103530
Creation at a Time of Isolation
The Dance/NYC Junior Committee (JComm for short) is a group of dancers, arts administrators, and advocates that includes emerging leaders from the field working to create positive change in the New York City dance and artist community through research, activism, and community support. Through this challenging time, JComm has been a community I could rely on for support and comfort. As “social distancing” became an increasingly common theme among social media feeds, the news, and even my favorite podcasts, I was concerned and disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to feel connected or stay close to this dear group during a time of panic.
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103527
10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2020
The effective arts advocate needs to articulate the value of the arts in as many ways as possible—deploying the right case-making tool in the right situation. Consider these “10 Reasons to Support the Arts” as your Swiss army knife for arts advocacy. Like so many sequestered at home during COVID-19, I write this while mindful of our challenging times, and yet inspired by how the arts still have found a way to permeate our lives. I have watched Yo-Yo Ma concerts online, visited the Smithsonian Museum with a click, and joined my neighbors for daily 6 p.m. outdoor singalongs. Even in this difficult environment, the arts are providing personal experiences and promote social cohesion (see tools #2 and #8 on your army knife!). While I am uncertain what we will look like on the other side of this crisis, tool #1 makes me optimistic that when it is time to stop practicing social distancing, it is the arts that will unify us.
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103517
Summa Health Connects Patients to Art and its Healing Powers
Studies show the healing potential of the arts is powerful. It can change a person’s focus and alter a body’s physiology. Research suggests that it can lower blood pressure, improve stress management, curb anxiety and depression, alleviate pain, enhance memory, improve communication, promote wellness and relaxation, and enhance the production of proteins that accelerates healing and minimizes the danger of infection. Recognizing that a patient’s physical health is fundamentally linked to his or her emotional and spiritual well-being, in 2016 Summa Health committed to integrating the healing arts into its renowned patient care by creating a Healing Arts Leadership Council made up of senior hospital staff, benefactors, and community leaders. This Council is dedicated to bringing the healing powers of art and music into the hospital. As Summa is a community hospital, the Healing Arts Council decided early on that all artwork displayed would feature artists with a connection to Ohio, and predominantly Northeast Ohio. In addition, all art would be original, with the goal of engaging viewers with the pieces, and focusing their attention on the artworks’ unique qualities.
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103489
Business Spotlight: Arts Business Transforms Spaces and Communities
The arts can transform spaces (through public art), and they can transform lives. My company, CODAworx, has built a network of artists who create large-scaled artworks that are designed for the built environment in which we live and work. We have seen firsthand how these kinds of artworks can transform spaces. Everyone at CODAworx connects with artists on a regular basis (including our Controller!), and it is one of the great perks of our jobs. Artists inspire us on a daily basis—not just with the amazing works of art they create, but the way they think and interact with the world. They push the boundaries of possibilities. We all need a daily dose of inspiration!
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103490
Arts and Culture Sector Can Prepare for the Coronavirus in the United States
Like most of you, Americans for the Arts has been watching the breaking news about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and we are seeing inquiries coming in from the field and through our national service organization colleagues. While gathering and sharing pertinent information, we are also working to understand the long-term effect on arts and culture activities from performance to festivals, touring artists, and school field trips. We are monitoring responses and preparations and will share more information as it becomes available. You can help us and the nonprofit arts field by sharing with us how you are responding in the immediate and in the long-term. There is still much to learn about the outbreak, and we hope the following information assists you in preparation for both you and your loved ones, your organization, and your community.
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103477
Why You Need to Be in Washington, D.C. this June!
In 2020, the convergence of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention with the refreshed and expanded Public Art & Civic Design Conference will spark a new level of conversation and thinking. The new shifts in format and structure that we’re setting up this year will make for an even more interactive and energizing conference, with over 50 sessions, more than 1,000 professionals from across a variety of sectors, and more opportunities to learn and network with colleagues from all 50 states and around the world. These two annual events—happening June 26-28 in Washington, D.C.—are the best place to come together with the full spectrum of people who are working to center the arts in equitable community development and creative placemaking. We are excited about holding these meetings in Washington, D.C. because the city and surrounding communities are about much more than national politics. It is a great place to engage in really deep and meaningful conversations about how we all work to make our communities the best they can be.
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103450
A Strong Equation: How State Arts Advocacy Efforts are Paying Off!
The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) recently published their FY 2020 State Arts Agency Revenues Report. By any measure, the report paints a very positive picture for state funding of the arts, with year-to-year appropriations increasing by more than 37% to a grand total of almost $495 million in total legislative appropriations. Because the economy is doing well, it stands to reason that SAA appropriations would be higher. While it is true that a strong economy makes increases more likely, a strong economy alone cannot explain this year’s massive increase. There in an interesting equation at work: If your state has a State Arts Agency that is engaged in thoughtful programming, a strong statewide arts advocacy organization, and advocates who are proactively engaged with your state’s existing political leadership, more funding/pro-arts policy are possible!
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103445
Engaging the Arts in 2020’s Top Education Policy Priorities
Last month, Education Commission of the States President Jeremy Anderson shared six trending education policy topics we will likely see in 2020. Arts education stakeholders and advocates may not be surprised to see that the arts were not listed among the top education issues—but don’t worry! The arts interact with these topics in meaningful ways and can be a critical part of the dialogue around the top six trending education policy priorities. Want to continue this conversation? The Arts Education Partnership is pleased to collaborate with Americans for the Arts to host the Arts Education Policy Briefing on Sunday, March 29 in Washington, D.C. We invite you to join us to discuss two of these priorities—workforce development and school climate—together with education and arts stakeholders.
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103442
Ten 2020 Trends that Will Impact the Arts
As we turned the corner into 2020, the Americans for the Arts staff put our heads together to come up with 10 big trends that we think are worth paying attention to this year. Together, these ten trends will inform Americans for the Arts’ next strategic planning process, which will occur this year to drive our work from 2021 to 2023. Some of them you’ll surely already know about—it is an election year, after all! But others may surprise you. From demographics to climate change to the creative economy and more, take a read and let us know what you think—what resonates most with you? What is top of your mind that is missing here? And what are you planning to do to prepare?
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103421
Record State Investment in the Arts!
I was very happy to see the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) report on the status of state support for the arts and culture, specifically the amount of funds each state’s governor and legislature is providing to their state arts agency (SAA). According to the report, the 50 states and 6 territories appropriated almost $495 million for SAAs in FY2020. Total state appropriations increased by $134 million from FY 2019 to FY2020, a 37 percent year to year increase. This achievement was not realized in a vacuum, but because of the tireless work from people like you—arts advocates who have reached out to your state elected officials to let them know the importance of the arts and culture to your state. You have taken the great research provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts, and other organizations to make your case that the arts are good for business, employ millions of people, help our veterans, and give students a well-rounded education.
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103424
How Artists and Presenters Do Anti-Oppression Work – Part 2
For systemic change to take place, anti-oppression work compels us to examine our organizational core values and how they’re manifest in our processes, in order to critically identify where there are gaps to be filled. These gaps are then addressed by examining how we’re allocating our time, resources, and power to build our staff, board, communities, and audiences. More significantly, anti-oppression work requires us to fill these gaps through staffing, curatorial, and artistic choices that advance inclusivity and representation in order to address racial injustices. Anti-oppression work looks like a life-long commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion; it is a continuous process of active learning in which artists and arts leaders pursue change, while leaving a map for those who are doing the work with us, to ensure that this work is sustained and remains constant.
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