Parks & Rec Park Activation Grant

Arizona  Citizens for the Arts congratulates the Arizona Legislature and  Governor Hobbs for renewing the historic $5 million funding for the  Arizona Commission on the Arts in its FY2024 state budget. 

Last  year, the arts and culture community celebrated the $5 million  commitment as an indicator that the State was finally willing to  re-invest in the arts, after two years in a row of leaving the  Commission entirely out of the state budget. 

While we appreciate a $5 million investment, the needs of Arizona’s creative economy are much greater than that. We know that many of our allies in the Legislature recognize this and will work with us to address those needs in the future. 

Rising  costs and inflation are whittling the value of last year’s $5 million  appropriation, meaning that the same amount in FY2024 cannot provide the  same level of support. 

In  addition, the Arizona arts community is growing rapidly, reflected by a  20 percent increase in general operating and other grant applications  to the Commission in 2023. Therefore, the funding is being asked to  serve larger numbers of artists and organizations. That reduces the value of this $5 million even further. 

All  of this occurs as arts organizations continue facing challenges in the  post-pandemic environment, where audiences and patrons are not all back  and other resources from the community are uncertain. 

And,  looking at the bigger picture, the State’s investment has fallen far  below its past commitments for many years. Adjusting for population,  inflation and growth of the field, the $20 million appropriation  recommended in Governor Hobbs’ proposed budget in January is much closer  to the level of investment the State should be making in Arizona’s  creative economy. 

Meanwhile,  this year’s appropriation is another one-time investment, meaning that  the Arizona Commission on the Arts remains the only state agency that  was once funded with ongoing dollars in the General Fund, which still  has not returned to ongoing funding. The last year for ongoing funding for the arts was 2011. This makes it hard for the Commission to carry out long-term strategic  planning and attract ongoing commitments from private donors since the  State hasn’t shown an ongoing commitment to the agency itself. 

We look forward to working with the Governor’s Office and allies in the  State Legislature to address all of these issues in the 2024 legislative  session. 

Meanwhile,  we know that the Arizona Commission on the Arts will make the most  strategic use of these funds in the next year to support the work of so  many artists, community festivals and arts organizations who inspire us,  heal us, educate us as they enhance the quality of our lives and  produce an impressive return on investment in our economy.