Norman loves its festivals, its art walks, its theatre productions, its concerts, its galleries and all the other art happenings that have helped entertain, nourish and enliven us. Art is huge part of our community’s identity, steadily growing over the past 40 years as our hotel tax funding has helped us annually kickstart, stabilize and support over 20 arts organizations in Norman.
Since March, Norman Arts Council has watched our portion of the hotel funds go through cuts, go into deficit, and have projections for future revenues reduced by more than 60%. To make sure that the continued existence of a vibrant arts community is a part of our city’s recovery plan, we hope you will let our City Council know that they have the power to help us by allocating a fraction of the CARES Act funding the City of Norman is receiving to help keep our arts community afloat.
We know our community understands and values the important role the arts plays in Norman’s economic impact, quality of life, and health, but would like to reiterate a few things that we hope will help you make a case for arts support with the Council and understand the necessity thereof:
• In addition to the reduction in hotel funds, arts organizations lost nearly $700,000 in revenue from programs that were cancelled or moved to a virtual format between March and June 30th.
• Arts Organization were unable to serve nearly 300,000 people due to programs that were cancelled or moved to a virtual format for the same period
• The loss of economic impact in Norman was over $11,000,000 in direct audience spending in the community and almost $1,000,000 in sales tax revenue for the same period
This is such a trying time for all, but for so many of us, it has been art — be it music or film or books or crafts or any of the other marvelous forms creativity can take — that has helped carry us through it. We feel so strongly that that the arts will help us unite and heal, both emotionally and, eventually, economically, as the tide starts to turn, and to bring color to a world that can all too cruelly turn gray.
But we need your help in spreading awareness, share what the arts mean to you with your friends, family and followers and write your Norman city council member encouraging them to make sure that the arts are essential to any recovery effort.
Thank you for all the support you have given the Norman Arts community over the years, and all that we know you’ll continue to give!
#OurHeartIsNormanArtsNorman loves its festivals, its art walks, its theatre productions, its concerts, its galleries and all the other art happenings that have helped entertain, nourish and enliven us. Art is huge part of our community’s identity, steadily growing over the past 40 years as our hotel tax funding has helped us annually kickstart, stabilize and support over 20 arts organizations in Norman.
Since March, Norman Arts Council has watched our portion of the hotel funds go through cuts, go into deficit, and have projections for future revenues reduced by more than 60%. To make sure that the continued existence of a vibrant arts community is a part of our city’s recovery plan, we hope you will let our City Council know that they have the power to help us by allocating a fraction of the CARES Act funding the City of Norman is receiving to help keep our arts community afloat.
We know our community understands and values the important role the arts plays in Norman’s economic impact, quality of life, and health, but would like to reiterate a few things that we hope will help you make a case for arts support with the Council and understand the necessity thereof:
• In addition to the reduction in hotel funds, arts organizations lost nearly $700,000 in revenue from programs that were cancelled or moved to a virtual format between March and June 30th.
• Arts Organization were unable to serve nearly 300,000 people due to programs that were cancelled or moved to a virtual format for the same period
• The loss of economic impact in Norman was over $11,000,000 in direct audience spending in the community and almost $1,000,000 in sales tax revenue for the same period
This is such a trying time for all, but for so many of us, it has been art — be it music or film or books or crafts or any of the other marvelous forms creativity can take — that has helped carry us through it. We feel so strongly that that the arts will help us unite and heal, both emotionally and, eventually, economically, as the tide starts to turn, and to bring color to a world that can all too cruelly turn gray.
But we need your help in spreading awareness, share what the arts mean to you with your friends, family and followers and write your Norman city council member encouraging them to make sure that the arts are essential to any recovery effort.
Thank you for all the support you have given the Norman Arts community over the years, and all that we know you’ll continue to give!
#OurHeartIsNormanArts