MARCH 17th MEETING AT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM TO SAVE CAD

There will be a public meeting organized by ARTS FOR LA to discuss the Mayor's proposal to eliminate CAD. Come meet with the General Manager of the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and other members of the arts community. Help devise ways to block the destruction of CAD. Everyone welcome!

Wednesday, March 17th., 8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m.
California African American Museum
600 State Drive, Exposition Park


You need to RSVP to receive good parking spaces which are at the 39th Street & Figueroa Street entrance. Please call early at 213-744-2056.

"Among the high-profile Downtown institutions and groups that receive funding from CAD are the Los Angeles Philharmonic, L.A. Opera, the Master Chorale, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center."

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Downtown News
"Will the Arts Get the Ax?
Downtown Institutions Brace for Possible Elimination of Cultural Affairs Department"
by Jason Mandell

Officials at the Cultural Affairs Department (CAD) recently indicated that the city agency, which provides funding to some of Downtown's most prestigious arts institutions and support for historical preservation efforts, could be dismantled under Mayor James Hahn's new budget.

Ben Donenberg, director of Shakespeare Festival/LA, could be affected by possible cuts at Cultural Affairs. The agency gives the group $30,000 to fund free summer plays in Pershing Square. Though the mayor's office has not announced any cuts and is still crafting the budget proposal, which will be presented to City Council by April 20, many arts and culture organizations are rallying against the possible elimination of CAD.

"It would be very devastating for us," said Suzanne Isken, director of education at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which uses $57,000 from CAD to fund several community outreach and youth education programs. "I think it's really small thinking."

News that the department might be in trouble began spreading a few weeks ago via an email sent by CAD officials, after they spoke with mayor's office staffers. That meeting, according to Deputy Mayor Doane Liu, was supposed to be kept confidential. The email, which was sent to various arts leaders and community groups, stated that the department was facing elimination.

The possibility that CAD, which was established in 1980, could get the axe has prompted an outcry from Downtown institutions ranging from major museums to small community groups, who fear they will lose crucial funding for programs, many of which are educational. The department's elimination would likely mean that a portion of its $3 million grant program, which funds organizations citywide, would be cut. Joe Smoke, cultural grant program director for CAD, said 46% of projects supported through the department's grants programs are targeted toward youth.

Isken said MOCA and other organizations are campaigning against CAD's elimination, organizing lobbying and letter-writing efforts. "All my colleagues are really trying to exert whatever influence they have on the mayor," said Isken. "People are running around saying, 'What do we do? What do we do?'"

Among the high-profile Downtown institutions and groups that receive funding from CAD are the Los Angeles Philharmonic, L.A. Opera, the Master Chorale, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center.

Charles Dillingham, managing director of the Center Theatre Group, which produces plays at the Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum, said his group receives $95,000 from CAD, the bulk of which it uses to put on plays at elementary schools. "We consider that a major grant," said Dillingham, who noted that local arts have already taken a big hit, with the slashing of funding from the California Arts Council; last year that agency was cut by 94%.

While larger organizations could suffer a blow if CAD is eliminated, many say the department's more crucial role is supporting smaller groups and events. In Downtown, those include theater companies like East West Players and the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, and ethnic festivals such as Nisei Week in Little Tokyo.

Councilwoman Jan Perry worried that dismantling CAD would most hurt groups that would "otherwise be completely disenfranchised." Perry said she would not take a stance on whether to eliminate CAD until the overall budget is
presented.

Ben Donenberg, director of Shakespeare Festival/LA, said his group uses $30,000 from CAD to help fund free plays each summer at Pershing Square, teacher training seminars for LAUSD, and an employment program for underprivileged youth. Donenberg said money from the department is crucial to a small group's ability to raise funds from foundations and
corporations. "The city money is what leverages private investment," said Donenberg. "Every dollar the city puts in generally leverages $8 of private investment."

Shay Wafer, managing director of the Downtown-based Cornerstone Theater Company, which produces community-specific plays throughout Los Angeles, said the group receives $40,000 a year from CAD. Wafer said her organization, whose budget is about $1 million, could be forced to lay off several staff members and cut significant programming if it loses the CAD money. "It's kind of scary, particularly with Los Angeles being the arts and cultural capital of the U.S.," said Wafer.

Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy, said CAD has aided Downtown's current development boom by administering the Mills Act program, which offers reduced property taxes to owners of historic properties. Bernstein said that last year developers of about half a dozen adaptive reuse projects - including Pegasus lofts, the Subway Terminal Building and the South Park Lofts - used the Mills Act to make their ventures pencil out financially. Bernstein said he fears that eliminating staffing or transferring responsibility for the Mills Act program would jeopardize its use for
future adaptive reuse projects Downtown.

He also noted that CAD's Cultural Heritage Commission has played a crucial role in preserving the city's historical structures. Bernstein worried that the Planning Department, which might take over this job if CAD were eliminated, would not measure up. "The institutional memory and the specific expertise in historic preservation could be lost," said Bernstein.

If CAD were eliminated, the Recreation and Parks Department would likely take over some of its services. Councilman Eric Garcetti said that while he would support consolidating administrative services such as payroll and mail, he fears that relegating all of the city's arts and cultural services to Rec and Parks "would be the beginning of a slippery slope. We can do this without cutting the whole [Cultural Affairs] department," said Garcetti.

For now, the future of CAD is up in the air. The only certain thing is that the talk, the lobbying and the heat will increase in the weeks before the council receives the mayor's budget.

Word from the Executive Director of the California African American Museum regarding the March 17th meeting is this:


"All wishing to attend the meeting must RSVP. This is not meant to exclude, but rather to arrange for space that will accommodate the number of people wishing to attend. At this point, at least 100 people have RSVP's and we are close to capacity. RSVP's for attending the meeting will close at 4:00 pm today, March 16th so that we can prepare the room accordingly. Also, all 50 of the complimentary parking spaces have been filled for the Exposition Park parking lot at Figueroa and 39th Streets. Anyone who was not amongst that first 50 will have to pay $6.00 to park. This is a brand new parking lot and all spaces are good."

The meeting at the African American Museum will be the fourth public meeting as of this date to organize a response to the proposed destruction of CAD. Each meeting was filled to capacity. More meetings are being planned, as well as a public demonstration.

Stay informed on the fast breaking story of L.A. city government's attack on the arts, by visiting: http://www.art-for-a-change.com/cad.htm

"BACKSTREET GALLERIES" HOLDS COMMUNITY MEETING TO STOP CUTS

On Monday, March 22nd., at 7:00 pm, the public is invited to a community discussion on how to fight cuts to the Cultural Affairs Department.

Meet with others and devise the strategies necessary to stop the attacks on the arts of Los Angeles. The meeting will be held at BackStreet Galleries, 11618 Exposition Blvd. BackStreet is located north of Pico Blvd and east of Barrington on Exposition Blvd. For more info, call: (310) 479-6262.

By the way... the headline Indymedia gives this page is misleading! "Meeting for Cultural Affairs Dept. Draws Criticism" ???? Criticism from whom? People all across Los Angeles... in every community, are organizing to stop the city from cutting funding of the Cultural Affairs Department. Who cares if this grassroots organizing effort to save art in L.A. "draws criticism"! But at any rate... L.A. Indymedia then posts no documention of that supposed "criticism."