Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch offered a statement in response to today's Senate’s approval of Mary Anne Carter to chair the National Endowment for the Arts for a four-year term.
So far, 2019 has been a banner year in the world of federal arts advocacy. Throughout the spring, we saw promising bipartisan benchmarks for support of an increased budget for the NEA in FY 2020. However, our work advocating for pro-arts policies doesn’t stop with funding for the NEA. Americans for the Arts, along with national coalition partners, has pursued more federal legislative priorities this year than ever before. From tax policy to transit, healthcare to education, we’re working to ensure expanded arts access and opportunity throughout the country. You can get more information and send a message to your congressional delegation about any of these bills through our Action Center.
The U.S. Congress will take its traditional month-long recess in August. Members of Congress will be in their home states and districts holding town halls, making visits to local organizations and businesses, and taking meetings in their local offices. Wondering how to continue your arts advocacy momentum during the long recess? Participate in the August Arts Advocacy Challenge to stay involved and make an impact.
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Americans for the Arts' new documentary, CAMMO: Healing Through Song, profiles participating members of the Center for American Military Music Opportunities (CAMMO); shows how the arts can strengthen the well-being of service members, veterans, and their families; and features members of Voices of Service, one of many community-based music programs that CAMMO offers.
At the Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention this past June, quite a few members voiced concern about the upcoming U.S. Census. In many communities, there is worry that an inaccurate count could negatively impact towns, cities, regions, and even states, and disproportionately affect people who are already marginalized. This blog is meant to give information on the Census, its impact, and what arts and culture agencies across the United States are doing to ensure a comprehensive and equitable count. The U.S. Census is a consequential tool for distributing time, attention, and money in all sorts of ways—including ways that are deeply impactful on the arts. It is also an increasingly politicized tool, and as we round the corner into the 2020 U.S. Census, it is important to understand what the U.S. Census is, what it influences, what the implication of certain proposed changes could be both generally and for the arts, and how arts and culture agencies and organizations are mobilizing to ensure a fair, full, and unthreatening U.S. Census count.
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A series of alternative treatment options could soon be available in Florida to U.S. military veterans with traumatic brain injuries and/or post-traumatic stress disorder, under a law signed on June 28 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The measure (HB 501) drew unanimous support from both the Florida House and Senate during the legislative session.
Veterans living in rural areas face many health disparities and have greater difficulty accessing needed care. Heather Spooner works with the University of Florida's Center for Arts in Medicine telehealth-based art therapy clinical demonstration project at the Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center, which addresses the needs of rural Veterans by providing them with supervised art therapy in their own home.
"The partnerships between business and the arts are essential–our sector provides the creative capital and business provides the capital investment that makes the project a go. I don’t think I’ve ever initiated a major new program without the support of the business sector. The arts are the entrepreneurs of creativity–unlike any other sector, the arts create programs that touch almost every aspect of community life in substantive, meaningful, long lasting ways. Businesses are often looking for creative, impactful programs in which to invest.
From a young age I have always felt that everything is interconnected and that the arts are just as much a part of the human psyche as is science, math and the need for food and shelter. What I love about the folks at Americans for the Arts is they get this.
I am proud of the fact that Americans for the Arts exists to support the national arts sector, and I am proud to be a member of the organization. Americans for the Arts has been my go to resource for many years and I encourage every artist and arts and cultural organization to join. The data, research, publications and staff expertise provided are invaluable, having contributed to my development as an arts professional in general, and as an arts advocate at home.
After getting out of the Army in 2008, Brian "BR" McDonald decided to get back to his roots as an actor/singer and founded the Veteran Artist Program (VAP), an nonprofit organization that helps veterans launch (or re-launch) careers in the arts by connecting them to working artists. From personal experience, McDonald found that many veterans have drive and artistic skills, but their years of service have disconnected them from the professional networks working artists need.
“As CEO of the Arts & Business Council of Miami, it energizes me every day to serve as a thought leader and guide to link business with the arts, inspire creativity, and develop innovations for profitable partnerships with the 500+ arts groups we serve. For 30 years the Arts & Business Council has made Miami’s art scene bigger, better, and more professional by delivering sustainable solutions to keep the arts in business.
The National Endowment for the Arts has launched the next phase of Creative Forces® by funding Community Connections Projects at ten of its clinical sites to develop site specific community-based arts programs that will use the creative and healing benefits of the arts to promote health and wellness for the military community.
Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert L. Lynch issued a statement in response to Elisabeth P. “Betsy” DeVos’s confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Education.
Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert L. Lynch issued a statement in response to the Trump Administration’s proposed elimination of FY2018 funding to the National Endowment for the Arts.
From December 2 to 8, 2018, the initiative encourages the creative field to join together in communities across the country to promote the sales of the work of local artists, and to promote to all consumers that art—including tickets to events and organization memberships—makes great holiday gifts.
Today, Americans for the Arts unveiled the Arts + Social Impact Explorer, an interactive online tool that draws together more than 1,000 data points on how the arts impact and integrate into 26 different sectors ranging from education and innovation, to health and wellness, immigration, faith and environment. The tool provides quick top-line research, example projects, core research papers, and lists service and partner organizations doing this work, as well as provides printable PDF fact sheets to share with decisionmakers.
Americans for the Arts and the National Association of Counties awarded Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners of Tampa, Florida the Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership at NACo’s annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The award honors an elected county board or individual leader who has significantly advanced the arts in the communities they serve.
Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch released a statement following the release of the Trump Administration’s proposed FY2019 budget.
Americans for the Arts today announced its celebration of National Arts in Education Week. During this week, the field of arts education joins together in communities across the nation to celebrate the transformative power of the arts in education.
Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 (AEP5), a new study by Americans for the Arts, found that southern Florida reaps economic benefits from the nonprofit arts and culture industry.
The United States Urban Arts Federation (USUAF), an alliance of the arts agencies of the sixty largest cities and a program of Americans for the Arts, today announced that Michael Killoren is the recipient of the 2017 Ray Hanley Innovation Award. The USUAF established this award in 2007 to recognize outstanding individual contributions to arts and culture in American cities.
A new national study by Americans for the Arts finds that the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $166.3 billion in economic activity in 2015—$63.8 billion in spending by arts and cultural organizations and an additional $102.5 billion in event-related spending by their audiences. This activity supported 4.6 million jobs and generated $27.5 billion in government revenue.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will share her thoughts on the role of the arts in today's political climate in the June 17 keynote plenary session at Americans for the Arts' Annual Convention.
Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert L. Lynch issued a statement following the signing of the bipartisan agreement.
Now is the time to preorder study publications detailing results of the fifth national Arts Economic & Prosperity study, with data from 341 partners across the country to share with stakeholders in your community, including mayors, board members, business and community leaders and other elected officials.
