Americans for the Arts annually honors the best businesses partnering with the arts in America at the Arts and Business Partnership Awards based on nominations by individuals and organizations. Nominations for this year's awards must be made by February 12, 2021.
In 2020, Americans for the Arts continued its commitment to our vision and planned work, while also pivoting and taking on new, urgent work like so many of our 5,000 member organizations. Here are highlights of some key areas of the new and urgent work of Americans for the Arts in 2020 that are in addition to our planned work portfolio.
Americans for the Arts heartily congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, as well as all the federal, state, and local elected leaders across the country who won their elections. The historic election saw record-high popular votes electing Joe Biden to become the 46th president of the United States and Kamala Harris, as both the first woman and woman of color, to be elected as vice president.
A new episode of the PBS docuseries “Craft in America” focused on the arts and democracy premiered digitally this week and is available to stream now in advance of the Dec. 11 broadcast premiere. “Craft in America: DEMOCRACY” explores how the interaction between government and the arts inspires our lives, fuels the creative economy, and protects our multicultural heritage.
Katrina Daniels is the Exhibition and Gallery Sales Director at the Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center, which provides public awareness, education, and enjoyment of the visual arts by promoting the works of Michigan artists. Katrina coordinates exhibitions and public art programming working directly with artists to increase engagment between them and the Lansing community. Katrina is a co-founder of ARTpath, a program developed by the Gallery and the City of Lansing to bring artwork out of the traditional gallery setting and into the public realm. ARTpath offers more accessible opportunities for the community to engage with the work of Michigan artists. Our Member Profile series features the many Americans for the Arts members doing transformative work for arts education, public art, advocacy, arts marketing, and more. An Americans for the Arts Membership connects you with this network of more than 6,000 arts leaders and gives you access to latest professional development and research.
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Lots going on this week in and around the Americans for the Arts (virtual) offices! Learn how arts organizations are engaging their communities to get out the vote, and read about several public art projects, opportunities, and recognition on local and national levels.
Today, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and Americans for the Arts announced the release of the ‘City Song Collection,’ featuring nine songs inspired, composed, and performed by local artists from cities all over the country in a demonstration of healing, unity and city pride. The songs and overall collection showcase how cities are coming together through music in 2020, which has been an unprecedented year for communities across America. The effort comes as America celebrates October’s annual National Arts and Humanities Month. The project features both original compositions and covers of songs from Louisville, Chicago, Reno, Austin, Detroit, Charleston, Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and New Orleans.
Join Americans for the Arts and peers in the arts marketing field for the 2020 National Arts Marketing Project Conference, going virtual Dec. 7 and 8. From changes in consumer behavior to addressing bias in your content, from new pricing strategies to targeting audiences and much more, explore with us the road ahead for arts marketing in 2021 and beyond.
Americans for the Arts today announced its October celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month, a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. In this turbulent year, the arts and humanities have played a critically important role in getting us through the COVID-19 pandemic and in amplifying the need for racial equity across the country. National Arts & Humanities Month is the time for communities to come together in unified celebration of the power of the arts to make a difference and change our lives for the better.
Americans for the Arts, in partnership with over 775 cultural organizations and creative workers, has proposed a 15-action national recovery strategy that the next Administration can use to put creative workers to work—activating the creative economy and drawing upon the creative energies of the country’s 5.1 million creative workers to energize Americans, reimagine how communities can thrive, and improve the lives of all. Organizations and creative workers who wish to endorse this proposal can do so via the Creative Workforce Proposal Endorsement form.
Proclamations are a wonderful way that your mayor, city council, or your city (or county) in general can easily show its support for the arts and culture. Each year, Americans for the Arts encourages advocates to work with their local and state elected officials to issue a proclamation declaring October National Arts & Humanities Month in their city, county, or state. They allow elected officials to easily demonstrate their support for the arts, offer a written document for advocates to use year-round to demonstrate the value of the arts and culture, and serve as a tool to engage other arts advocates in their local communities. For those who have never done this before, I thought that I would offer a how-to guide help you understand the process of obtaining a proclamation.
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Americans for the Arts and its partners, The Joyce Foundation and American Express Foundation, welcome the second cohort in the Arts & Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship. The ACLC Fellowship program continues to invest in mid-career arts administrators of color across the Great Lakes region through a year-long professional development program. This year we selected 16 fellows to participate in creating systemic change in national arts leadership.
Americans for the Arts Action Fund today presented its ArtsVote “Make Your Vote Count” campaign and pledge with artwork designed by renowned contemporary artist and Americans for the Arts Artists Committee member Shepard Fairey, as well as customized voter fact sheets for every state and U.S. territory. The fact sheets provide the latest details and deadlines on vote-by-mail ballots, early voting, and in-person voting. These resources can be found at www.ArtsActionFund.org/ArtsVote.
On May 25, 2020, Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin brutally murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black father accused of issuing a counterfeit $20 bill, while other police officers stood by. This tragedy, following many other recent police-involved shootings of unarmed Black men and women that have been broadcasted and protested nationwide, has sparked renewed and global visibility for the Black Lives Matter movement. This most recent wave of protests has prompted a discussion within the public art field: How can public art respond to the Black Lives Matters movement? Should it? What will we do about the public artwork that is being tagged and damaged during these protests? Public art, at its best, is an authentic reflection of our times and values. Public art should reflect the community around it, and represent the hopes, lives, and aspirations of the people in that community. What we can do as public art policy makers and administrators is uplift those voices in our communities that are calling for justice and equal protection for people of color under the law. It is time to talk about the lack of diversity within our public art commissions, artist selection panels, and our public art workforce. We need to address the elitism with which we dictate to communities which artworks are acceptable, and which persons and cultures are worth affirming with monuments and beautiful objects.
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Registration is now open for the 2020 Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference! This newly virtual convening, happening June 23-25 from the comfort of your home, is the chance for arts leaders across the country to gather virtually and better understand the current health crisis, how we are responding to it, and how the arts field can move toward recovery.
Last week, a letter signed by 140 chambers of commerce from 39 states across the country was delivered to Congressional leadership in support of federal relief for the nonprofit arts and cultural community. This letter was generated by a small group of chambers and distributed by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) and Americans for the Arts.
Americans for the Arts is partnering on a new international study to measure the mental health impact of COVID-19 and social distancing on the American public and is seeking volunteers to participate via online surveys. Everyone age 18 and older is welcome to be part of the study, and participation is fast and simple!
