That’s why he introduced his arts initiative – “For Arts Sake.” He sees Second Saturday as a way to market a broader message about the importance of the arts…including the economic impact.

“We’ve got to figure out how to make some connections when we have people there. We have this captive audience. How do we take advantage of them coming in? And I’m hoping that through these initiatives we start talking about some of those sorts of things.”

Johnson announced Wednesday that his initiative will include luring movie companies to film in Sacramento, putting more public art around town and boosting arts education.

 

He says a healthy arts community can translate into economic benefits…including jobs and sales tax revenues.

 

The $100,000 initiative is funded through grants from several corporate sponsors.