Local & State Advocacy
Championing Public Investment in the Creative Sector:
Our first year of work coincided with one of the worst economic periods for the region’s creative sector because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Assembly mobilized community partners to plead the case for American Rescue Plan Act funds with Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland government.
Thanks to the advocacy of the Assembly board and the partnership of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones jointly committed to $3.3M in ARPA funds for arts and culture. Approved by Council in July 2022, Assembly and CAC will split the $3.3 million equally and will establish processes to equitably distribute the funds to the for-profit and non-profit creative economy and artists.
During 2021’s Cleveland Mayoral Election, Assembly engaged with candidates to ensure arts and culture was represented in public debates. Assembly also partnered with CAN Journal to launch a candidate survey on their policy vision for arts and culture.
When Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb took office in January 2022, Assembly set out to build relationships with the new mayor and his administration to elevate arts and culture in the public agenda. In the Fall of 2021, Assembly held multiple forums with artist coalitions, creative businesses, and nonprofits to develop a set of arts-informed recommendations for the new administration. One of our many recommendations was to establish an arts liaison at City Hall to drive a strategic cultural agenda. The Mayor’s Chief Strategy Officer Bradford Davy confirmed that an appointment of an arts leader/liaison will be forthcoming.
Data are vital to demonstrate the creative sector’s impact when we speak with public officials. We partnered with Ohio Citizens for the Arts (OCA) and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, along with six other regional arts councils, and Bowling Green State University’s Center for Regional Development on a study about the Cleveland creative industry’s economic contribution.
The results were sobering and clear: the creative sector in Cleveland is an economic powerhouse, which generated more than $6.7 billion in economic output in 2019 – and the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the industry, which has yet to rebound.
Game Changers: Assembly for the Arts CEO Jeremy Johnson on growing Cleveland's creative industries
Source: WKYC 3
Abstract:
CLEVELAND — Jeremy Johnson spent more than three decades living on the east coast before returning to his hometown last year to take on an exciting new role.
“I feel like I’ve come back to Cleveland. I recognize the street names, but the city looks different. It feels different. The leadership is different. The people have a certain excitement about them,” Johnson told 3News anchor Dave Chudowsky in a recent interview.
FRONT International 2022 Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art Kicks Off This Saturday
Source: Cleveland Scene
Abstract:
The second edition of the free, summer-long, region-wide festival, FRONT International, opens this Saturday July 16th with 30-plus exhibition sites in Cleveland, Akron, and Oberlin featuring work by more than 100 national, and international artists, and runs through October 2, 2022.
FRONT kicks things off with a block party on Cleveland Public Square, hosted by DJ Red-I and featuring performances by Free Black, Sadhu Sounds, Hello!3D, Da Land Brass Band, Blakk Jakk Dance Collective, Mellow Man Funk, The Katy, and FRONT 2022 artist Asad Raza.
Cleveland’s Summer of Arts 2022: Top 5 Events to Check Out
Source: Places.Travel
Abstract: When you say art, we say Cleveland! This summer, things are going to get pretty artsy up in the Land. From July through August, the city will come alive with outdoor concerts, public art installations, special exhibitions, and plenty of opportunities to get involved in the local arts scene.
Cleveland’s Summer of Arts and Culture: A Cultural Empowerment Masterpiece
Source: Places.Travel
Empowering people through the arts. It’s something that resonates with every single soul on this planet. From the music we listen to, to the paintings that adorn our walls, and even the books we read – art is a part of who we are.
And Cleveland knows this. Cleveland breathes this. The Land is committed to empowering people through advocacy, activism, education, and resources to promote arts and culture. It’s what we do, it’s what we’re known for, and it’s why we’re so excited for the upcoming Summer of Arts in 2022, powered by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
Cuyahoga County approves $3.3m for relief and reinvestment into Northeast Ohio art and culture
Source: News 5 Cleveland
Abstract:
The Cuyahoga County Council approved $3.3 million of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and Assembly for the Arts. It will be split evenly between the two groups. Jeremy Johnson is the CEO of Assembly for the Arts. It is a group that advocates and unifies the voices of creatives throughout greater Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County authorizes $3.3 million in federal COVID relief money for the arts
Source: Cleveland.com
Abstract:
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County is investing $3.3 million in money for the arts from ARPA, the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act.
County Council voted Tuesday to authorize awarding up to $1.65 million in ARPA funds to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the agency that supports the arts by distributing proceeds from the county’s cigarette tax to cultural organizations.
Council also voted to authorize granting the same amount to the nonprofit Assembly for the Arts, an umbrella group for Cleveland’s nonprofit and for-profit cultural industries, to support artists and creative businesses.
Cuyahoga County arts organizations getting $3.3 million in ARPA funding
Source: ideastream
Abstract:
Cuyahoga County Council unanimously granted two arts organizations $1.65 million apiece in American Rescue Plan funds. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) and Assembly for the Arts will use the funds to help the creative economy, which is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. CAC reports that organizations it works with saw a $171-million drop in revenue during the first 22 months of the pandemic.
Jeremy Johnson, CEO of Assembly for the Arts, said he hopes these county funds are a harbinger of more public investment in the arts – especially after more than two years of the pandemic. Arts advocates are also requesting ARPA support from Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County arts organizations getting $3.3 million in ARPA funding
Source: WKSU | By Kabir Bhatia
Abstract:
Cuyahoga County Council unanimously granted two arts organizations $1.65 million apiece in American Rescue Plan funds. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) and Assembly for the Arts will use the funds to help the creative economy, which is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. CAC reports that organizations it works with saw a $171-million drop in revenue during the first 22 months of the pandemic.
Jeremy Johnson, CEO of Assembly for the Arts, said he hopes these county funds are a harbinger of more public investment in the arts – especially after more than two years of the pandemic. Arts advocates are also requesting ARPA support from Cleveland.