Immigration has long stirred America’s imagination of its past and of the enduring value of the Republic to the world’s oppressed masses. No other society, we have believed, has been more hospitable to foreigners than ours. The historical settlement of newcomers brings to mind poignant narratives of journeys from desperate places to the Golden Door of modern American society.

In the 2001 landmark school financing case Campaign for Fiscal Equity vs. State of New York, Justice DeGrasse addressed the role of the arts in education. In his ruling, access to a complete education—an education that includes the arts—is the right, not the privilege, of students attending public schools in the state of New York. He went on to acknowledge the potential special benefits of an arts education for students from disadvantaged circumstances.

It is a pleasure to be a part of this day and a part of your initiative, Cultural Policy at the Grassroots. My remarks are based on a report I authored for The McKnight Foundation, A New Angle – Arts Development in the Suburbs. The report looks at suburban arts in a metropolitan context and has many parallels for the work that you are doing here in Prince William County.

This working paper, Fostering Innovations in State Cultural Policy focuses on historic preservation and was prepared for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It has two parts. Part 1: Readiness of the Historic Preservation Community to Identify, Share, and Replicate State Level Policy Innovations and Part 2: Descriptive Examples of Successful Policy Innovations.

Even in the current economy, businesses are still searching for innovative ways to recruit and retain employees. Programs that allow employees to bring their values to work are good investments. The arts are a wonderful catalyst that can help shift perceptions, embrace diversity, build team spirit, foster creative thinking and improve communication. This tool-kit will provide information on how and why the arts help engage employees.

What is corporate social responsibility, and how can arts groups partner with businesses to acheive societal change, in addition to furthering the goals of a business and the mission of an organization? This tool-kit will give you all the answers to how arts groups can present their work as an integral piece of a company's CSR strategy.

Businesses often promote volunteerism as one of the key elements of employee engagement. Arts organizations are looking for ways to increase involvement with skilled volunteers. This tool-kit focuses on how volunteer programs can make employees feel more engaged on the job, learn new skills or improve their existing skills, and increase interaction between junior and senior employees, and how we can bring this information into conversations with corporate partners about designing Business Volunteers for the Arts® programs.

What is the most effective way to take data from the Creative Industries reports and turn it into a story appealing to the business community? This tool-kit has peer insights on the best ways to craft your message, along with information on how the arts sector has used the reports in local communities.

This quick list compiled by Americans for the Arts provides you with 10 reason to make the case for supporting the arts in our communities acorss the Nation.

This infographic in poster size illustrates the ArtsBlog post, Top 10 Reasons to Support the arts in 2015, authored by Randy Cohen. The full blog post is reproduced in the body of this abstract.