Americans for the Arts'€™ President and CEO Robert L. Lynch has been appointed to a two-year term on the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. The announcement was made today in conjunction with President Barack Obama'€™s new national strategy to make the United States the world'€™s top travel and tourism destination, as part of a comprehensive effort to spur job creation.

The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts are accepting entries for our 2012 Poster Design Competition through February 3. Winners will earn up to a full tuition scholarship to study at one of the more than 45 Art Institutes across the country.

Are you prepared for the new arts landscape—€”The New Normal?
 
This June, join more than 1,100 arts and community leaders from across the nation to learn how your organization can adapt to the shifting economic climate, changing demographics, and prepare your community for the future the 2012 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention.
 

Today, the Obama Administration released its much-anticipated Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request to Congress which includes funding for the nation'€™s cultural agencies and programs such as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the Smithsonian Institution.

Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts stated the following:

Americans for the Arts is excited to announce a new opportunity for board members and executive directors—a day-long training on leadership called the Executive Director and Board Member Symposium.

This one-day program is for those in the local arts field who seek to obtain new leadership training skills and learn how to deal with key challenges that face arts nonprofits.

Noted singer-songwriter and record producer Ben Folds will perform at the 25th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy, which will be delivered this year by Alec Baldwin on April 16 in Washington, DC.

March is Arts Education Month and we are celebrating by hosting our annual spring blog salon about a hot topic in arts education-€”quality.

We'€™ll be discussing what "quality" means in terms of student engagement and organizational capacity as well as sharing experiences from the field.

Fifteen leaders from across the country will post their thoughts on this topic each day from March 12-€“16 on ARTSblog. Expected to lend their writing talents and viewpoints are the following:

Academy Award® nominated actor Stanley Tucci and Americans for the Arts President & CEO Robert L. Lynch will testify before Congress on March 22 in Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to $155 million.

For the second straight year, Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) and Americans for the Arts will honor a destination marketing organization and local arts agency that have worked together to effectively and innovatively use the arts to market the community as a travel destination.

Throughout the week of April 2-€“6, join our annual Emerging Leaders Blog Salon on ARTSblog.

(The following passage is an excerpt from an ARTSblog post by Senior Director of Federal Affairs & Arts Education Narric Rome.)

"On April 2, the U.S. Department of Education'€™s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a study glamorously entitled Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 1999-2000 and 2009-10.

Americans for the Arts today announced the results of the National Arts Index, the annual measure of the health and vitality of the arts industries in the United States. The 2012 Index reveals that the arts industry began to recover from the effects of the Great Recession in 2010.

Americans for the Arts in conjunction with The United States Conference of Mayors announced that Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA) is the recipient of the 2012 National Award for Congressional Arts Leadership. The award, which recognizes distinguished public service on behalf of the arts, will be presented on April 17 at the Congressional Arts Kick Off during Arts Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill.

Alec Baldwin, Ben Folds, and Hill Harper were among the more than 500 grassroots supporters from across the nation who took to Capitol Hill on April 17 to advocate for pro-arts legislation during Arts Advocacy Day. The 25th annual event commenced with a Congressional Arts Kick-Off on Capitol Hill, during which Americans for the Arts and the U.S.

Ovation, the only network dedicated to art, artists and all forms of artistic storytelling, is putting its money where its passion is once again, this time funding a national arts grant program called The innOVATION Grant Program. Inspired by the remarkable community revitalization effort documented in the network's upcoming original series Motor City Rising, and eager to support similar stories of artist-led neighborhood renewal across the nation, Ovation is contributing $110,000 for the initial year's grants. The program will be managed by Americans for the Arts.

Our first Animating Democracy Blog Salon of the year will showcase expert practitioners and innovative thinkers as they attempt to answer the question:

How can we validate the benefit of the arts and culture in terms of social impact?