San Diego County bets on the arts as cities cut funding

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San Diego County supervisors plan to launch a new arts and culture initiative as the city and federal government cut arts funding.

On Wednesday, County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chairwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe announced their proposal to allocate up to $2.75 million to arts programs in the first year, with ongoing spending of $2.25 million for various arts programs that will benefit the 3.3 million people living in San Diego County’s cities and unincorporated areas.

“We think it’s going to be transformative,” Lawson-Remer said. “This is the first time the county has stepped up to secure public investment in arts and culture for the entire county.”

Supervisors unveiled their plan at the San Diego County Administrative Center in Waterfront Park after children from the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra performed violin pieces and break dancers performed gymnastic moves.

The county arts program will include providing up to $1 million in grants to artists living in areas with limited cultural resources. $500,000 will go to improve access to creative spaces and support the existing African American Arts and Culture District, located nine blocks in San Diego’s Encanto community.

The plan would also allocate $250,000 for binational art and cultural cooperation in the San Diego-Baja California area and an artist-in-residence program to integrate local artists into county departments, where they will help develop creative solutions to community challenges.

“This means that communities where San Diegans have been underserved and marginalized in the arts for too long will have support and resources,” Lawson-Remmer said, speaking from a podium where someone had placed a stuffed Mozart doll, a gift from the youth orchestra. “We’re expanding opportunities for artists, increasing public access to cultural experiences, and strengthening connections across our diverse and incredible region.”

The five-member Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposal on Tuesday, May 5.

The proposed program has been a year in the making, according to supervisors, but its launch coincides with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s plan to eliminate an $11.8 million arts grant program for corrected a deficit of 146 million dollars in the municipal budget . Arts and culture advocates opposed the proposed cuts, which would cut city funding for the arts by 85 percent and also cut spending on libraries and recreation centers.

Montgomery Stepp said the county’s program was not a response to city budget cuts, but acknowledged it was to be expected as government agencies pulled back from their commitments to the arts.

The federal government, under President Donald Trump’s administration, last year rescinded funding previously provided to local nonprofits through the National Endowment for the Arts. Artists are also sidelined by rising costs, limited access to capital, income volatility and a lack of affordable housing and workspaces, the supervisors noted in a staff report on the proposal.

“San Diego County’s arts and cultural ecosystem is at a critical juncture,” Montgomery Stepp said. “We have all witnessed the resilience of our artists and cultural workers in recent years, even as their livelihoods have been affected by pandemic closures and changes in societal priorities. But today we also face a new challenge: the distancing of society from its long-standing commitment to the arts.”

Jared Osoria, a principal dancer with the San Diego Ballet, said his organization lost $10,000 last year in funds that the National Endowment for the Arts advanced and then withdrew. The county arts program can help the ballet company purchase new audio-visual equipment for rehearsal studios, cover other expenses and offer free ballet lessons to students in San Ysidro and City Heights.

“It gives shoes to our dancers,” Osoria said. “It allows us to have a better budget for props in our main productions. And it ensures that our Nutcracker continues year after year.”

Alex Villafuerte, executive director of the Pacific Arts Movement, which produces the San Diego Asian Film Festival, said the federal foundation gave his organization $25,000 last year but then withdrew the money.

“Last year was the first year it was overturned without any explanation and without giving us an opportunity to file a rebuttal or reconsider the decision, and we’re guessing that was largely due to executive orders related to diversity,” he said.

Sponsors of the film festival later withdrew their donations, pulling another $50,000, after telling organizers they were concerned the donations violated federal rules that limit diversity, equity and inclusion programs. As a result, the organization brought in fewer filmmakers for its main festival and reduced the spring performance from seven to three days, Villafuerte explained.

Ramel Wallace, founder and executive director of the Holyfield organization, which supports storytelling, music and education, said the county’s contribution is a good start. However, he noted that arts communities need to become more self-sufficient through community financial structures such as revolving savings and loan associations and savings circles that share capital among their members.

“Right now people are going to have to create solidarity economies, micro economies in our individual communities because we can’t always depend on authority,” he said.

Art advocates have rejected the idea that art is a luxury, arguing that investing in art improves community well-being, supports tourism, and stimulates economic development.

“The arts are not a luxury; they are a public good,” said Gaidi Finney, executive director of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Arts. “They create jobs, promote small businesses, contribute to education and mental health.”