Low participation is projected for one of the county’s largest arts events– just one sign that the local art community is hurting in the economic downturn.
According to Alissa Maddren, the program director for ARTS Obispo–known formally as the San Luis Obispo Arts Council– involvement for their largest exhibition, Open Studio, is down 20 percent.
“For us, that’s a sign that it’s tougher than usual,” Maddren said.
Open Studio showcased 280 local artists last October, but this year, only 224 have signed up to join the exhibition.
And ARTS Obispo isn’t alone. The impact on the local art community is two-fold: People have stopped buying art and local funds are being cut.
On the municipal level, art funding has dropped. In 1990, the city adopted a public art policy that requires every business to give 1 percent of its development toward funding public art in San Luis Obispo. At the start of the economic decline in January 2008, the city cut that to .5 percent.
Because of the decrease, ARTS Obispo had to get rid of a staff member and end its grant program.
She said that the drop in funds impacts the local artists ARTS Obispo represents.
“It really trickles down because we can’t provide much infrastructure,” Maddren said.
She said if funding and sales don’t improve, many local art organizations will cease to exist.
“It needs to turn around soon because we’re on a shoestring and we can only survive so long,” she said.
Elsewhere in the county, Morro Bay Art Association is just one example of a gallery forced to close its doors one extra day a week starting in October, said Cathy Olson, the gallery director.
“We felt a big decline in visitors spending money,” Olson said. “I do feel that in general that’s turning around. We’re starting to see more sales.”
The Morro Bay gallery re-opened to five days a week starting July 1, and Olson said they’ve already seen the number of visitors return to pre-closure levels.
The strong art culture on the Central Coast helps keep Morro Bay’s art culture alive, Olson said.
On three big holiday weekends throughout the year, the association holds an Art in the Park event that draws thousands from around the state and keeps its finances out of the red.
Although economic woes may be lessening at some galleries, individual artists are slower to get back on track.
Olson herself is a watercolor painter who went on an artistic hiatus in March.
“I’m not buying another canvas,” she said. “If nothing is selling, why keep producing?”
When her term as gallery director is over in the fall, Olson said she might consider painting again.
Instead of taking a break from art, Sarah Afana, a Paso Robles painter and jeweler took her work to a worldwide audience through the Web.
“I’m really embracing the online thing,” Afana said. “I’m trying to put my work out there so as many people see it as possible.”
Last August, Afana started a Web site portfolio that features her latest work. Around the same time, she started blogging about her experiences and creative process.
But her real success in the online world came with the use of Etsy — an online network and e-commerce option for independence artists.
“I get about 100 hits a day, which I’m really happy with,” Afana said.
The largest source of traffic to her Etsy store comes directly from Twitter, which Afana joined in March.
When Afana isn’t tweeting and painting, she works a day job at Art Works, a frame shop in Paso Robles, where she’s also seen the impact of the economy on art.
“Frame shops are not going well,” she said. “They’re closing all through the state.”
In a less tech-driven effort to compensate for a slow economy, full-time painter Patti Robbins, has been more economical about how she approaches her work.
“I’m not going to lower my prices,” Robbins said. “No artist should do that, but I am offering smaller canvases.”
The decision to ditch her 40-by-40 inch canvas is a precaution heading into October’s Open Studio exhibition.
“I am assuming people will be careful with their money,” Robbins said.
She’s also being more resourceful with her painting materials and using older canvases from her storage instead of buying new ones. Although her sales are slow this year, she said it could be worse.
“Last year I thought would be my worst year and it was financially successful,” Robbins said. “A year later it all may change.”
But she hasn’t let it get her down.
“When you’re an artist, you’re compelled, no matter the circumstances,” Robbins said. “I don’t paint to sell. I paint because I love it.”