private support for arts and culture programs.

2) A coalition of arts organizations, school districts, governments and private funders are working together to achieve a measurable impact on learning by integrating the community’s arts and cultural resources into the education of every K-8 student in the region’s school districts. If elected, what resources could you bring to this “Arts Partners” collaboration?

Supporting local schools is one of my core values. For seventeen years as an active parent involved in Portland's public schools, I have advocated for adequate, improved school funding. I have lobbied supporting SUN Schools and Portland Parks & Recreation arts programs. Our family has made significant financial contributions to the Portland Public Schools Foundation and to our local schools. I have worked in the community on fundraisers and bond measures, at the City, at Multnomah County, and at the Legislature. As your City Commissioner, I will continue to lobby for school funding in all those places. We must restore arts, sports, electives, and a full range of advanced and remedial courses in every school in the city. Our local economy depends on good schools to attract businesses, keep families in the city, and provide a well-educated workforce.

I am excited about RACC's partnership with Big Thought, of Dallas, as explained by Eloise Damrosch at the Parkrose Business Association a few months ago. The mentoring of this successful national leader in the Arts Partners project brings hope for coordinated provision of arts education in every school. As the mother of a daughter who began performing on stage in preschool and will head to Southern Oregon University this fall to pursue a career in theater, I have been personally engaged in the struggles of schools to provide arts education since 1991. I also know that studies show children who participate in arts classes are more likely to perform well on standardized tests, more likely to stay in school, and more likely to continue on to higher education. I will be an active proponent of the Arts Partners collaboration. I believe we need a Commissioner on the Portland City Council who has experienced the agony of worrying about whether their child's favorite class (and life's vocation) will be cut from the Public Schools' curriculum. My background and life's work for 22 years ensures that I will consistently consider funding choices by assessing their effect on supporting Portland's schools.

I will use my connections with community leaders, teachers, parents, students, andSchool Board members in all the school districts in our city, to help promote the Arts Partners collaboration. I am endorsed by Governor Barbara Roberts, former City Commissioner Mike Lindberg, the Teachers' Voice in Politics/Portland Association of Teachers, Ruth Adkins of the Portland Public Schools Board, Alesia J, Reese who serves on the Parkrose School Board, and many other Portlanders who care about arts education. Please see supporters.

3) In what specific ways have you supported arts and culture – as a private citizen, as a public or private employee, and/or as an elected official?

I am the only candidate for Position 1 who has served on the Portland Planning Commission. I understand the issue of public art and murals with respect to billboards and advertising. As I did during my seven years' service on the Planning Commission, I will work to find ways to allow murals while maintaining legal sign code regulations.

My grassroots work to support arts education in public schools, and similar efforts by parents all over Portland hasn't attracted headlines, yet without us, an entire generation of children would have received no arts education in our public schools. Business donations, government appropriations, and the leadership of elected officials and non-profits including RACC have also been crucial, but without parent investment and support for arts education, many programs would disappeared. My oldest child started kindergarten the year after Measure 5 passed, so for all 17 years of my service in the Oregon PTA, I have helped fundraise to keep arts and culture alive in Portland's schools.

* Because parents refused to let arts education die in the 1990s, our grade school, Markham Elementary, continues to have a flourishing program despite being the only Title 1 school on the west side, with 45% of the children receiving free school lunch. I co-chaired the Markham Elementary Local School Advisory Committee for two years, continually finding ways to keep art, music, and physical education at Markham.

* I volunteered with Run for the Arts for 12 years.

* I founded the World's Fair at Markham, its annual multicultural event featuring exhibits, food, art, and dancing - in the first year, 63 countries were represented, and eight years later it remains the school's most popular event for many in the community.

* When my older son wasa sixth grader at Jackson Middle School, my husband and I were part of the parent force that saved Speech and Drama there, and again the program survives and grows to this day.

* My youngest child, my daughter, is a senior for whom Wilson's drama program has been her main niche in high school. In her freshman year, I was a leader in the parent group that raised over $30,000 in less than three months, to save the Drama program at Wilson by funding the teacher's position.

* Wilson parents and the Wilson Area Arts Council are currently fundraising for new risers for choir performances. I helped plan the appeal strategy, and donated part of our Oregon tax kicker to the fund.

* When our children were younger, we subscribed to the Oregon Symphony's children's series, were members of the Portland Art Museum, and took dozens of classes at the Multnomah Arts Center. We are members of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. My car has a Cultural Trust license plate. * My husband is a gifted amateur photographer - hundreds of his images are posted on my blog, www.AmandaFritz.com. I have featured art work around Portland in my Photo Quiz series, for example here.

The creative community in Portland makes our city stronger both in the economy and in its vitality. With dedicated leadership, it can provide more good jobs even in challenging times. Young people coming to the cultural center in Portland enrich and enliven our society; older patrons of the arts nurture, sustain and stabilize it. My commitment to arts and culture in Portland is long standing, sincere, and action-oriented. Supporters of the arts can expect my continued engagement if I am elected to serve as your next City Commissioner.