The MAH Is Worth Fighting For

Dear MAH Community,

As you likely have read, the County is instituting significant budget cuts, including eliminating funding to the Arts Council for Santa Cruz County and slashing the MAH's funding in half. This represents the lowest funding amount we've ever received from the County in the 30 years of the museum's operation.

These critical funds support our outreach, programming, and maintenance efforts at Evergreen Cemetery and Davenport Jail, two locations that the MAH is putting more dedicated resources into than ever before.

These cuts come at a particularly difficult time, when federal, state, and local funding for the arts continues to shrink and many private foundations have shifted their priorities away from arts and culture.

For 30 years, the Museum of Art & History has been a place where people come together through creativity, curiosity, and connection. Along the way, we've built partnerships, fostered relationships, and helped create a vibrant cultural destination that reflects the spirit of Santa Cruz County.

We need to demonstrate that access to arts and culture is important to the people of Santa Cruz County. The MAH is a place that this community needs and is worth fighting for.

We need informal learning spaces like the MAH, where people can have AWE-inspiring experiences, be in community, and share a sense of purpose.

And now more than ever, we need the MAH to engage in visual literacy so we can defend ourselves against digital misinformation and help decode increasingly complex data and imagery in our fast-paced world.

What makes the MAH special is not any single source of funding. It is the people who walk through our doors, bring their families to our programs, share their stories, support local artists, and believe in the power of art, history, and community to bring us together.

If the MAH has ever inspired you, connected you to your community, introduced you to a local artist, or helped you experience Santa Cruz County in a meaningful way, we ask you to make your voice heard.

Please contact your County Supervisor and urge them to sustain funding for arts and culture in Santa Cruz County.

The MAH is worth fighting for.

What do these cuts mean?

• No more programming or events at Evergreen Cemetery, such as our annual Qingming and Día de los Muertos festivals, historic tours, artist residency programs, or even general maintenance and upkeep of the site.

• No more events or programs at Davenport Jail, including the upcoming Davenport Days celebration, which is currently being funded entirely by the MAH as our gift to the community.

• No more upgrades to our history galleries and exhibitions, fewer school tours, and fewer opportunities for community outreach throughout the County.

Here is what you can do right now:

If the MAH has ever inspired you, connected you to your community, introduced you to a new artist, or helped you experience Santa Cruz in a meaningful way, we invite you to make your voice heard. Together, we can demonstrate that arts, culture, and community are essential to the vitality of Santa Cruz County and deserve continued public investment.

Ahead of the County Board of Supervisors' budget meeting on June 24, we encourage you to contact your Supervisor and share why continued investment in the arts matters to you. Personal stories and community voices can make a meaningful difference.

Contact your County Supervisor directly by phone or email and share why arts and culture are important to our community.

Find Your Supervisor

Reach out to your County Supervisor

Copy & Paste The Message Below
(Sample Language)

Dear Supervisor [Last Name],

As a constituent and a deeply invested member of our community, I’m writing to urge you to actively champion and sustain funding for the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in the upcoming budget.

[CUSTOMIZE HERE:]

Without your strong financial commitment, the arts ecosystem is at risk. I ask that you vote to fund the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History to protect these essential community resources.

Thank you for your leadership and your explicit commitment to our local arts and cultural economy.

Best regards,

[Your Name], [Your Address/District