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Made in Southern Oregon – NEW Event in Central Point this May!

Save the date and support the artists, performers and vendors participating in this brand new event, sponsored by City of Central Point Parks & Recreation! Be there! Downtown Pine Street on May 18, 2019 from 12:00 pm (noon) to 7:00 pm.

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U.S. House Rejects Cut to NEA!

"I am the Republican chair of both the Arts Caucus and the Humanities Caucus in this House, and these programs do wonderful work throughout the entire Nation, in every hamlet in America and, of course, supporting our veterans." --Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ)

Dear Arts Advocates,

Thanks to your record-levels of calls, emails, and tweets to your Members of Congress in the past few days, we have good news!

Just a few moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives soundly defeated an amendment that would have cut funding the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The House voted down the Grothman amendment by a vote of 114 – 297! This is one of the largest vote margins in support of the Endowments in the U.S. House! Read Americans for the Arts President & CEO Robert L. Lynch’s statement here.

This bipartisan showing and resounding vote is a testament to the power of the arts in our communities, schools, lives, and careers. There hasn’t been a floor vote like this since 2011. We are proud and excited to know publicly, and on the record, just how

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Arts Action News March 2018

The Arts Drive Our Economy

Vol. I 2018 Quarterly Member Newsletter Congress Tax Reform Could Negatively Impact Charities In a series of fast-moving, last-minute negotiations by a handful of Republican legislators, Congress passed an extensive tax reform bill on December 19, 2017, along party-line votes. The final bill received no Democratic support.

This sweeping legislation now brings substantial changes that could impact the health of the nonprofit sector. Although some harmful provisions were successfully defeated (like proposals to tax college tuition waivers received by graduate students), the biggest concern is the indirect impact on future charitable giving that will take place. As a result of Congress doubling the standard deduction, millions of middle class households will no longer itemize their expenses on a Schedule A to their tax return. This is important because the only place you can claim tax deductions for gifts made to charity is on this itemized form. The charitable community

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Cultural Advocacy Coalition 2015 Legislative Report

cac logo online cultural advocacy coalition

2015 Legislative Report On July 6, 2015, at 6:04 p.m. the 79th Session of the Oregon Legislature adjourned “Sine Die.” Over the 155 days of the session, the 90 elected members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly convened the 2015 Legislative Session amid uncertainty around the strength of the Oregon economy, a looming Supreme Court decision regarding the PERS reforms adopted by the legislature in 2014 and investigations into possible misconduct by Governor John Kitzhaber and First Lady Cylvia Hayes. Eleven days after the start of session, Governor Kitzhaber announced his resignation and five days later Secretary of State Kate Brown was sworn in as Oregon’s 38th Governor. While most pundits expected chaos and a rough leadership transition to ensue, Governor Brown moved quickly to solidify her leadership team and to partner with Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney.

Culture in the 2015 Legislative Session

Overall this was a

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Inspirations

I just got back from a visit to San Francisco where I went to the De Young museum to see the  Girl with a Pearl Earring show, along with Etching from Rembrandt and his contemporaries.  I found it very inspiring, especially all the etchings, they are so intricate and invite you to spend several minutes […]

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Join Arts Advocacy Day from Your Desk (or Couch)

As Congress returns to work in Washington, DC, this week they will face more than just angry tourists who came to see the not-quite-in-bloom cherry blossoms. Today, advocates are receiving training from experts and tomorrow 500 arts advocates from across the country (and even Japan!) will take to the Hill on behalf of their local […]

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The Arts: Promoting Language & Literacy of Young Children

Art has traditionally been an important part of early childhood programs. The arts in early childhood education is spontaneous, creative play—drawing, painting, self-expression, singing, playing music, dancing, storytelling, and role playing. Pre-school age children love the arts because that is what they do naturally. The arts engage all the senses and kinesthetic, auditory, and visual […]

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The Marriage of Arts, Economics, & Education

The NABE Foundation, the charitable arm of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), and Americans for the Arts will present Paul Vancea with the the 2013 NABE Foundation Americans for the Arts Scholarship Award later today in Washington, DC. The Scholarship Award was established in 2008 to encourage the integration of the arts into […]

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The Arts Are Patriotic, Too

Imagine this scene: there is a band playing as you walk in. As the musicians wrap up their piece and take their seats, a large choir pops up, featuring top-notch a cappella performers. This performance segues into rousing solo performances from vocalists backed up by beautiful orchestrations. Great writers are celebrated. Poetry is recited. And […]

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STEM Promotes Science Instruction at the Expense of Humanities

We need more engineers and scientists. That has become the mantra of promoters of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in education. There is nothing wrong with such a rallying cry, except that investment in STEM education usually comes at the expense of HAS (humanities, arts, and social sciences). There is no arguing that inadequate […]

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