A Recovery Deferred: The State of the Arts Post-Pandemic
In May 2020, ALL ARTS hosted a virtual event titled “Arts in Recovery: How do we move toward recovery in the arts? Cultural leaders…” which brought together arts-leaders, institutions and creators to assess the immediate impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector. allarts.org+1 At that moment, the challenge was clear: halted performances, shuttered studios, cancelled exhibitions, school closures and artists suddenly without access to their usual platforms.
Fast-forward to today: while some sectors of the arts have resumed activities, many parts of the industry remain fragile. The “recovery” hasn’t meant a return to the status quo. We’re still grappling with lingering disruptions — financial, structural, cultural — and the ripple effects continue to impact artists, arts organizations, communities and the way we do creative work.
Zooming in and looking at the local level, for many organizations—especially community-based ones in Oakland—the “bounce back” remains incomplete.
A major funding mechanism for arts and culture in Oakland—the hotel tax (a portion of which supports the city’s art funding) — took a sharp hit early in the pandemic. In 2019 the hotel tax revenue had grown to about $33 million, but by spring 2020 the city projected a drop of $9 million to $18 million in hotel tax revenue alone for the fiscal year. KQED+1
That decline directly threatened support for arts organizations: one report noted that “roughly a third of the $1.2 million that Oakland granted to artists and small arts nonprofits derived from hotel taxes.” KQED
Further, in the fiscal year 2023-24, the budget for the city’s Cultural Affairs Division (which supports arts and cultural programming) was already under pressure: for example, the mayor proposed reducing the budget from $7.3 million to $5.4 million in the upcoming cycle. oaklandside.org
Even as of late 2024, arts groups were facing delayed payments and lost or uncertain funding: in May 2024 the city informed dozens of arts groups that promised grants totaling $1.3 million were being held up due to budget uncertainty. oaklandside.org
More recently, for the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Cultural Affairs Division’s grant-budget was cut again: from roughly $1.1 million to about $837,000 for the year. The effect: entire programs serving youth and community arts risked being scaled back or shuttered.San Francisco Chronicle+1
In Conclusion
The ALL ARTS “Arts in Recovery” conversation from May 2020 may have kicked off the dialogue, but the journey is far from over. The arts industry still bears scars and is in the midst of transformation. For Asé Arts, and similar smaller organizations, this means leaning into our mission with renewed clarity: using art education, consulting and curated creations to support community, creativity and change. Offering a moment to ask: How do we make the art ecosystem stronger, more equitable, more embedded in everyday life?
We’re not just recovering. We’re building a new foundation for art to meet impact, for creativity to meet purpose—and for community to thrive. Because when art makes things happen we rise together Asé!