Joel Briscoe // Democrat // Utah House District 25

  • How have the arts, culture, and/or humanities impacted your life?
    • I graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English and a minor in History. I was an Art major for a brief period of time. So much of what is beautiful about our state is expression of our relationship to each other and our land and history through our cultural expressions - our dance companies, galleries, museums, theaters, and books. These are the best of who we are and what we want to be. One of the ways I evaluate our success as a society is by the quality and quantity of our cultural life.
  • 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:
    • People relocate to Utah for Delicate Arch and for RDT; for Spiral Jetty and the Utah Symphony; for ski resorts and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Utah is not Utah without the Wasatch Mountains, or the Salt Lake Acting Company. Fiscally responsible investing in the arts and humanities would make ares and the humanities widely available to all Utahns, young to aged, across all aspects of Utah life. Wise investments would also document the cultural and economic impact of our artistic and cultural life.
  • 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.
    • Reducing regulations of creative businesses.
    • 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?
    • Thanks for helping Utah be a more beautiful and thoughtful place.