As part of a new, targeted year-round equitable advocacy program, the first two legislative Fly-Ins in April and May brought 19 local and state arts leaders to meet with 57 key Members of Congress to help advance timely federal arts funding and policy requests.
After more than 34 years of hosting large annual arts advocacy conferences, Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund launched a new year-round equitable advocacy program. This spring, the two organizations hosted their initial two legislative Fly-Ins on April 18-19, 2023, and May 16-17, 2023, and worked with two dynamic cohorts of smaller, more targeted constituent groups composed of influential local and state arts agency and advocacy leaders, as well as individual artists. A full day of customized advocacy training was provided to all 19 advocates prior to their congressional meetings the next day. Cohorts were chosen based on identifying local and state arts leaders, who are constituents of key members of congress with specific influence over arts appropriations and policy legislation.
Nineteen constituent arts leaders represented congressional districts in 14 states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia. The following arts leaders participated in this spring’s program:
- Heather Adams, Executive Director of Arts Missoula, MT
- Ben Brown, Chair, Alaska State Council on the Arts, AK
- Manny Cawaling, Executive Director, Inspire Washington, WA
- Omar Columbus, Board, Poetic Theater Productions’ Veteran Voices, Riverside, CA
- Phillip Dunlap, Director, Broward County Cultural Division, FL
- Joseph Frandoni, Deputy Dir., Arts & Humanities Council Montgomery County, MD
- Wesley Gentle, President, Arts Fort Worth, TX
- Todd Hawkins, Executive Director, City of Irving Arts & Culture, TX
- Jeff Hawthorne, Arts Program Manager, City of Portland, OR
- Krystal Jones, Executive Director, Department of Arts and Culture, San Antonio, TX
- Jenny Kane, Executive Director, Arts Connection, San Bernadino, CA
- Michelle LaFlamme-Childs, Executive Director, New Mexico Arts, NM
- Lynne McCormack, Executive Dir., Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, RI
- Dinah Minot, Executive Director, Creative Portland, ME
- Rebekah Moore, Program Director, The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, CT
- Sara Morgan, Director, Art Museum of South Texas, TX
- Randall Reid-Smith, Governor's Curator, West Virginia Department of Arts, WV
- Jennifer Stevens, Director, Boise City Department of Arts and History, ID
- Amanda Still, Arts and Culture Program Manager, City of Georgetown, TX
“As someone whose passion for the arts has led to dedicating my career and life advocating for their growth, I understand the importance of working with our elected officials to demonstrate the impact the arts have in our communities for all ages,” said West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History Curator Randall Reid-Smith. “The need for our representatives to vote in favor of policies which help fund the arts is crucial to the continuation of that impact. We are grateful in the state of West Virginia to have a close relationship with our federal representatives and the ability to reach out to them at any time to convey our pressing needs in the arts community. I appreciate the new targeted approach that the Americans for the Arts’ fly-In has incorporated to ensure the support of our elected officials and look forward to participating in future fly-ins.”
“Americans for the Arts is grateful to these advocates for taking time from their busy schedules to fly to Washington, D.C., to collectively advocate for additional arts funding and better policies from Congress,” said Nolen V. Bivens, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “The resulting funding and support from Congress has a direct impact on the arts field as a whole from state and local arts agencies to individual artists.” Arts Action Fund Executive Director Nina Ozlu Tunceli added, “Through this collective advocacy, all elected officials will better understand and realize the substantial impact of the arts and the creative economy upon the lives of every person within their districts and states.”
The spring Fly-Ins focused on four legislative priorities:
- Increased funding and equitable grantmaking policies for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities through the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee.
- Targeted community arts engagement funding (arts and healing) in the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs Administration through the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee.
- Increased funding and targeted equitable policies for federal arts education programs in the Department of Education through the Labor, Health, and Human Services Committee and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
- Improved charitable and more equitable tax policies for artists (Performing Arts Parity Tax Act) and donors to nonprofit charities (The Charitable Act) through the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
For more information, please visit the Year-Round Equitable Advocacy landing page and follow along through our social media platforms at @Americans4Arts and @ArtsActionFund.