The Heritage Foundation formulated a number of arguments against the NEA decades ago. These arguments are listed below with corresponding rebuttals.

Arts professionals, community leaders, artists, and students are all invited to join this annual gathering June 16-18 in San Francisco on the future of art and culture in America.

Today's The Hill newspaper carried a disturbing but not unexpected article related to funding for the arts in the incoming administration. The article said that policy advisors to the President are calling for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities and privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

From the beginning, the goal of the NAMP program has been to connect, strengthen, and advance our nation’s growing community of arts marketers. The new website provides arts marketers with an improved and dynamic digital space to grow and connect in their community, with four distinct spaces to get smarter, get together, get involved, and get inspired. 

Intermedia Arts, in conjunction with Americans for the Arts / Animating Democracy commissioned this national study of local arts agencies to assess community arts activity and training opportunities.

During the week of December 14, 2015, the New York City Department of Education released the Annual Arts in Schools Report for the 2014-2015 school year. The report reflected the first year of data that was available since the city implemented its $23 million annual arts education funding initiative.

The City of Austin, highly regarded for its culture of live music, released the findings of its first music census in June 2015. The census reported that over 68 percent of Austin musicians made less than $10,000 annually and that 20 percent were living below poverty levels. In addition, the city found that respected music venues were closing due in part to rising rental costs.

Have you or your organization recently published a report or essay of importance that you want to be sure to share with the arts field? Have you read a report, essay, or book recently that you want to share with everyone because you found it so valuable? If so, please consider including it in the National Arts Administration and Policy Publications Database and make it available to arts practitioners and researchers for posterity.

On Wednesday, August 12, the Des Moines Register published an op-ed by John Pappajohn titled "The Arts Mean Business in Iowa." The op-ed comes several days ahead of the Iowa Arts Advocacy Caucus, held on August 14 and co-hosted with the Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, BRAVO Greater Des Moines, NAMM, and the United States Conference of Mayors. 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s first nationwide survey to assess the gender and ethnic diversity of American art museum staffs reveals a significant movement towards gender equality within the art museum world. In partnership with the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the survey provides the first statistical baseline against which progress in the museum field can be measured.

Americans for the Arts and Cultural Data Project (CDP) announced Monday a new collaboration between the two organizations as we begin our fifth national economic impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry, Arts & Economic Prosperity 5.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, and The Cultural Data Project (CDP), the most significant national resource for in-depth data about nonprofit arts, culture, and humanities organizations, today announced a new collaboration between the two organizations as Americans for the Arts begins its fifth national economic impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry, Arts & Economic Prosperity 5. 

Arts Wisconsin sat down with Americans for the Arts Vice President of Research and Policy Randy Cohen recently. Check out their discussion of the current stare of arts and creativity in Wisconsin!

On Friday, April 17, Americans for the Arts' CEO and President, Robert Lynch, wrote to the Huffington post about the power of art stories to compell everyone from congressional representatives and senators to everyday citizens to realize the importance of the arts in all of our lives. Nearly 550 advocates on Arts Advocacy Day took their stories to their congressmembers, and Rep. John Lewis told the story of how the arts influenced the Civil Rights Movement to a standing ovation at the Congressional Arts Breakfast. 

Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, is pleased to release a new report titled Corporate Social Responsibility and the Arts that details the current landscape of corporate support for arts and culture. More corporations are focusing strategically on issues that align with their business interests and have a positive social impact on their employees, consumers, or the communities in which they do business. 

Americans for the Arts today announced Transforming America’s Communities Through the Arts, a comprehensive, three-year initiative to increase understanding of the value of the arts and investment in the arts. 

In April, Americans for the Arts’ VP of Research and Policy, Randy Cohen, and VP of Private Sector Initiatives, Emily Peck, attended Council on Foundations’ annual meeting in San Francisco. Council on Foundations is a strategic partner of Americans for the Arts, and is committed to showcasing the transformative power of connecting philanthropy and art.

Last week, Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research and Policy at Americans for the Arts, garnered media attention as the featured speaker at the Innovation & Creativity Through the Arts breakfast sponsored by the Wichita Arts Council. He shared his experience and presented ideas, inspiration, and real-world examples of how the arts can create jobs, retain young professionals, and attract new businesses.

The International Art Materials Association (NAMTA) recently released their third edition of the Artists and Art Materials Study in 2015. This survey covers both the United States and Canadian arts markets and includes the results of authoritative surveys of more than 6,000 active artists and specialty art materials retailers. It serves as a summary of market size and trends.

Animating Democracy creates a series of brief papers and podcast interviews featuring funders who support arts and culture as a creative strategy to achieve community building and development goals, civic engagement, or social justice goals.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) with the National Endowment for the Arts released a report today measuring the arts and culture sector’s contributions to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), for the second year in a row. This year’s report finds the arts and culture sector representing 4.32 percent of the GDP – a higher percentage than transportation and construction – at $698.7 billion! These numbers are the result of the BEA refining and improving their methodology to create this new baseline that will be updated annually.

Oklahoma State Representative Jason Dunnington (House District 88) composed an editorial highlighting Oklahoma Arts Day, which was presented by State Arts Action Network member Oklahomans for the Arts and the Oklahoma Arts Day Committee on May 5.

Discussing the public good that the arts provide to the state, Rep. Dunnington also wrote about the arts districts in his community—Paseo Arts District and the Plaza District. He stated, “These areas provide the finest in quality of life and serve as an economic engine for our community.”

In late December, Americans for the Arts released two reports that showcase the enduring strength and impact of United Arts Funds and Business Volunteers for the Arts® programs around the country. These programs focus on encouraging partnerships with the private sector through a mix of activities.

Americans for the Arts has launched the National Cultural District Exchange this week - a new web-based resource, produced in part with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, that includes a host of tools and resources specific to cultural districts. Cultural districts play an important role in helping to strengthen local economies, create an enhanced sense of place, and deepen local cultural capacity.

The Innovation Collaborative and its national partners have joined together to create the Innovation Collaborative (IC), a new, national organization networking the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities in education to promote innovation thinking for students of all ages. IC focuses on the dissemination of research and effective practices in the intersections of art and design, science, humanities, and engineering, use of technology, and creativity, cognition, and learning in both Pre-K-12 and informal learning settings.

Ingenuity’s "State of the Arts" progress report shows that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have increased arts instruction, staffing, partnerships, and funding during the second year of implementing the CPS Arts Education Plan. The CPS Arts Education Plan and the effort to expand instruction in CPS is a leading goal of the Chicago Cultural Plan, issued by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.