Austin Simcox // United Utah Party // Utah House District 63

  • How have the arts, culture, and/or humanities impacted your life?
    • How have they not?! I began high school as a timid freshman with few friends. I was worried I wouldn't find my place in this scary new world. I joined theatre and choir and found my niche. The arts helped me get through high school and find a community I could rely on. I was able to re-find this community when I attended BYU by involving myself in the music department. For me, the arts and humanities are all about community. They can bind together and lift up the whole community around them by their presence.
  • Utah's humanities and arts employ 123,000 Utahns, provide $4.4 billion in earnings, and $13.2 billion in sales. This is a larger economic impact than agriculture, mining, and real estate. Do you consider the arts and cultural sector an economic driver in Utah?
    • Yes
  • Fiscally responsible government investment in the arts and humanities (including humanities and arts education) means to me:
    • Fiscally responsible investments are investments that produce greater returns than the initial investment. These returns may come monetarily, but often they come in other forms: community togetherness, social-emotional benefits, youth engagement, tourism, and much more. Investing in the arts and humanities is the fiscally responsible thing to do.
  • I support the following legislative items:
    • Grants to be used for operations (jobs) as soon as possible
    • Keeping emergency loans open to nonprofits
    • Protecting the RAP taxes so that money granted to cultural organizations doesn't get repurposed
    • Increasing availability of loans to cultural businesses (non-profit and for-profit)
    • Fiscally responsible government investment in arts and humanities organizations.
    • Development of cultural districts
    • Facilitating partnerships between tourism and culture.
    • Capital investment (in museums, performance/concert halls, studios, galleries, nonprofit office space, etc.).
    • Percent for public art programs, which optionally designate 1% of government capital costs for public art
    • Allowing municipalities to set design standards
    • K-6 Students should have increased exposure to arts and humanities education
    • 7-12 Students should have increased exposure to arts and humanities education
    • I support the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program which puts one arts specialist in most elementary schools
    • I support the POPS (Professional Outreach Program in the Schools) which sends 13 professional arts organizations to all UT school districts
    • I support the iSEE (Informal Science Educational Enhancement) which sends 10 professional science, zoological, and natural history organizations to all UT school districts
  • Anything else we should know about you?
    • No answer given