DNC Announces Arts Platform

The conventions for the DNC (Aug. 17-20) and RNC (Aug 24-27) will kick off with a vote on their respective policy platforms for the next four years.  Our advocacy efforts had a great impact on the 2020 Democratic Platform (see below and on page 49 of PDF link), but there was no opportunity to impact the 2020 Republican Platform because they simply copied the exact same platform from 2016, which did not include any supportive language about the arts or arts education.

 

On August 17, 2020, thousands of elected Democratic leaders from all levels of government and from across the country will be voting on their party's policy platform, and the following is their arts plank:

 

Supporting the Arts and Culture

"The arts are essential to our free and democratic society, to our culture, and to our local economies. Democrats are proud of our support for arts funding and education, and will continue policies and programs that promote the creative arts. We support public funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and for art and music education in public schools. We recognize that federal grants supporting nonprofit cultural organizations, artists, scholars, and state and local governments help increase participation in the arts, enhance appreciation, and strengthen our nation's cultural heritage. We value the arts and art education for developing imagination, creativity, innovation, and critical thinking skills in students and for building bridges between people and communities across the country and around the world."