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Ask anyone what constitutes art or why does art matter, and their answers will run the gamut. Historically, art documented existence, myth and folklore, and spiritual beliefs. The arts move us emotionally and intellectually. They help us connect to our communities. Through art we make sense of the world, our shifting societies and our place within it. People have been making art since the dawn of time.
That doesn’t mean making art is easy. Many of the arts-focused businesses, nonprofits and venues in Sacramento are struggling. They have not recovered since the pandemic, whether due to shifting consumer habits, increasing costs of doing business, hardships related to finding reliable employees or lack of community investment. This struggle, we have found, applies across the board and includes live music venues, theater groups, performance arts, galleries, and does not discriminate between small and new or legacy organizations.
But sometimes we don’t miss something until it’s gone. Here, Solving Sacramento and its news partners spoke to representatives of six local arts organizations to see how they are surviving the times — and what would be lost to our city if one day they went away.