| By Southern Oregon Artists Resource, 2007 contributed posts
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About the author: SOAR: The Southern Oregon Artist's Resource is a directory of Southern Oregon artists, artisans and those who serve them and calendar of their art events, and Art Matters!, our blog posting Southern Oregon art events and matters of interest to artists, enthusiasts and patrons of the arts near and far. SOAR was created and is maintained by art advocate and web designer Hannah West in Jacksonville, Oregon to promote our diverse and talented arts community to our visitors and the rest of the world. | Hello Arts Advocate, While fiscal year (FY) 2020 began on Oct. 1, the U.S. Congress must still pass the 12 appropriation bills to fund the government through Sept. 30, 2020 (the government is currently operating under a continuing resolution [CR] through Nov. 21). At least one of your U.S. Senators sits on the powerful Appropriations Committee. They need to hear from you now about your support for robust federal arts funding and how it supports your community and state. Last week, the U.S. Senate passed their version of the Interior Appropriations bill by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84 – 9, that included $2 million in increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)! You may recall that the U.S. House bill, approved earlier this summer, provided a $12.5 million increase in funding to those agencies. These positive results are the outcomes of grassroots advocacy—from Hill visits during the National Arts Action Summit, to the emails (like this one) advocates have been sending to their congressional delegation throughout the year. As negotiations are ongoing to finish up FY 2020 funding, it is vital to call on U.S. Senate appropriators to include these remaining pro-arts funding levels in the final legislation. This includes:  | Bipartisan Senate passage of FY 2020 spending package that included the Interior Appropriations bill. |
- Education bill—includes arts education grant funds and a provision calling for maintaining a federal “report card” in arts education
- Defense Department bill—includes language supporting creative arts therapies for service members
- Veterans Department bill—includes language supporting creative arts therapies and $5 million for veterans
- Justice Department bill—includes a provision supporting inclusion of arts-specific intervention strategies for juvenile justice programs
Please take two minutes to send your message to your U.S. Senators. Thank you for taking action to support these end-of-year funding priorities.
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|  | 1000 Vermont Avenue NW
6th Floor
Washington DC . 20005
T 202.371.2830
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New York NY . 10022
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By Southern Oregon Artists Resource, 2007 contributed posts
View all Southern Oregon Artists Resource's posts.
About the author: SOAR: The Southern Oregon Artist's Resource is a directory of Southern Oregon artists, artisans and those who serve them and calendar of their art events, and Art Matters!, our blog posting Southern Oregon art events and matters of interest to artists, enthusiasts and patrons of the arts near and far. SOAR was created and is maintained by art advocate and web designer Hannah West in Jacksonville, Oregon to promote our diverse and talented arts community to our visitors and the rest of the world.  |  | Dear Arts Advocate, Congress was able to pass a large funding bill on September 28th to avoid a federal government shutdown, which included final FY’19 funding for the military and several education-based agencies. The bill also included temporary funding in the form of a Continuing Resolution (C/R) for the balance of the federal government’s agencies and programs, including the National Endowment for the Arts. The C/R will provide flat funding at FY’18 levels temporarily until December 7, 2018, so that Congress has enough time to pass these remaining bills at hopefully the higher proposed FY’19 levels. 
Please note that even if there are major shifts in party control following the midterm elections, newly elected members will not be sworn into office until January 2019. However, we would still anticipate disruption in the legislative timeline and process. Please support our ArtsVote2018 grassroots and political efforts to build a strong pro-arts Congress. 

Nina Ozlu Tunceli
Executive Director P.S. Also last week, Americans for the Arts released Americans Speak Out About the Arts in 2018, one of the largest national public opinion surveys of American perceptions and attitudes towards the arts and arts funding. The new research demonstrates that Americans continue to be highly engaged in the arts and believe more strongly than ever that the arts promote personal well-being, help us understand other cultures, are essential to a well-rounded education, and that government has an important role in funding the arts. |
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By Southern Oregon Artists Resource, 2007 contributed posts
View all Southern Oregon Artists Resource's posts.
About the author: SOAR: The Southern Oregon Artist's Resource is a directory of Southern Oregon artists, artisans and those who serve them and calendar of their art events, and Art Matters!, our blog posting Southern Oregon art events and matters of interest to artists, enthusiasts and patrons of the arts near and far. SOAR was created and is maintained by art advocate and web designer Hannah West in Jacksonville, Oregon to promote our diverse and talented arts community to our visitors and the rest of the world.  |  | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 Dear Arts Advocate, Earlier today, the full U.S House Appropriations Committee voted to approve last month’s Interior Subcommittee vote to increase funding by $2 million each to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), bringing them up to $155 million for FY 2019. New Congressional Arts Caucus Co-Chair Chellie Pingree (D-ME) was also successful in adding the following report language to the arts funding bill:  | “The Committee acknowledges and appreciates decades of arts and humanities advocacy by the late Rep. Louise M. Slaughter. In her memory, the Committee encourages NEA and NEH to expand grant-making activities in a manner that honors her advocacy, especially in rural and under-served areas, so more Americans are able to benefit from the economic, social, and educational impacts of the arts and humanities.” |
Next, the bill will move on to be reviewed and voted on by the U.S. Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. As the bill moves to the Senate, we have invited three grassroots arts leaders to “Fly-In” from Missouri, Montana and West Virginia to meet with their Senators and advocate for this increased funding bill. Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), are all members of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. We hope this advocacy strategy will continue to be effective throughout the appropriations process. Help us keep pressure on the Senate and provide support to pro-arts leaders by contributing to our Campaign to Increase Funding for the Arts in America. 

Nina Ozlu Tunceli
Executive Director P.S. Thank you for your support. Please keep checking back to our blog post for more information. We’ll be posting a detailed table of the FY’19 House and Senate appropriation allocations for each of the federal cultural agencies. | |
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By Southern Oregon Artists Resource, 2007 contributed posts
View all Southern Oregon Artists Resource's posts.
About the author: SOAR: The Southern Oregon Artist's Resource is a directory of Southern Oregon artists, artisans and those who serve them and calendar of their art events, and Art Matters!, our blog posting Southern Oregon art events and matters of interest to artists, enthusiasts and patrons of the arts near and far. SOAR was created and is maintained by art advocate and web designer Hannah West in Jacksonville, Oregon to promote our diverse and talented arts community to our visitors and the rest of the world. | Rocky Budget Cycle Continues | During the previous shutdown in 2013, more cultural institutions, like the National Gallery of Art, were forced to close their doors. |
Hello, 2018. Congress is back in full swing, but little progress is being made on funding issues, including for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Yesterday, Congress voted to reopen the government for 17 days, after a brief 3-day partial government shutdown. This is the fourth short-term funding extension. This next short-term funding extension is currently set to expire on February 8th, when yet another showdown over many of the same divisive issues, including immigration, spending, and health care, may occur. Despite these larger budgetary and policy issues, we are hopeful that, once there is a final budget agreement, the higher funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) ($150 million, same as current funding levels), that the U.S. Senate proposed, will prevail.
What Happens to the Arts When the Government Shuts Down? | Message posted on the NEA website during the shutdown yesterday. |
During the brief, 3-day shutdown, some major cultural institutions were able to keep their doors open, like the Smithsonian, by using prior year funds. Each agency determines which federal employees may still report to work during a lapse in funding. At the NEA, only 5 employees could remain at work. This massive staff reduction cuts off communication to the 50 state arts agencies and grantees in every congressional district, leaving grant project requests unanswered and unprocessed. Each day of the shutdown, the more severe the impacts become for the arts community, impacting the health of our economy, cultural tourism, and access to the arts. Next Steps and What You Can Do Looming funding decisions for both FY2018 and FY2019 are still on the horizon. Vigorous policy disagreements in Congress will likely continue, and it is vital your representatives hear from you!
Arts advocates from across the country will convene in Washington, D.C. on March 12-13, 2018 for our annual Arts Advocacy Day. Arts Advocacy Day brings together a broad cross section of America’s cultural and civic organizations, along with more than 700 grassroots advocates from across the country, to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts. Attendees will attend advocacy training sessions and policy briefings followed by a full day of meetings on Capitol Hill with their U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators. The Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at The John F. Kennedy Center will also take place during the two-day event. Will you represent your state in Washington, D.C. this March? Register now!
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|  | 1000 Vermont Avenue NW
6th Floor
Washington DC . 20005
T 202.371.2830
F 202.371.0424 | One East 53rd Street . 2nd Floor
New York NY . 10022
T 212.223.2787
F 212.980.4857 |
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By National Endowment for the Arts, 162 contributed posts
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About the author:It is with great sadness that the National Endowment for the Arts acknowledges the passing of 2009 NEA Opera Honoree Lotfi Mansouri. Widely known for pioneering the use of supertitles in opera, Mansouri was a prolific opera stage director, having directed productions at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and Milan’s La Scala, as well as other opera productions both nationally and internationally. By National Endowment for the Arts, 162 contributed posts
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About the author:It is with great sadness that the National Endowment for the Arts acknowledges the passing of Bua Xou Mua, a Hmong musician and 1985 NEA National Heritage Fellow. By National Endowment for the Arts, 162 contributed posts
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About the author:Come tweet with us! For anyone interested in creative placemaking, and who is not afraid to ask, the National Endowment for the Arts invites you to a live Twitter chat on Wednesday, September 4, 2013 from 2:00–3:00 PM ET. Jason Schupbach, NEA’s director of design programs will be on hand @NEAarts to respond to tweets about creative placemaking, the NEA’s Our Town program, and the arts in community revitalization. Use the hashtag #NEAOurTown. By National Endowment for the Arts, 162 contributed posts
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About the author:As the benefits of using a common agenda to solve complex social problems become better understood, the concept of using collective impact to advance arts education continues to gain traction. In a follow-up to the Spring 2013 webinar that provided an overview of the topic, the NEA will host a public webinar on how to begin and build collective impact initiatives on Wednesday, September 11, 2013, at 3:00 p.m. EDT. By National Endowment for the Arts, 162 contributed posts
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About the author:The 2013 concert will be held on Friday, September 27, 2013 at 8 p.m. EDT, and will feature art forms as diverse as Irish fiddling, traditional gypsy music, and Native American storytelling, among others. By National Endowment for the Arts, 162 contributed posts
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About the author:For the first time, the National Endowment for the Arts takes an in-depth look at this dynamic field in the report Valuing the Art of Industrial Design: A Profile of the Sector and Its Importance to Manufacturing, Technology, and Innovation. | |