Help Advocate for Arts & Culture STL
An unprecedented consortium of 111 arts and culture organizations throughout St. Louis City and St. Louis County have come together to request support from our local government for the arts and culture sector of the region. Read the full letter here.
LETTER EXCERPT:
To the Mayor of St. Louis, the St. Louis County Executive, the Comptroller of the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, and the St. Louis County Council
We, the below signed, represent a consortium of arts and culture organizations and institutions throughout St. Louis City and St. Louis County. We have come together to request support of and investment in the arts and culture sector of the region.
Arts, culture, and creativity are big business in the St. Louis region. Pre-pandemic research estimates total economic impact from this sector to be nearly 600 million dollars—larger than all regional sports activities combined. The sector includes non-profit cultural organizations that support over 19,000 FTE jobs; numerous commercial entertainment venues that launch careers and provide well-paying union jobs; and more than 15,000 individual artists working in a wide variety of disciplines. Across artistic disciplines, from performing to visual arts, we nurture and hire local talent in large numbers (musicians, actors, artists, teaching artists). Money earned or raised by these businesses and institutions flow directly to the individual artists and creatives in the region, providing unparalleled support and sustainability for our creative landscape. In addition to leveraging event-related audience spending, driving tourism, attracting and retaining knowledge workers, arts and culture are a fundamental component of healthy communities. Cultural workers are valued partners in addressing pressing challenges in community development, neighborhood revitalization, public and mental health, public safety, place making, and infrastructure.
We request a direct line-item allocation of 5% of the federal relief funds committed to the City along with 5% of federal relief funds committed to the County be distributed to arts and culture organizations throughout the region. During the COVID pandemic, arts and culture funding was devastated. Per the US Census Bureau’s Small Business Pulse Survey, “Arts, entertainment, and Recreation” business were second only to “Accommodations and Food services” in “large negative effect” and “severe impact,” and by several measures, are not getting the same level of relief as other sectors of the economy. This allocation would bring the region’s organizations to pre-pandemic levels of support and therefore allow for the full scope of offerings and services to the citizens of our community…
Read the full letter here.
View the signatories.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please help elected officials understand how critical our sector is and how important it is that a fair distribution of relief funds go back to St. Louis region arts and culture institutions. Via email or via regular mail, please consider using the template below to reach out to St. Louis Mayor, County Executive, Aldermen, and County Council Members.
Dear _____________,
You recently received an historic letter from over 100 arts and culture leaders from across the region. Never before have so many members of our creative economy banded together to deliver a single message. We all know that without our great arts and culture institutions St. Louis would be deeply diminished. And yet, we know that those institutions have suffered tremendous financial losses during the pandemic and their viability is at risk. That is why I am asking you to consider their request – that 5% of the federal relief dollars available to City and County are committed to this vital economic sector. For decades, St. Louisans have worked together to build some of the finest cultural institutions in the nation. Let’s make sure we deliver those institutions safely into the hands of future generations.
St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones: mayor@stlouis-mo.gov / 1200 Market, City Hall Room 200, St. Louis, MO 63103 / (314) 622-3201
St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page: https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-government/county-executive/contact-our-office/ (contact form) / 41 South Central, Clayton, MO 63105 / (314) 615-5000
St. Louis City Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed: reedl@stlouis-mo.gov / 1200 Market Street, City Hall Room 230, St. Louis, MO 63103 / (314) 622-4114
St. Louis City Board of Aldermen: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/aldermen/Wards-1-28.cfm (Select each Alderman for emails and phone numbers) / 1200 Market Street, City Hall Room 230, St. Louis, MO 63103 / (314) 622-3287 (main line for Board of Aldermen)
St. Louis County Council: https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-government/county-council/ (select each Council Person for emails and phone numbers for them and for their chiefs of staff)