ARTSblog

Today the Washington Post has a feature on Rocco Landesman, the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. The article takes a look at this 10th chairman of the NEA and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.  While Landesman aims to increase funding at the NEA, he says, “I think the worst thing in the world would be going around with the message, ‘I’m going to shake things up.’ That would be a huge mistake.”

Read more about Landesman’s background and support of the arts in the WaPo article. And this Friday come back to ArtsBlog to hear the newest podcast from Bob Lynch, discussing his recent meeting with chairman Landesman.

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As many of you are aware, President and Mrs. Obama have made volunteerism a central part of their call to build community, part of the United We Serve initiative. To highlight the importance and the power of the arts in volunteerism, Americans for the Arts is excited to announce its new United We Serve website has just launched! Be sure to visit and share your stories and pictures about volunteerism in the arts. It’s a great way to showcase the fantastic work of volunteers and arts organizations.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:26 — 3.9MB)

In this podcast Bob Lynch, President & CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses the need for comprehensive healthcare reform as it specifically relates to artists and arts organizations. He also addresses the strength of the arts as a therapeutic tool for health and recovery.

Americans for the Arts and other national partners have signed on to a statement supporting comprehensive healthcare reform. Be sure to contact your member of Congress in support of healthcare reform which incorporates the arts.

Every Friday you’ll find a new ArtCast audio blog, featuring the leaders of Americans for the Arts as they focus on important and timely topics that affect you and your arts community.

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The White House music series, an effort to support the arts and demonstrate the importance of arts education in America, continues this week when the president and first lady host country music artists Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss and her band Union Station. Joining them will be 120 young music students, forty of which will travel from the Nashville area, who will get the opportunity to attend a workshop and an evening concert with the country artists. This is the second installment of the White House music series, which last month featured jazz music with the Marsalis family, and will feature classical music in the fall. For more information on this week’s event, click here.

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In the run up to the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama’s messages of “hope” and “change” inspired millions.  Among those inspired were a number of artists who created lasting images and artwork that translated his message and, in turn, inspired the movement that led to his victory.  Shepard Fairey, most notable for his “HOPE” portrait of Barack Obama, has released ART FOR OBAMA, a book comprised of 150 images from the campaign.  Profits from the book will be donated to Americans for the Arts.  To read more about the book and Shepard Fairey, click here.

Share with us how you were inspired by the Obama campaign and its associated art to either get behind the campaign or create something yourself.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:35 — 4.2MB)

Bob Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses “United We Serve,” this summer’s national volunteer campaign organized by the Obama Administration. He proposes that the arts community can demonstrate the huge impact it makes in communities across the country through its myriad of arts and volunteer programs.

Find more information at http://serve.artsusa.org.

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This summer, from June 22 to September 11, 2009,  President and Mrs. Obama are calling on citizens to volunteer and give back to their community.  With this kind of national leadership and excitement about community service, artists and arts organizations have the opportunity to showcase the power of the arts by reaching out and offering their skills and services to their communities.  Post opportunities for people to get involved or volunteer some time at your community-based arts organizations by visiting www.Serve.gov and the All for Good database to search for “arts” opportunities in your city. 

Stay tuned for updates from Americans for the Arts at serve.artsusa.org, but in the meantime, what are some ways you think you could volunteer for the arts in your community?

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Today’s speech by Bill Ivey, former head of the NEAN was fascinating. He talked about his role in Obama’s transition team, developing an analysis for the new administration of the federal cultural agencies. Work on the transition began even before the election behind closed doors so that by the time Obama was elected they could hit the ground running. Having a specific focus on the arts within the transition team and now a detailed document of arts and culture goals for the administration means big changes ahead for national arts policy. The opportunities for the arts may be huge. It’s exciting and also a little scary. What can we do to help make positive change a reality? Connect with our public officials and work with Americans for the Arts to respond to calls for action…

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Given the abundance of crises and combustible situations we face, one would hardly blame the new administration if it moved slowly on the cultural front.  But there’s been something of an arts offensive in the last little while.  Last week, the President named a new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and hosted the first spoken word performance at the White House featuring young poet-rappers.  Michelle Obama spoke passionately about the importance of the arts and arts education.  And I was lucky to be included in a delegation of about sixty-five people from around the country who were briefed by White House staff about the arts and cultural policy.  Remarkable. Read the rest of this entry »

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The White House has included a number of arts-related events on the recent calendar.  Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama attended two events in New York City, a ribbon cutting at the new Metropolitan Museum of Art American Wing and the opening of the American Ballet Theater season.  At the MET event she included Americans for the Arts research in her remarks, “Our future as an innovative country depends on ensuring that everyone has access to the arts and to cultural opportunity.  Nearly 6 million people make their living in the non-profit arts industry, and arts and cultural activities contribute more than $160 billion to our economy every year.  And trust me, I tried to do my part to add to that number.”  (Read more about the economic impact of the arts here).  

Last week, about 60 arts advocates and social justice activists received a briefing by White House staff on the National Endowment for the Arts, the upcoming “Summer of Service” initiative and other arts-related activities.  Coordinated by the Office of Public Engagement, representatives from the First Lady’s office and the Social Secretary’s office also spoke to the attendees at the two hour event.  Further details were shared in a Washington Post article.

To add to that, last week the White House also held its first ever poetry slam, attended by President and Mrs. Obama.  Read more about this event in the Washington Post.

With the seeming increase in arts activity around the Obama administration, what do you think of President Obama’s arts policy so far?  What other events would you like to see the White House get involved in?

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As many of you heard yesterday, Broadway producer Rocco Landesman was nominated as the next chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).  You can read more about Mr. Landesman and his nomination here.

What would be your #1 priority for the newly-nominated NEA Chairman?

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By guest blogger Merryl Goldberg

When I read that my particular profession was singled out (with a few other unlucky professions), in an amendment to the stimulus bill, I was reminded of the discrimination I knew  growing up Jewish in the 60s.  One night my parents came home ecstatic that they had won a raffle to play a round of golf at a club that didn’t let in Jews.  Very soon after they cashed in the raffle, invited other Jewish friends and after playing 17 holes of golf, they danced an enthusiastic hora on the 18th hole.  This memory came back to me as I read the news of the Tom Coburn amendment that bars stimulus funding from going to casinos, aquariums, zoos, golf courses and swimming pools, museums, arts centers, theaters, highway beautification projects, stadiums and parks. Read the rest of this entry »

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Earlier, I promised a report of the Obama House meeting I hosted at our campus office last month. Finals hit, then the holidays – but nothing delays my post more than following the news: retail woes, Senatorial appointment challenges, Israel-Palestine conflict and now Obama’s Economic Stimulus plan. Read the rest of this entry »

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