For four decades, the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis has been more than a cultural steward. Since its founding in 1985, RAC has invested $115 million into the arts and culture sector, fueling what has become a billion-dollar industry in the region.
As RAC marks its 40th anniversary, it enters a shifting funding landscape shaped by hotel-tax declines during the pandemic and new federal cuts, even as it remains a major driver of economic activity in St. Louis.
“I’m feeling inspired and a sense of responsibility,” said Vanessa Cooksey, president and CEO of RAC. “RAC has always put what is best for the region — by way of a strong arts and culture sector — at the forefront of its decision-making.”
RAC is the largest public funder of the arts in St. Louis, awarding more than 7,000 grants since its inception. Its funding comes from a portion of the hotel and motel tax collected in St. Louis and St. Louis County, overseen by a 13-member commission appointed by the mayor of St. Louis and the St. Louis County executive. They expressed their thoughts on the organization as it commemorates 40 years in a special video.
“The value is on top of the funding,” said RAC Commissioner Roz Johnson. “It is also what it does emotionally and intellectually for the city that is beyond cost and funding.”
Cooksey began her leadership just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated hotel occupancy and threatened RAC’s primary revenue stream. Bound by a law that caps administrative spending at 15%, she restructured and downsized the organization.
“I always hoped and believed that RAC would be stronger and better by our 40th,” she said. “We made significant sacrifices over the last five years to be in a place of strength.”
That resilience was highlighted at RAC’s sold-out 40th Birthday Bash at Union Station.
RAC’s advocacy secured $10.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding from St. Louis in 2022, underwriting initiatives such as the Living It section in The St. Louis American. This year, RAC awarded $3.7 million in grants to arts and culture organizations across the city and county.
“While there is a dollar amount to quantify, when you think of the impact that it has on one’s life — and that spans all ages — that is something not to be taken lightly,” said RAC Commissioner Andrea Purnell.
In its anniversary year, the arts and culture community was hit with sweeping federal cuts that eliminated $580,000 annually in National Endowment for the Arts funding for 20 regional organizations.
“The decisions of the current federal administration impact us here,” Cooksey said. “But in the way that creatives do, it’s like, ‘The show must go on.’”
Cooksey said she is focused on RAC’s future as organizations navigate reduced federal support.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
“What I love about creators and artists is that they will find a way — using this time, the political volatility in particular — to think about what we need to do in the short term as well as the long term,” she said. “And when we have this conversation about RAC’s 50th anniversary or 80th anniversary, we will be able to look back and say we did the right thing to ensure our sustainability.”
Cooksey said RAC remains focused on sustainability, innovation and the role arts and culture play in the region’s economic life.
“Humans were created to be creative. And the Regional Arts Commission wants to make sure that all St. Louisans have a full, creative life,” she said.