HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/26/2023 Item Public Comment, SLOMA
From:Erica Ellis <
09 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Leann Standish
Subject:Letter to the City Council: Community Priorities/Community Forum
Attachments:SLOMA BOD letter to City_comm forum.pdf
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Hello –
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, I would
like to submit the attached letter ahead of the Community Priorities Forum at the Ludwick Center tomorrow
evening.
Thank you for your commitment to an open process for setting community goals and for including the arts in
the last two-year cycle of Major City Goals.
Erica Ellis
Operations & Collections Manager
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
Work: 805-543-8562
she/her
1
1010 BROAD STREET at Mission Plaza
POST OFFICE BOX 813
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93406
PH: 805-543-8562
INFO@SLOMA.ORG
Barbara Bell
President
Ermina Karim
Vice President
Charles Crotser
Secretary
Trudie Safreno
Treasurer
Charles Feltman
Past President
Cheryl Cuming
Board Member
John Dunn
Board Member
Derek Johnson
Board Member
Jennifer Petty
Board Member
David Richards
Board Member
Sandi Sigurdson
Board Member
Philip Williams
Board Member
Leann Standish
Executive Director
January 24, 2023
To: The City Council of San Luis Obispo
emailcouncil@slocity.org
Fr: The Board and Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
1010 Broad Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
sloma.org
Dear Council Members,
We write to you today to express our concern about the City of San Luis Obispo’s Community
Priorities, specifically the omission of “arts and culture” as a major goal. We feel that the arts
and culture sector plays an interconnected role in our community’s economic development,
with vital contributions to Tourism, Downtown Vitality, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
As such, the arts and culture sector has the potential to be a major driver in economic
development for the communities we all serve.
In an Americans for the Arts report on the impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations
in SLO County (2015), it was found that our local organizations contribute to the regional
economy across multiple sectors: visitors to our organizations buy meals at local restaurants,
rent hotel rooms for extended stays, pay for parking at City lots, and shop in downtown
stores to provide vital income for our local businesses. Because of the widespread economic
impact of arts and culture organizations, small civic investments yield big returns: “In 2017,
the combined $5 billion in direct arts funding by local, state, and federal governments yielded
$27.5 billion in government revenue” (per Americans for the Arts, 2023).
The benefits of investing in the arts and culture go beyond economic values. In a 2021
report on the social wellbeing impacts of our nation’s libraries and museums, the Institute of
Museum and Library Services found that arts and culture organizations are positively linked
to community health and local school effectiveness. In rural and suburban counties (like
SLO County), the relationship with community health was especially pronounced. These
findings were echoed by our own community in a 2022 survey by the American Association of
Museums which found that over 70% of our local respondents said that SLOMA contributes
to the quality of life in our region and nearly 75% said that museums help them gain a deeper
understanding of the world. The survey also found that the arts provide unique avenues for
improved mental health, reduced stress, respite, and a renewed connection with humankind.
As you can see, the arts and culture organizations of our community are integral to the
economic and social wellbeing of our business communities and residents alike. Reducing
support would be a false economy that, in the long run, would create a negative ripple effect
across multiple sectors. Thank you for your willingness to make tough budgetary decisions
and for having such an open process for community input.
Sincerely,
The Board and Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
Barbara Bell
Ermina Karim
Charles Crotser
Trudie Safreno
Charles Feltman
Cheryl Cuming
John Dunn
Derek Johnson
Jennifer Petty
David Richards
Sandi Sigurdson
Philip Williams
Leann Standish