This exhibition, co-curated by two Department of Cultural Affairs employees and taking place in the Municipal Gallery of the City of Los Angeles is exactly the kind of innovative programming that’s threatened by the proposed staff and budget cuts. This show brings together 60 artists who represent the thriving experimental nature of Los Angeles’ art scene, possibly the first gathering of size in LA of artists of this experimental generation, raised on a diet of relational aesthetics and a dissatisfaction with the art world in general. Our city is being recognized as an art capital today because of the risks and experiments of the artists gathered in this exhibition.
Hello Eastsiders! I live in the Harbor Area, but this affects the whole city, so I’ve asked to borrow this soapbox for a minute.
The Department of Cultural Affairs is being threatened with a 24-48% staff cut, the elimination of the entire $2.2 million grants budget and there is a motion to eliminate the ordinance that guarantees a %1 “hotel bed tax” that forms the core of the Department’s budget. These cuts will cripple the department, and the elimination of the grants program will spread the pain out, further crippling the ability of scores of non-profits throughout the City to deliver key programming.
There are hard working people at the Department of Cultural Affairs who will lose their jobs, and kids who will not get an arts education if these cuts pass. Small businesses and individual contractors who provide services to arts organizations will be hard hit. Artists who desperately need support and venues for their work will find it gone. I will likely have to cancel upcoming programming at Angels Gate if these cuts go through, and I know that other arts organizations will be even harder hit than the one I work for.
This situation has been developing for several days now, and even now as I write this there is a meeting about the elimination of the grants program. I have a whole series of posts up at my site that go into detail about the cuts, you can read about it here, here and here. Arts for LA has also been on top of this, and their site has lots of information as well. The Times is barely covering this, at the time I’m writing this, the Culture Monster blog hasn’t even addressed the issue.
How you can get involved and make a difference
Angels Gate Cultural Center, in partnership with the Grand Vision Foundation, will be hosting a letter writing party tonight, February 1, at the Grand Annex on 6th Street in Downtown San Pedro from 5:30-8:00 pm. We will provide paper, pre-written letters, writing assistance, pens, envelopes. We will write letters to the city council, Council District 15 councilmember Janice Hahn and the Mayor’s office, letting them know how important the Department of Cultural Affairs and its services are to you and your families. Your words can change things.
If you can’t make our letter writing party, you can write a letter online via Arts for LA’s website. If you don’t live in the City, but enjoy the services provided by the DCA, you should direct your Emails to either council president Eric Garcetti. You can write all of them if you like, too. It’s easy.
You can also contact your councilmember’s office directly, via the City of Los Angeles website. Nothing gets their attention more than a barrage of phone calls.
Marshall Astor
www.marshallastor.com
UPDATE, click ahead