Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard, Mayor Tishaura Jones, RAC President and CEO Vanessa Cooksey, and Alderman Dan Guenther. Courtesy of RAC.
On November 1, the Regional Arts Commission announced that it will distribute $10.6 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act—which was passed by Congress in March 2021—to artists and cultural organizations across St. Louis over the next few years. The funding is the result of an 18-month process of campaigning and advocacy from RAC and its partners in the arts sector.
Instead of individuals and institutions such as The Sheldon and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis requesting their own funds, those organizations determined that it would be most beneficial for everyone in the arts and culture sector to advocate for RAC to receive and distribute the funds.
“[These organizations] said, ‘Well, if we ask for ARPA funds individually, we may or may not get it. And if all of us ask at the same time, we’ll put our elected officials in a bit of a quandary,’” says RAC president and CEO Vanessa Cooksey. “I was so grateful that they decided to get together and advocate for RAC to receive the funds.” Because RAC already had the “infrastructure, relationships, and know-how” to distribute the funds, organizations worked with them to present both concrete data on the economic impact of COVID on the arts and real-life stories of the impacts the pandemic has had on artists, art spaces, and those who rely on them for their livelihoods. They also engaged with members, subscribers, and patrons within the arts community, encouraging them to make RAC's needs known to their elected officials.
The funds were ultimately approved last week by the Board of Aldermen, who voted unanimously to pass Board Bill #66, allocating the ARPA funds to RAC. According to RAC, which is the largest public funder of the arts in St. Louis, it is the third-highest amount of ARPA funds any city has allocated to the arts. (New York and Los Angeles hold the top two spots, and St. Louis surpassed Chicago, which allocated $10 million in ARPA funds to the arts earlier this year.).
“This level of organization, collaboration, commitment, and community within the arts sector is, I think, modeling what other sectors can do and just the importance of staying engaged with our elected officials, holding them accountable,” says Cooksey. “This is just our first ‘yes.’”
The funds provided by ARPA will help make up some of what has been lost in the arts sector over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought with it both a loss of audiences and visitors for organizations and loss of funds for RAC itself. The organization receives 98 percent of its funding through a hotel/motel tax, which dropped off dramatically as people stayed home during the pandemic. RAC’s revenue dropped from $7 million in 2019 to just $3 million in 2020, and while the tax revenue has increased the past two years, the difference still has yet to be made up. Many arts organizations are back to a relatively normal schedule of events and services, but arts leaders have noted that crowd numbers have not entirely bounced back.
“What we know is that performing arts and visual arts organizations are presenting work, but audiences have not come back to pre-pandemic levels, and they might not,” says Cooksey. “For some of our arts organizations, particularly smaller ones, it actually may be a worse fiscal year this year than the last two, because the PPP loans and the federal money isn’t available. That’s why we’re so grateful to the city for getting this money to us now. Our need is right now.”
RAC expects grant opportunities made possible through the ARPA funds to be available to potential grantees in summer 2023. Up-to-date information about these and other grants available through RAC can be found online. One caveat: The funds allocated by the City of St. Louis are only available to grantees within city limits and exclude St. Louis County-based artists and organizations. The St. Louis County Council recently rejected a similar allocation of funds, which would have provided $1.6 million in ARPA money for RAC to distribute to St. Louis County arts organizations.
Cooksey says the rejection was “a bit of a disappointment,” as the county bill was introduced and perfected with unanimous support. However, when it came time to vote, the bill failed to pass in a 4-3 vote.
“I do acknowledge that the county council had new information that they were dealing with,” says Cooksey. “The county has a $41 million deficit and was thinking very deeply about how to use the ARPA funds and respond to the changing priorities of citizens. While it is a disappointment, I understand it. But RAC is a regional organization…to have $10.6 million in the city and no money in the county puts us in a difficult position.”
Cooksey says RAC has encouraged arts organizations to reach out to their elected officials in the county to remind them there is still a need for funding for the arts. While the ARPA funds have mostly been allocated, she says “the onus is a bit on the elected officials to help fill the need” using further resources to which the council has access. RAC also expects more hotel/motel revenue in 2023 than in 2022, a portion of which will be made available to county arts grantees.
Before the pandemic, RAC was providing between $3.5 and $4.5 million to grantees each year. Last year, that number was down to about $1.1 million. But thanks to the ARPA funds, that should increase dramatically in the coming year. RAC plans to distribute more than 80 percent of the ARPA funds in 2023 alone, as federal guidelines state that all the funds must be allocated by December 31, 2024 and used by December 31, 2026. These funds also come with more reporting requirements than RAC’s standard grants, which the organization hopes to assist grantees with as the money makes its way to the artists and institutions that need it.
“We want to ensure two things,” says Cooksey, “That the people who need [the funding] the most get it, and that we provide enough technical assistance and support so that what appears to be a blessing remains a blessing.”
Cooksey calls the securing of the ARPA funds for St. Louis a “full-circle” moment for RAC, which was established in 1985 when St. Louis residents voted to prioritize and fund the arts. In making their needs and priorities known to their elected officials in 2022, St. Louis residents have secured RAC's ability to keep its vision of St. Louis as a thriving home for art and artists alive.
“St. Louis is an arts town, and we love our arts. This marks a new chapter in RAC’s history…I believe that civic engagement is part of RAC’s birthright, and it’s part of our responsibility,” says Cooksey. “Our intention with these resources is to make a tangible difference…I'm excited to be part of the transformation and creation of things that are tangible for people to see and celebrate after a very difficult experience with a pandemic. To be part of the healing is really exciting.”
