Arts Intranet

Thank you for joining us for ArtsBlog’s first blog salon focused exclusively on innovative initiatives and programs in state arts advocacy. I hope that you enjoyed reading the stories and advice shared by state arts advocacy leaders from across the country during this blog salon.

In October 2015, Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA) hosted its fourth annual capacity building conference called ArtsLAB. This year’s theme was “Community Engagement; Roles and Responsibilities of Publicly Funded Arts Organizations.” Why did we choose this topic? Simple: The Baltimore Uprising of April 2015.

Our offices are in Baltimore City. On the day after the Uprising, the Baltimore City School System was closed. As a city resident, I considered this an egregious error if not a complete failure of the system to our youth. As I arrived at work and opened up our social media accounts, something so basic and so truly amazing happened. One after another, nonprofit arts organizations across the city started promoting arts activities, free lunches, free concerts and plays for Baltimore City School Students.

My wife was a corporate litigator at a major firm and she’s got some fun stories from that experience. Her direct supervisor, an esteemed senior partner, regularly advised her to “guard the backside” in litigation they brought on behalf of clients. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the game of basketball, guarding the backside refers to a situation where Team A is dribbling the ball down the court near to one sideline in an effort to reach the basket and score on Team B. Team B may be entirely focused on where the ball is coming from but Team A may suddenly pass the ball to the other sideline and then attack the backside, or weak side, of the defense. This experienced litigator recognized that part of competently preparing for litigation was: don’t forget to guard the backside.

There are many ways to advocate for access to creative opportunities and investment in the arts as integral to economic, educational and civic success.

Some of the most important partners in this effort, in these changing and exciting times, are local governments and the economic development sector. Local officials, economic development professionals, and civic leaders are concerned with economic vitality, education for the 21^st century, healthy, vibrant communities, and engaged residents. Those are arts issues in every way. As Wisconsin’s community cultural development organization, Arts Wisconsin is strategically and proactively involved in civic policy, planning and programming, working at the intersection of the creative workforce, industries and communities. Our partners now include statewide civic organizations including the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, Wisconsin Rural Partners, Wisconsin Economic Development Association, Wisconsin Main Street Program, and the Wisconsin Downtown Action Council. We all care about our state’s future.

“Art is a constant agent of transformation and is indeed the soul’s drive to health.”
Cathy Malchiodi, Ph.D., Art Therapist

You know the old adage, “If you have your health, you have everything.” In seeking health, whether it’s your own, a loved one’s, or in a community, the arts can be a powerful, even transformational component. A growing body of research and expanding practice confirm this belief. As such, arts and healthcare is becoming more recognized as a compelling platform for creating public value and policy. 

Building partnerships is one of the most effective advocacy strategies we can employ. The right partners expand our reach and diversify our voice. Even more importantly, I believe we can supercharge our advocacy campaigns by engaging non-traditional partners.

Assembling a coalition that includes the art museum down the street, the arts education advocates around the corner, and the jazz group next door, is an important first step. But, have you ever tried reaching out to your local chamber of commerce?

The idea for the Iowa Arts Advocacy Caucus was born at the Americans for the Arts Action Fund event at Advocacy Day 2015 when Nina Ozlu Tunceli mentioned that Americans for the Arts would be actively participating in the New Hampshire primary and both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in 2016. I was attending this event with Helen Duranleau-Brennan of the Iowa Thespians, and we both looked at each other and had the same idea—Americans for the Arts needed to be in Iowa before the Iowa Caucuses! We talked to Nina, and she thought it was a great idea. Planning started as soon as I got back to Iowa.

“I pledge to you that the Mayor, the City Council and indeed the City of Fergus Falls will invest more in the arts.”

-Mayor Hal Leland, Fergus Falls, MN

This is just one of the astonishing things said by public officials as we traveled around the state doing the Creative Minnesota Road Show. Drawing together city council and county board members, mayors, and regional and local economic development staff along with arts advocates of every description, the 91 presentations of our 29 economic impact studies of the arts were held in every corner of Minnesota in 2015. I put 7,000 miles on my car. I could now do these presentations in my sleep. But I have to tell you that it was really fun to run from place to place being the bearer of good news.

Go down to your street corner and ask people if they have ever thought about whether their mayor or state legislator belongs to a professional trade association. You would probably get a lot of blank stares and muffled answers. But, to Americans for the Arts, this is serious business.

Starting over 20 years ago, Americans for the Arts made the strategic decision to partner with associations that represent elected officials. Those groups are: the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Association of Counties (NACo), The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), and the National League of Cities (NLC).

In 2011, the California Alliance for Arts Education began its Title I Initiative as a way of clarifying misunderstandings about the appropriateness of using Title I funds to support arts strategies and a guide to action for schools and districts seeking to embark on the work. Four years in, we’re delighted to see that the Initiative has taken root around the state, as well as resonating with some other states pursuing similar agendas, particularly in anticipation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)’s devolution of much decision-making power to the state level.

In a nutshell, federal Title I policy clearly allows schools and districts to include arts education in their strategies to achieve Title I goals. Downstream of the federal level, however, the Alliance found that there was a lack of clarity about whether and how the arts could play a role in Title I. Coupled with the culture of “fear of reprisal” that seemed to permeate the Title I world—where funding could be retracted if a program didn’t meet state or federal expectations—this lack of clarity was proving an insurmountable barrier. Schools and districts, it seemed, were either electing to ignore the opportunity to include arts education in their strategies for achieving Title I goals, or were moving forward in a way that would draw no attention to those practices.

South Carolina Arts Alliance’s Betty Plumb, always an inspiration to me, had spoken for years about the Arts Caucus in South Carolina’s legislature. It was large and seemed very responsive to Betty and her arts advocates. To be honest, I was slightly jealous. But after speaking for some length with Betty about the caucus, I was determined to start one in Pennsylvania. I mean, how hard could it be, with the largest full-time legislature in the nation? 

I first knew we—the Pennsylvania Citizens for the Arts Board of Directors at and I—had to identify the initial contact in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Our likely candidate was Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). He had served on the Council of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) and was on the board of directors at several Pittsburgh area arts and culture organizations. My board chair, Mitch Swain, approached Sen. Costa about this idea to start a bi-cameral, bi-partisan Arts Caucus. We were positive the only way the caucus would work is for both Houses and political caucus to work together. To our delight, Sen. Costa thought the idea was great, agreed to act as a co-chair, and took on the task of identifying the other three Arts Caucus leaders.

There is one thing without which Arts Advocacy Day could not happen—State Arts Advocacy Captains!  Though Americans for the Arts’ State Arts Advocacy Captains are instrumental in fighting for the arts year-round, their work is also integral to the success of Arts Advocacy Day each spring.

State Arts Advocacy Captains are the eyes and ears on the ground in each state nationwide, serving to recruit the best and most dedicated advocates from their state to attend Arts Advocacy Day. During the months leading up to Arts Advocacy Day, captains make sure colleagues, artists, university students, and concerned members of their states know the importance of bringing your voice to Capitol Hill to meet with your Members of Congress directly in the fight for arts and arts education.  

Arts learning standards represent a double standard, and that’s good news.

They do not hold different groups unfairly to a different set of rules–that would hardly qualify as good. Instead, they constitute a double standard in a more nuanced sense: the word “standard” has a double meaning, and both meanings apply to updating your state’s arts learning standards.

$5 million dollars is a notable rate of return on one’s investment for a $100,000 a year organization! That’s what Texans for the Arts secured for Texas’ state arts agency—the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) Cultural & Fine Arts District program—through a well-executed legislative strategy in the 84^th Texas Legislative Session!  Who-what-how did we garner one of the largest state arts appropriations in the U.S. in 2015?

For me, it all started the third week on my job, in June 2003, at an arts marketing conference hosted by the California Arts Council (CAC) in Sacramento. Right in the middle of the luncheon, someone came bursting into the banquet hall announcing that the Legislature was about to "zero out" the CAC. We conferees leapt up from our rubbery chicken and raced the two blocks to the Capitol. Engraged arts administrators stormed into the ornate office of the Senate Pro Tem, screaming at the staff, and demanding to see the Senator. I grabbed one of my board members, and we slipped out to see if we could meet privately--and quietly--with our local reprentatives.

For many artists and cultural leaders, being a part of a political campaign is the farthest thing from their mind. Concentrating on a new creative inspiration, the upcoming show, ticket sales, are often the #1 focus for an artist or arts administrator.

Yet, we all have to remember the arts and cultural community is a public good. Like schools, police departments, and roads, the arts deserve public investment as they are vital to the health and vibrancy of our communities.

Public policy decided by our political leaders is a major factor in deciding the level of resources and support for the creative sector’s work. If the arts, cultural, and creative community wants the resources and support necessary to build vibrant, healthy and equitable communities, it has to start embracing and running political campaigns to build that public support.

Many bemoan the lack of commitment to the arts, but few take the time to learn some key advocacy tips. Advocacy is work and takes commitment AND it can make all the difference in the world.

• First, you have to tell a story.
• Second, the story must be relevant and real.
• Third, connect your story to the person who can commit the dollars or change a policy.

Yarn tied then tightened, then the next loop begun.  

Even blue knots pulled closely together, forming rows. Then the rows link together into small squares.

Squares bound together into larger bands and those bound to others.

Backing up, the view is all encompassing, splaying out a pixelated landscape of blues and greens across a downtown city skyline.

Leadership is a concept that comes to mind these days in the midst of one of the most contentious primary presidential campaigns we have seen in recent memory in the United States. Is what we see on TV real leadership? For the most part, it is not. Leadership combines informed passion in the mind of a strategist able to maximize limited resources to deliver tangible results, while bringing people together. Real leaders seek advice to make sounded decisions and give credit to those sources. An example of real leadership in state-level arts advocacy in the U.S. is the State Arts Action Network (SAAN).

Who are the players in statewide arts advocacy you might ask?

Text book speaking, state arts advocacy leaders and their organizations are the primary source of advocacy promoting arts and arts education friendly policy from state governments. Many statewide arts advocacy leaders belong to Americans for the Arts’ State Arts Action Network (SAAN), so you may also hear them referred to as SAAN members.

This article was originally published by CultureWork: A Periodic Broadside for Arts and Culture Workers, in January 2016. CultureWork is a publication of The Center for Community Arts and Cultural Policy at the University of Oregon. The following blog post is an abbreviated version.

The idea that advocacy should be a daily activity, and not just something that is reserved for once-a-year visits to the State Capitol, hit home for me a few years ago. An enthusiastic constituent made the trek to Madison from a small town on the Mississippi River—a trip of at least four hours each way—to attend Arts Day. At the end of the day, she told me that she had had a great time learning and networking but didn’t get a chance to visit with her legislator. She said, "I'll come back to Madison one of these days to meet with him." My response was, "Well, he'll be home this weekend, and every weekend, so why don't you just call him up and meet for coffee at a local café?" That's when I realized…there's a misconception out there that advocacy is something separate from life, that you have to make a special effort and drive a long way to meet with your legislator to be part of the civic discourse.

Happy New Year from all of us at Americans for the Arts! Together our work has helped transform America’s communities through the arts.  

Share with ARTSblog readers one way the arts helped transform your community in 2015, in the comments below and on social media! Tag us @Americans4Arts.

Congratulations on your success in 2015! We look forward to an exciting and productive New Year.

As the leading organization for advancing the arts and arts education in the nation, Americans for the Arts' Federal Affairs team keeps its finger on the legislative pulse line of Capitol Hill and champions arts and arts education friendly legislation such as the newly passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)*. 

Americans for the Arts is also passionate about empowering positive arts and arts education policy at the state and local levels, where there is much less political gridlock and thus more opportunity for positive change to occur. Our State and Local Government Affairs team connects individuals to their respective State Arts Action Network (SAAN) members, tracks arts and arts education legislation at the state and local levels to study trends, and enables members to lead grassroots action on state and local issues through our e-advocacy tool, Voter Voice. 

With the publication of National Core Arts Standards in 2014, states around the country began to consider how they might inform standards at the state level. While each state process is unique, there is much to be learned from our colleagues at different points in the journey.

The state of Montana is nearing the end of their adoption process (scheduled adoption date is July, 2016). Last week, I had the opportunity to ask Superintendent Denise Juneau, a former teacher who understands well how a well-rounded education that includes the arts leads to college and career preparedness, about the work Montana has undertaken over the last year.

Dear friends and colleagues,

I'm writing you to share the news that tomorrow is my last day as the director of Art, Culture + Tourism for the City of Providence.

Today I write to thank you for all that we have accomplished together in re-creating Providence. 

I first learned about Paducah, KY eleven years ago when I started working at Americans for the Arts. Where is Paducah, you ask? Well, it’s a town of about 25,000 people nestled where the Ohio and Tennessee rivers converge, approximately 140 miles north of Nashville in the western sliver of Kentucky. But don't let this quaint town fool you, as it packs a huge arts punch. 

The 2015 Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention was also my first visit to Chicago. Having arrived early, I heard that the Chicago Architecture Foundation offered outstanding tours. I arranged to join the “Must See Chicago,” tour and was not disappointed. My inner geek enjoyed learning about Daniel Burnham, bundled tube construction, and remembering the contributions to mid-century modern architecture of Mies van der Rohe from art history class. While I spent a considerable amount of time “looking up” at numerous behemoth skyscrapers, I was grounded by a treasure trove of public art. It felt like opening a new box of crayons-truly inspirational. That was only the beginning of my #AFTACON inspiration.

At times I have been asked, “How did you find your career path in the arts?” Actually, it’s more often phrased, “How’d you get in this business?” I have held a number of wonderful posts, both public and private, and am currently Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for ArtPride New Jersey, the state arts advocacy organization. My story is evolutionary, organic, and having tilled these fields for over 30 years, long. In this age of sound bites I’ll boil it down to this—“teachers and inspiring leaders.” For me and so many others, it all started with an art teacher.

What a treat to be in Sweet’s Ballroom in Oakland, home-away-from-home for Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Tito Puente, Dizzie Gillespie, Lalo Guerrero, Xavier Cugat, and so many more! And how wonderful for Sweet’s Ballroom to be a part of the Oakland School of the Arts, allowing their talented students to follow in the footsteps of the some of the greatest musicians in history. The convening on January 30-31, 2015, was made possible by CREATE CA, which brought together over 225 arts leaders from across California for two days of listening, working, and participating in learning about CREATE CA and its release of A Blueprint for Creative Schools (funded by the California Arts Council). Spearheaded by the amazing Malissa Feruzzi Shriver and others, this important work began in 2011 as part of the Education Leaders Institute (ELI) funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

For eight years now, Americans for the Arts has partnered with our nation’s Lieutenant Governors to promote arts education and other arts-related issues. I am often asked, “Jay, why do we work with the Lt. Governors?” The answer is simple. Whether they are elected directly, or on a ticket, Lt. Governors have broad portfolios including many aspects of tourism, creative economy, education, and economic development. Secondly, almost half of them go on to become their state’s next governor.