Monday Matters–Artists, Be on Alert
I shared an exciting and fascinating time on Friday with over 100 New Jerseyans who gathered for the Arts Builds Communities Cultural Planning Leadership Conference. Professionals from diverse sectors were represented–mayors, artists, city planners, arts administrators, board members, town council members, NJ state arts council members and local arts council members. All were there eager to network and learn more about how to grow community cultural capital by making better decisions and exploiting the link between arts and economic development.
What a sad dichotomy from Friday to Monday when President Obama’s budget was released Here we discover devastating cuts for the already grossly underfunded National Endowment for the Arts, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Sciences and US Department of Education‘s “Arts in Education!”
When statistic after statistic reveals the enormous positive impact which arts and culture have on economic growth, markedly positive effects on student performance and consistent positive impact on community coalition building, reason would dictate that the National arts and culture organizations would be offered a bonus rather than a cut. Yet, here we find ourselves once again begging for dwindling crumbs. Compare the proposed combined 775 million dollar budget appropriations for the aforementioned agencies to that of say the Securities and Exchange Commission which received a boost bringing their budget to a tidy 1.427 billion. Now let’s see…. I think this means in individual taxpayer dollars that’s about twice the amount for the SEC as compared to the entirety of arts and culture.
The next few days will tell us a lot about whether this is going to get better or worse for those of us who understand the value of the arts. Please stay on the alert for updates and calls to action. To help you do so, you may wish to follow some of the following websites:
http://www.artsactionfund.org/
http://www.americansforthearts.org/
http://www.southarts.org/site/c.guIYLaMRJxE/b.6552353/k.8E1F/Advocacy__Policy.htm
artsconnector and 
john burger are discussing. 
john burger 4:25 am on February 19, 2011 Permalink |
News of interest from the midwest, Suzanne..
In less than a week, Chicagoans will vote for a new mayor for the first time in 22 years. The next mayor will make decisions that will impact Chicago’s arts industry for generations.
Thank you for giving voice to the arts and arts education by signing your name to the Arts Power Chicago petition.
We are on our way to getting 10,000 advocates to speak out before the next mayor takes office, but we need your continued support.
Help us spread the word! Please post to Facebook and Twitter:
Chicago will elect a new mayor for the first time in 22 years. Tell the candidates the arts matter – http://www.artspowerchicago.com/sign-petition.
Since we launched this campaign, thousands have told the candidates for mayor that our museums, theatres, orchestras, and dance companies power Chicago.
All candidates have signed onto a set of principles recognizing the role of the arts industry in making Chicago a world-class city. And we have met with the Gery Chico, Miguel del Valle, Rahm Emanuel, and Carol Moseley Braun campaigns to talk about arts and arts education policies.
If the polls are accurate, Chicago may choose its next mayor on February 22 without the need for a run-off on April 5. We need your help to take full advantage of this week — especially if there is not a run-off.
Help us make sure the voice of the arts and arts education is heard loud and clear before February 22. Post http://www.artspowerchicago.com/sign-petition to Facebook and Twitter.
For more ways to support the campaign, contact Scarlett Swerdlow at Arts Alliance Illinois at swerdlow@artsalliance.org or 312.855.3105 x13.
Thank you,
artsconnector 12:43 pm on February 19, 2011 Permalink |
John,
Thanks so much for sharing this information. It is very simple for artists to support both local and national efforts and it will take the collective action to make our voices heard!