A National Push for Local Jobs

This has been an exciting week. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday surrounded by "the choir" as it were. Arts managers, staffers, artists and advocates gathered from around the country for what was Americans for the Arts largest National Arts Advocacy Day yet. After a day full of training and briefing sessions on Monday, the group hit Capitol Hill early Tuesday morning, fighting more than 40 HOS Motorcades (HOS - Heads of State) which were tying DC streets into knots in order to end nuclear proliferation. Thank goodness for DC's METRO. At our Hill breakfast we heard from the likes of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus. She wore a black t-shirt with a picture of Shakespeare on it which read, "Will Power." We heard from Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. I was proud to be an American when as Mr. Lewis approached the podium, the room stood with a roar. Yet as he began to speak, you could hear a pin drop. A far cry from the greeting he received just a few weeks ago after helping to pass Health Care Reform. What this man has seen. He spoke of the critical role that music played in the Civil Rights Movement. He spoke of how arts are a critical component of our every day life and how "we are all actors on this American stage." We heard from the CEO of the US Conference of Mayors - a group who knows first hand the direct effect of a strong arts community on a city or town's economy. We heard actors Jeff Daniels and Kyle MacLachlan talk about the critical role that community theaters played in their success. And we heard from Speaker Nancy Pelosi - winner of the 2010 Public Leadership in the Arts Ward for Congressional arts leadership given by Americans for the Arts. Speaker Pelosi shared stories of growing up in Baltimore and stories of the thriving arts districts in her current home of San Francisco. It was a great rally and it got us ready to go out and meet with our representatives and urge them to pass a bill funding the NEA at $180 million - returning us, after a long wait, to the funding levels we saw in 1992.

I had the pleasure of working with Theresa Colvin, Executive Director of the Maryland State Arts Council, and several students from Arts Management and Dance programs at Towson University and the University of Maryland - all of whom spoke eloquently and with passion about the need for this funding and for funding of arts education programs as CORE programs in our public schools. We learned that just last week, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) accepted the position of co-chair of the Senate Cultural Caucus - a position that has been vacant for some time. She will serve with Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY.) We were fortunate enough to get a minute with Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) who is a tireless supporter of the arts in the Senate as he was in the House.

What was so significant is that this was not Hollywood, or Broadway, or event the Recording Industry Assoc. of America (though some of them were not only present but played a major role in testifying before the committee,) but this was regular, everyday Americans whose jobs are in as much danger as any teacher, plant worker, flight attendant, municipal worker, or any other American. And we came together on Capitol Hill to make sure our voices were heard.

In 2009, Maryland received more than $4 million dollars from the NEA to fund theatre projects, museum exhibits, public art, arts education, dance exhibitions and more. About 40% of that money went directly to the Maryland State Arts Council so that they could further distribute NEA funds to the far reaches of the state. Almost $1.5 million of that money was from the 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act passed by Congress and Signed by the President which, thanks to the hard work of Speaker Pelosi and other dedicated members of Congress, DID include a mere $50 million for the NEA to save Arts Jobs! It worked, because I, as Executive Director of the Prince Theatre Foundation at the time, secured a $25,000 grant from the NEA to save the job of one of my staff. It was a point I was sure to make to Rep. Frank Kratovil from Maryland's 1st Congressional District, representing my beloved Chestertown.



Arts = Jobs was the mantra of the week. Hundreds of advocates made it clear to their representatives that the arts are a vital part of a recovering American economy. We made it clear that for the small investment Congress makes every year in the arts, it receives an incredible return in revenue to the treasury. Want to know more? Go to www.artsusa.org and read on! Want more information locally? Go to www.mdarts.org for Maryland or google your state's advocacy group.

What can you do? Call or write your members of congress now. Tell them to support the $180 million NEA appropriation for 2011. Tell them to fund the $53 million for Arts in Education programs in the 2011 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. And read about all the other pending bills that are important to artists and arts advocates across the nation.

But even more important then that... Tell your representative what the arts have meant to you, your children and your friends and neighbors right in your own community. Help Congress help all of us. They need to hear from us, NOW!