Fall Update from Americans for the Arts

 Message from President & CEO Robert Lynch

Our goal is to create opportunities to empower members and advocates like you, especially in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire, to stand up for the arts on behalf of the entire nation and ask presidential candidates their position on the arts. We especially want you to advocate for our shared long-term goals of a future where the federal government invests at least $1 per citizen in the nonprofit arts and where local governments invest 5 percent of their local education budgets in arts education.

The support from our members will help us train 200+ arts advocates in each of the early primary states to attend town hall meetings and meet-and-greets with presidential candidates. We will retain a political/media strategist who will open doors to meet candidates in order to discuss how the arts are valued and supported in every state they visit, starting in Iowa and New Hampshire. Customized Questions to Ask will be written for every candidate, as well as develop unique arts profiles for both New Hampshire and Iowa and as well as unique arts profiles and background papers on each candidate.

Finally, we have added new ArtsVote2016 content to our website www.ArtsActionFund.org so that we can provide you even more robust resources about candidates and their arts positions. Check it out.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of National Arts in Education Week-a national celebration recognizing the importance of dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts to a well-rounded education. Through House Resolution 275, the week following the second Sunday in September is designated to bring attention to this cause among elected officials and educational decision-makers across the country. Mark your calendars now for September 13-19, 2015, and add your voice to this important cause! There are three ways that advocates can get involved in this important campaign:

Use the shared branding for National Arts in Education Week. You can download this unified logo and add it to any posters, websites, or public awareness campaigns. All of these tools are available at:  www.AmericansForTheArts.org/ArtsEdWeek.

Encourage your education and municipal leaders to adopt a local resolution supporting National Arts in Education Week. Templates are available to customize for your school board, mayor, city council, and state representatives. Take this opportunity to educate these leaders on the benefits of arts education using the handy facts, figures, and advocacy tips available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/Navigator.

Raise the visibility of the cause on social media. Use the #ArtsEdWeek hashtag all week long. Share your story of why arts education matters. Or tell us about an arts educator who has made a difference in your community using the hashtag #TeachTheArts. To get the conversation started, we’ll be sharing powerful student stories from our new Encourage Creativity videos, which you can find at:
www.AmericansForTheArts.org/Encourage Creativity.

Improving Schools With the Arts

Now entering its third year, the initiative has grown from a small pilot of eight schools to a cohort now of 49 schools across 14 states and the District of Columbia, serving 27,000 students (see map below.) The success of the program is undeniable-the schools show an average improvement of 22.55 percent in math scores and an average improvement of 12.62 percent in reading scores. Attendance has improved and disciplinary actions have dropped. Kids are excited about learning. Artists are bringing a sense of hope to the community. Parents are involved. It helps that the program is backed by the presidential seal and that high caliber artists, such as Sarah Jessica Parker (above), have adopted schools to serve as teaching artists, mentors, and a source of inspiration and positive visibility for schools. Moreover, the program is also backed by decades of research showing the benefits of arts integration and is designed around eight key strategies that any school can use to build a robust arts program that can achieve larger outcomes for school and student success. Read more about the impact of the program at www.turnaroundarts.pcah.gov.

New York City Cultural Plan
On May 18, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a plan to conduct New York City’s comprehensive cultural plan for the city. The plan will require a strategic planning process to address the city’s cultural priorities; research how the city can improve serving the five boroughs; report the current state of each neighborhood’s arts community; and plan how to assist artists with rising costs of living, including providing below market live/work studios. The official cultural plan will be finished in July 2017. After the final plan is in place, it can be revised every 10 years, with a required  progress report released every two years. Visit www.nyc.gov/html/dcla to learn more.