Advancing Arts and Culture in Berkeley
Arts and culture are deeply embedded in Berkeley’s vibrant environment. For decades, Berkeley has served as a hub for artists covering a wide range of mediums and is home to multiple acclaimed theaters, performing arts spaces, and special events that bring audiences from across the world. Berkeley is home to over 150 arts and culture nonprofits. Ensuring the future success of our arts and culture is important for Berkeley’s identity and economy. In 2016, around $165 million was generated in economic activity as a result of Berkeley’s arts industry, with 2.6 million people having attended a cultural event. While much of this was lost during the pandemic, recent actions are being taken to restore the vibrancy of our arts and culture.
Civic Arts Programs
The Civic Arts Program provides support to artists and art organizations in multiple ways. It provides direct support to artists, organizations, and festivals through grants and technical assistance, with a focus on ensuring equitable access to high quality arts and culture. There are several funding mechanisms to fund the arts in Berkeley. In 2017, an ordinance was approved requiring new market-rate multifamily residential projects of five or more units and new commercial and industrial structures to provide, in their projects, publicly accessible onsite art valued at 1.75% of the construction cost. Alternatively, they can pay an amount equal to 80% of that value as an in-lieu fee to the city. In May 2022, Council adopted a new ordinance around public art funding for municipal capital improvement projects. This requires the City to set aside 1.75% of its capital improvement projects budget towards providing public art.
A major component of the Civic Arts Program is the Civic Arts Grants, which is broken down into three categories. Nonprofit arts organizations can apply for grants to support general operating costs, which are awarded on a two-year cycle. Individual artists can apply annually for grants that support developing new work. Finally, festival grants are awarded annually for Berkeley-based festivals and special events. During Fiscal Year 2021, 94 grants were awarded totalling $580,000. The next application window for all three categories will open this fall.
The Civic Arts Program also has several locations for rotating art installations. The Cube Space Gallery, located at the Addison Street entrance of the Center Street Parking Garage in the heart of Downtown Berkeley’s Arts District, features rotating installations by Bay Area emerging and mid-career artists working in video, multimedia, and sculpture. The Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza features rotating sound art installations which operate daily from 7am-10pm.
Supporting the Arts During the Pandemic
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of arts and entertainment venues. As the economy reopened, such venues were among the last to reopen due to social distancing protocols. While arts organizations adapted, shifting to online workshops and performances and other virtual events, millions of dollars in revenue were lost, mostly as a result of significant decline in ticket sales. During the initial months of the pandemic, just 63% of arts organizations polled in a survey were confident in their ability to survive the pandemic.
The City Council, knowing the importance of protecting arts organizations during the pandemic, immediately took action in developing grants to keep finances afloat. In March 2020, the same day the stay at home order went into effect, the Council established the Berkeley Relief Fund and allocated $3 million to support tenants, small businesses, and arts organizations impacted by the economic fallout of the pandemic. An additional $1.5 million was raised through private donations. As a result of the Berkeley Relief Fund, 63 arts organizations were given grants in April and May 2020, with the average grant size of $15,151.
Additionally, the Berkeley Arts & Culture Relief Grants (BARG), which was established during the pandemic through the American Rescue Plan Act, awarded approximately $2 million in grants to over 70 artists and arts organizations. These funds were distributed between February and May 2022. The Berkeley Relief Fund and BARG, in addition to supplemental funding and grants from regional and federal programs, helped keep many arts organizations from folding during the pandemic.
Making Berkeley a Home for Artists
A recent survey regarding artists provides insights into the need for affordable housing and art space. Around 71% of artists are renters, and of those, 77% are rent burdened (paying over 30% of their income towards housing). Additionally, artists have unique housing needs, with 82% of artists doing their creative work in their living space. The need for safe, accessible live-work housing has become a prominent priority after the tragic 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland. Under the 2018 Arts and Culture Plan, the first goal identified is to increase access to affordable housing and affordable spaces for artists and arts organizations. A major component of this is to increase and protect permanently affordable housing for artists. Also in 2018, Berkeley voters approved Measure O, a $135 million housing bond to create and preserve affordable housing.
While many proposals and policies to advance artist housing will be incorporated into the updated Housing Element (scheduled for adoption in early 2023), progress is already being made. One such development nearing completion is a 45-unit artist housing next to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The LEED Gold building will also include two classrooms and expanded space for school and summer programs. The City helped make this project possible by waiving and deferring various fees.
Using Arts to Advance Social Justice
The use of arts has long been used as a medium for highlighting social and racial struggles. The City of Berkeley commits to supporting equity within the arts and culture sector, and is consistently evaluating its programs and practices. The City recognizes the multiple benefits the arts provide to Berkeley residents at all stages of human development, regardless of race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Arts can be used as a way to promote and preserve culture, and ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to express themselves through art is beneficial to our city’s diversity.
United Against Hate Week, a national movement that started in Berkeley in 2017, uses the arts as a medium to empower local residents to take action in their local communities against the rise in hate crimes. Not In Our Town, which facilitates United Against Hate Week, sponsors events year round, such as the screening of Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life, which will have its West Coast premiere at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival on July 31st. Other festivals that the City has sponsored to promote diversity and culture include, but are not limited to the Juneteenth Festival, the Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow, and the Persian New Year Festival.
As we continue the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, support for the arts is more important than ever. With many artists and organizations feeling the brunt of the closures and restrictions experienced in the early stage of the pandemic, the City is committed to ensuring the long-term stability of these organizations. With new programs and policies developed in recent years, Berkeley is in a strong position to support the arts and to continue to be an international destination for the arts and culture.