2012 Arts Advocacy Day Co-chair Hill Harper took a few minutes out of his busy schedule during the two-day summit to talk to ARTSblog about arts advocacy, his own arts education experiences, and how he fights to help future generations receive it.
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Ursula Kuhar
I love yoga. It’s all the rage—even Nancy Hanks Lecturer Alec Baldwin is a fan. Yoga practice is a great fitness activity that has physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits. A thirty minute workout comprised of sun salutation, downward facing dog, and accompanied by a little “om” action provides the energy and balance needed to chug through the day.
What about arts wellness? I propose this: advocacy is the new yoga.
I promise, I’m going somewhere with this. Just hear me out.
Every year in April, hundreds of arts advocates arrive in Washington, DC for Arts Advocacy Day.
The two-day summit covers advocacy training, break out sessions regarding current arts issues, the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and a day on Capitol Hill—meeting with legislators to discuss the state of the arts and future objectives.
It’s an empowering and inspiring experience. Even as a seasoned veteran, I discover new information, meet and discuss issues with colleagues from all over the country, and leave Washington knowing that somehow, in some way, I planted a seed by educating and encouraging my elected officials regarding the positive power of the arts and their support and continued funding benefits the country in countless ways.
But what happens when we leave our nation’s capital? It is all too easy to “fall off the wagon”: to put our Congressional Arts Handbook and other resources on a bookcase in the office, only to be revisited the following April.
Here’s where yoga comes in. Read the rest of this entry »
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The two clips below capture more of Alec Baldwin’s Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy given as part of Arts Advocacy Day on April 16 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
During this clip, Baldwin makes the case for the the support of arts funding:
And for the coda of his lecture, Baldwin summarizes the main points of his journey through the arts during his life and utters the most memorable quote of the speech (besides the gang dancing line much earlier…): Read the rest of this entry »
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Candy Nguyen Smirnow
I came to Arts Advocacy Day for the first time this year not knowing exactly what to expect.
I’ve never considered myself a political person. I rarely sign petitions and have never campaigned for any one organization or candidate. I’ve just always been very passive when it came to politics, most certainly because of my Gen X mentality.
So, when my boss asked me to join her I was hesitant, wondering does my voice really matter? But, I’ve learned a lot in the business world, and one of those things is never to pass up an opportunity to learn something new. So, I quickly reconsidered the opportunity to visit Capitol Hill.
As I walked into day one, I was amazed by the congregation of over 500 advocates. I was especially surprised by the number of young people who were participating.
When I was their age, I would’ve never even considered joining something like Arts Advocacy Day. I grew up in the public education system in Southern California, which unfortunately did not have much of an arts-infused curriculum.
In elementary school we had a “music cart,” where once a week Mr. Nelson would roll into the classroom with his keyboard and pass out the maracas and tambourines. It was everyone’s favorite day of class, but unfortunately it didn’t come quite often enough. Read the rest of this entry »
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First-time Arts Advocacy Day participant Tiffani Thiessen (White Collar, Beverly Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell) took the time to speak to ARTSblog about her experiences in the arts, advice to her daughter, her love of Lucy, and the Young Playwrights Festival she works with in Los Angeles:
For more videos, check out Americans for the Arts on Vimeo.
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Here is another portion of the Nancy Hanks Lecture given by Alec Baldwin on April 16 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
This time he addresses the evolution of his appreciation for dance:
Thanks again to our friends at Ovation for providing us with the clip.
You can also listen to Alec’s interview with National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on April 17 as a podcast on that program’s website.
Here’s a sample of his wisdom:
HOST STEVE INSKEEP: Why do you think arts funding is periodically a political lightning rod?
ALEC BALDWIN: It was easier before, and I think now you still have these kind of vapors in the air from old battles, which when there were individual grants and you could say those hot button words, like Karen Finley. And you could say Mapplethorpe and you could talk about individual grants that went to people…
INSKEEP: Artists whose work (unintelligible) were considered obscene in many cases. Read the rest of this entry »
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Will Maitland Weiss
The sweet sixteen. The elite eight. The final four. But what does it really come down to…Who’s number ONE?!?!
In the case of The Economist’s Hot Spots: Benchmarking Global City Competitiveness (just released last week), IT’S NEW YORK.
A total of 120 cities were evaluated with 31 indicators for each city (21 qualitative and 10 quantitative) in “eight distinct, thematic categories” like “economic strength,” and “financial maturity,” and “social and cultural character.”
The Economist journalists write in their executive summary:
“Competitiveness is a holistic concept. While economic size and growth are important and necessary, several other factors determine a city’s competitiveness, including its business and regulatory environment, the quality of human capital, and cultural aspects. These factors not only help sustain high economic growth rates, but also create a stable and harmonious business and social environment. Against this backdrop, we define competitiveness as the demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent, and visitors.”
I love this stuff.
Let’s face it: I love when New York wins.
You love it when your city, your team, your organization wins—as you should; but, this isn’t a fluff press release from the tourism/convention agency and it isn’t, ultimately, about New York. Read the rest of this entry »
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Ursula Kuhar
Local. Public. Value. Arts.
Try creating a cohesive, comprehensive sentence that reflects our field using these four words.
These simple words that occupy so much complexity within our industry, and an entire day of dialogue at the first Americans for the Arts Executive Directors & Board Member Symposium held on April 15.
It was an exhilarating experience to participate in a peer exchange with diverse leaders from organizations around the country including Americans for the Arts President & CEO Bob Lynch, Jonathan Katz of the National Association of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), and Mary McCullogh-Hudson of ArtsWave.
In order to frame our work as arts leaders forging into a “new normal” in the industry, Bob shared the history and context of the local arts movement in America, rooted in the discovery of the Americas to the first established arts council in 1947 by George Irwin in Illinois, to the evolution of today’s local arts enabling organization that provide cultural programming, funding, community cultural planning, and of course, advocacy activities. Read the rest of this entry »
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Our Arts Advocacy 2012 advocates at the Congressional Arts Kick-Off.
It’s difficult to write an event recap post when you are still energized/exhausted as a staff member often can be following 48 hours of festivities surrounding Arts Advocacy Day, but I will certainly try.
Following last night’s Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy by Alec Baldwin, the Congressional Arts Kickoff brought together our 500+ arts advocates in the Cannon Caucus Room alongside our artist-advocates and friends from Ovation and elected officials stopping by to express their support for the arts.
Armed with my smartphone in one hand and a flip cam in the other (several flip cams actually—batteries drain very quickly in those things), I witnessed an outpouring of support and passion for the arts like I have never seen (including an amazing performance by VSA artist Alicia Ucciferri).
In addition to our own President & CEO Bob Lynch and Ovation Chairman Ken Solomon (and encouraging words from Rep. Jim Moran, Rep. Todd Platts and Rep. Rosa DeLauro) the following artist-advocates took to the podium to give brief remarks:
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Our friends at Ovation work quickly.
They just posted this video on YouTube covering the early part of Alec Baldwin’s presentation of the 2012 Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy given on April 16 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC:
More to come…
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A painting now owned by Alec Baldwin (details/reference to come in a future post): Ross Bleckner, "Sea and Mirrors" 1996, oil on linen 84" x 72"
I had a very strict usher shut down the very tool that makes live tweeting possible. Do attendants have issues with Alec Baldwin and wireless devices? Luckily, I was able to take notes in a different fashion without getting booted out of the theatre. I won’t reveal my secrets.
Mr. Baldwin’s speech was an “attempt to distill [his own] relationship to the arts.”
He divided a period of over 50 years into three groups:
1. “Art is all around me but I don’t know what art is.”
2. “Art is all around me so maybe I should introduce myself.”
3. “So much art, so little time.”
Consider the details of your own childhood. Mr. Baldwin’s past is not too unlike our own, if we grew up in a middle class family, in an age of television, movies, and popular radio. What were the moments that triggered a deeper appreciation for art?
What parts of your early awakening made you want to know more about art? What things made you dream of being an artist? What inspired you to envision a path to the improbable?
I remember singing into a hairbrush, and wanting to be Olivia Newton-John. Mr. Baldwin shared as much. Read the rest of this entry »
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Advocates begin training for their visits to members of Congress.
Over 500 arts advocates are gathering at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC this morning to begin training for Arts Advocacy Day.
This annual two-day event brings together representatives from nearly every state to meet with their members of Congress to advocate for a number of issues near and dear to those who love the arts.
In addition to a day of training in preparation for those meetings, Americans for the Arts with support from Ovation and other partners, will host our 25th anniversary Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts just across town.
Tonight, we are honored to have arts champion Alec Baldwin as this year’s lecturer and singer-songwriter/composer Ben Folds performing (along with musicians from YoungArts).
Stay tuned to ARTSblog for Arts Advocacy Day information throughout the next two days or follow @Americans4Arts and #AAD12 on Twitter to receive up-to-the-minute reports.
You can also take action wherever you are by visiting our Arts Action Center and sending a message to your members of Congress.
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Margaret Coady
Though it may seem counterintuitive the first time you hear it, grantmakers and philanthropists will tell you the same thing: giving money away is hard work. Or more precisely, the hard work is allocating funds thoughtfully and with seriousness about making a real difference.
My role as director of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) puts me in close contact with the corporate giving officers who oversee the philanthropic budgets of the largest companies in the country and world, and in my seven years here I’ve come to understand some of their core challenges.
While many of the hurdles are tactical—giving officers typically work on small teams responsible for coordinating hundreds of grants across multiple countries—often the harder part of the job is more fundamental: setting and maintaining a coherent corporate giving strategy.
Who and what will the company fund? Why those causes and not others? Why those grantees and not others?
The rationale for the funding decisions must be rock-solid. After all, it can be difficult to explain to employees, shareholders, and others why a company can continue grantmaking in an economic climate in which they are simultaneously laying off workers and shutting down regional offices. Read the rest of this entry »
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Randy Cohen
Almost one year ago, I posted The Top Ten Reasons to Support the Arts in response to a business leader who wanted to make a compelling case for government and corporate contributions to the arts.
Being a busy guy, he didn’t want a lot to read: “Keep it to one page, please.”
With the arts advocacy season once again upon us…(who am I kidding, it’s always upon us!)…here is my updated list for 2012.
10 Reasons to Support the Arts
1. True prosperity. The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. They help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age. When times are tough, the arts are salve for the ache.
2. Improved academic performance. Students with an education rich in the arts have higher GPAs and standardized test scores, lower drop-out rates, and even better attitudes about community service—benefits reaped by students regardless of socioeconomic status. Students with four years of arts or music in high school average 100 points better on their SAT scores than students with one-half year or less.
3. Arts are an industry. Arts organizations are responsible businesses, employers, and consumers. Nonprofit arts organizations generate $166 billion in economic activity annually, supporting 5.7 million jobs and generating nearly $30 billion in government revenue. Investment in the arts supports jobs, generates tax revenues, and advances our creativity-based economy.
4. Arts are good for local merchants. The typical arts attendee spends $27.79 per person, per event, not including the cost of admission on items such as meals, parking, and babysitters. Non-local arts audiences (who live outside the county) spend nearly twice as much as local arts attendees ($40.19 vs. $19.53)—valuable revenue for local businesses and the community. Read the rest of this entry »
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Megan Pagado
In late February, we at the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County hosted our first-ever #CreativeMoCo Tweetup for creatives in and around Montgomery County, MD.
Why did we, a local arts council, host a tweetup?
The tweetup was first announced on Facebook and Twitter, which generated over 40 registrations in two days. As I saw the number climb, I was amazed at the number of people registering that we didn’t know.
Since we used the term “creative community” instead of “cultural community” in marketing the tweetup, we had everyone from magazine editors to restaurant owners to DJs in attendance.
Based on our experience hosting our tweetup, here are some tips I can share with you on hosting your own, especially one that is advocacy-based: Read the rest of this entry »
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Alec Baldwin and Nigel Lythgoe talk about the state of the arts in America at Arts Advocacy Day 2012. The acclaimed actor and famed producer discuss arts education and what inspires them.
