Artist Kay Carlson of San Rafael applies a glaze to her painting Sausalito Horizon at her studio in Sausalito, Calif. on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. The 30” x 40” oil on canvas has been chosen for the Art2Life annual online exhibition. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
In 2019, the legislature passed a bill naming April as California’s Arts Month celebrating arts, culture and creativity. In 2023, the Marin County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution joining the rest of California in designating April as Arts Month.
I would argue that every month is Arts Month in Marin County. According to the most recent Arts Vibrancy Index map published by SMU Data Arts, Marin County recorded the same number of independent artists per capita as Los Angeles County.
California is home to more artists than anywhere else in the nation. Our state’s creative sector accounts for $18.67 billion in assets and 15.4% of California’s total employment. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the arts represent a larger share of the gross domestic product than transportation, tourism and agriculture.
In Marin County alone, the arts contribute $76 million to our local economy, employing over 1,700 people in 162 arts organizations. Marin County has drawn and inspired a rich concentration of creative talent: painters and poets, musicians and filmmakers, actors, writers, dancers, comedians — innovators of every discipline. Our community has long enjoyed an artistic abundance that unites us in shared experiences. It fuels our capacity for wonder and invention. It stimulates our local economies. We understand the value of culture and innovation.
To be sure, arts strengthen the economy; spark creativity and innovation; unify communities; drive tourism and revenue to local businesses; improve academic performance; improve health care; and have social impact.
Marin County’s support for the arts, arts education and cultural institutions is crucial to achieve equitable access to the arts for everyone in our community. The arts in Marin should be by and for everyone.
In 2018 we produced an exhibit for the Bartolini Gallery called “Inside Insights: San Quentin Arts in Corrections.” The exhibit showcased more than two dozen works from current inmates at San Quentin participating in the arts in corrections program alongside work by recently returned citizens, works by the San Quentin art instructors, and photographs of the inmates participating in art, theater, music, poetry and more.
During the opening night, one of those artists spoke about his run in with the law in his teens that transitioned into 40 years behind bars. I couldn’t help but think, what if this incredibly talented artist had access to arts education in elementary school? What if he had an art teacher to inspire him? His entire life trajectory could have been different.
During April Arts Month, I encourage you to get out and explore something new, something creative, something that will inspire you to see the world through a different lens. You might surprise yourself with a deeper understanding of yourself, you might even be brave enough to reach across those invisible barriers and speak to someone you never would have connected to previously. The arts teach us how to be more human and embrace our differences.
Here are just a few ways you can support the arts this month: go to a theater performance; attend a gallery opening; enjoy an evening of live music; download the Marin County public art map and take a stroll in your community; embrace the artwork all around you; go to your local library and immerse yourself in your favorite book; experiment with poetry; attend an arts walk; or take a photography class. The opportunities are everywhere.
I once heard a staffer from the National Endowment for the Arts say that the arts matter because they help us to understand how we matter. As the director of cultural services for Marin County, I believe the arts teach empathy, the arts make us better, the arts help us heal and the arts are absolutely essential for our community.
Gabriella Calicchio is Marin County’s director of cultural services. She is executive director of the Marin Cultural Association.
