Americans for the Arts

12/23/2022

Happy Holidays 2022

Wishing you a safe and peaceful holiday season and a renewed sense of mission, continued resiliency, boundless creativity, and enormous possibility for the new year.

12/22/2022

For so many, December is a wonderful time to experience the arts. Please make a special holiday gift to Americans for the Arts and make a difference for the arts across the country—then consider an equally generous gift to organizations creating meaningful arts experiences in your own backyard!

AmericansForTheArts.org/donate

[Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels]

12/21/2022

Americans for the Arts and the Americans for the Arts Action Fund Issue a Statement in Response to the FY 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

works! Congress has proposed an all-time high $207M in funding for National Endowment for the Arts in the FY 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill, bringing federal arts funding closer to a long-standing $1 per capita goal. Read a statement from leaders of Americans for the Arts and Arts Action Fund.

Nolen Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, and Nina Ozlu Tunceli, executive director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, released this statement in response to Congress’ FY 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill:

12/20/2022

Animating Democracy Transitions & Appreciations

Animating Democracy Co-Directors Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Pam Korza have decided that 2022 completes their tenure providing program leadership for this transformative initiative that has strengthened the role of arts and culture in civic and social change. We are reluctant to let them go but excited for the next chapter in their journeys!

Co-Directors Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Pam Korza have decided that 2022 completes their tenure providing program leadership for this transformative initiative.

12/19/2022

"There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor."

in 1843 the classic Charles Dickens story "A Christmas Carol" was published. From book to stage to film, this beloved tale reaches beyond Christmas or religion and continues to melt hearts!

[Image by Prawny from Pixabay]

12/16/2022

The latest issue of Arts Link magazine centers the impact of climate change on the arts and features a mosaic of projects submitted by artists and arts organizations working at the intersection of arts and the climate crisis.

Explore projects in the mosaic here: https://bit.ly/3V2A1aO

12/15/2022

The Fall/Winter issue of Arts Link is out! For the first time in 20+ years, the magazine focuses on one overarching topic—the impact of the climate crisis on arts and culture—and features art by Alana Ladson designed specifically for the cover. This special issue is available for free, public download—no membership required!

Read it here: https://bit.ly/3FQQDh6

12/14/2022

Actors’ Equity urges members to push Congress to pass Performing Artist Tax Parity Act | Broadway News

Actors' Equity Association and many other arts unions and organizations are calling on Congress to pass the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA), which would allow more performing artists to deduct essential work expenses from their taxes.

On Dec. 10, Actors’ Equity Association sent notice to its full membership of 51,000 actors and stage managers nationwide encouraging them to appeal to their representatives to pass the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA). The bill, if passed, would allow more performing artists to deduct esse...

12/09/2022

Where did all the key changes go?

"If you're one of those folks who wants the key change to come back ... there's one way to do it: fund music education."

Many of the biggest hits in pop music used to have a key change, but it's getting harder and harder to find in top hits.

12/07/2022

Throughout 2022, Americans for the Arts went through a Strategic Realignment Process to redefine our role as a service organization to the arts and culture field. The conversations we've had during this process have been enlightening and inspiring, and as we enter a new stage of growth, we're proud to share the Designing Our Destiny platform for strategic planning and a transformative approach to our work in the new year. Visit the platform to learn more about this work, share your feedback, and stay in touch.

AmericansForTheArts.org/Designing-Our-Destiny

12/06/2022

Public Art Challenge

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge has provided 11 cities with funds for innovative public art projects that create positive impact in the community. Could your city be next? Tag your mayor and encourage them to learn more!

Applications Are Open for the 2022 Public Art Challenge Apply Now     Supporting innovative temporary public art projects that enhance the vibrancy of cities. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge encourages mayors to partner with artists, elevating the value of including the creative s...

12/02/2022

Join us next Friday, Dec. 9 on for a conversation with members of the Mid Atlantic Arts Accessibility Resource Committee to learn about new accessibility and disability justice resources developed for the arts + culture field, including challenges and successes throughout the process. Register for free here: https://bit.ly/3FgrJYe

[Photo by Marcus Aurelius]

12/01/2022

Creative Spirit Fund

Time is running out to nominate a deserving teacher for the Free People x Americans for the Arts Creative Spirit Fund! By 5pm ET on Friday, Dec. 2, tell us in under 300 words how an arts educator at your school has championed your creative spirit and they could receive $4,000 for creative classroom resources.

Nominate now at AmericansForTheArts.org/FreePeople.

11/30/2022

Great opportunity via Washington State Arts Commission, Idaho Commission on the Arts, and Nebraska Arts Council to learn more about Creative Districts and how to jumpstart one in rural communities! Register for their free online webinar on Monday, Dec. 12, here: https://bit.ly/3VIBvaZ

Pictured: Chewelah (WA) Creative District, provided by ArtsWA.

11/29/2022

Everyone should have access to arts opportunities to inspire and enrich their lives. This , please make a gift to support the powerful research and practical tools Americans for the Arts shares with our national networks. Then, give to an arts organization doing meaningful work in your local community! Thank you for fueling the arts and creativity today.

Donate now: https://bit.ly/3TzcfSY

11/17/2022

November 29 is ! Join the movement and give—whether it’s some of your time, a donation, or the power of your voice in your local community. Your gift to Americans for the Arts will power the arts nationwide; please also remember to support the arts organizations in your community!

Make a gift: https://bit.ly/3Gkxp4j

11/15/2022

New Orleans Creatives Get to the Heart of the Matter | Mellon Foundation

“Who folks do trust and hold in esteem and look up to for social guidance are the artists and culture bearers—the people in the community who make music, who make Indian suits, who are chefs and culinary artists or poets, spoken word artists, singers.”

Eliminating health inequities requires the help of the city’s greatest asset: its artists.

11/10/2022

In every neighborhood, arts and culture express our greatest hopes. Which is why each of us feels inspired when we interact with the arts! Join the conversation by completing the Arts & Economic Prosperity survey at arts events across the country. Those moving experiences become a powerful economic force in our communities. Make sure your support of the arts is counted!

Learn more at AmericansForTheArts.org/AEP6.

11/10/2022

Now that the votes are in, what will Election Day results mean for the future of the arts? Join Americans for the Arts, Arts Action Fund, and guest speakers Monday, November 21 on to discuss post-election impact on the creative economy. Register now: https://bit.ly/3zUAUu3

[Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash.]

11/09/2022

The Secret to a More Beautiful Neighborhood Is Public Art — Here’s How to Advocate for It in Your Community

When art is created with intention in public spaces, it helps people build a sense of belonging to their community. Here's how to advocate for more public art where you live.

My first apartment was a gloomy but cozy one-bedroom in Oakland, California. It was my first home away from home, and I loved feeling that it belonged to me. After a long day away, as I merged off the freeway and drove up the hill, I would catch a glimpse of the spray can painting on the wall of the...

11/08/2022

The final livestream in our three-part Animating Democracy series with Art2Action and HowlRound Theatre Commons is Friday, Nov. 18! Join us for a conversation on artistic imagination as a force for change with Jawole Zollar, adrienne maree brown, and Sage Crump.

Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/3SnDwav

11/07/2022

A new “Warrior’s Circle of Honor” at the National Native American Veterans Memorial

This Veterans Day, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian will dedicate a work of public art that recognizes, for the first time on a national scale, the distinguished service of American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian veterans.

The National Native American Veterans Memorial serves as a place of reverence and honor, a commemoration of people who served with honor, and a site of celebration.

11/04/2022

Free People X Americans for the Arts

Know a teacher who champions creativity and diversity in their classroom? Nominate them for the Free People x Americans for the Arts Creative Spirit Fund! Ten public school arts educators will receive a $4,000 award to purchase supplies and equipment based on nominations from students, parents, or peer teachers. Submit yours by Friday, Dec. 2 at 5 pm ET.

Learn more about Free People's charitable partnership with Americans for the Arts.

11/01/2022

Arts Action Center

Arts advocacy season is here! We need YOU to tell Congress to support the arts and culture at an all-time high of $207 million, as Congress debates funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. Tap and take two minutes to contact your reps now!

Advocate for the arts to your elected officials!

10/31/2022

It’s October 31, which means it’s nearly time to bid farewell to National Arts & Humanities Month for another year. But before we go, let us count the ways the arts and humanities make an impact in our lives! Today’s theme was inspired by Arts & Economic Prosperity 6, a national research study on the economic impact of the arts in partnership with organizations in 397 communities across the United States. If you live or attend arts events in one of the partner communities, YOU can help the study’s success by taking the AEP6 survey! You may see volunteers like the ones in these photos at festivals, concerts, plays, or other cultural events in your area—if so, please take a moment to say hello (they’re friendly and wonderful folks!) and fill out the brief and completely anonymous survey about your attendance at the event. (The survey has been translated into 23 languages, so if you need a particular language please feel free to ask!) To date more than 50,000 surveys have been collected nationally, with a goal of 250,000 completed surveys by next spring.

The previous version of this survey, AEP5, found that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $166.3 billion of economic activity, supported 4.6 million jobs, and generated $27.5 billion in revenue to local, state, and federal governments. The last several years have been tumultuous ones for the arts, so what will the current survey find? Stay tuned—national and local results of AEP6 will be released in September 2023.

Thank you to everyone who followed along and participated in —it’s been inspiring and fun as always! may be over, but we are happy knowing there are so many of you working to keep the arts and humanities thriving all year long.

Pictured: volunteers and survey collection happening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Las Vegas, Nevada; Stillwater, Minnesota; Alexandria, Virginia; Western New York; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thanks to Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, EAT MORE ART VEGAS, ArtReach St. Croix, AlexandriaVAGov, Arts Services Inc. - ASI, and Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council for sharing your photos!

10/30/2022

Arts education must be accessible to BIPOC students, to see themselves represented in arts and culture. Art education must be an equitable right to students.

On this final day of National Arts & Humanities Month, join us and California Arts Advocates in taking action and encourage your Representative to sign on and cosponsor the Advancing Equity Through the Arts and Humanities Act.

Send a letter to your Rep here: bit.ly/Support_HR7627

10/28/2022

National Arts and Humanities Month 2022

"The arts and humanities offer a platform to tell important stories, to ask questions, and to imagine new ways of being through a creative lens."

There are just a few days left in National Arts & Humanities Month! How will you celebrate creativity and culture this weekend?

National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities

A message on 2022 National Arts and Humanities Month from National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson and National Endowment for the Humaniti...

10/27/2022

Meeting of the National Council on the Arts on October 28, 2022, in Washington, DC

Hear from National Endowment for the Arts Chair Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson at the 208th meeting of the National Council on the Arts this Friday, Oct. 28. The public is invited to attend in person or watch live online at 9:30 am ET (registration required) to learn about efforts to strengthen local arts ecosystems, expand equity and access to the arts, and advance arts and culture throughout the federal government.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will host the public session of the 208th National Council on the Arts meeting on Friday, October 28, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. ET.

10/25/2022

The Humanities Challenge

Have you joined the Humanities Washington Humanities Challenge? Get a weekly fun challenge in your inbox based in the humanities—from engaging with your local history museum to discussing a big question with someone close to you, and much more.

We at Humanities Washington would like to become better humans, but we know how hard that can be. So we decided to make a game out of it. Beginning October 11, join us for the Humanities Challenge. Playing is simple: · Get a moon board. If you already get Spark magazine, you’ll receive a moon [.....

10/24/2022

Joy Harjo On When She Realized Poetry Has Power

"To be an artist—a designer, a poet, or a comedian—it’s a kind of calling. We all have gifts that are almost folded up, and they’re placed in between the heart and where your spirit lives, and then they unfold at different times. They need a way out."

Joy Harjo reflects on her Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Arts Awards with Vogue.

“Poetry is so human. It carries the spirit of the people.”

10/21/2022

We've been thrilled to hear from local arts leaders all month long sharing their National Arts & Humanities Month proclamations!

On October 18, Douglas Nicholls, Yuma Mayor proclaimed October Arts & Humanities Month after a presentation to Yuma's city council by Mark Feldman, Board Chair of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Also in attendance were Rose Ann Forte and Patrick McWhortor from Arizona Citizens for the Arts and former state representative Russell Jones.

Thank you to the Arizona Commission on the Arts for sharing the good news and for your work promoting the arts in Yuma and across Arizona!

Photo by Eduardo Marquez, courtesy of City of Yuma.

10/20/2022

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Artist Molly Joyce created "Perspective" to explore her own relationship with disability and to foster broader understanding around terms central to disability culture yet relatable to all, disabled or nondisabled: "I have frequently rethought concepts that are considered critical to what disability is and can mean, such as being weak, helpless, and incurable."

10/19/2022

Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day 2022

Chambers of Commerce are vital organizations in communities because they lift up and support local businesses, including creative entrepreneurs! And we know that the arts mean business! Do you partner with your local chamber? Tag them and share one thing you love about the partnership to celebrate Support Your Local Chamber Day.

10/14/2022

Native Americans live, thrive, and are in positions of leadership throughout the U.S. Native people are alive and resilient, contributing to the economic strength and cultural revitalization. We must educate ourselves on Native American Heritage and uplift and protect their art + culture in the national narrative.

Take action with California Arts Advocates this National Arts & Humanities Month and send a letter encouraging your Representative to sign on and cosponsor the Advancing Equity Through the Arts and Humanities Act: bit.ly/Support_HR7627

10/13/2022

For day 13 of , let’s look at how the arts can be part of the movement to address . ITAC Collaborative is doing groundbreaking work through its “ITAC IMPACT: Climate” initiative by supporting teaching artists around the world to engage students and their local communities around pressing issues of climate change. Teaching artists from Brazil to Alaska to the Philippines and beyond are designing and leading innovative projects in schools and communities to raise awareness, educate, change minds and behavior, and to activate participation around a local climate challenge.

One inspiring example of this work is “School of the (Im)Possible” in São José, Santa Catarina, Brazil—an immersive theater experience where children ages 8-10 learned about climate change then got to teach adults about their vision for the future. In the experience, a time-traveling bookshelf appeared in a classroom one day, filled with mysterious and still-to-be-written books from the future. After the students communicated with a scientist living in 2071, searched school grounds for clues, and opened an AR portal to travel to a green future in their classroom, they traveled back to the present to write the books that can change the future for them and the planet.

You can explore the ITAC IMPACT: Climate initiative, and how teaching artists are using Animating Democracy’s Continuum of IMPACT to evaluate their programming, via two recent webinars on here: https://bit.ly/3JZdGqz

Photos of Students from CEM Santa Terezinha School and EEF California School, São José, SC, Brazil, by Daniel Rodriguez.

10/12/2022

Tomorrow: Join Animating Democracy, Art2Action and HowlRound Theatre Commons for a livestream discussion on how art and artists can advance meaningful, transformative dialogue and racial reckoning. What should our expectations be for art as a change agent, and what is the role of dialogue in this pursuit?

Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/3CpqxPD

10/07/2022

Art has historically had the power to create unity & wellbeing in diverse communities, and continues to do so. It has been an indispensable tool for social movements in the struggle to create a just future for all of us.

Join us and California Arts Advocates by taking action this National Arts & Humanities Month and send a letter encouraging your Representative to sign on and cosponsor the Advancing Equity Through the Arts and Humanities Act. Together, we can make change happen!

Take action here: bit.ly/Support_HR7627

10/04/2022

Have you been following along with on Instagram? For today's daily theme, it’s time to turn focus closer to home and . Six counties across the U.S. are participating in the National Association of Counties Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge, funded in part by National Endowment for the Arts, and we’re grateful to the team from Hawai’i County for sharing the story of their project for today’s post!
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Revitalize Pohoiki Interpretive Signage Project is a planning initiative to restore Isaac Kepo‘okalani Hale Beach Park, and create a vision and stewardship plan for the greater Pohoiki area following the 2018 Kīlauea Volcano Eruption. We act local by engaging area ‘ohana (family), community members, and stakeholders every step of the way in the planning and design process. The community-centered approach will carry through to plan implementation.

One project in this initiative is Interpretive Signage for the area, which is supported by the NACo and NEA Creative Counties Challenge. These signs will educate visitors to ground their connection to space while honoring Pohoiki's history and elevating its cultural significance. The project centers three guiding principles: Lōkahi - united as one, oneness; 'Auamo Kuleana - to shoulder one’s responsibility; and Kīhoʻihoʻi - restoration; return to wellness.

The County of Hawai‘i Creative Counties Challenge Team is an intentional collaboration between government, community, and the arts. We see an opportunity to use art as a vehicle to heal as well as communicate the essence of this significant and storied place. We envision a holistic creative placemaking project that brings art, landscaping, and technology together to restore and enhance space with art installations, interpretive signs, and digital media shaped by place-based stories, history, and culture.

10/03/2022

Announcing the winner of the National Arts & Humanities Month Poster Competition: Congratulations to Rey Velasquez Sagcal of Baltimore, MD, whose poster "Uplifted" received the most public votes! Second place went to J.A. Medcalf from Chicago, IL, and Kitty Newcomb from Milwaukee, WI, took third place in the public voting.

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who entered! You can view a gallery of all poster entries at AmericansForTheArts.org/NAHMPoster.

cc: Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts