We live in a city of nearly half a million people, yet only a small fraction of the residents participate in the most basic form of community advocacy: voting. Long Beach, according to the 2000 census, is home to the sixth highest poverty rate of any city in the country. While our municipal leaders, new and old, have made great strides in many areas, working diligently to maintain, if not improve, the quality of life for many of the City’s residents, they do not always recognize the value of an unhindered and dynamic cultural landscape, nor how to step out of the way so that it can flourish.
Austin, Texas, has enjoyed unprecedented and rapid growth in its high-tech business sector. When I spoke with people in Austin’s municipal government they stated that their unregulated entertainment policies led directly to the growth in business. Seattle, in Washington State, has a similar story. In many cities around the country, and around the world, the arts serve as a powerful engine for cultural and economic growth.
Many people believe that arts advocacy serves a small “wine and cheese” crowd, or supports artists who can’t survive without hand-outs. The truth is that we, the creative community, must work diligently to shift that perception so that our municipal leaders and, perhaps more importantly, the voters in our city understand that by removing municipal impediments to the synergy and success of artists throughout the City, the entire city benefits.
Of course, in order for advocacy to work it must be organized, coordinated, and enjoy a broad base of support. Our politicians enjoy their work and, while willing to explore ideas, feel much more comfortable supporting change when their constituents support it as well.
Many citizens have an issue they’re passionate about but, because they’re just one person, feel helpless to advance it. Even organizations like the Arts Council for Long Beach, funded in part by the City, struggle to be heard. That is why the Creativity Network started a process of dialog, social networking and, now, organized forums that encourage focused participation in arts advocacy. That’s why LongBeachCulture.org, and other community organizations, have supported this process. We recognize that each of us pushing our individual agendas is far less effective than all of us supporting one good idea. We’ve not figured out what that idea is but, with your help, we will.
The next Creativity Network forum, co-sponsored by LongBeachCulture.org and the 2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Space, is taking place on Wednesday, September 6th from 7-9 PM. This forum, building on the momentum of the last, will be focused on finding solutions to some of the challenges we explored in the last forum. Please come, and bring friends. Only by broadening the scope of the dialog to include all of us will we be able to discover an effective path toward our collective goals.
Check out the results from the first forum, and read the invitation to the upcoming forum.