Editorials

Editorial: Local Arts Deserve Support

Becky O'Malley
Friday January 09, 2004

California now ranks dead last in the country in per capita arts spending, at three cents per person, according to the most recent report from the almost-extinct California Arts Council. Last year, the 27-year-old Arts Council was decimated by a 94 percent budget cut from the Legislature and the governor. This situation is deeply ironic in a state which owes so much to the entertainment industry, which in turn has always relied on the talent produced by California’s formerly excellent arts education program, especially since so many of our political leaders, including the current governor, came from that industry. 

Gavin Newsom, the new mayor of San Francisco, famous as the author of “Care not Cash,” now wants to be seen as a supporter of the arts, even though he has no previous track record as a patron of arts events. Steven Winn in the San Francisco Chronicle did a long column on Newsom’s arty intentions on Tuesday, quoting him as saying, “It's important, symbolically and substantively, that I demonstrate not just a passing interest or election-day promise. It's important that I show my commitment.” Good enough, but he might have a way to go.  

La Boheme opened Tuesday night at the San Francisco Opera. There were banks of searchlights criss-crossing the sky out in front. Asked why, a ticket-taker said they were there because the new mayor was supposed to be attending. In the balcony, we didn’t see him, or at least we probably didn’t see him. The third act opened on a snowy Paris street scene, with homeless beggars huddled under blankets on the stage. In strode a top-hatted gentleman in an opera cloak, who ostentatiously kicked the beggars out of his way as he passed. In the audience, in the balcony, a stage-whisper: “Is that Gavin Newsom?” Well, no, probably not, but you never know. Good taste tip for the newbie: Going to the opera is great, but hold the searchlights. Nonetheless, bravo to Newsom for trying to do the right thing. 

Matt Gonzalez probably had more support from working artists in the recent election, especially from the ones who claim to have inherited the counter-cultural mantle. A favorite tactic of cost-cutters is to pit supporters of “elite” arts like classical music against supporters of “popular” art forms like murals, in contention for the shrinking dollar. That’s a trap we shouldn’t let ourselves fall into. All of the arts cross-nourish one another, and supporting any of the arts benefits the whole community. Principal actors in the beloved populist San Francisco Mime Troupe make the rent in the off season as Equity actors in more bourgeois houses like ACT.  

It all starts in the schools. Berkeley Symphony (and L.A. Opera) Conductor Kent Nagano credits his career to publicly funded arts education, as does Oakland Symphony conductor Michael Morgan. Both are devoted supporters of in-school music programs.  

The arts programs have traditionally been the crown jewels of Berkeley’s public school system. A recent New Yorker article profiled soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, now 49, who graduated from Berkeley High School. “They had an amazing music program—an orchestra and three choirs,” she told the writer. “I sang solos in Mozart’s C-Minor Mass and had a wonderful time as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof.” Many other Berkeley High graduates, especially jazz musicians, have gone on to fame and fortune, but even more now share their talents with students and audiences in less glamorous settings closer to home. 

Berkeley audiences have a couple of upcoming chances to see how well our school music programs are doing these days, and to contribute to their support. Berkeley High’s usually fabulous Dance Production will play at the Florence Schwimley Little Theater, on the Allston Way side of the high school campus, at 8 p.m. for the next two weekends: Jan. 9, 10, 16, 17. There will be a festive performance and benefit for Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble, Thurs. Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. 

If you have time to get involved with what’s going on at the state level, you should plan to attend the upcoming California Arts Council meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. Titled “ Arts Funding Cuts in California: A Critical Response on the State of the Arts by State and National Leaders,” the meeting is a response to the statewide arts funding crisis. Councilmembers will assess the serious economic situation facing arts organizations in California as well as review the goal of the California Arts Council to advance arts, culture, and creativity in the state. The meeting will start at 10 a.m. in the Judicial Council Board Room (third floor) of the Hiram Johnson State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. It will run until 3 p.m. with a one-hour lunch break at noon. The public is invited to attend and address the meeting during public comments. 

 

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet.