Over the past three months more than 500 Bay Area artists and arts workers have participated in arts advocacy efforts by sharing their needs and priorities with the Arts Budget Coalition. Grantmakers, arts leaders and community organizers from other sectors advised on how to create a framework for advocacy wherein many people could have a voice.

Click here to read the Arts Budget Coalition’s 2015–16 Budget and Policy Recommendations.

The first Arts for a Better Bay Area meeting in January reached capacity days before the event, and 49 people made an ongoing commitment to theArts Budget Coalition, officially representing 25 organizations—large and small.

Working in key issue committees over the course of five weeks, they shared their own urgent needs and priorities, researched existing city resources and national innovations, mobilized their colleagues and constituents and drafted budget and policy recommendations for the two city funding buckets most directly connected to the arts: the San Francisco Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts. These five drafts were presented for public comment at an open meeting on March 24 and then the Steering Committee (two members nominated from each Key Issue Committee) worked together to create one 2015-16 Budget and Policy recommendation for the city of San Francisco.

The budget coalition’s key issue committees balanced many needs within an ambitious—but potentially achievable—enhancement funds request: an increase of approximately $8 million. To arrive at this number we considered input from many parties including individuals within GFTA and SFAC, GFTA-funded organizations, legislative aides, individual artists and arts organizations rooted in underserved communities.

You can read the full Arts Budget Coalition and Policy Recommendation here.