By Ike Everard | Ike@whereweconverge.com

Seattle Music Commission Chair Reese Tanimura looked on in delight as Mayor Jenny Durkan signed the $128.4 million Seattle Rescue Plan (SRP) at Little Saigon Creative on June 22nd. Termed the “Renaissance of Seattle”, the bill includes funds which are supposed to directly support the community in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was passed unanimously by the Seattle City Council.

The plan includes money to support the creative community, as artists have been hit especially hard by the pandemic.

“Right off the bat, with the understanding about needing to stay home, it took a lot of our musicians and artists and workers out,” Reese Tanimura of the Seattle Music Commission said. “Even with capacity being limited, there’s an economic issue to getting back into business. Especially smaller venues are not going to be able to get back to doing the things they do.”

Tanimura said the current systems around unemployment and social services aren’t set up to support artists either. She said the gig economy, which includes both artists and workers like Uber and Lyft drivers, doesn’t provide the safeguards a traditional 9 to 5 job does. When these individuals lose housing, Tanimura said, it increases the rate of gentrification and causes a creative exodus from the city.

According to Tanimura, this is where the SRP comes in. By injecting funds into the community, the city hopes to undo some of the negative impacts caused by COVID. Tanimura says it is paramount that the funds find those who need them. 

“I definitely want to make sure that especially for Black, Brown and Indigenous artists, that this is something available to them,” Tanimura said. She says the groups in the most need should be able to have easy and quick access to the support provided by the bill. 

According to Tanimura, one of the biggest barriers to entry for those in the creative community seeking financial assistance is the difficulty of navigating the system itself.  She’s hopeful that a direct investment provided by the bill into technical assistance for individuals will ensure those in need are able to access funds quickly and efficiently. 

“It takes a lot of time, energy and know-how, and so having that technical assistance is really important,” Tanimura said. “And then also getting to places where people just have more access to people to work through the system with.”

The bill also introduces $49.2 million to support housing stability. Tanimura believes this will have a substantial impact on the creative community as well.

“Affordability is locked into the very nature of not having pay equity or past standards of pay,” Tanimura said. 

She also hopes investments made by the bill into the Cultural Space Agency will have numerous positive impacts on the community. She envisions a system where investments can be made on cultural spaces, and cultural businesses can benefit from lease-to-own programs. 

“Ownership is wealth building. Those kinds of investments are really important.” Tanimura said. “Cultural space is a part of keeping community together in Seattle, and it’s also a part of making sure that our young people have creative outlets.”

As with any investment into community repair, the question of sustainability arises. Tanimura believes that the plan accounts for this and will spur the economy back into action. 

“Just seeing the amount of work and success that our creatives in our community have when they have very little access to resources makes me confident that this investment provides the way for us to get off the ground,” Tanimura said. “Getting started is half the battle. Access to capital is stabilizing, it’s huge.”

She hopes that the citizens of Seattle take it upon themselves to see the creative economy thrive, and that they appreciate the art being made in the city.

“Like you would get groceries or go out to dinner, I hope that culture and arts becomes an everyday part of life,” Tanimura said. “Take it out of the realm of simple consumerism and make it more of a habit and a piece of our consciousness.”

A specific breakdown of funds relating to the creative economy is available below:

$3 million in cultural organization funding

$375k for created commons

$257k for Downtown event activations

Creatives are among those eligible for a $25 million cash assistance pool

$200k for Seattle Center activations for performances

$500k for a parks activations pilot program that includes artists and small businesses

According to the city, more information on applications for funds and Requests for Proposals will be available at the end of July.