Funding for the arts in Kirkland and throughout King County is dwindling – probably not a surprise to most.
But in a recession where many people are struggling to support their lifestyles, art is more important than ever as it provides quality of life. That’s what dozens of local art groups learned during a meeting on Monday.
The Kirkland Cultural Council, which manages the city’s art collection, presented its bi-yearly CACHET meeting (Collaboration of Arts, Culture, Heritage, Education, and Theatre). Local arts, culture, and heritage related organizations gathered at International Community School to hear about the latest cultural resources and events.
Those present included Kirkland dance studios, businesses, art societies, and art supporters.
To show the importance of the arts, Kirkland native violinmaker, Henry Bischofberger, demonstrated how to craft a violin during the meeting.
Cultural service agency 4Culture’s Executive Director, Jim Kelly, and Arts Cultural Facilities Program Manager, Deb Twersky, also facilitated a discussion on art funding.
CACHET meetings bring together Kirkland’s creative community in a networking atmosphere aimed at educating and informing attendees.
“We offer exposure to a variety of Kirkland’s cultural resources by constantly highlighting different venues and performances,” said Amy Whittenburg, Kirkland Cultural Council chair. “In this case, we changed things up for the performance with the violin-making presentation.”
Bischofberger stood before two tables lined with tools and violin pieces, and explained the intricate steps required to produce a quality violin.
He is a third-generation violinmaker who studied his craft for eight years, including four years in Switzerland.
Now, he runs a shop in Kirkland that sells, appraises, repairs, and rents violins.
The meetings also aim to strengthen the local art community’s collective efforts. One such effort is financing local art and heritage programs.
“It’s so easy for arts and culture to get pushed aside when money gets really tight because there are so many other needs,” Whittenburg said. She noted that art provides a quality of life. “People want to do more than survive. They want to enjoy life. They want to live in communities that invest in cultural resources like art, music, festivals and events, and historic preservation,” she said.
During the discussion, Kelly and Twersky explained that art funding in King County is decreasing.
Art organizations generally accrue 50 percent of their income from revenue and 50 percent from public (governmental), corporate, and private givers.
“Across the country, the amount of money that goes to art is down because philanthropic organizations are more concerned with giving to social programs,” Kelly said.
While social programs are important, discussion participants suggested that art programs are equally important because they provide quality of life and generate money in the form of festivals and concerts, to name a couple.
When public giving goes down, private givers are hesitant to contribute, as well.
“Even dedicated arts funders have difficulty investing in communities if they don’t believe that the community itself supports the arts,” said Whittenburg. “Funders want to put their money into projects and organizations that will be sustainable when the funding runs out.”
Revenue for art organizations has also decreased, even though attendance is not down. People are looking for deals and price cuts, such as watching a cheaper Tuesday night show instead of the Saturday show.
Kelly said that it’s not the city’s responsibility to encourage private donors — it’s the art organization’s job.
“They need to be beating bushes looking for people capable of contributing,” he said. “For any organization to be truly relevant, viable, and economically stable they have to be connected to the community.”
Whittenburg considered the meeting a success. The next CACHET event will take place in March, and will feature the presentation of the 2nd Annual Kirkland Cultural Council and Mayor’s CACHET Award.
