Advocacy
Buncombe County’s 74 creative industries were responsible for $1.6 B in sales in 2019, and supported over 14,000 jobs– an increase of 48% since 2015. However, with no designated staff at the City of Asheville or Buncombe County, arts & culture is often unintentionally overlooked and excluded from important policy decisions. Asheville Area Arts Council advocates for local arts professionals and businesses through representation, creative economy reporting, network building through the Arts Coalition, and initiatives that support policy agenda priorities.
Arts Coalition’s 2021-22 Arts Policy Agenda
Increased Local Government Support for the Arts
Americans for the Arts reports Buncombe County nonprofit arts organizations generate $3.5 M in local government support annually. However, the NC Arts Council’s 2019-20 report shows Buncombe County ranks last among tier 3 counties for local government funding for local arts councils at just $.02 per capita. Average for tier 3 counties is $.73 per capita. Learn More>>
As the designated arts agency for Buncombe County, we are advocating that the Asheville Area Arts Council receive local government funding that at least matches the state arts funding awarded to Buncombe County ($61,447 or $.23 per capita). This would bring the combined state and local arts investment up to $.46 per capita.
Status Update: Local Government Funding increased from $.01 per capita in 2019-20 to $.07 in 2021-22 ($.26 including American Rescue Place funding).
American Rescue Plan (ARP) Funding
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan (ARP), is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the ongoing recession.
As part of this plan, Buncombe County ($50.6M) and the City of Asheville ($26.1M) are receiving an unprecedented amount of federal stimulus funding. Now is the time to let our local officials know that investment in the arts is crucial for small business and job recovery and to foster community healing from the trauma we have experienced over the past year.
Buncombe County’s 74 creative industries were responsible for over 14,000 jobs and $1.6 B in industry sales in 2019. By 2020, over 1,300 jobs were lost in the Arts & Entertainment industry alone– the greatest % of job loss from any industry in Buncombe County as reported by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. Many arts businesses experienced up to 14 months of closure, and artists/arts organizations are still facing significant pandemic related expenses and revenue losses.
Status Update: Asheville Area Arts Council received $50,000 of its $250,000 request for American Rescue Plan funding from Buncombe County to regrant to local arts nonprofits to support local jobs in 2022. The Arts Coalition will continue to push for additional aid.
Creative Wages vs. Cost of Living
There is a growing gap between local living costs and creative wages in Buncombe County. On average, earnings for creative occupations in Buncombe County are 14% lower than the state average and 22% lower than the national average. Meanwhile, the cost of living index is now the highest in the state reaching 106 in 2020. See AAAC’s Creative Sector Earnings Report to learn more.
Status Update: Committees are currently exploring a number of possible initiatives to help address this issue including pricing standards, employee benefits, and tax incentives for affordable artist housing and studio space.
Arts Equity
There are many systemic changes that need to take place across the creative sector. Some major focus areas include diversifying arts leadership, supporting the creation and development of BIPOC owned businesses, and making racial equity programs more affordable for arts organizations.
As the Creative Jobs Report highlights, creative leadership occupations were held by 82% White non-Hispanic, 9% Black non-Hispanic, and 3% Latinx workers. Leadership roles are held mostly by White non-Hispanic males, with an increasing number in the 25-34 and 65+ age ranges. Though the report reflects positive growth in female workers’ leadership roles from 2015-2019, growth has not been as high among Black non-Hispanic and Latinx workers. More work is needed to increase diversity among leadership and create support systems for the development and growth of BIPOC owned creative businesses.
Status Update: The Arts Equity committee is working on connecting local BIPOC arts professionals and businesses through networking opportunities.
Arts ARE Education
As a result of the pandemic, arts education in school districts across the state are facing budget shortfalls that may lead to arts spending cuts, a remedial focus on other subjects to combat learning loss and a need for personal protective equipment (PPE) that is specific to the arts classroom. The Arts ARE Education. Learn more>>
Though Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools are generally supportive of arts education, there is still a need to increase arts programming and materials in several of our local schools.
Status Update: The arts education committee is currently exploring additional funding support for school arts programs and local teaching artists.
Buncombe County Comprehensive Plan
In 2021, Buncombe County will begin the process of creating a new 20-year comprehensive plan. A comprehensive plan is used by local governments as a broad, long-range planning tool for the community. This plan will look at the relationships between land uses, infrastructure, and key community needs. A successful comprehensive plan will guide growth and address community needs and priorities through a series of objectives, strategies, and goals. Help us ensure that arts and culture are not left out of this strategic plan! Learn more about the plan here.
Status Update: The County is currently taking public input that will help shape this plan. Learn more about how you can share your thoughts here.
Cultural Plan for Buncombe County
The City of Asheville’s Public Art Master Plan is 20 years old, and the Public Art & Cultural Commission (PACC) has stated that updating the master plan is one of their top priorities. The Asheville Area Arts Council supports this initiative and would like to see equitable creative placemaking incorporated into the plan to enhance community engagement and overall positive benefits as a result of the city’s Public Art Program. Taking an equitable creative placemaking approach to public art means “the strategic integration of arts, culture, and community-engaged design into comprehensive community planning and development.”
Visit the City of Asheville’s Public Art Program page to view the current Public Art Master Plan.
Status Update: There is currently a push for a cultural asset inventory for Buncombe County. This is an important first step to creating a more comprehensive cultural plan for Buncombe County.
Creative Manufacturing
Land of Sky Regional Council has partnered with the Asheville Area Arts Council and WNC Arts on the Cultivating Creativity Project. This is an exploratory process to discover expanding manufacturing in WNC to better support the creative sector. Creative manufacturing grew 23% from 2015-2019 in Buncombe County, and our region has a growing number of creative sector talent that could be poised for scalable growth to create authentic quality jobs.
Status Update: A study to determine opportunities for growth and implementation strategies has already begun and will likely be completed this fall.
Buncombe County Occupancy Tax Funding
The arts sector supports the proposed change in the Buncombe County occupancy split from 25/75 to 33/66 as presented in 2020. This means $8.3 million each year available for parks, sports facilities, cultural arts, heritage, and history projects, and city and county infrastructure through the Tourism Product Development Fund, administered by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. This legislation also expands the flexibility of the Tourism Product Development Fund to go beyond the current limits of only “brick and mortar” capital projects, which would mean more funding for arts and cultural programs, especially the performing arts which has been hit hard by the pandemic. History of the Buncombe County Occupancy Tax
Status Update: Proposed changes to the occupancy tax legislation are likely to be introduced in the NC Senate this spring.
Noise Ordinance
On July 27th, Asheville City Council passed a new Noise Ordinance which will go into effect on Sept 15th. It includes curfews, decibels levels, new enforcement staff, and the formation of a Noise Advisory Board. Learn More>>>
Status Update: You can learn more about the work of the new City of Asheville Noise Ordinance Board here.
For Arts Sake, Wear a Mask
More than 30 organizations have signed on to the Asheville Area Arts Council’s pledge to require masks indoors and strongly encourage masks outdoors. Learn More>>
Status Update: The County mask mandate is set to expire on February 16. Commissioners will vote on whether or not to extend the mandate at their meeting on February 15.
NC Arts Initiatives
Buncombe County Occupancy Tax Adjustment
The arts sector supports the proposed change in the Buncombe County occupancy split from 25/75 to 33/66 as presented in 2020. This means $8.3 million each year available for parks, sports facilities, cultural arts, heritage, and history projects, and city and county infrastructure through the Tourism Product Development Fund, administered by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. This legislation also expands the flexibility of the Tourism Product Development Fund to go beyond the current limits of only “brick and mortar” capital projects, which would mean more funding for arts and cultural programs, especially the performing arts which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
Economic Incentive Tier Reform
The Buncombe County creative sector supports the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to disentangle state-run programs and grants from the Economic Incentive Tiers. In recent years, the tier system has been proposed as a way to limit arts funding increases for Tier 3 counties. This is not how the Economic Incentive Tier program was intended to be used when it was created in 1987. It was meant to be a tax break for distressed counties. However, the current indicators (unemployment rate, median household income, population, and property value per capita) has Buncombe,* Haywood, Henderson, Lincoln, and Iredell counties lumped into the same category as Wake, Mecklenburg, and Orange counties The Tier indicators should be adjusted to better reflect the stress/distress of a county long-term (average wage, adjusted sales/property tax base, and % population with some college) and should be limited to the purpose for which it was created.
WNC History Museum
In 2003, Congress established Western NC as one of 49 national heritage areas. The rich culture of this area deserves to be preserved and shared through the establishment of a WNC History Museum. Though there are 17 state museums in Eastern North Carolina, Western North Carolina only has one– the Mountain Gateway Museum in Old Fort. A feasibility study needs to be conducted through the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to assess state-owned property in WNC to determine possible locations for a larger WNC History Museum. A request has been submitted for the Governor’s budget to include funding for this project. We also understand a co-sponsor bill could also be introduced in this session.
US Arts Initiatives
creative businesses and entrepreneurs, expanding opportunity for current and future workers, and boosting the U.S. economy.
