Actor Robert Redford, Americans for the Arts President Robert Lynch, singer John Legend and actress Kerry Washington at a House Appropriations hearing on "Funding for the Arts" in 2008.
As the Senate debated the economic recovery bill last week, an amendment was introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to prevent arts groups from receiving economic recovery funds. Coburn’s amendment stated the funds could not be used “for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.”
The Coburn amendment passed in the senate by a healthy margin (73-24) and included support from leading democrats such as Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
In response to this development, Americans for the Arts has created a campaign to raise awareness of the important role that arts and culture groups play in the health and prosperity – economic and otherwise – of the country and to highlight the toll the recession has taken on the industry. The campaign is aimed at media outlets and politicians as well as the general public. The organization will take out full-page ads in several Washington D.C. media outlets (Roll Call, Politico and The Hill) and submit opinion editorials to national newspapers and blogs.
Arts advocates can support the campaign by submitting their own editorials to local editors explaining why they support the arts.
To write a letter to the editor of your local paper, click here.
To contact your local senators and show your approval or disapproval of the Coburn anti-Arts amendment, click here.
