National Arts Advocacy Zoom-In Week

In May 2024, Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund hosted the first ever National Arts Advocacy Zoom-In Week. We know not everyone can travel to Washington, D.C. to meet their elected officials, so we created this event as an opportunity for participants to be advocates from the comfort of their own homes or offices alongside other arts advocates from their state. 

Throughout the month of May, Americans for the Arts State and District Arts Captains organized meetings with our participant's Congressional Delegations to talk about the power of the arts. The meetings were a great success in reaching across the aisle and amplifying bipartisan support for the arts and humanities.

 

Our Collective Impact in May 2024

                                                

Throughout the month of May, we had a significant impact during the National Arts Advocacy Zoom-In event. With the participation of over 350 arts advocates from 45 states, advocates were able to secure over 60 virtual meetings with Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and sent out 1,748 emails to Members of Congress advocating for NEA, NEH, and Arts Education funding. In addition, our social media toolkit was used 30+ times on various social media platforms which helps us reach further into our networks and communities. 

The majority of the Members of Congress' offices we met with had great things to say about the arts already but were also given tools and resources they need to better understand why supporting arts funding matters. You can find those resources below on this page. 

We are so proud of this first-time event and were able to learn so much through the experience and from your feedback. With this feedback, we can continue to grow the event and make our collective message even stronger in the future. We hope you continue advocating with us for future events!

 

RESOURCES

Meeting Preparation Resources:

Watch our LATEST webinar to prepare you for advocacy weekBEST PRACTICES FOR CONGRESSIONAL ZOOM MEETINGSMeeting Talking Points 2024

 

Legislation Tracking, Issue Briefs, and Voting Records:

118th Congress Legislative Agenda Summary

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS ISSUE BRIEF

ARTS EDUCATION FUNDING ISSUE BRIEFHOUSE VOTES ON PERRY AMENDMENTS TO ELIMINATE NEA/NEH

HOUSE FY24 “DEAR COLLEAGUE” LETTER NEA FUNDING TO $211 M

SENATE FY24 “DEAR COLLEAGUE” LETTER NEA FUNDING TO $211 M

House FY25 "Dear Colleague" Letter NEA & NEH Funding to $211 M

HOUSE FY25 BUDGET ALLOCATIONS TO SUBCOMMITTEES & MARK-UP SCHEDULE

 

 

 

More Action and Social Media Tools:

Why the Arts Matter State Arts Factsheets Social Media Toolkit for National Arts Advocacy Zoom-In Week

Write a letter to your Representatives and Senators

 

Preparation Webinar

Our Advocacy 201 Webinar is here to prepare you to schedule and participate in meetings with your Member of Congress. The training focuses on how to collectively reach out to your Members of Congress to support FY25 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and arts education. We also featured several of our state arts advocacy captains, who shared their best practices for timely virtual meetings with Members of Congress offices. We also discuss the format of the National Arts Advocacy Zoom-In Week and how you can get involved with the guidance of a state arts advocacy captain representing your state. 

Speakers included: Nina Ozlu Tunceli, Jay Dick, Oliva Tarpley, Emily Ruddock, Julie Baker, and Lori Meadows.