BILL NUMBER: SCR 70	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  44
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 22, 2008
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  FEBRUARY 7, 2008
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 19, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Scott

                        JANUARY 14, 2008

   Relative to the Arts Council's Arts Day.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 70, Scott. Arts Council: Arts Day.
   This measure would recognize the Arts Council's more than 30 years
of service to the state's residents and visitors. It would also
proclaim October 3, 2008, as Arts Day.



   WHEREAS, The Arts Council was established in January 1976 to
encourage artistic awareness, participation, and expression; to help
independent local groups develop their own arts programs; to promote
the employment of artists and those skilled in crafts in both the
public and private sector; to provide for the exhibition of artworks
in public buildings throughout the state; and to enlist the aid of
all state agencies in the task of ensuring the fullest expression of
our artistic potential; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council is dedicated to championing the
expansion of the arts, artistic excellence, access to the arts for
all residents of the state, and equitable resource allocation across
geographic and cultural segments; to the integration of the arts into
the educational curriculum as part of life-long learning; to the
building of cultural bridges between the state and other nations; to
the preservation and advancement of the state's diverse artistic and
cultural heritage; and to collaboration between the state's public
and private sectors; and
   WHEREAS, The stated mission of the Arts Council is to make
available and accessible quality art that reflects all of the state's
diverse cultures; to support the state's broad economic,
educational, and social goals through the arts; to provide leadership
for all levels of the arts community; and to present effective
programs that add a further dimension to cities, schools, jobs, and
the creative spirit; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council provides organizational and technical
assistance to a nonprofit arts industry that contributes more than
two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000) to the state's economy and one
hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in state and local tax
revenues, and that provides 150,000 nonprofit arts jobs and an
additional 500,000 jobs in the commercial entertainment sector; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council's arts-partnership programs give at-risk
and underprivileged youth access to the resources needed for
lifetime success in the workplace, universities, schools, churches,
businesses, and social services agencies; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council has a 25-year history of partnering
with, and supporting, local arts agencies and statewide service
organizations, which in turn provide programming and services to
local constituencies; and
   WHEREAS, When the Arts Council celebrated its 25th anniversary, it
launched The Year of the Arts--2001, a major public outreach and
public awareness campaign to generate support for the importance and
impact of the arts in the state. This was the first major public and
private sector partnership in the arts designed to build a media and
press foundation as the first phase of a multiyear effort to increase
the public value for the arts; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council's support from the General Fund was
decreased in the 2003-04 fiscal year from 18 million dollars
($18,000,000) to one million dollars ($1,000,000), a 94-percent
reduction that followed previous cuts from the 32 million dollars
($32,000,000) directed to the Arts Council in the 2000-01 fiscal
year. Such a dramatic reduction affected the Arts Council's
programming and administration more radically than any other
occurrence in its 27-year history, and required the Arts Council to
position itself in a new and very different role while maintaining
its commitment to furthering the arts in the state; and
   WHEREAS, In the year 2004-05 fiscal year, the Arts Council's
budget remained consistent with that of the 2003-04 fiscal year, and
as such, the Arts Council continued its focus on efforts that
promoted the public benefit of the arts, including infrastructure
support for the state's arts service organizations, grants supporting
arts education activities that serve pupils in kindergarten through
grade 12, inclusive, and the publishing of "The Arts: A Competitive
Advantage for California II," which updated the Arts Council's
groundbreaking 1994 economic impact report; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council collaborated with the Institute for
Local Government, an affiliate of the League of California Cities, to
publish "The Economic and Cultural Impact of the Arts in California:
Local Officials Tell Their Communities' Stories," which describes
how the arts bring a competitive edge to local economies, how public
art changes the world around us, and how the arts bring people
together in the community; and
   WHEREAS, Through the efforts of the Arts Council, sales of the
Arts Council license plate have increased significantly, providing
more funding for the Youth Education in Arts, Artists in Schools, and
Creating Public Value for the Arts programs; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council has collaborated with the State and
Consumer Services Agency and the Public Utilities Commission to
provide energy conservation and efficiency grants to artists to work
with teachers and students to develop creative approaches that
promote energy conservation and energy efficiency in the state; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council also partnered with the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection to create artists' residencies in four
migrant centers, coordinating arts activities that promote strategies
to increase energy efficiency in buildings. More than 500,000
Californians were indirectly served through exhibitions, public
service announcements, and performing arts activities; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council and the Department of Parks and
Recreation are cooperating in a joint pilot project to bring
performing artists to 15 state park venues; and
   WHEREAS, The Arts Council's special initiatives--the California
Music Project, My California: Journey by Great Writers, the
California Poet Laureate, Poetry Out Loud, the Next Generation,
International Connection, and the Arts Marketing Institute--promote
the state's creativity and artistry throughout the state, nation, and
world; and
   WHEREAS, The Art Council's Arts Day special events,
commemorations, and other local community events will help change the
perception that the arts are merely a luxury, and instead are an
integral part of the economic, educational, and social fabric of our
state and our nation; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes and joins
in the commemoration of the Arts Council's more than 30 years of
service to the state's residents and visitors; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature hereby proclaims October 3, 2008,
as Arts Day; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.