CITY COUNCIL
Darrell Steinberg, Mayor
Lisa Kaplan, District 1
Shoun Thao, District 2
Karina Talamantes, Mayor Pro Tem, District 3
Katie Valenzuela, District 4
Caity Maple, Vice Mayor, District 5
Eric Guerra, District 6
Rick Jennings, II, District 7
Mai Vang, District 8
CHARTER OFFICERS
Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk
Susana Alcala Wood, City Attorney
Farishta Ahrary, Interim City Auditor
Howard Chan, City Manager
John Colville, City Treasurer
City Council
Financing Authority
Housing Authority
Public Financing Authority
Redevelopment Agency Successor Agency
City Hall Complex
915 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Published by the Office of the City Clerk
(916) 80
8-7200
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Description: Attached is supplemental material received after publishing the agenda, the update recommendation for the Commission/Committee Action.
For th
e Meeting of: Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
Agenda Item: Consent Item 5
5. ARPA Framework and Funding Priorities: Arts & Creative Economy Framework Amendment
F
ile ID: 2024-01675
Loc
ation: Citywide
R
ecommendation: Adopt a Resolution approving the revised approach for funding individual artists through the American Rescue Plan Act Arts and Creative Economy Program.
C
ontact: Mannylyn Timoteo, Administrative Analyst, (916) 808-3982, [email protected]; Jason Jong, Cultural and Creative Economy Manager, (916) 808-5105, [email protected]; Megan Van Voorhis, Director, (916) 808-5979, [email protected]; Department of Convention and Cultural Services
City of Sacramento Page 1
City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-01675 10/8/2024 Consent Item 5.
ARPA Framework and Funding Priorities: Arts & Creative Economy Framework Amendment File ID: 2024-01675
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution approving the revised approach for funding individual artists through the American Rescue Plan Act Arts and Creative Economy Program.
Contact: Mannylyn Timoteo, Administrative Analyst, (916) 808-3982, [email protected]; Jason Jong, Cultural and Creative Economy Manager, (916) 808-5105, [email protected]; Megan Van Voorhis, Director, (916) 808-5979, [email protected]; Department of Convention and Cultural Services Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: On March 13, 2020, the City declared a local emergency in response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 21, 2020, the City received $89.6 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) from passage of the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to assist with the City’s response to the pandemic. Among the areas the City prioritized was relief for Arts, the Creative Economy and Tourism.
To further assist government entities with the pandemic response and recovery, on March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law making $350 billion available through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to assist states, tribal governments, and local governments. The City of Sacramento received $112.2 million through that legislation. On August 24, 2021, the City Council held a workshop to discuss the Mayor’s proposed ARPA Framework and Funding Priorities. During that workshop, City Council and stakeholders expressed interest in funding Arts and the Creative Economy, among several other areas identified. On September 14, 2021, City Council adopted the Mayor’s proposed ARPA Framework and Funding Priorities and directed the City Manager, City Attorney, City Auditor, City Treasurer, and City Clerk to
File ID: 2024-01675 10/8/2024 Consent Item 5.
implement City Council direction consistent with the adopted ARPA Framework.
On March 1, 2022, City council adopted Resolution No. 2022-0064 1) establishing the Arts and Creative Economy Program as a new Multi-Year Operating Project; 2) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to transfer $10,000,000 from the available fund balance of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Reinvestment Fund to the expenditure budget of the Arts and Creative Economy Program; and 3) approving the amended Arts and Creative Economy Framework.
On October 24, 2023, City council adopted Resolution No. 2023-0336 1) approving the revised approach for funding creative businesses through the Arts and Creative Economy Program; and 2) rescinding the previous approach for funding creative businesses through the Arts and Creative Economy Program as referenced in Resolution No. 2022-0064.
The Office of Arts and Culture has since engaged in extensive research regarding a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) program for artists, in consideration of feedback provided by council at the March 1, 2022, meeting. This includes gathering additional information from GBI practitioners, administrators, and local artists and creatives through two advisory group convenings, one public listening session and two community surveys. Based upon this analysis, staff is recommending a revised approach to funding individual artists that is aligned with the original objectives of a GBI program, while also responding to requests for greater accountability through the program.
Revised Approach to Funding Individual Artists
Creative Growth Support Fund
The revised approach to funding individual artists takes the form of a 12-month program that will include regular payments of $850/month to 200 artists, for a total of $10,200 per artist over the term of the funding period. Eligible use of funds would include, but not be limited to, basic monthly living expenses that enable recipients to devote time to their creative practice as well as expenses associated directly with their creative practice; ineligible use of funds (restrictions) will be clearly identified. Recipients will also have access to convening and networking opportunities as well as professional development programming tailored to the cohort’s needs. With a working title of Creative Growth Support Fund, the program aims to advance each recipient’s artistic practice, while fostering creative growth within the overall artist population.
Artists and creatives are not “one-size-fits-all.” They are unique in the disciplines they represent, as well as the ways in which they approach their practice; each contributing in their own way to benefit Sacramento. Eligible artists and culture bearers will be those working in one of the following artistic disciplines: Craft, Dance, Design, Interdisciplinary Arts, Literature, Media Arts, Music, Performance Art, Theater, and Visual Arts. Artists must be 18 years or older at the time of application, must live in the City of Sacramento at the time of application and throughout the funding period, and may not be full-time students at the time of application. Recipients will be selected through a peer panel review
File ID: 2024-01675 10/8/2024 Consent Item 5.
process that takes into consideration three main criteria: commitment to practice, artistic merit and public benefit.
Community-based organizations will be identified to assist with program communications, outreach, and vetting of applicants, supporting a more equitable and wide-reaching process. A third-party fund administrator will be engaged to provide regular monthly payments to all recipients. Contractors will be engaged to provide artists with specialized professional development activities. Research, evaluation, and communication around program impact will involve one or more third-party entities, providing clear and attainable benchmarks and the ability to strongly convey the value of this one- year program through multiple mediums and platforms. A user-friendly reporting framework will be employed to encourage and establish accountability on the part of fund recipients. While not funded through the American Rescue Plan Act allocation for Arts and the Creative Economy, the Office of Arts and Culture will develop a centralized online artist resource hub to connect artists with one another and the wider community, while also providing important information to support their growth and development.
Policy Considerations: The recommendations in this report align with Creative Edge: Sacramento’s Arts, Culture & Creative Economy Plan, which was adopted by Sacramento City Council on July 3, 2018, and serves as the guiding policy framework for the Office of Arts and Culture. Goal 4 of the plan is to enable Sacramento artists and creatives to thrive in their work and to provide creative leadership in the community. To that end, the plan calls for investing in funding and services for individual artists to improve their capacity for artistic and career success and their ability to remain in Sacramento. Among other things, this includes artist grants, convening and networking, and expanded learning opportunities.
Economic Impacts: According to Creative Vitality Suite, a service of Creative West (formerly the Western States Arts Federation), there were 3,441 individual artists and performers in the City of Sacramento in 2022. Those artists generated $67.5 million in industry earnings in 2022.
Environmental Considerations: The recommendations in this report are not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because they involve government fiscal activities that do not involve any commitment to a specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment, as contemplated by Section 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §15000 et seq.), and is, therefore, not subject to CEQA pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines.
Sustainability: Not Applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: None.
On October 7, 2024, the Sacramento Arts, Culture, and
Creative Economy Commission considered and unanimously passed a motion recommending City Council approve the revised approach for funding individual artists through the American Rescue
File ID: 2024-01675 10/8/2024 Consent Item 5.
Plan Act Arts and Creative Economy Program.
Rationale for Recommendation: Office of Arts and Culture staff have considered all aspects of the program-both its original objectives and intentions, and the information gathered from national funders and practitioners, local artists and creatives, Councilmembers, and other City staff. This modified approach maintains the original tenets of the proposed GBI Pilot for Artists - in particular a stable floor to cover basic living expenses to buy time to invest in their creative practice - while establishing a greater level of accountability for this large and important investment considering council feedback and direction. Moreover, the revised approach is scalable, which increases the likelihood that the Office of Arts and Culture could continue the program with a considerably smaller set of resources should those resources be available.
This recommendation moves away from income as the chief driver of recipient selection and towards impact as the chief driver, which is consistent with council feedback and direction to ensure public benefit of the investment. The process of vetting based off both income and artistic impact would be a costly endeavor that would inevitably reduce the number of artists the City could invest in through this program and limit the ability to invest in professional development as well as sufficient outreach and engagement activities as well as research and evaluation. This program instead leads with creative growth (personally and collectively) as the outcome, centers impact in the selection process, and ensures that recipients and their valuable contributions to Sacramento are visible to the people of Sacramento and beyond. This program also enables the desired element of professional development offerings, provides greater flexibility for program evaluation and assessment, and supports the development of more comprehensive communications around program value and impact.
Financial Considerations: The recommended actions revise the approach to supporting individual artists through the Arts and Creative Economy Program (I17609000). Sufficient funding is available to carry out the program as proposed.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not Applicable.
Background: Adopted by City Council on September 14, 2021, the Mayor’s Framework for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in Sacramento included a $10 million allocation for critical projects and programs needed to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Creative Economy.
This original allocation included $3 million for grants and professional development for creative workers and individual artists. The focus and purpose of this funding was to build the capacity of local artists with equity-focused direct investments. On March 1, 2022, this framework was amended and the new ARPA Framework and Funding Priorities: Arts and Creative Economy Funding Allocation and Framework was approved on Consent Calendar by City Council. The amended Framework for Individual Artists and Creatives established a Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot for Artists (GBI) to be administered by a third party identified through an RFP process.
File ID: 2024-01675 10/8/2024 Consent Item 5.
As outlined in the Staff Report, “OAC recognizes that artists and creative workers have experienced significant economic instability, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic, and OAC is interested in exploring solidarity economy concepts that address that instability, along with systemic racial bias and inequity, to support Sacramento creative workers.”
At the time, objectives of a GBI program were to:
1. Recognize the value and contributions of Sacramento artists and creatives.
2. Provide a stable source of income that allows artists and creatives to devote more time to their practice.
3. Provide financial assistance in recognition that many roles in the creative sector remain unpaid or underpaid, and economic precarity is prevalent in a gig economy.
4. Reduce barriers to staying in the arts and culture field.
A GBI program was to respond directly to the immediate economic threat, providing a stable base of support in a vulnerable time, when gigs and artistic contracts were slow to recover. While Council approved the framework at their March 1, 2022 meeting, they also provided valuable feedback that was heard and addressed by staff. Questions that surfaced were:
1. What is the process for evaluation of the success of the program? What data do we plan to collect from grant recipients to demonstrate the strength of this pilot?
2. What is the strategy for the disbursement of funds throughout the City? Exactly who is being served by this investment?
3. What do we expect as a return on this investment? How would we define the public good produced?
4. What level of accountability can be built into this program? Office of Arts and Culture research yielded the following information about GBI programs:
1. The majority of pure GBI programs are based on a random selection process with primary consideration being low-income (with vetting for basic artistic practice). Income is measured by a specific standard, such as the Self-Sufficiency Standard or California Real Income Standard. In this case, it could eliminate artists who are worthy of support but do not meet income thresholds.
2. GBI recipients remain anonymous. They are granted funds without knowledge of their identity, and they may remain anonymous throughout the grant. Artists can opt in to participate in qualitative reports and evaluation, but this is not required. Data around program impact would be much more difficult to acquire and convey.
3. A third party is key to administering a random selection process, applicant income verification, and the disbursement of funds.