Individual Artists: Yes, Yes, and Yes

The phrase “preaching to the choir” is made for moments like this: CAN Journal’s endorsement in favor of Cuyahoga County’s cigarette tax for the arts might seem completely unnecessary. Our readers are interested in art and artists, and the organizations that support them, and Collective Arts Network (CAN) has benefitted directly from the tax through general operating support for the […]

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Leader of the Pack

The cigarette tax had two goals: provide funding for the arts and reduce smoking in our region. It worked, but as smoking fell, so did revenue for the arts. Now what? The Ohio legislature, not known for favoring progressive policies, art, or Cleveland, nonetheless responded positively to Cuyahoga County arts advocates’ early-aughts request to create a revenue stream to fund […]

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Ohio Grants Permission for Revised Arts Tax

Arts funding in Cuyahoga County could get a significant boost by the end of 2023. Just before Christmas, 2022, The Ohio legislature passed a bill that includes permission for Cuyahoga County to put before its voters a revision of the cigarette tax that supports the arts. Governor Mike Dewine signed the bill January 2.  Jeremy Johnson, director of the advocacy […]

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Cigarette Tax: A Learnable Moment

Educators talk about “teachable moments”– those times when learning comes easily because something happens that makes information relevant. This is one of those times for people concerned about public funding for the arts in Cuyahoga County. As if to highlight the need to find something other than a cigarette tax to provide such revenue,  a recent State of Ohio budget […]

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CAN We Talk?

Maybe this is a good time to talk. Just over 75 percent of the people who cast ballots in Cuyahoga County in November voted in favor of renewed public support of the arts and culture through its 30 cent per pack tax on cigarettes. That’s an overwhelming number. And a few months earlier, when the County Council discussed putting the […]

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