CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

CHAPTER 82

Statutes of 2025

Introduced by Senator Allen

(Coauthors: Senators Ashby, Cabaldon, Caballero, Durazo, Menjivar, Pérez, Rubio, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, and Wahab)

April 7, 2025

Relative to Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month.

Fiscal committee: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

This measure would encourage all Californians to support the arts and would recognize April 2025 as a significant time to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate the arts, culture, and creativity of all Californians.

WHEREAS, Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month of April is the seventh annual statewide celebration; and

WHEREAS, In 2019, the Legislature adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 33 proclaiming every April as Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month; and

WHEREAS, Arts, culture, and creativity are essential drivers of health, hope, and healing within California communities, with critical impacts on economic development and innovation and the social forces necessary to drive progress, build community, educate youth, advance racial justice, and create jobs; and

WHEREAS, Exposure to the arts positively impacts health through reducing stress hormones and depression, increasing longevity and cognitive well-being, and fostering interpersonal connection through regular engagement and attendance at cultural events; and

WHEREAS, Youth access to arts education and creative programming provides meaningful benefits to hope and perspective, fosters a sense of community and personal fulfillment, and inspires optimism and resilience in the face of challenges; and

WHEREAS, Engagement with creative outlets and activities and with cultural experiences provides unique opportunities for healing, offering therapeutic and restorative experiences that enhance well-being, cultivate mental and physical health, and support emotional recovery; and

WHEREAS, Retaining and supporting cultural diversity is essential for healthy, equitable, and thriving communities, and access to art is essential to individual health and community well-being by providing access to joyful engagement with arts and providing mental health benefits and improved well-being in each aspect of life; and

WHEREAS, Art work is real work, and California employs the highest number of people in creative industries — architecture, entertainment, fashion, media, and publishing — than any other state in the nation; and

WHEREAS, California is now the fourth largest economy in the world with a creative economy, according to the recently released Otis Report on the Creative Economy in 2021, with approximately $504 billion in direct economic impact and an estimated $978.6 billion when combined direct, induced, and indirect factors are considered, representing a workforce of over 1,800,000 workers and 7.6 percent of the state’s GDP; and

WHEREAS, State support for the arts, arts education, and cultural bearers is crucial in order to achieve equitable access to the arts throughout California, and it is imperative for all California children and youth to have access to arts education and cultural institutions in their schools; and

WHEREAS, In a state as diverse as California, the arts serve to give a voice to many communities, spark individual creativity, foster empathy and understanding, spur civic engagement, and serve as a continual source of personal enrichment, inspiration, and growth; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature encourages all Californians to deepen support for arts in our schools and uplift and expand opportunities in our creative workforce; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes April 2025 as a significant time to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate the arts, culture, and creativity of all Californians; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.