Funding differences in visual and performing arts programs

On Sept. 18, during the fifth week of school, Samo’s painting and AP art teacher Amy Bouse was given a budget for her class. In addition to the $1,500 she receives from the Santa Monica Education Foundation (SMEF), she now receives $3,500 every 40 weeks from Samo administration. Distributed among her five full classes, the budget allotted by administration provides 56 cents to spend per student every week. However, while many feel that the arts are not provided the resources that other electives receive, the disparity stems from outside donors and fundraisers, not a lack of school funding.Although music and art receive around the same amount of funding from the school, music receives substantially more funding from external sources. According to Joni Swenson, co-director of the orchestra program, SMEF does not directly fund the Samo music program, as the program receives a large amount of their budget from fundraising. However, SMEF does support the Samo music program through the Bergmann Endowment. “Eligible Samo music students are able to apply for free semi-private lessons and the music teachers can apply for instruments to be used by students who are also eligible. These programs were added based on the specific requirements of the estate of Peggy Bergmann,” orchestra co-director Jason Aiello said.With the additional support from the Bergmann Endowment and the large number of concerts and fundraisers that the department holds, the music program is able to provide instruments, private lessons and scholarships to ensure all students can go on their trips, often to international destinations. Other art electives that do not get the same scale of outside fundraising rely on the money in Dr. Antonio Shelton’s site budget, which gives the same amount of money to all art teachers, including music. Shelton explains how this is the only money given by the district themselves, and the rest of the programs’ income comes from outside sources.“The district gives me a music budget, [which is] site money versus gifts. The ED Foundation  [SMEF] is beyond me, so they give them [Art Dept.] money. We added dance and film this year to the budget. This is the first year they will be getting the $2,000 apiece,” Shelton said.While all art electives get the same district funding, there is a significant disparity between programs’ overall budgets due to outside donations. This year, Bouse had to spend $500 of her own money on paints to start the class. She did end up getting reimbursed, but many parents and students were angry that the supplies were not there in the first place. However, Shelton explained that the lack of resources at the onset of school was due to a delay with purchase orders, not an absence of funding.“The purchase orders took longer than normal. It takes time to purchase items, and I don’t have control over purchasing. When people say ‘Art doesn’t get any funding,’ it’s just not true,” Shelton said.Although a large part of the funding is predetermined by the district and cannot be altered by Dr. Shelton, many art students still feel like art is underfunded. “We are providing the basic needs of the student. Now, a lot of times, the students want above and beyond that, and if you choose to go above and beyond that, and this goes for art too, that’s up to you,” Shelton said. Some art students are taking matters into their own hands to acquire more resources. Nadiya Sayson (’22) started her own club, Fund the Arts, to raise awareness for the department. Their goal is to fundraise for the art department by creating and selling art, and the club meets every Friday in room A103.Students who want a more robust program to learn and grow are in favor of clubs that support the programs that they’re involved in. Shelton argues that clubs like these are a great way to raise extra money, but are not vital to run the class. Students who participate in art at Samo want their program to be supported. Bruce Debiasse was an AP art student for three years. He now attends the University of Southern California school for animation.“When I started AP art, I was minimally social and wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do with my art. AP art was not only a place where I mobilized on these fronts, but Ms. Bouse and the artistic community definitely fostered a fantastic safe learning space where I grew as an artist and as an individual as well, and I’m happy to know that students are making an effort to raise funds for the department that helped me so much” said Bruce Debiasse (’19).