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For Immediate Release

Washington DC—September 15, 2005—Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading arts advocacy organization, announced today that it has established the Americans for the Arts Emergency Relief Fund, a permanent fund developed to provide timely financial assistance to areas impacted by a major disaster for the purpose of helping them rebuild the arts in their communities. Created with an initial contribution of $100,000 from Americans for the Arts’ own reserves, the relief fund will distribute support directly to local arts agencies to assist with their own recovery or to provide needed services and funding to local nonprofit arts groups and individual artists and to other relief efforts dedicated to helping the arts. One-hundred percent of the contributions to the Emergency Relief Fund will go directly to these efforts.
 
The Gulf Coast region is an area rich in culture, with arts businesses numbering more than 24,000 and employing more than 108,000 in the federally designated disaster areas in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. Americans for the Arts established this fund in response to individuals and organizations who want to help these local cultural organizations and artists affected by Hurricane Katrina and other disasters and did not know where to direct their support.
 
“In light of the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, an Emergency Relief Fund makes sense,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “The arts are a fundamental component in building vibrant and economically viable communities and our hope is that this permanent funding will help in rebuilding them as well.”
 
For information on how to make a tax-deductible contribution or to apply for funds, visit the Americans for the Arts website or contact Americans for the Arts toll-free at 866.471.2787 and ask for the Americans for the Arts Emergency Relief Fund.

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, DC, and New York City, it has a record of more than 40 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

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