Americans for the Arts, a leading arts advocacy group in the U.S., is sounding the alarm about the recession’s threat to the survival of arts organizations around the country. Recent cancellations of whole seasons, as in Sacramento Ballet's case, and the dissolution of entire companies like Milwaukee's Shakespeare Theater Company, have prompted arts advocates to call on Congress and the Obama administration to preserve jobs in the arts sector as part of the $825 billion economic recovery package.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee took notice and approved a plan to include arts in the recovery package, formerly known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, with a provision for $50 million in supplemental grants funding for the National Endowment for the Arts along with other provisions to benefit arts organizations. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee has not included arts jobs funding in their version of the bill.
Americans for the Arts has responded with an urgent campaign that directs arts advocates to contact their representatives and tell them that emergency funding for local and state arts organizations is necessary to prevent further job loss in the nonprofit arts sector. The group has also developed an online toolkit to provide arts organizations with assistance in times of crisis. The Arts Funding Response and Readiness Kit provides information, key messaging, communications and advocacy strategies as well as and current research to help arts groups make the case for sustaining the arts in their community.
Bill Ivey, former chair of the NEA and a member of President Obama’s transition team, told NPR’s All Things Considered in an interview this week, "A healthy arts community is important, especially during hard times.” Americans for the Arts estimates that for every dollar the NEA doles out to arts groups, another $7 is generated in additional support through local, state and private donations. They estimate that the proposed $50 million in the economic stimulus recovery bill could actually leverage $350 million of investment and prevent 14,422 jobs from being lost.
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