Hyperallergic - The results of the YouGov poll of 1,000 US citizens, conducted on May 14 and 15 and delivered under the misleadingly cheerful headline “Most agree art is an important part of life,” show that while a slim majority of respondents thinks art is important, only 34% would pay an extra five dollars in taxes every year to make art and culture “more accessible to the wider public,” and the word most frequently chosen by respondents to describe art (47%) was “expensive.” Distant seconds, at 26% each, were “popular” and “worthwhile.”
At 73%, the demographic segment that most prizes visual art as part of “a well-rounded life” is that living in households with an annual income of more than $80,000. They were also the most likely (at 48%) to pay a $5 annual tax to boost access to art and culture. Among YouGov’s respondents, 27% were unsure when asked if it’s “acceptable or unacceptable for some of the most important works of art to be sold to private collectors who may or may not display them to the public,” while 51% said it was acceptable, a figure that went up to 57% among men, and 63% among Republicans.
Beyond the study’s muddled findings about the ways US citizens value visual art (or don’t), YouGov’s more tangential poll questions turned up some amusing results. For instance, when asked “Do you own any paintings, sculptures, or other art works?” a full 4% of respondents — or about 40 people among the 1,000 polled — said they were “not sure.”
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In Portland Oregon we have an "Arts Tax", that was actually voted in by the electorate. Of course it was sold to voters as arts money for schools, and the schools now have arts teachers, which is what the money was supposed to be for. Some of the money was to go to some local arts groups like the ballet, art museum, and the symphony. I can't afford tickets to see those, but at least they do employ people at an ongoing basis.
Unfortunately a great deal of the "Arts Tax" money goes to RACC (regional arts and culture council), who waste it on things like $700,000 for a pair of sculptures that look like heaps of scrap iron abandoned next to 2 bridge on ramps. These "sculptures" names "Inversion: Plus Minus" dominate the corners they stand on damaging the side walk with constant rust running off the things and damage people's clothing if they must walk under these rusty hulks in the rain. They are ugly, a public nuisance, and never should have been approved.
The funding mechanism for this arts tax is horrible. It's an illegal poll tax, that requires that every person in Portland 18 and over who makes more then $1000 a year must pay $35 a year. Whether they make $1001 or $1 Million a year the tax is the same. If a person doesn't make $1000 a year, then they must prove to the city they don't make enough money to pay the tax.
To make matters worse, when a law professor at a local college challenged the "arts tax" because it's unconstitutional by state law, and it's unfair funding mechanism. The county court refused to hear the case. When the state was asked to defend the constitution, the state said the plaintiffs must go to the county court, which is the very court who has already refused to see the case.
I'd caution anyone who is asked to vote for an "arts tax" to be very careful and read the text of the proposed law before voting, because it's obvious that many people in Portland didn't bother to read it first. I did read it and was deeply concerned about the funding mechanism, and voted against it, but too many people here will blindly vote for anything if it's sold as being "for the children".
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