Healthy Development Measurement Toolkit

Indicator PI.3.b Public funding for the arts per capita

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Data Source

San Francisco Arts Commission.  Agency Report on District Based Programming.  FY 2008-09.  Accessed on August 6, 2009: http://www.sfartscommission.org/about/annual_report/index.htm

Maps prepared by City and County of San Francisco, Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software

Explanation and Limitations

This indicator reflects public arts funding distributed by the San Francisco Arts Commission.  Total district funding includes funding allocated for: Civic Design Review, Community Arts and Education, Cultural Equity Grants, Public Art, Civic Art Collection and Monument Conservation, and Street Artists Program.  Additional funding is provided in specific districts as part of the Summer in the City Concert Series and the SF Arts Commission Gallery, whose projects are located in the Downtown/Civic Center area.  For detailed descriptions on each of these types of funding, please review the SFAC Annual Report, http://www.sfartscommission.org/about/annual_report/index.htm (accessed on September 22, 2009).

This indicator does not include other sources of public funding (i.e. from the State of California or the federal government) or private funding (i.e. from foundations, corporations, non-profit advocacy organizations, private development, etc).  

Per capita funding for the arts is one method of showing geographic differences in the investment of public arts, however should not serve as a proxy for access to the arts.  Many different factors influence whether an individual as access to art and cultural facilities including (but not limited to) geographic proximity, hours of operation, costs of entry or participation, transportation to the event, culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach and publicity, the cultural relevance to the individual, and time/availability.

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Although access is influenced by multiple factors, the availability of funding for art and cultural facilities is one important component of the public's ability to access art and cultural events over time. Research finds that the influence/effects of the arts on health are to: induce positive physiological and psychological changes in clinical outcomes; reduce drug consumption, shorten length of stay in hospital, improve recovery time, increase job satisfaction, promote better doctor-patient relationship, improve mental healthcare, and, reduce depression and blood pressure.^a,b,c,d,

According to the Arts Master Plan, "Arts education benefits students in ways that other curricula cannot. It deepens expression and interpretation, and accommodates individuals' strengths and learning styles. It challenges learners to develop skills needed to perceive, inquire, create, reflect and critique. When students are offered quality arts education continuously throughout their school years (sequential arts education) and are given the opportunity to build upon and refine acquired skills, they will carry those skills from the school, to the workplace, to society at large." http://portal.sfusd.edu/data/aemp/AEMPcombined.pdf (accessed on October 3, 2006).