The Charitable Act would expand and extend the expired non-itemized deduction for charitable giving, and would once again provide and enhance a tax incentive for greater philanthropy toward arts and culture, among other sectors. Americans for the Arts and Americans for the Arts Action Fund have endorsed this important piece of legislation.
During 2022’s Strategic Realignment Process, we worked with members and other stakeholders to identify the specific and unique role of Americans for the Arts within the arts and culture community. While we continue to evaluate and evolve our offerings, here’s the latest update on some of our flagship events, including the National Arts Action Summit, Annual Convention, and the National Arts Marketing Project Conference.
On December 23, 2022, the United States Congress passed, and President Biden enacted, an end-of-year omnibus package that funds the government for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) and has provisions that support the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will be funded each at $207 million, a $27 million increase from last year.
Having launched the Animating Democracy program in 1999, Co-Directors Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Pam Korza have decided that 2022 completes their tenure providing program leadership for this transformative initiative. In 2023, Americans for the Arts will determine Animating Democracy’s next chapter by assessing what the organization can uniquely offer and exploring possible partnerships. We will also continue to promote Animating Democracy’s tools and resources.
Americans for the Arts today launched a multimedia platform that will serve as a hub for results and information pertaining to its Strategic Realignment Process (SRP), which the organization undertook during 2022. With the SRP completed, the Designing Our Destiny platform represents Americans for the Arts’ new path forward to better serve the arts and culture field.
Americans for the Arts and lifestyle brand Free People today announced a first-time partnership, which includes a Creative Spirit Fund that empowers public school arts educators to fund the next generation of diverse creators. The partnership advocates for the importance of arts in early public education. Through this program, Free People will be distributing 10 awards of $4,000 each to public school educators across the United States in great need of support in teaching art, music, dance, theater, and creative writing and other artistic disciplines.
Minnesota, known for its cold weather, snow, and ice, is now rapidly warming—particularly during winter months. It is also becoming much wetter. Twin Cities winter traditions, including our Saint Paul Winter Festival and Minneapolis Aquatennial events—tooled and refined over time as cold weather events—must accommodate weather that melts traditional ice sculptures and castles, and often makes snow largely unavailable for hosting sled and sleigh creations or for snow scavenger hunts—all a part of our winter cultural expectations. Accustomed to festivals, parades, Pow Wows, and such activities over summer months, people in our communities are finding more frequent rain disruptions or cancellations—and more sweltering days, dangerous particularly to elderly artists and observers. Both the more frequent rain and more severe heat episodes are also a challenge for outdoor tapestry maintenance and longevity. With summer temperatures over the last two years more regularly registering over 90 degrees Fahrenheit the amount of time artists can spend outdoors installing or creating artwork is becoming more limited. And paradoxically, with more tolerable (warmer) winter weather, some attractive outdoor spaces for artmaking are now occupied by people in tent encampments, which rose in number during the pandemic.
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Americans for the Arts President and CEO Nolen V. Bivens issued a statement of support following the Sept. 30, 2022, White House Executive Order reestablishing the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
Americans for the Arts is thrilled to collaborate with musician India Carney as our 2022 Ambassador for National Arts & Humanities Month. India will use her platform throughout the month of October to advocate for artists and share her love of culture and journey to becoming a professional musician as we promote the crucial role of the arts and humanities.
By taking preparedness actions and creating a disaster plan, cultural heritage and arts organizations can reduce the risk of disaster and minimize their losses. dPlan|ArtsReady is an online emergency preparedness and response tool for arts and cultural organizations—regardless of size, scope, or discipline—to prevent or mitigate disasters, prepare for the most likely emergencies, respond quickly to minimize damage, and recover effectively while continuing to provide services to your community.
Americans for the Arts and the National Association of Counties (NACo) were pleased to honor Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter of Minnesota with the Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership. The award recognizes an elected official who has advanced the arts within their community and whose vision and leadership provide heightened visibility to the value of the arts.
Americans for the Arts and the National Association of Counties (NACo) award Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter of Minnesota the Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership. The award recognizes an elected official who has advanced the arts within their community and whose vision and leadership provide heightened visibility to the value of the arts.
Registration is now open for the Cultural Equity Learning Community 2.0, a two-unit, asynchronous anti-racism course for arts and culture leaders committed to building intersectional racial equity. Two cohorts (Summer and Fall 2022) are currently offered with a sliding scale payment structure. Registration closes on Wednesday, July 13 for the Summer cohort, and on Wednesday, Aug. 31 for the Fall cohort.
#DrawUsTogether is an innovative new global initiative created by Corel designed to flood social media with follow-worthy creations that spread joy and give people a sense of unity. For every piece of unique artwork shared using the #DrawUsTogether hashtag, Corel will donate $1 up to $50,000 to Americans for the Arts.
Americans for the Arts has introduced a new 2.0 version of the Arts + Social Impact Explorer, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of example projects and research about the role of arts in community life available today. The Explorer provides examples, datapoints, links to research papers, and lists of active organizations to illustrate the impact of arts and culture in 30 aspects of community life from public health to transportation, safety, community cohesion, and innovation.
Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the launch of Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), the sixth national study of the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry. Building on its 25-year legacy, AEP6 will examine the economic power that the arts and culture wield in 387 participating communities representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each community will receive a customized economic impact report about the number of jobs supported, government revenue generated, and economic activity of its nonprofit arts and culture sector.
