Art Advocacy is how Art gets Political – A very small group of people are struggling locally and in Washington to do all that they can for you, your children, and your neighbors in order to have a fuller life without regard to ethnicity, faith, or economic background! http://www.youtube.com/user/americansforthearts
Why Me? What is the issue? Compared to the total amount of funds needed to keep our museum and art programs running, only around 2% comes from our government (to say nothing of growth). This art budget is not for snobby art galas it is for your children’s art classes and symphonies, theatre, and ballets. Some don’t think that we have a national civic duty to support the arts, but what do you think? More on that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_war
- Kevin Spacey Lecture – Kevin quotes convicting words by former president JFK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmrJ7OHdlkk&feature=related
- Mike Huckabee – Remember this guy? He is a Politician, a Musician, and a Christian. He puts all those identities aside to say that Arts are essential to our American Life no matter who you are! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpnoYOQ55I8
- More from Mike – from a documentary called Class Act – important STATS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TVhqVlcMQ8
What can you do to help grow the National investment into Art and Culture?
Visit this site to learn more: http://www.artsusa.org/get_involved/advocate.asp
(watch ‘cradle will rock’ for some insight into the political battle for the Arts in America)
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10 Reasons to Support the Arts
(from Americans for the Arts)
- Arts are an Industry: Arts organizations are responsible businesses, employers, and consumers. They spend money locally, generate government revenue, and are a cornerstone of tourism and economic development.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.2. Arts are good for local merchants
- 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, shopping, and babysitters. Non-local arts audiences (who live outside the county) spend nearly twice as much as local arts attendees ($40.19 compared to $19.53)—valuable revenue for local businesses and the community.3. Arts are the cornerstone of tourism
- Arts are the cornerstone of tourism: arts travelers are ideal tourists—they stay longer and spend more. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that the percentage of international travelers including arts and culture events during their stay has increased annually the last six years.4. Creative Industries
- Creative Industrie: The creative industries are arts businesses that range from non-profit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies. An analysis of Dun & Bradstreet data counts 756,007 businesses in the U.S. involved in the creation or distribution of the arts that employ 2.99 million people—representing 4.14 percent of all businesses and 2.17 percent of all employees, respectively. (Contact Americans for the Arts for your local and state numbers.)5. Arts in the schools = better SAT scores
- Arts in the schools = better SAT score: 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. Better scores are found in all three portions of the test: math, reading, and writing.6. Improved academic performance
- Improved academic performance: Longitudinal data of 25,000 students demonstrate that 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. These benefits are reaped by students regardless of socio-economic status. Children motivated by the arts develop attention skills and strategies for memory retrieval that also apply to other academic subject areas such as math and science.7. 21stCentury workforce
- 21stCentury workforce: reports by the Conference Board show creativity is among the top applied skills sought by employers. 72 percent of business leaders say creativity is of high importance when hiring. The biggest creativity indicator? A college arts degree. Their Ready to Innovate report concludes, “…the arts—music, creative writing, drawing, dance—provide skills sought by employers of the 3rdmillennium.”8. Healthcare
- Healthcare: nearly one-half of the nation’s healthcare institutions provide arts programming for patients, families, and even staff. 78 percent deliver these programs because of their healing benefits to patients—shorter hospital stays, better pain management, and less medication.9. Stronger communities
- Stronger Communities: University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and lower poverty rates.A vibrant arts community ensures that young people are not left to be raised solely in a pop culture and tabloid marketplace.10. True prosperity
- True Posterity: 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.