News Room
Read the latest arts news
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Dr. Elizabeth Alexander is the President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the country’s largest funder of arts and culture. This year, they’re working with a grantmaking budget of $500 million, every dollar of which will go towards social justice projects. On the NBC news podcast “Into America,” host Trymaine Lee spoke with Alexander about pain, philanthropy, and poetry.
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As we close out July and begin to round the corner toward the end of summer, things are heating up on the arts advocacy front. Congress is currently negotiating a new coronavirus relief bill, and two letters asking for relief for the arts went to Capitol Hill this week: one signed by one of our longest-standing strategic partners, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and another led by our Artists Committee and signed by more than 260 artist advocates.
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More than 260 artists and creative economy leaders signed on to a relief advocacy letter sent to top leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, including Annette Bening, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, Vijay Gupta, Moisés Kaufman, Jeff Koons, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gabourey Sidibe, Holland Taylor, and Alfre Woodard.
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Americans for the Arts and the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) today announced that Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R-MO) is the recipient of the 2020 Public Leadership in the Arts Award for State Arts Leadership. The annual award honors a public official who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the advancement of the arts at the state/territory level. Kehoe received his award at this year’s NLGA annual meeting which was held virtually.
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The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) recently adopted a resolution supporting the arts and culture sector amid the COVID-19 crisis.
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Cultural equity is at the heart of this week's roundup. Read on to learn more about Eddy Kwon, a musician whose work is centered in equitable community development; to meet this year's Diversity in Arts Leadership interns; to explore self advocacy and self care for artists and administrators of color; and to see how civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis was true champion of the arts.
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The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on America’s arts sector. Nationally, financial losses to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations are an estimated $9.1 billion as of July 13, 2020, and 62% of artists have become unemployed. An analysis by Americans for the Arts reveals the how the arts and creative economy sector performed in securing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
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“Without the arts, without music, without dance, without drama, without photography, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.” These were the words the late Representative John Lewis of Georgia shared the many times he addressed crowds of arts advocates of all ages at Americans for the Arts’ annual Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. Americans for the Arts feels deep loss at the passing of Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights hero and a true champion for the arts, and we celebrate the vast contributions he made to our country.
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This week: read up on pay equity, community-focused public art, performance art as a catalyst for change, national partnerships that bring about local advocacy, and more. Plus, check out the brand-new Arts Education Action Kit, a free resource that provides tools so that anyone can become an arts education advocate.
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The process behind the NYC Black Lives Matter (BLM) street mural was just as important as the paint job. While some examples of public art in support of the BLM this summer have been powerful because of their timely reaction to current events, some communities are emphasizing the importance of taking the time to have community input before creating anything and to ensure that those involved with the public art projects are committed to the issue for which the art is seeking to promote.
