Arts funding

DCBlog43 reports these statistics about arts funding in DC:

From the National Assembly of State Arts Agency Funding and Grant-making Report:

DC Total Legislative Appropriation:
$ Amount Amount Per Capita National Rank
$9,380,000 $15.94 1

Total Agency Revenue:
$ Amount Amount Per Capita National Rank
$12,887,300 $21.91 1

A commenter to the post reminds us that these numbers are for 2008 only and that over time, DC has not been at the top of the list. I hope DC government will continue to fund the arts at least at this level so we can see what can happen when there is at least a financial commitment to bolstering artistic endeavors in our city. However, remember that education spending in DC has ranked at the highest level in the country for some time and yet our public schools rank at the bottom. Spending a lot of money on arts funding does not guarantee beneficial results. Some thoughts on how we can spend more wisely (1) seek out grant recipients who shy away from the formidable grant process but who are among the best artists in our city and help them obtain city funding, (2) fund art projects that are not always the safe, conservative crowd-pleasers so that DC can be a more significant voice in the international art scene, and (3) determine ways to rally the community around the arts and highlight the importance of the arts as a community builder. Any other ideas out there?