Roads to Nowhere: Our State is in Crisis

CultureSource Community:

My resting state is simmering bewilderment about State of Michigan policy makers and business leader associations’ strategies for advancing our great state as a place people thrive.

Consistently omitted are ideas or vision about how cultural and civic infrastructure and natural resources make a place enjoyable, novel, attractive, or inspiring.

In my work at CultureSource, I see this mostly as underinvestment in arts, entertainment, and cultural vibrancy. When I visit dynamic regions of the country, they make me feel alive, connected, and engaged—and what defines and anchors those places are green gathering spaces, waterways, musicians and music venues, arenas, museums, artisans in markets and shops, and pubs. These serve individual interests as well as the common good, knitting together and strengthening communities.

Given that framework of nurturing prosperity, I am absolutely stunned—now at boiling frustration—by state budgeting that proposes elimination of ALL arts funding.

This erasure is antithetical to values Michiganders demonstrate in their daily lives: stewarding global distinction in furniture design and music, hosting tourist-magnet art fairs statewide, activating main street concert venues in towns of all sizes, capturing photography of lakes and nature trail vistas, braving stages for open mic nights in clubs and cafes, and waking up every morning singing in the shower, coordinating suit and tie color, or listening to a book on tape during a work commute. The arts matter to Michiganders.

However, the priority policy position in the proposed budget—a $3 billion value—is roads.

Where will those beautiful roads lead people to? Who wants to drive on smooth pavement that leads to boarded businesses, dark downtowns, overgrown parks, and residential blight?

Tension always exists between short- and long-term planning, and I know that achieving balance is what elected and de facto community leaders ultimately want. As taxpaying Michiganders, though, the mass of us also must participate in keeping policy strategy aligned with on-the-ground values. As we look to those leaders:

• It is reasonable to expect that those neighbors who we ask to represent our interests in Lansing are responsible and visionary.
• It is reasonable to expect that of the nearly $80 billion in spending the state is planning for fiscal year 2026—a lot of money—a portion should be dedicated to maintaining and advancing our state’s cultural assets.
• It is reasonable to expect government to invest in public safety and health and the public good.
• However, it is unreasonable (and illogical) to accept that Michiganders do not care about investing in arts and creativity in their communities. We do.

CALL TO ACTION—TODAY!
Please let the officials who represent you know that you believe in balance, prudence, and the arts—and that these are not mutually exclusive ideas.

Please tell personal stories about how you see the arts add jobs to your local economy and drive main street commerce. Tell stories about dreadful traffic jams you have been in on our pot-holey roads specifically because of the arts as drivers buzzing activity. Tell a story about an artist who built confidence in your child during a piano lesson or who painted an Instagram-bait mural downtown or how local actors made a play that raised money for a basic community need.

The toolkit below developed by advocacy partners throughout the state will help you make connections easily and tell those stories clearly. Every call matters.

Arts and cultural activity and infrastructure as well as artists and culture workers are a core part of what makes our state safe, healthy, and vibrant. We must invest in them today and always.

Sincerely,