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The Importance of Partnering with Associations of Elected Officials
Go down to your street corner and ask people if they have ever thought about whether their mayor or state legislator belongs to a professional trade association. You would probably get a lot of blank stares and muffled answers. But, to Americans for the Arts, this is serious business.
Starting over 20 years ago, Americans for the Arts made the strategic decision to partner with associations that represent elected officials. Those groups are: the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Association of Counties (NACo), The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), and the National League of Cities (NLC).
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Celebrating National Volunteer Week with the Arts
This week is National Volunteer Week, started by Points of Light in 1974 to inspire, recognize, and encourage people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. Seeking out imaginative ways to engage business employees through volunteerism has a natural link with the arts, as we’ve seen from over 40 years of experience with the Business Volunteers for the Arts® (BVA) Network.
Since its founding in 1975 by the Arts & Business Council Inc., the BVA program has grown and adapted to serve the changing needs of both the arts and business communities. Over its 40-year history, the BVA program has proven to be a dynamic and effective model for diverse sizes and types of communities. Since the program’s inception, nearly 25,000 business volunteers have served more than 26,000 arts groups across the United States.
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On the Path to Title I
In 2011, the California Alliance for Arts Education began its Title I Initiative as a way of clarifying misunderstandings about the appropriateness of using Title I funds to support arts strategies and a guide to action for schools and districts seeking to embark on the work. Four years in, we’re delighted to see that the Initiative has taken root around the state, as well as resonating with some other states pursuing similar agendas, particularly in anticipation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)’s devolution of much decision-making power to the state level.
In a nutshell, federal Title I policy clearly allows schools and districts to include arts education in their strategies to achieve Title I goals. Downstream of the federal level, however, the Alliance found that there was a lack of clarity about whether and how the arts could play a role in Title I. Coupled with the culture of “fear of reprisal” that seemed to permeate the Title I world—where funding could be retracted if a program didn’t meet state or federal expectations—this lack of clarity was proving an insurmountable barrier. Schools and districts, it seemed, were either electing to ignore the opportunity to include arts education in their strategies for achieving Title I goals, or were moving forward in a way that would draw no attention to those practices.
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Starting an Arts Caucus Doesn’t Happen Overnight…
South Carolina Arts Alliance’s Betty Plumb, always an inspiration to me, had spoken for years about the Arts Caucus in South Carolina’s legislature. It was large and seemed very responsive to Betty and her arts advocates. To be honest, I was slightly jealous. But after speaking for some length with Betty about the caucus, I was determined to start one in Pennsylvania. I mean, how hard could it be, with the largest full-time legislature in the nation?
I first knew we—the Pennsylvania Citizens for the Arts Board of Directors at and I—had to identify the initial contact in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Our likely candidate was Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). He had served on the Council of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) and was on the board of directors at several Pittsburgh area arts and culture organizations. My board chair, Mitch Swain, approached Sen. Costa about this idea to start a bi-cameral, bi-partisan Arts Caucus. We were positive the only way the caucus would work is for both Houses and political caucus to work together. To our delight, Sen. Costa thought the idea was great, agreed to act as a co-chair, and took on the task of identifying the other three Arts Caucus leaders.
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The Importance of State Captains for Arts Advocacy Day
There is one thing without which Arts Advocacy Day could not happen—State Arts Advocacy Captains! Though Americans for the Arts’ State Arts Advocacy Captains are instrumental in fighting for the arts year-round, their work is also integral to the success of Arts Advocacy Day each spring.
State Arts Advocacy Captains are the eyes and ears on the ground in each state nationwide, serving to recruit the best and most dedicated advocates from their state to attend Arts Advocacy Day. During the months leading up to Arts Advocacy Day, captains make sure colleagues, artists, university students, and concerned members of their states know the importance of bringing your voice to Capitol Hill to meet with your Members of Congress directly in the fight for arts and arts education.
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Top Ten Challenges to Providing More Arts Education
In mid-2015, the Oregon Community Foundation and the Oregon Arts Commission conducted a survey Oregon to gather information about what kind of arts education was provided by non-profit organizations during the 2014-15 school year. 152 organizations voluntarily responded, and while this self-selected sample may not reflect the work of all nonprofits providing arts education, it does offer interesting insight into the landscape in our state.
Most importantly, the Oregon Arts Education Snapshot confirmed that nonprofit organizations play a robust role in offering arts education opportunities for students.
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Double Standard
Arts learning standards represent a double standard, and that’s good news.
They do not hold different groups unfairly to a different set of rules–that would hardly qualify as good. Instead, they constitute a double standard in a more nuanced sense: the word “standard” has a double meaning, and both meanings apply to updating your state’s arts learning standards.
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NOW Can I Tell? Nope! Now? Nope! Well, When?? Advocacy - Learning When to Whisper and When to
$5 million dollars is a notable rate of return on one’s investment for a $100,000 a year organization! That’s what Texans for the Arts secured for Texas’ state arts agency—the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) Cultural & Fine Arts District program—through a well-executed legislative strategy in the 84th Texas Legislative Session! Who-what-how did we garner one of the largest state arts appropriations in the U.S. in 2015?
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How to Increase State Funding for the Arts by 800% (and still be in 47th place)
For me, it all started the third week on my job, in June 2003, at an arts marketing conference hosted by the California Arts Council (CAC) in Sacramento. Right in the middle of the luncheon, someone came bursting into the banquet hall announcing that the Legislature was about to "zero out" the CAC. We conferees leapt up from our rubbery chicken and raced the two blocks to the Capitol. Engraged arts administrators stormed into the ornate office of the Senate Pro Tem, screaming at the staff, and demanding to see the Senator. I grabbed one of my board members, and we slipped out to see if we could meet privately--and quietly--with our local reprentatives.
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The 9 Questions You Need to Answer to Run a Winning Arts Advocacy Campaign
For many artists and cultural leaders, being a part of a political campaign is the farthest thing from their mind. Concentrating on a new creative inspiration, the upcoming show, ticket sales, are often the #1 focus for an artist or arts administrator.
Yet, we all have to remember the arts and cultural community is a public good. Like schools, police departments, and roads, the arts deserve public investment as they are vital to the health and vibrancy of our communities.
Public policy decided by our political leaders is a major factor in deciding the level of resources and support for the creative sector’s work. If the arts, cultural, and creative community wants the resources and support necessary to build vibrant, healthy and equitable communities, it has to start embracing and running political campaigns to build that public support.
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So You Want To Be an Advocate?
Many bemoan the lack of commitment to the arts, but few take the time to learn some key advocacy tips. Advocacy is work and takes commitment AND it can make all the difference in the world.
First, you have to tell a story.
Second, the story must be relevant and real.
Third, connect your story to the person who can commit the dollars or change a policy.
