Report Details 18 Months Of Research Into Arts In Contra Costa County

Community Corner

Report Details 18 Months Of Research Into Arts In Contra Costa County The newly released report identifies 315 arts and culture organizations and provides recommendations on how to support them.

—More than 300 unique organizations devoted to arts and culture exist in Contra Costa County, and many operate on annual budgets under $25,000, according to a first-of-its-kind report released Tuesday by the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation and The Zellerbach Family Foundation.

The report, " Creative Pulse: A Baseline Study of Contra Costa County's Arts and Culture Sector ," is the culmination of 18 months of research and community engagement to understand the unique characteristics of the county's arts and culture sector.

The detailed analysis identifies those who create art or are actively engaged in it—making the sector more visible to community members, elected officials, policymakers and those who can fund the arts.

Authored by Dr. Anh Thang Dao-Shah of Creative Equity Research Partners, it highlights the sector's strengths and opportunities and recommends the most effective ways to support it.

"We're excited to celebrate the arts and culture makers of Contra Costa County," said Devorah Levine, executive director of the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation . "Our foundations set out to better understand the arts and culture landscape in Contra Costa County and what could be possible if we fully resourced the vibrancy of the region. What we found was a community of practitioners and organizations that already makes our region more vibrant, diverse and unique."

Recent challenges, such as the pandemic and demographic shifts, have impacted an ecosystem of individual artists and organizations that have been doing important work—often without the visibility and resources they need to thrive, the report showed.

"The Zellerbach Family Foundation has always seen arts and culture as a critical component of increasing a sense of belonging, safety, and connection in our region," said Allison Magee, the foundation's executive director. "This report provides an important snapshot of a county and sector that is often overlooked but deserves our attention and support. It inspires us to dream big—both in how we can fund the sector and hold up artists and culture makers to the light."

Insights were collected through a community engagement process that included gathering qualitative data and mapping 315 arts and culture organizations across the county.

Key findings included:

Contra Costa County has among California's lowest per capita investments in arts and culture.

Arts organizations in Walnut Creek, Richmond and Concord make up 40 percent of the 315 identified in the report.

Organizations with annual budgets below $25,000 make up 47 percent of the 185 that provided organizational budgets.

Contra Costa's geographic range and diversity have resulted in multiple micro arts ecosystems, each with unique characteristics, communities and challenges.

The demographic shifts experienced in the county and its size and diversity contributed to artists lacking a sense of belonging and connection to one another and their communities.

Economic disparities and racial segregation in Contra Costa disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous and People of Color —BIPOC— artists and communities of color. Areas with the highest concentration of BIPOC communities receive the least investment and significantly lack arts venues.

Contra Costa County integrates arts and culture in other sectors—including mental health, education and immigrant rights—to support communities amid seismic shifts.

The report recommends holistically supporting the sector, preserving arts and culture institutions and infrastructure, and intentionally investing in historically marginalized communities and artists.

See the full report.

See the map of Contra Costa's 315 arts and culture organizations.