OAKLAND ARTISTS AND ACTIVISTS joined the Anti Police-Terror Project at City Hall to demand the reinstatement of the city’s arts and culture manager position.
In its most recent budget, the city of Oakland terminated the arts and culture manager position in a string of decisions to fix a $265 million deficit going into fiscal years 2025-2027. The annual cost to keep the contracted role in the Economic and Workforce Development Department active was $300,000.
Speakers at a Tuesday rally criticized the defunding as well as the city’s police budget.
“The police are why we’re broke in the first place,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder and executive director of APTP. “We continue to funnel the money into a failed system.”
Brooks claimed that the $300,000 cost for the arts and culture manager position was “split between the police and fire department.”
“That’s not how our budget works,” said District 4 Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. “There’s no ‘Oh, you take money from one program and specifically put it into another.’“
According to Ramachandran, 300 vacant city positions were cut, along with various programs. One of six police academies was cut as well.
“Everyone’s mad at us in this budget for some reason or another,” Ramachandran said, referring to it as “the nobody’s happy budget.” “The police are mad at us, specifically the police union.”
At the rally, APTP’s frustration with the City Council extended beyond the defunding of the one position. Various organizations supported calls for the city to show support for the arts.
T-shirt designs were prominently displayed outside City Hall, with logos like #artists4oakland, “Tupac was an artivist,”and “Singing is my activism.”
We are talking about the soul of our city. We are talking about the places that are safe havens for folks who are in danger right now.
Vanessa Whang, cultural affairs commissioner for the city of Oakland
“There’s four main revenue pillars in Oakland,” said Brooks. “Arts is the fourth one.”
Tuesday’s demonstration was not the first time activists rallied for arts funding in Oakland. Two weeks ago, the decision to cut the culture manager position caused an uproar, bringing a crowd of 150 people to the steps of City Hall, and into the City Council meeting.
Beyond the revenue it brings for the city, APTP spoke of the importance of the arts as a public safety strategy to reduce crime. Brooks believes arts programming allows for a safe space for at-risk young people, while also decreasing drug and alcohol use, and providing employment.
Speaking at the end of the rally, Vanessa Whang, a cultural affairs commissioner for the city of Oakland, agreed that access to the arts can raise the city up.
“This is not fluff. We’re not talking about frills,” she said. “We are talking about the soul of our city. We are talking about the places that are safe havens for folks who are in danger right now.”
Various speakers on Tuesday warned that cutting the arts manager job could impact community safety.
“We’re putting our safety at risk with this particular budget cut,” said Rachel Sanders, a member of the Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation of Oakland. “It’s not only an injustice, but it’s bad for Oakland’s reputation in the greater world. We’re known for our culture.”
Ramachandran, who is also the director of the arts nonprofit Tiger Art in Oakland, said she supports the arts and that the removal of the position is not indicative of arts defunding.
“I am a lifelong artist myself,” she said. “I understand the value of arts funding.”
The city councilmember said she and her colleagues on the City Council “support a fully staffed police force.”
Rally organizers voiced hope that in addition to their immediate demand to reinstate the $300,000, the city will make the position of arts and culture manager permanent in the next budget cycle.