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Tomorrow, October 1st marks the start of National Arts and Humanities Month and we are thrilled to share some breaking news with you!
Breaking News
President Joseph R. Biden released today a White House proclamation declaring the month of October as National Arts and Humanities Month. Additionally today, the President issued an Executive Order reestablishing the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities and expanding it to also include museums and libraries. As you may recall, former President Donald Trump had allowed this arts advisory committee's authority to lapse during his administration. This new Executive Order lays out a robust national strategy for integrating the arts and humanities as part of the solution to some of the most urgent challenges facing our country.
The Executive Order stated, "Under my Administration, the arts, the humanities, and museum and library services will be integrated into strategies, policies, and programs that advance the economic development, well-being, and resilience of all communities, especially those that have historically been underserved."
The Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy
On September 21, 2022, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and President of PEN America, Ayad Akhtar, delivered the 34th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The lecture was accompanied by guest artists Rez Abbasi and Kiran Ahluwalia as well as additional speakers Nolen V. Bivens, Stephen Heintz, and Julie Muraco (All speaker and artist bios are on the Nancy Hanks Lecture event page). You can watch the full recording of the event with both captions and ASL interpretation on the Americans for the Arts website, which also includes the PDF version of Akhtar's lecture and a photo gallery of this year's event.
ArtsVote and the General Election
The General Election is only 39 days away and the Arts Action Fund wants to make sure you are prepared to vote by Election Day, November 8th. Customized for all 50 states, the Arts Action Fund’s State Voter Factsheets are detailed guides to voting in each state. Voting is broken down into 4 easy steps to ensure that YOU have all the information to make your vote count this election year.
The election season is officially here with many states already conducting Early Voting. Will you be an ArtsVote champion and help the Arts Action Fund bring attention to voting rules and deadlines in your state? You can start by sharing your state's voter deadline social media toolkit and posting the deadline graphics on your own social media platforms. Created for advocates just like you, these downloadable graphics can be found on your state's voter factsheet landing page.
2022 Congressional Arts Report Card
Remember to review the 2022 Congressional Arts Report Card that we released earlier this month. This is your one-stop guide to help you make informed decisions at the ballot box. We’ve used metrics and analysis based on congressional voting records, sponsorship of key arts legislation, and participation in the cultural caucuses over the past two years to create an accurate representation of how your members of Congress have taken ACTION for the arts.
Office Hours with Nina
Office Hours with Nina, previously scheduled for Friday, October 7, is canceled and will resume on Friday, October 21 @ 11:00 a.m. ET. Use this Zoom meeting link to join the call. If you have attended Office Hours with Nina before, we want to hear from you! Please share your story and update us on how the Arts Action Fund has helped you secure COVID-19 economic relief funding.