Arts Community Gets Short Shrift in Budget Lines

San Diego entered the new century proclaimed "the newest cultural Mecca" on the Travelocity.com Web site. The region also has had its share of blockbuster, crowd-pleasing museum exhibits over the years, and has hosted plays that have gone on to win Tony Awards on Broadway. But with the arrival of

"San Diego is probably the most attractive destination in the country," said Michael Wagman, director of communications and marketing for the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. "The amount of culture we have is incredible (but) relatively unknown across the country."

Consider that in 2005, 86 arts and culture organizations, funded through the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, sold 1.6 million tickets and admissions to out-oftown visitors, pouring $398 million into the San Diego economy. Consider also that San Diego is home to 3,400 artsrelated businesses that employ 19,000 people.

Yet, the arts community continues to struggle in the face of dwindling financial resources from a cash-strapped city.

Sal Giametta, vice president of public affairs and communications for the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, observed that over the past four years, the agency has suffered a 37 percent cut in its city subsidy, or $5.1 million, to $8.8 million. The operating budget decreased to $12.7 million from $16.3 million.

Meanwhile, arts organizations continue to get a smaller share of the revenue generated by the city's transient occupancy tax.

"The TOT was created way back in 1964 for one specific purpose - to promote San Diego as a tourism destination," said Giametta. "Today, we have 200 recipient groups, and, with each passing year, the city has added more and more groups, while the dollars allocated to tourism marketing - the entire reason behind the TOT - has been reduced significantly. The very programs that are funded to drive TOT revenue are reduced year over year. There is not a lot of logic there."

In agreement is Joyce Gattas, chairwoman of the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, and dean of the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts at San Diego State University.

"The TOT budget has increased 50 percent, but arts and culture budgets have been reduced by 30 percent," she said. "It's a negative spiral. This is a real disconnect - that the revenue-generating entities, arts and culture, are not getting the return on their investment equal to what they are actually producing."

Diverting TOT money to fix potholes is "shortsighted," she said.

"It's Catch-22," said Gattas. "If you keep taking money away from the source generating money, you won't have money to put into general fund items."

Multiplier Effect

Lou Spisto, executive director of the Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park, manages an annual budget of $20 million.

"The Globe is the largest arts organization in San Diego," he said. "We offer 15 plays a year, on three stages, and sell about 250,000 tickets a year."

The theater also conducts extensive outreach programs at the schools, and pumps $25 million a year into San Diego's economy from theater goers who spend money patronizing area businesses - the much-heralded multiplier effect of arts venues.

"We have an incredible impact on the lives of all of our residents," said Spisto. "How many lives have we changed, and made this a better place to live?"

Done right, the arts can serve as a magnet to attract businesses to the region, and attract the best talent from around the country, said Spisto.

"People want to live where there are cultural resources, and opportunities for their children to take part in programs," he said. "(The arts) also reflect the diversity of a community. The city government and the community are getting an enormous return on their investment."

Denise Montgomery, director of communications for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, agreed.

"Cultural tourists benefit lots of businesses in the community," she said. "It has a wonderful ripple effect. People who come to the museums and theater love to dine out."

But Gattas frets about what she calls "missed opportunities," by not doing a better job of marketing.

The blockbuster shows and exhibits - such as the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition opening June 29 at the San Diego Natural History Museum-sell themselves. But Gattas wants tourists to be aware of smaller venues.

"We have great arts and culture in our neighborhoods - art galleries, smaller theaters and unique productions," she said. But, when it comes to marketing, "It is very difficult for smaller organizations to have the budget to do that."

"All great cities are known for their arts and culture. San Diego should be ranked with the best of them," she added. "We will lose any chance of being a premiere cultural tourist destination without adequate funding to fuel those arts and culture programs. It would be a serious loss."

Add to that loss the region's ability to attract and retain a competitive work force, she said.

"It's important to talk about arts and culture in a community, because it's a good selling point," said Gattas. "People in business are looking for innovative and creative thinkers."

Among smaller arts groups coping with tighter budgets is the California Ballet Company in San Diego.

"We have to try to find ways to notify the outside area in a way that doesn't have direct costs," said Director Maxine Mahon. "Word of mouth has increased over the years for us, and we have a pretty good reputation. People get on our mailing list, and our direct mail out of town is pretty significant."

But, Mahon added, resources continue to wane. "This year, we are very nervous that we are going to be cut again," she said. "We get individual grants when we can get them, but we're not getting them regularly."

Meanwhile, Mahon continues to be rankled when she hears the arts being discounted.

"There are people in the community that think it's OK to give money to the Chargers, but not arts groups," she said. "You hear that talk coming from couch potatoes. Why do my tax dollars go to help billion-dollar owners? It's a little irritating."

In January 2007, ConVis, its members, and the Commission for Arts and Culture invested $200,000 in an eight-page advertising section in the posh Conde Nast Traveller magazine, touting San Diego's attractions, including arts and culture.

"It was nice exposure, and the feedback has been good," said Kerri Verbeke Kapich, vice president of marketing and strategic partnerships at ConVis.

During the late '90s, ConVis launched a branding initiative called Art + Sol to position San Diego as a premiere cultural destination, said Kapich. With ConVis as an anchor, and support from the arts and business communities, the campaign got off to a promising start. Though Art + Sol has been scaled back since, ConVis still maintains the Web site of cultural attractions.

Montgomery gives ConVis high points for the Art + Sol initiative.

"We know that a substantial number of travelers use the Internet, and that has helped," she said.

Ian Campbell, general and artistic director of the San Diego Opera, said that he appreciates online postings, including those listed on SignOn San Diego. But he would like to see a designated cultural Web site, with links to every arts organization in the region.

"Even our businesses might start adding cultural links," said Campbell. "If every hotelier did it, they might get extra hotel rooms."

Campbell also would like to see greater coverage of San Diego in airline publications. "One of the dumb things I want to see is San Diego in a weather forecast. On CNN, you see San Francisco and Los Angeles, why not San Diego? Then people would say, 'I should be there."'

ConVis also brings in travel writers every year to get them acquainted with the region's arts scene. One problem, said Campbell, is that travel writers are not always well-versed in the arts of the cities they visit.

"Partly, it could be because of a lack of knowledge of how much is there," he said. "A writer might know there is a sports arena, but not about the arts, because he doesn't use them."

Tracking The Tourists

For some venues, tracking out-of-state tourists is not a science.

Montgomery of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego estimates that 50 percent of visitors to its La Jolla branch, and 45 percent of visitors to the newly expanded downtown site, are out-of-towners.

"We have considered ourselves a gateway to Latin America, and always have been a strong draw from across the border," she said.

The museum even modified its schedule, remaining open Mondays, and closing Wednesdays.

"We found that there were a lot of people taking three-day holiday weekends and Monday would serve them better," said Montgomery Spisto estimates 30 percent of the audience for the summer Shakespeare Festival at the Old Globe come from outside the county He considers the theater to be a leader in attracting out-of-towners to the area. But, like other venues, the Globe has its limitations when it comes to marketing.

"We are not in a position of taking ads in the New York Times," he said, noting that the cost can range from $8,000 to $20,000 or more.

And, while the Globe does get its fair share of press in national publications, Spisto said that maintaining an ongoing marketing presence is a challenge.

"The answer is, the city has to continue to reinforce its commitment to cultural programs, and making TOT funds available," he said. "The arts have continued to do more than their fair share to supply the community with the fuel that keeps the engine moving brilliantly during a very difficult time."

Outside The Box

The San Diego Symphony, with a budget this year of $15 million, makes the most of its resources with creating thinking. For instance, to publicize the hiring of Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch as principal conductor for its Summer Pops series this season, the symphony joined forces with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System for ads at bus stops and on the sides of buses, as well as with Coca-Cola to offer family packages.

And, as a prime example of cross-marketing, the Summer Pops - which represents 40 percent of ticket sales for the entire season - also plans a musical celebration of 30 years of "Star Wars." The celebration will coincide with the hugely popular Comic-Con International convention, which attracts comic book and science fiction aficionados from around the world.

Still, Symphony spokesman Stephen Kougias said he never gets complacent about the demands on his organization.

"We have a large staff - 79 musicians and about 30 in administration, pretty lean for an organization of this size," he said. "The symphony hasn't scaled back, but it hasn't really grown much."

The symphony's income is derived from fund raising and ticket sales, with the Summer Pops' take increasing to $1.6 million in 2006 from $1 million in 2004, said Kougias.

There also is the added challenge of keeping customers coming back in the face of high gasoline and real estate prices.

"These are factors that people take into consideration when deciding how to spend their entertainment dollars," said Kougias.

Michael Wagman, director of communications and marketing for the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, considers the San Diego a best-kept secret. But since he took over marketing five months ago, he has been aggressively forging alliances and devising strategies to change that.

With three decades of experience in advertising, Wagman learned an important lesson: "People go to the store and remember three brands of soup. We want to make sure they remember us in their top three arts venues."

Among alliances, Wagman has been talking with hotels about promotional packages, touting cultural events, along with SeaWorld and the Wild Animal Park. Wagman also is targeting ethnic groups by tapping into their media.

"There is nothing magical about it," he said. "We are making certain that we participate in those communities with the media they use to advertise and market in their own publications, as opposed to the mainstream, Anglo media."

Wagman also is doing a lot of thinking outside that proverbial box.

"I believe in being unexpected, but germane," he said.

Consider the ad he ran to promote a ballet - in the sports section of the North County Times, inviting jock husbands to "Show how you love your wife more than football."

"We saw a spike in ticket sales for a couple of days," said Wagman. "Can we prove a correlation? No, but anecdotally, it appeared that this works - playing on the guilt of husbands."

Wagman also ran an ad promoting "Handel's Messiah," which was being performed over the Christmas holidays. He selected KSON-FM, a San Diego country music station, for its demographics.

"If you look at the stats, people who listen to C&W, skew higher in religious beliefs," said Wagman. "Over the next couple of days, ticket sales jumped."

Wagman is not big on direct-mail advertising, and to prove his point, collected all of the pieces he receives and posted them on his wall.

"You can't tell one from the other," he said. "It is unbelievable the amount of stuff on my wall. But it drives the point home. You have to be innovative to get attention.

People get 1,000 ad messages a day, from different media buses, billboards, radio, TV It's a cognitive overload."

Thinking creatively can sometimes ease the budget crunch.

"Advertising is extraordinarily expensive," Wagman agreed. "How many tickets do you have to sell to pay for an ad, to cover the cost? You have to spend dollars as wisely as possible. Every week, we are selling a different product, and the audiences are very different. We need a rifle shot ad, as opposed to a shotgun."

Montgomery agreed.

"I loved what Las Vegas did a few years ago, talking about dining and golf courses," she said. "Everybody knows you can gamble. We have such an asset with weather and natural beauty, but lots of people know about that. Wouldn't it be great to show cultural amenities and bring them to the fore, to shift perceptions?"

Rhythm Of Life

The city's Commission for Arts and Culture, which advises the officials on the funding of arts groups, is doing its best with the resources it has, said Victoria Hamilton, executive director.

"The city has additional pressures on its budget they haven't had before," she said. "It's very important that our process is fair and transparent. We were one of the first in the country to play a leadership role in promoting cultural tourism in San Diego."

Sixth District San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye, who chairs the natural resources and culture committee, intends to invite Hamilton to make a presentation this spring on the arts community and its needs. But it's all a juggling act.

"Priorities are what they are, based on city finances," said Frye. "This doesn't mean I like it. Sometimes my heart and my head are in two different places."

Frye gives the city's arts community high marks for its willingness to work on solutions, and "for doing what they need to do to make things work."

But good intentions only go so far, she said.

"We have to admit that the city has financial problems and figure out how to get revenue, and not by selling off property or cutting services," she said. "I don't know how much more the public will support service cuts."

So, what is the answer? Establish a comprehensive plan that includes streamlining measures, along with the possibility of raising taxes, said Frye.

"We should face up to the fact that there are certain things we want, identify what they are and give the voters a choice," she said.

It comes down to finding a balance.

"For me, arts and culture represent the rhythm of a city and the rhythm of life," said Frye. "Without that, this would be a pretty quiet city."