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Advocating for the Arts
El Dorado Arts Council (EDAC) has a unique role as the county "umbrella" arts organization. The County Board of Supervisors has designated EDAC as the State-to-Local Partner of the California Arts Council. Advocating for the arts and artists is instrumental to our mission, Enriching the Community through the Visual, Performing and Literary Arts. We believe that the arts are an essential aspect of a vibrant, economically healthy community.
EDAC produces and/or sponsors many high quality arts events; promotes the activities of other El Dorado County-based arts organizations and businesses; gives Arts in Education grants to schools; and operates a small gallery on Main Street in Placerville, the seat of County government.
On the big stage of California, El Dorado County offers a compelling set: rural beauty, rivers, mountains, historic sites, orchards, vineyards, farms, small towns and villages. As the 21st century plays forward, we have the opportunity to embrace elements of the creative community (see weblinks) that situate us to thrive as a place to live and as a destination for visitors from around the world.
Arts and the Economy
The State of California spends 3 cents per capita on the arts.
It is a very small investment in what provides tremendous value to millions of California residents and visitors. For the past four years, California has ranked dead last among all states in spending for the state arts council. Imagine the impact on tourism, social services, jobs, education and quality of life and community, if California were to increase its spending on the arts.
California's nonprofit arts sector alone provides $5.4 billion in economic activity annually, supporting more than 160,000 jobs and generating $300 million in local and state revenue. El Dorado Arts Council, other local arts associations, numerous galleries, dance academies, theater companies, concert groups, and literary clubs generate considerable revenue in our community; these arts organizations draw visitors and add vibrancy to community life.
According to the recent Americans for the Arts Creative Industries Report (using reliable data from Dun & Bradstreet and geo-economic analysis), California is home to 86,012 arts-related businesses that employed 484,657 people in January 2007. These are California businesses; these are California jobs.
The arts attract new tourism dollars. Public support of cultural tourism plays a critical role in community revitalization as well as the surge in tourism, one of the fastest growing economic markets in the country today, with California leading the nation as the most visited state. These travelers spend an average of $38.05 per event in addition to the cost of admission - 75% percent more than their local counterparts - on event-related items such as meals, parking and retail sales. Local attendees spend $21.75 per person per event.
California Arts Council
National Governors Association for Best Practices
California Arts Advocates
Arts and the Community
“The effort to create a 21st century city is not so much about technology as it is about jobs, dollars and quality of life. In short, it is about organizing one's community to reinvent itself for the new, knowledge-based economy and society; preparing its citizens to take ownership of their community; and educating the next generation of leaders and workers to meet global challenges and preserve America's leadership position in the entertainment, software and information industries.
At the heart of this effort is recognition of the vital role that art and culture play in enhancing economic development, and ultimately, defining a creative community one that exploits the vital linkages between art, culture and commerce, and in the process consciously invests in human and financial resources to prepare its citizens
to meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving post-industrial, knowledge-based economy and society.
- John M. Eger , Van Deerlin Professor of Communication & Public Policy Executive Director, The California Institute for Smart Communities, San Diego State University
Author of The Creative Community: Forging Links Between Art, Culture, Commerce & Community
The California Institute for Smart Communities
California Arts Advocates
The Imagine Nation
Arts and Education
During the past quarter century, literally thousands of school-based programs have demonstrated that the arts not only bring coherence to our fragmented academic world, but through the arts, students' performance in other academic disciplines can be enhanced as well.
— Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching
Arts learning frees students to think imaginatively and reach beyond their own capabilities to be the leaders, innovators, and enrepeneurs of the 21st century.
—Susan Tave Zelman, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ohio Department of Education
The Imagine Nation
Arts Education Partnership
The California Arts Project
