Creative industries in Washtenaw County add hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy. In the weeks and months to come, host Deb Polich, the President and CEO of Creative Washtenaw, explores the myriad of contributors that make up the creative sector in Washtenaw County.
ABOUT ALISON WATSON:
Alison Watson has served as the Director of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) since 2018, following seven years of serving as the Programs Manager for the agency. She brings more than 20 years of expertise within Michigan’s arts and cultural sector, having worked at various nonprofits both on a local and state level. Ms. Watson developed a passion for the arts at a young age and has worked to encourage an inclusive arts environment in Michigan ever since.
RESOURCES:
Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC)
MACC Nonprofit Arts Culture Relief Funding Plan
TRANSCRIPTION:
Deb Polich: This is 89 one WEMU's creative:impact. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your host. Thanks for tuning in today and every Tuesday to meet those with creative people with ties to our community and who have impact beyond our area. It was exactly five years ago that our guest first appeared on creative:impact. Alison Watson, an Eastern alum, had just been appointed director of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council in March 2019. Less than a year after her appointment, the COVID pandemic struck, causing more havoc than we could imagine and leaving no aspect of our lives unscathed. Alison is back to talk about the impact then and now on the arts and creative industries in Michigan. Alison, welcome back to the show.
Alison Watson: Thank you. Deb. Thanks for having me back. It's good.
Deb Polich: Yeah, yeah. So, I'm sure you well remember the excitement and optimism you had when you were appointed as the MACC director--MACC, by the way, being our acronym for the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. What do you remember about that time?
Alison Watson: You know, it feels like a lifetime ago.
Deb Polich: I can imagine.
Alison Watson: So much has changed since then. But you're right. There was an excitement and optimism of what the potential could be. What changes? What was the future of MACC going to be at those times? It was on a really different trajectory than where we found ourselves less than a year later. But that's okay. I think one of the amazing things that we've learned over the last five years is how vital and critical arts and culture is to our lives.
Deb Polich: Yeah. And you mentioned a year later, literally and again, almost to the day right now, COVID shut down the arts and cultural sector abruptly. It shut down a lot of other things. But we can still say, and I believe it's true, that we were the first to shut our doors to protect our public. Describe that effect in general and how the Council responded.
Alison Watson: Yeah. Well, I think for many of us at the beginning, it was shocking, right?
Deb Polich: Right.
Alison Watson: We didn't know what to expect. We thought it was maybe just a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks turned into months, turned into years. And I think that's fundamentally changed over these last five years. It's fundamentally changed how we gather, how we spend time with each other. At first, it was wonderful, right? You kind of felt like, "Great! I had this moment to breathe and and sort of spend time to myself." But as the time went on, we realized what was really missing in our lives. And that was how we are out and about in our communities. And what are those things that we love to do in our in our spare time when we're not working or have family obligations? And that's arts and culture-based.
Deb Polich: Sure, sure. And, you know, throughout the pandemic, we updated the creative:impact listeners on the jobs lost, the loss to Michigan's economy, and the very, very slow recovery of the sector. We also talked about those recovery programs that were made available to things like the CARES act that barely reached our sector. And then one program, the Shuttered Venue Operating Grant that did show up, really saved many performing arts programs here, across the state, and the nation. But still, that trickle down of recovery funding to the sector is painfully absent. Is it, in your opinion, a lack of understanding about that the economic decision makers make and have about our $1 trillion business nationally and $1 billion in Michigan? Is it really a lack of understanding or what is it?
Alison Watson: You know, I hate to try to think of what others might be thinking--other decision makers. But, you know, I think that, for arts and culture, there is a lack of understanding of what the ripple effect that this field has on restaurants and has on general service industries across the board, whether it's printing cost and parking, which sounds silly. But those are big things that draw people into our community. So, it's the restaurants. It's the coffee houses. It's the little shops that are along our streets where so many of our arts and cultural venues find their homes. And when you, all of a sudden, have hundreds to thousands of people not coming into that downtown area, there is a huge gap. And so, the trickle effect around the industry, I think, was not maybe fully realized as to what it is now. And through COVID, we did have small amounts of funding that came in through some CARES act dollars that we were able to receive and distribute out. But it was very small, and they shuttered venues. The grant--that was able to come in. And that was a huge boost to certain aspects of the arts and cultural sector. And luckily for us, within the last year, there were two rounds of funding that was available to nonprofits: one, through the Michigan Nonprofit Association that was there to serve all nonprofits and then the $5 million that we were able to secure that was strictly for arts and cultural-based organizations.
Deb Polich: 89 one WEMU's creative:impact continues with Alison Watson, director of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. So, you mentioned the $5 million in arts economic recovery grants that MACC administered. And you announced last month, at the Ann Arbor Neutral Zone--thanks for coming to town--16 of those grants totaling about $828,000 for Washtenaw County. And also, I must say one for Creative Washtenaw--thank you. How are those funds secured from the American Rescue Plan allocation for Michigan? How did that happen?
Alison Watson: Well, luckily, we have some very strong legislators here in Michigan that understood and sort of heard our voice to say we need additional support dollars that, even though venues are back open, and people are moving about freely, the arts and cultural industries are still feeling the the impact of it. You know, a lot of spaces are tight in terms of what seating capacity is or moving about. And sometimes, there's some hesitation to do that. And so, the industry is still suffering those long-term impacts. And this was just a really, great way for people in our state to recognize the need and the value. And thanks to our leadership in our state, they allocated us that $5 million strictly for arts and cultural organizations here in Michigan.
Deb Polich: So, I mean, $5 million--that's half of what the State Arts Council's allocation is on an annual basis. So, that was huge. What are you hearing from those awarded, and what difference are these grants going to make to those organizations across the state?
Alison Watson: One of the great things that these dollars were able to do is that they're unrestricted. That as long as an organization was able to show proof of financial hardship during COVID, the funding became available to them without a restriction to say you can only spend it on these types of projects or this type of program. Rather, we now are saying we see the loss that you had. We're all professionals. You use those funds to best fill those gaps to help attempt to make you hold again as an organization. And so that's unheard of.
Deb Polich: Right. And, you know, honestly, from a person in the field who's been here forever, that trust is almost unheard of in grantmaking, and we appreciate that. I'm serious.
Alison Watson: It is!
Deb Polich: You know, it's really, really unusual. And so, thank you very much for setting it up that way and doing that way. You know, full recovery is still a ways off in our communities and our industry, especially. And you mentioned that audiences are still not back in full force. I think the numbers about 75%. Maybe we're inching up to 80. What can we do to help raise the investment and important public policies in Lansing? You know, we as the field. What's our role in that work?
Alison Watson: Yeah. You know, I think the thing that you can do is talk to your legislators. Talk to them. They're normal people, just like you and I who are living in our communities, who attend events, who have kids. They go to school or had kids that went to school. They choose to live in the communities. And just because they're a public servant doesn't mean they're any different, right? And so, making sure that your voice is heard and that you tell them. You invite them to your events. And you explain that how critical funding and state support for arts and culture is to your community. The only way they're going to know is if you take the time out to tell them. They want to know that. They want to hear what's going on and what's important to those that live in their same community.
Deb Polich: Right. And not necessarily just those of us that work in the field and do our practitioners, but absolutely the audiences and the community members that benefit from everything that is cultural.
Alison Watson: Absolutely! Yeah!
Deb Polich: I'm wondering looking forward mostly all those recovery grants are, in fact, expended. And in just the last second or two that we have here, first, I want to say thanks to the council for doing all the work that they do and want to just reach out and say, always from the other side, reach out to all of us in the field to help wherever we can to. And I think you agree that the importance of us all working together really makes a difference.
Alison Watson: Absolutely! It takes everyone, right? And it takes all voices to make sure that those that have been elected to serve you know what you value and what you want and sort of expect to be in your community.
Deb Polich: Well, hey, thanks for coming back five years later on your anniversary. Let's not let five years go before you're back again.
Alison Watson: Sounds great! I'd love to be back as soon as I can!
Deb Polich: That's Alison Watson, director of the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. Find out more about Alison and the MACC arts recovery grants at wemu.org. You've been listening to creative:impact. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw. And Mat Hopson is our producer. Please join us every Tuesday to meet the people who make Washtenaw creative. This is 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Public radio from Eastern Michigan University.
If you'd like to a guest on creative:impact, email Deb Polich at deb.polich@creativewashtenaw.org.
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