“Without the arts, without music, without dance, without drama, without photography, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.” These were the words the late Representative John Lewis of Georgia shared the many times he addressed crowds of arts advocates of all ages at Americans for the Arts’ annual Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. Americans for the Arts feels deep loss at the passing of Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights hero and a true champion for the arts, and we celebrate the vast contributions he made to our country.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce that violin prodigy and social justice advocate Vijay Gupta will deliver the Americans for the Arts 33rd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy on March 30, 2020, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The lecture is presented as part of the annual National Arts Action Summit in Washington, D.C., March 30 and 31. 

Before a crowd of 650 arts advocates from every state, including a delegation of 30 from his home state of New Jersey, Americans for the Arts and The United States Conference of Mayors recognized and thanked U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) for his congressional arts leadership during the 31st Arts Advocacy Day.

For the fifth consecutive year, a new record number of U.S. Representatives has signed the annual “Dear Colleague” letter, led by the bipartisan Congressional Arts Caucus co-chairs.

Americans for the Arts mourns the loss of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York, who died March 16, 2018 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 88. Louise has been a champion of the arts for decades and our organization and its members are profoundly saddened, but still spirited in her honor and grateful for all she has given in service to her constituents at home and nationwide through her passionate support for the value of the arts and arts education.

Americans for the Arts will be joined by more than 550 grassroots advocates from across the country on March 12–13, 2018, as they meet with their members of Congress to encourage support for arts funding and education. Now in their 31st year, the events are presented by Americans for the Arts and co-sponsored by 85 national organizational partners representing arts, culture, business, civic, and education institutions and individuals nationwide.

With Congress now turning to work on the next fiscal year’s budget (FY2018), Lynch provided testimony in support of $155 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This funding amount is the position taken by the 88 national partners of Arts Advocacy Day and reflected in the numerous advocacy efforts being pursued currently by Americans for the Arts and dozens of other arts organizations.

The Ford Foundation president will speak March 20, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are free, but seating is limited.

On Arts Advocacy Day, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) announced new legislation to strengthen the creative economy to a crowd of over 500 arts advocates.

When you talk about the arts, you talk about opportunity! That is one of the many messages we brought to Capitol Hill the morning of March 8, 2016.