state arts action network

State Arts Action Network Meeting Minutes

Sunday, March 12,2006
Chair: Judy Weiner
Vice Chair: Gretchen Johnston

L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
480 L'Enfant Plaza
Washington, DC  20024
Renoir Room, Second Floor
3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

1. Welcome, Introductions, and Housekeeping
   Judy Weiner, chair of the SAAN, along with Gretchen Johnston, vice chair, welcomed the group to Washington, DC.  Jay Dick went over housekeeping items and the members introduced themselves.

2. Special Guest Speaker, Patrice Powell, the NEA director, Challenge America—Fast Track and LAAs.

   Patrice thanked the SAAN for allowing her to speak. She has been speaking to the SAAN for the last several years and enjoys visiting with our members.

   She is very pleased with the progression of the merger and applauds the leadership in the group and thinks that it is positive that there are new faces. She passed around Challenge America grants information. There are a couple pieces of news. The NEA will celebrate its 40th anniversary in May. Everyone will receive an invitation to a three-day symposium, and there is a call for papers. Deadline for proposals is April 1, 2006, and information should be online. The event will take place at American University. She reminded everyone that this is the last year that they can submit an application on paper. Everyone needs to register on www.grants.gov  because it takes a while. This is not an agency initiative but a federal mandate to come online.

   Moved to general comments on a June deadline. Same Challenge America grants deadline. She passed around a cheat sheet on this (program she can send electronically). This is specifically for a $10,000-grants deadline for underserved communities for either economics or geography. Deadline is in June. Money is not available until January, but notices go out in November. Last year they had about 70 applications and awarded to almost half. Guest artists, public art, and community engagement projects all qualify. Civic design is also another area that’s considered (design competitions, etc.). Anything related to adaptability or remodeling of a certain space, including landscape—think creatively about how you might use it, either for you, on behalf of your constituents, or to serve a larger good. This is all fast track.

   Judy question—what was cut to Challenge America last year and how much additional funding did they get back; and what is the proposed cut to this year? Answer—There was no cut last year. For this year, she does not have the information. Can not offer it specifically.

   Andy Finch, senior director of federal policy at Americans for the Arts explained further: the proposal is $3.4 million less than current funding. Congress allocated $17 million this year and the request is for $14 million for FY 2007. He will elaborate more in the full session tomorrow.

   Judy—All states have to strategically send letter to the chairman and others at NEA with a positive tone in order to have funds restored.

   Patrice noted that May 17–19 is the three-day symposium.

   Bob Lynch, president and CEO for Americans for the Arts—This is a great time of year because for three days the arts get to flex their muscle for SAAN meetings, the Nancy Hanks lecture, etc. Craft Emergency Relief Fund is holding their board (TX, LA, MS, and SC, and others like Southern Federation and other arts organizations, are focusing on how we can do a better job on emergency relief). Andy is better versed on the federal issues. Last year there was an attempt for less money for Challenge America and more for Masterpiece programs. We got back about half; this year it’s a little more hidden. An attempt in more flexibility in what the money is used for. We’ve come out with a statement in the paper and publicly to temper their point of view and to represent the best interests of SAAN members. One of the dynamics is easy—Challenge America was a name created by previous administration (Bill Ivey). We might have to get creative with names and defend what the program accomplishes.

   We found out the NEA library was moved to a library at a women’s college in Virginia without getting any type of permission.

3. State of the State Reports (2 minutes per state)
   Anne Katz, Arts Wisconsin—They are getting ready for the Americans for the Arts convention in June. The host committee has been working on this since last summer, and she promises that they will show everyone a great time. Arts Wisconsin is also working on a two-year strategy on their gubernatorial election on down to local elections which will focus on education. Scandals have made it interesting. Their advocacy day already passed. They are working on infusing the arts into the political discussion this election year and next year in working with their governor and lieutenant governor. They are also working to put more money into the arts council’s budget. They have an education campaign that works arts into agenda. Also have a wonderful cultural tourism video that they will show after session (six minutes).

   Christina Flores, Texans for the Arts—The Texas Legislature meets every other year and this year they are out of session. They survived last year without any major cuts. But, with this year’s gubernatorial election, they are anticipating a major change. It wouldn’t be Texas without some scandals. They are hoping that some district lines will be redrawn.  Funding for the arts is split in Texas. Some areas are funded by the Texas Arts Commission and others by nonprofits.  Texans for the Arts has hired a lobbyist.

   Sally Gaskill, Indiana Coalition for the Arts—They were able to amend their cultural trust fund legislation and managed to get $700,000 that the Arts Commission will be able to access. Their longtime executive director recently resigned which will be new for the state. She worked on a new cultural plan that will focus on advocacy. Two statewide agencies have partnered (merging c3 and c4) to become a coalition for the arts. The biggest legislative initiative this year was to pass a daylight-savings time bill.

   Virginia Geier, Utah Cultural Alliance—This year’s legislative session wasn’t very exciting for the arts. Their big issue was to pass flat tax, but at the eleventh hour they couldn’t reach consensus and it failed. They did pass money for the state arts council; $1 million for administrative costs. The legislature approved peyote for religious services. Other than that, the legislative session wasn’t overtly exciting. They are having issues with their arts council because they want them to hire a professional lobbyist, but they are working through that.

   Jan Selman, Arts Leadership League of Georgia (ALLGeorgia)—They are having a busy election year. Every elected official is up in Georgia this year and thus, their session has been very intense. A bill has been submitted for a cultural trust. It is a horrible piece of legislation introduced by the speaker pro-temp. ALLGeorgia managed to get it into a committee to buy them more time. Constituents hated the legislation because it said that anyone who gives to the arts would only get half back. They introduced their own legislation on arts education stating that it is very important and requesting information from the state department of education. The Education Committee chair told ALLGeorgia that the bill was dead on arrival and thought that supporters would let it drop. But they sent alerts throughout the state that caused 500 e-mails to go out and the bill passed yesterday! In other good news, they found out that for the last two years their advocacy campaigns have been watched by a lobbying firm, and now that firm has offered to represent them pro bono.

   Donna Collins, Ohio Citizens for the Arts—The director of their Arts Council retired and they’re still looking for a replacement. She is excited about student participation this year at Arts Advocacy Day, with 16 students for a total of 28 people. Their arts day is on March 29. They have been redesigning their arts day materials to resemble Americans for the Arts materials because they are much easier and succinct. Half of all Ohio senators and all House members are up for re-election. Lastly, were successful in getting a million dollars in their arts council budget.

   Lisle Soukup, Arizona Citizens for the Arts/Arizona Action for the Arts—Arizona has a multimillion dollar surplus this year, so they are asking for more money for their arts endowment in addition to state appropriation. When the Arizona arts endowment was formed, the agreement stated that legislation would contribute $2 million per year. The agreement hasn’t been honored, and the endowment is underfunded by $7 million. They are asking their legislature to pay off the rest of the endowment. The legislature is looking for one-time expenditures instead of recurring appropriations. They are having a very contentious legislation session caused in part by this being an election year.

   Lisa Caretto, California Arts Advocates—Lisa reminded the group that California is last per capita in spending on the arts. They will be getting a little more money as the fees for arts license plates (and all personal license plates) have been raised. They expect approximately $2.8 million this year from the arts license plates and other sales. There is a bill before the legislature this year to obtain a waiver from a large percentage of money received from the arts license plates being diverted and going to state environmental groups. The governor has proposed $100 million for arts education. The state of California hasn’t spent any money on arts education this year. so they are hoping that it will pass.

   Alene Valkanas, Illinois Arts Alliance—This is an election year for them too. Last year they lobbied and received a million dollars more for the arts council. This year they are putting more efforts in arts education. They are creating a new coalition and have employed a public policy strategist. They are doing lots in the arts arena. They have approached 24 organizations around their state for strategic planning purposes using Survey Monkey to find out what others need from them. In 2007, Alene will have been with the Illinois Arts Alliance for 20 years. At their strategic planning retreat she told their board that she will be retiring in 2007. In this next year, she will be working to help the organization grow as they are consolidating their separate c3 and c4 organizations into one c3.

   Karen Wells, Arts North Carolina—Last year they were successful in obtaining $1 million in recurring funding and $1 million in nonrecurring funding. They are just getting organized around arts education. Wondering where next step is without much staff or resources. They are working hard on a statewide awareness campaign and are also using Americans for the Arts stats.

   Tom Turk, Tennesseans for the Arts—They just held their Arts Advocacy day on Tuesday. They had 200 advocates and made good progress. They didn’t ask legislators for anything but just thanked them, and it really resonated. Their state arts commission’s budget has increased from $4.8 million to $7.5 million, and they have doubled their arts membership.

   Sherron Long, Florida Cultural Alliance—They have successfully restored $1 million in arts funding. Next year they are asking for more and trying to get some surplus hurricane tax money. They have a new center for fine arts education in Florida and are working in partnership with them on arts education. This is also an election year for them. They just had their Arts Advocacy day.

   Betty Plumb, South Carolina Arts Alliance—Their legislative session runs from January to June. Elections are going to be about property tax this year. Arts education, general operating support and tourism are their priorities. So far, $1.2 million for facilities has been identified, but nothing for the base budget. So, they will have to work extra hard with state senate. They have increased the gifted and talented arts funding. Their Arts Advocacy day had 300 members attending and used creative industry information.

   Gretchen Johnston, Washington State Arts Alliance—Their legislature had a short, 60-day session this year.  Legislators introduced more than 2,000 bills, and the governor had last vote thrown out by Supreme Court. Probably one of the most fruitless and intense sessions. The Sonics stadium was tied to hotel/motel tax to fund arts and culture. It didn’t go through because supporters wanted to fund the arts but not sports. The Washington State Arts Education Alliance has been doing really well. States commission doing a survey.

   Judy Weiner, Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations—They have reorganized how they run their advocacy campaigns. They use people in every single county in the state, so they had a Local Arts Advocacy Week spearheaded by these experts (local captains) and they did all the work for her. Borrowed Sheila Smith’s virtual campaign online and did 1,500 e-mails. Their Albany Arts Day message was “invest $2.5 per person.” They expect to have an on-time budget this year. They normally have the latest budget in the country each year. Their governor is up for re-election this year, so everyone is interested in getting the budget done early this year. According to republican leaders, there is a big budget surplus this year of more than $1 billion.

   Andrea Stander, Vermont Arts Council—For the first time in 25 years, they have an open senate seat, as Sen. Jim Jeffords is retiring. Consequently, this will be the biggest campaign session this state has ever seen and will bust campaign finance records. Rep. Bernie Sanders is running for the open senate seat, so his house seat is also open. Vermont is one of only a few states that has a very active third party. Viewed as a spoiler. Legislatively, they have received level funding this year. They are trying to protect a four-fold increase from last year. Also starting conversation about getting operating support grants back. It won’t be this year, but they are talking about it. They have a big project this year. They are establishing an endowment for the arts council. They are doing a statewide project called the Pallets of Vermont. They are hoping that by October they will have the largest public art exhibit in the world with 5 percent of population participating!

   Sheila Smith, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts—They had an economic impact study release on Thursday this week. People liked having special statistics about their local economies. Students will be participating in their Arts Advocacy Day. They are working this year even though it’s a nonappropriations year (against hunting activists) regarding sales tax. They have almost every elected official up for re-election in November.

   Cecilia Wooden, Arts Kentucky—The Louisville Orchestra when bankrupt at end of last year which was very sad.  She wants to thank Sheila Smith for the 24-hour virtual rally idea, and she had 1,000 e-mails sent. This was in collaboration with their Arts Advocacy Day. They have a good relationship with their local arts councils and wound up getting $5 million for a performing arts network. Their legislators are busy with casino gambling, the 10 Commandments, and making milk their state drink.

   Dan Hunter, Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities—Their cultural council’s budget was decimated the second week he was on the job. He put together a strategy and got an increase two years in a row.  Now, a cultural development plan has been approved by the house and senate. They got the campaign for cultural facilities funding in the economic stimulus bill last year by a twist of fate. This year, cultural facilities funding became a focus of their stimulus bill. While the bill has been stalled, he is sure that it will pass and is advocating for a strong increase.

   Pamela G. Holt, Maryland Citizens for the Arts—Pamela pointed out that Dan was recognized in Maryland and received an honorary doctorate. They got $3 million for their arts council budget this year. They had a corporate breakfast very early on to get people involved to get funds for arts budget. The Senate approved the money last Thursday and House will vote this Thursday. She is optimistic. Stem cell research and gay marriage are the legislature’s two biggest issues. Pamela brought parents and school children in one evening, which was successful.  Her board approved an addition position, so there are now three of them. They are thinking of consolidating c3 and c4 organizations.

   Jenny Hershour, Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania—This is also a big election year in Pennsylvania. They have the highest number of competitive races ever in the state. Their governor proposed a $700,000 increase, which is $200,000 more than they expected. They have been involved with other organizations opposing the so-called taxpayer’s bill of rights legislation, which was modeled after what happened in Colorado. They are working with larger coalition to defeat it. They are also working with Speaker of the House on arts education.

   Ellen Morgan, Association of Community Arts Agencies of Kansas—They had their largest Arts Advocacy Day ever. Their Secretary of Education has left, which means they are staying in business. There was a major cut in the House for grant funding. The money was taken to give to state libraries for books for the blind, which is hard to compete with. So, their message was leave them alone but find other ways to give us money. Salaries have been cut since they have not had an executive director and there was excess money. It’s been interesting in terms of issues with science standards.

   John Barsness, Montana Arts—John had a question for the group: Does anyone conduct their advocacy programs on $5,000 or less, and does it all go to lobbyists? Montana has term limits, and now the state legislature is slowing down. But, they did have a budget surplus this year, and $3.9 million was returned to their cultural trust fund. The state arts agency budget and recommendations for cultural trust grants are their legislative focus this year. When they are in session, have made the arts a bipartisan issue.

   Trish Poupore, Virginians for the Arts—Virginia has reached the end of its legislative session, but it will reconvene in May. They are stuck on transportation issues. Former Governor Warner proposed doubling the arts agencies budget which had been substantially cut in 2001. She thinks that the money will make it thorough the legislature. This would take them from 49 cents per capita to 60 cents in the coming year and 80 cents next year. She is very optimistic. They had a successful Arts Advocacy Day in January. This fall they are conducting a candidate survey with Survey Monkey. Candidates liked Survey Monkey over the more traditional pen and paper form. Survey Monkey also saved them lots of money in postage, etc.
   
   Andrea asked a question: How many states are dealing with transportation issues where money is being transferred from education to pay for transportation?

   There were no responses.

4. Special Projects Committee Update
   Grant Writing for SAAN Projects
   Alene Valkanas

   Alene Valkanas stated that there is so much to be gained from this project. We all came together hoping that through Americans for the Arts, we might get to share even more in capacity-building for our organizations. The council has had several conference calls to find out what everyone thinks are good professional development and capacity-building ideas. What really resonated strongly was technology, not just equipment-based but also in communications. Some of us that have advocacy programs understand web-based work, literature, PowerPoint’s, etc., but there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Thus, the best first step is to engage an outside consultant who has a sensitivity and background in trying to identify our needs and what type of opportunities we see. After much discussion, we identified Marilyn Wheaton from Michigan who recently was the executive director of the Detroit Office of Fine Arts. She is now an independent consultant. Marilyn has provided us a proposal in which she laid out how she would undertake this research. She would work with our committee to identify these questions; Americans for the Arts  would conduct the research and return the raw data to Marilyn to do analysis. This data will be given to the council, who will look for trends and then Marilyn will write several proposals that will go to national funders. The distribution methods are still unknown, and this is the very first level of research. At this council meeting, the council voted to continue with this project. Marilyn will be joining us at dinner if you want to meet her. Does everyone like this idea?

   The network responded with their approval.

   Judy: When you receive the survey, please don’t ignore it.
   
   Jay informed the network that if they do not complete the survey, they will not be eligible for any grant money or other proceeds.

5. Overview of SAAN Activities and Status
   Jay provided an overview on the current status of the SAAN, including new members, professional development sessions, the new SAAN web address, national partnerships, and the Public Leadership Award (which was presented to Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack). His PowerPoint presentation will be posted on the SAAN website.

6. Closing Comments
   Judy and Gretchen offered their closing comments and thanked everyone for attending.

7. Adjourn