CAA News Today
Action Alert – Final Push for FY 2006 Appropriations
posted by admin — Oct 16, 2005
Please contact your Senators and Representatives to tell their party leadership and the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to support the $37.4 million for IMLS approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in H.R. 3010. A funding increase for IMLS is in the works as the House approved an additional $1 million and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $3 million increase over the agency’s FY 2005 funds. The House and Senate will need to negotiate these differences before sending a final version to the President for approval. If approved, these modest gains in funding will enable the agency to support more grants to help deliver museum services to the public. Tell your representatives that the people in your community benefit from the support IMLS offers our nation’s museums. To contact your Senators and Representatives please click here.
Arts Funding Is Threatened: Take Action Now!
posted by admin — Sep 16, 2005
As last year, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to eliminate FY 2006 funding for federal Arts in Education grants through the U.S. Department of Education. Last year, fourteen grants totaling about $3.9 million were made to support the development, implementation, and expansion of arts education programs and the integration of arts instruction into the core curriculum. Additionally, 23 new awards totaling $6,169,184 were made in the Professional Development for Arts Educators Grant Program, which supports the implementation of high-quality programs in elementary and secondary education for music, dance, drama, media arts, and visual arts.
The Senate, however, is expected to approve next year’s funding for the Arts in Education (AIE) program. Once the Senate passes its version of the bill, it will conduct negotiations with the House to work out a compromise. To ensure that the final bill does not zero out this important grant program, please write your U.S. Representative and Senator to express your support for the Arts in Education funding.
Report From Washington: Humanities Advocacy Day and Arts Advocacy Day
posted by Christopher Howard — Jul 16, 2005
CAA co-sponsored Arts Advocacy Day (March 14-15, 2005), hosted by Americans for the Arts, and Humanities Advocacy Day (April 6-7, 2005), hosted by the National Humanities Alliance. Both events were held in Washington, D.C., and brought together a broad cross-section of national cultural organizations, academics, and grassroots arts leaders to promote the arts, arts education, and humanities to Congress through increased support for the federal cultural agencies.
At Arts Advocacy Day, CAA President Ellen K. Levy joined CAA staff representatives Rebecca Cederholm and Alexis Light to focus on several important arts policy matters during visits to Capitol Hill. They urged Congress to support a budget of $170 million for the National Endow-ment for the Arts (NEA) in fiscal year (FY) 2006, which is an increase of $49 million over President George W. Bush’s request for level funding. An increase would support the creation, preservation, and presentation of the arts in the United States, including Challenge America, a program that uses the arts to enhance America’s communities through grants for arts education, youth-at-risk programs, cultural preservation, and community arts partnerships, as well as to improve access to the arts for all Americans. An increase would also support the president’s request to continue funding for American Masterpieces, an initiative that combines arts presentations with educational programming to provide Americans with access to their cultural and artistic legacy.
Levy, Cederholm, and Light visited the offices of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Representative Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), and Representative Jerrold L. Nadler (D-NY), among others, on Arts Advocacy Day to urge them to continue supporting legislation that would allow artists to take a fair-market-value tax deduction for artists who donate works of art to nonprofit organizations. At present, collectors who give art to museums and cultural institutions are able to claim the full market value of the work, whereas artists can only deduct the cost of the materials used. Together with other arts advocates from across the country, Levy, Cederholm, and Light also called on Congress to require the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adopt immediate reforms that will ensure timely processing of visa petitions related to nonprofit arts groups. Many nonprofit organizations confront untenable delays and uncertainties while gaining approval of visa requests for international guest artists and scholars.
CAA representatives Cederholm and Light joined CAA Executive Director Susan Ball for Humanities Advocacy Day, an event that focuses on increased support for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Ball visited the offices of key members of both the Senate and House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which deal directly with funding for the federal cultural agencies, as well as members of the Congressional Humanities Caucus. Cederholm and Light visited the offices of Representative Jos’ Serrano (D-NY), Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY), among others. (Because CAA’s address is in New York, the organizers asked us to visit our state’s representatives.) Ball, Cederholm, and Light joined other humanities advocates in urging Congress to support President Bush’s budget request of $153.1 million for the NEH in FY 2006. This funding will support, among other things, the We the People initiative to enhance understanding of American history and culture; education programs to strengthen teaching and learning in schools, colleges, and universities; preservation and access grants to save unique historical, cultural, and intellectual resources; and challenge grants to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.
In addition to increased funding for the NEH, CAA representatives encouraged members of Congress to support other humanities-related legislation in the coming year. The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives and Records Administration, was targeted by President Bush’s FY 2006 budget request for zero funding both for grants and for staff to administer the NHPRC and its programs. Arts advocates asked lawmakers to support a minimum FY 2006 funding level of $10 million: $8 million for grants and $2 million for staffing and other program administration-related costs. Without grant funds, the publishing of papers and other historical materials from America’s founding era to the present will be severely curtailed or terminated, the network of state archives will collapse, and research and development in the field of preserving electronic records will end.
Advocacy alerts related to various arts and humanities issues are regularly posted to CAA’s website; for further information, see www.collegeart.org/advocacy.
Budget Requests for Federal Arts Agencies
posted by admin — May 16, 2005
In early February, President George W. Bush released his fiscal year 2006 budget, which calls for level funding for both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
In spite of the level funding, the budget includes a proposed redistribution of $6.5 million that would result in a 30 percent cut to the NEA Challenge America program, which distributes grants for arts education and improved access to the arts, especially in underserved communities. The president’s request for a 12 percent funding boost for the Office of Museum Services, however, is encouraging.
Unfortunately, the president’s budget also proposes to eliminate funding for the Department of Education’s Arts in Education programs. This action would put at risk programs such as arts collaborations with schools, professional development for teachers, and arts programs for youths in underserved communities. In the past, funding for these programs has been restored by the Senate and accepted by the House in conference committee.
The president’s budget is the first step in the appropriations process. While his proposal serves as framework for setting the nation’s budget, Congress has the power to set its own priorities and change these funding levels. You can make your voice heard by writing to your member of Congress and urging him or her to increase funding for arts and cultures and to restore funding for arts in education programs.
Open Letter to the New York City Parks Department
posted by Christopher Howard — Mar 15, 2005
CAA and the National Coalition Against Censorship have co-signed a letter calling for the New York City Parks Department not to adopt a proposed rule banning controversial art.
Alessandro G. Olivieri, General Counsel
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
The Arsenal, Central Park
830 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10021Re: Notice of Proposed Rule, Title 58, Ch. 2, �2-16
Dear Mr. Olivieri:
On behalf of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of fifty national nonprofit organizations united in defense of free expression, and the College Art Association, the largest national association of college and university art and art history professors, we are writing to express concern about the proposed new rules governing New York City’s Public Art Program, specifically the proposed ban on art that demonstrates a lack of proper respect for public morals or conduct or that includes material that is religious, political or sexual in nature. In our view, the proposed rule is constitutionally suspect and unsound as a matter of policy, and will inevitably invite litigation and generate more controversy than it will avoid.
As organizations that follow and address censorship-related complaints from around the country on a daily basis, we can attest to the fact that almost any work of art can be construed as being religious, political or sexual in nature. We have recorded numerous complaints against highly regarded, often classical, works of art, couched in just such language. Under this standard, New York would have been deprived of a large number of the public art works that have contributed to the vibrant culture of the city.
The vague language of the new rule creates the potential for arbitrary decision-making as to what might be political, sexual, or religious. For instance, the Maine Monument in Columbus Circle contains partial nudity that some consider sexual or �inappropriate�; the Freedom of Expression National Monument recently reinstalled in Foley Square can be seen as political in nature; Tom Otterness�s whimsical public sculptures frequently provide socioeconomic commentary. Even if such works are approved, the proposed rule would expose the Department to complaints and to requests to remove art that some view as incompatible with its guidelines.
Besides the practical problems it poses, the vague and overbroad language of the proposed rule raises a host of constitutional concerns. Squares, streets, and parks are arenas which the Supreme Court has called �quintessential public forums� that are �used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions.� In such places, where the nation�s commitment to the First Amendment is revealed in practice, the Court has declared that �the rights of the State to limit expressive activity are sharply circumscribed.� Perry Education Assn. v. Perry Local Educators� Assn., 460 U.S. 37, 45 (1983).
The department�s proposed rule extends far beyond what the Supreme Court approved in Finley v. National Endowment for the Arts, 524 U.S. 569 (1998). In that case, the Court upheld the NEA�s consideration of �general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public� as one criterion (among many) in making grants for the arts. Finley�s holding is limited to government funding for the arts, and nowhere does the decision authorize the exclusion of entire categories of expression. Indeed, the Court expressly rejected the notion that government can �leverage its power to award subsidies on the basis of subjective criteria into a penalty on disfavored viewpoints�. [E]ven in the provision of subsidies, the Government may not �ai[m] at the suppression of dangerous ideas� � (Id. At 587).
It is not our position that the City is precluded from establishing guidelines for the public display of art. What we object to is the clear indication in this proposal that the Parks Department intends to limit public art to that which is purely decorative and deemed �appropriate� for young children. Public art is a crucial part of civic discourse; the limits proposed would impoverish the cultural and intellectual vibrancy of New York�s public spaces.
Surely a city that is home to world-class cultural institutions and is a major capital of the art world would be an object of ridicule if this rule were implemented. And rightly so. Consider the kinds of works that would be off limits: Michelangelo�s David and Piet�, Rodin�s The Kiss, works by Diego Rivera and Picasso and by such contemporary artists like Maya Lin, Hans Haacke, William Kentridge, and Barbara Kruger.
We would be happy to work with your office, as we have with other communities around the country, to help craft a policy that would respect constitutional principles, provide clear guidance to artists and city officials, and strive to make the City a place filled with �accessible� and �appropriate� art. Please let us know how we can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Joan E. Bertin, Executive Director, National Coalition Against Censorship
Susan Ball, Executive Director, College Art Association
Report from Washington: Humanities Advocacy Day and Arts Advocacy Day
posted by admin — Jul 16, 2004
CAA cosponsored this year’s Humanities Advocacy Day (March 15-16, 2004), hosted by the National Humanities Alliance, and Arts Advocacy Day (March 29-31, 2004), hosted by Americans for the Arts; both took place in Washington, D.C. These two events brought together a broad cross-section of national cultural organizations, academics, and grassroots arts leaders to promote the arts, arts education, and the humanities to Congress by requesting increased support for federal cultural agencies.
CAA member Phoebe Farris of Purdue University joined CAA Executive Director Susan Ball for Humanities Advocacy Day. They visited the offices of key members of the Senate and the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which deals directly with funding for federal cultural agencies, in addition to meeting other legislators. Farris, Ball, and other humanities advocates from around the country called for Congress to support President George W. Bush’s budget request of $162 million for the NEH in fiscal year (FY) 2005. This funding will support, among other things, the We the People initiative to enhance understanding of American history and culture; education programs to strengthen teaching and learning in schools, colleges, and universities; preservation and access grants to save unique historical, cultural, and intellectual recourses; and challenge grants to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.
At Arts Advocacy Day, newly elected CAA President Ellen K. Levy joined CAA representatives Marta Teegen and Rebecca Cederholm on Capitol Hill to promote several important arts policy matters. They urged Congress to support a budget of $170 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in FY 2005, including President Bush’s request for $18 million to fund American Masterpieces, a major new initiative at the NEA that will combine arts presentations with education programming to provide Americans with access to their cultural and artistic legacy.
Levy and Cederholm visited the offices of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Representative Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), and Representative Jerrold L. Nadler (D-NY), among several others, to urge them to continue supporting legislation that would allow artists to take a fair-market-value tax deduction for works of art donated to nonprofit institutions. Levy, Cederholm, and other arts advocates also called on Congress to require the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adopt immediate reforms that would ensure timely processing of visa petitions related to nonprofit arts groups. Many nonprofit organizations confront untenable delays and uncertainties while getting approval of visa petitions for international guest artists and scholars.
Teegen visited members of the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2003. As reported in the May issue of CAA News, the Senate passed legislation that gives the president the authority to impose restrictions that prevent the import of cultural materials into the U.S. that have been illegally removed from Iraq since August 1990. The House has yet to vote on this important legislation, which is part of a larger, broadly supported tariff bill.
Update on State Arts Funding
posted by admin — Nov 16, 2003
With state budgets suffering, most state arts agencies have experienced cuts in funding in fiscal year (FY) 2004. Of the forty-two state arts agencies reporting a budget decrease for the current fiscal year, ten had reductions of more than 15 percent. Unfortunately, the cuts come after an already bleak FY 2003. The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies reports that forty-two states diminished their arts budgets during the last fiscal year, with California and Massachusetts alone accounting for $44 million in losses. State arts funding plunged from $410 million two years ago to about $350 million in FY 2003. Despite attempts by some state legislators to dissolve completely state arts agencies as a cost-saving measure, currently fifty state and six jurisdictional government arts agencies are still operating. The various arts agencies help to support both established and emerging local artists and art organizations through grants and programs. They also help to bring art to rural and other underserved areas of the country, providing art education in schools and, in some cases, spurring economic development through the arts.
To make up for lost income, state governors are urging arts groups to find alternative funding sources, but corporate, foundation, and individual charitable giving is drying up as well. Total gifts by the nation’s top sixty donors fell from $12.7 billion in 2001 to $4.6 billion last year, according to a survey in the February 20, 2003, issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The following is a more detailed look at the status of state arts agency budgets around the country:
Arizona: Governor Janet Napolitano (D) signed a FY 2004 budget that cuts state arts funding to $1.8 million, a reduction of 16 percent from 2003. In signing, she used her line-item veto for thirty-five sections; three of those affected funding for the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
California: With the FY 2004 state budget approved, the California Arts Council’s funding has been slashed by approximately 86 percent, from $18 million in 2002-3 to $1 million. (The National Endowment for the Arts [NEA] is expected to provide a matching $1 million, and another anticipated $1 million in revenues will come in from designer license plates, bringing the expected state arts budget to $3 million.) The council reports that this total represents a contribution of less than three cents per Californian per annum, with the national average being approximately one dollar. Based on this drastic budget reduction, all of its grant programs will be suspended and half of its staff positions will be eliminated.
Colorado: The state legislature, facing a $1 billion revenue shortfall in FY 2004, reduced the Colorado Council on the Arts’ budget from $1.04 million to $200,000. After this 80 percent cut, the council took another hit when Governor Bill Owens (R) ordered it to reduce overhead costs to $40,000 a year, which meant that it was forced to vacate its office space and reduce its staff from seven to one. For a while it looked as if the state’s action would cost the council an additional $614,000 in federal funding, because the NEA only distributes its grants through viably functioning state arts councils. Fortunately, the NEA backed off their original threat to withhold the money and awarded the council $613,600, allowing it to use some of the grant money for operations expenses. However, the NEA warned that they will keep close watch to make sure federal standards are being met and made clear that the funding was not meant to set a precedent.
Florida: State lawmakers allocated just under $5.9 million for the Division of Cultural Affairs’ grants programs in FY 2004, which received $32 million last year. A $200,279 grant from the NEA boosted the total budget to just over $6 million. The division will continue some of its grant programs, though on a much smaller scale, while temporarily suspending others. The state legislature also voted to eliminate the Corporations Trust Fund (derived from corporate filing fees in the state), which until May functioned as a unique funding source for the division’s operating costs. Now, the division will be funded from nonrecurring general revenue, thus increasing the level of competition for state dollars with other agencies each year.
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Cultural Council has been level-funded at $7.3 million for FY 2004. Last year, it suffered a 62 percent cut to its state appropriation, resulting in the elimination of eight funding programs and severe reductions to its five remaining grant programs. About 1/4 of council staff were laid off.
Michigan: The state legislature passed a FY 2004 budget that includes a 47 percent cut to art and culture grants awarded by the Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. The council also saw a 13 percent cut to their administrative budget. That said, it could have been significantly worse, as many in the state legislature had called for a total elimination of arts funding.
Minnesota: Overall arts funding was reduced by 32 percent for the next two years. This included a 60 percent cut to the state money that supports the Minnesota State Arts Board’s operations budget, a 29 percent cut to the Regional Arts Councils, and a 30 percent cut to the board’s grant programs. The Minnesota Humanities Commission fared even worse’it lost all of its state funding for the next two years.
Missouri: Earlier this year the state removed the Missouri Arts Council from general revenue funding, meaning the council will receive none of the $3.9 million it did last year. In just two years, state support has gone from $5.3 million to zero. Despite these cuts, the council has not yet been forced to reduce its operations drastically because it is partially funded by the Missouri Cultural Trust, an endowment for the arts funded by an income tax on nonresident athletes and entertainers. A total of $3,942,520 will be used for the council next year. Of that amount, $1.3 million comes from interest on the trust fund and $700,000 is federal funding from the NEA. Unfortunately, the trust money is also in danger, because the state legislature is using the athlete-and-entertainer tax revenue to fund other state programs in an attempt to close the state’s estimated $1 billion deficit.
New Jersey: Tens of thousands of New Jersey residents spoke out against a proposal by Governor James McGreevey (D) to eliminate the New Jersey State Council on the Arts by cutting its entire $18 million budget, to help close the state’s $5 billion deficit. State legislators listened. They passed a FY 2004 budget with $16 million appropriated to the council, $2.7 million to the New Jersey Historical Commission, and $500,000 for the New Jersey Cultural Trust. As part of the budget bill, a hotel/motel occupancy tax, which provides FY 2004 cultural revenue and dedicates funding in FY 2005 for these three organizations, was also passed.
Oregon: The Oregon Arts Commission lost all of its legislative funding in March as a result of emergency cuts in FY 2003, which applied to all state services other than health and safety. In August, Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) asked that the commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust merge their administrations as a cost-saving maneuver, a suggestion that was endorsed by both organizations as well as state legislators. As a result, the commission was kept alive with a budget of $1.2 million, which represents a 50 percent decrease. The trust will continue to be funded largely by the special tax credit set in place in 2001.
Tennessee: Despite statewide fiscal problems, Tennessee has been able to raise its level of arts funding for FY 2004. The Tennessee Arts Commission’s overall budget will increase to $5.25 million, nearly 17 percent from last year, because the commission’s main funding source is derived from nontaxpayer revenue, mainly the sale of specialty license plates.
Virginia: Due to the state budget crisis, the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ grant funds were slashed by 45 percent in FY 2004. The cut follows two budget reductions ordered in FY 2003 that had already taken away $1 million from the commission’s budget. In total, the accumulated cuts have decreased the commission’s annual budget from $4.9 million to about $2.7 million.
Although states across the country have made drastic reductions to a wide variety of programs and services in order to balance their budgets, cuts to state arts agencies are especially troubling, as they will result in the loss of matching funds from the federal cultural agencies and private donors alike. Furthermore, it is often very difficult to restore an agency’s budget to the funding level it had prior to the cuts, which means that any future budget increases to state arts agencies will most likely be based on these newly reduced figures. A good source of information on state arts funding can be found on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) website at www.nasaa-arts.org.
Report From Washington: Humanities Advocacy Day and Arts Advocacy Day
posted by admin — Mar 16, 2003
CAA cosponsored Humanities Advocacy Day (February 25, 2003), hosted by the National Humanities Alliance, and Arts Advocacy Day (March 26, 2003), hosted by Americans for the Arts, in Washington, D.C. Both events brought together a broad cross-section of national cultural organizations, academics, and grassroots arts leaders to promote the arts, arts education, and humanities to Congress through increased support for the federal cultural agencies.
CAA representatives Susan Ball, Richard Selden, and Marta Teegen visited the offices of several key members of the Senate and House Interior Appropriations Subcommittees, which deal directly with funding for the federal cultural agencies, and met with other legislators during both advocacy events.
For Humanities Advocacy Day, an event that focuses on increased support for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Ball and Teegen called for Congress to support President George W. Bush’s budget request of $152 million for the NEH, a $26 million increase over the current fiscal year. Much of the proposed increase will go to fund the NEH’s We the People initiative to advance understanding of American history, culture, and civics. It is very important to note the program is currently administered within, but not officially funded by, the NEH. Should We the People be properly funded, it will become its own program at the NEH-grant applications dealing with American history, culture, and civics will go to this new program instead of the various other program divisions at NEH, as is currently the case. Consequently, a properly funded We the People will free up money for other NEH programs, including Preservation & Access and Research Grants.
At Arts Advocacy Day, CAA representatives Ball and Selden focused on several important arts policy matters during visits to Capitol Hill. They urged Congress to appropriate $170 million in funds for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), $53 million above the current fiscal year. The NEA has never recovered from the 40 percent budget cut it received in 1996, and its programs are woefully underfunded. Moreover, CAA’s representatives called on Congress to support President Bush’s budget request of $34.43 million for the Office of Museum Services, a division within the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Ball joined members of the New York delegation to Arts Advocacy Day on visits to the offices of Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Amo Houghton (R-NY), both of whom serve on the House Ways and Means Committee (Rangel is the ranking member), which has jurisdiction over all tax policies, including proposed legislation calling for fair-market-value tax deductions for artists. Identical bills have been introduced in the House and Senate again this year to allow artists to deduct contributions of their artworks at full market value. Representatives Houghton and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced H.R. 806 Artists’ Contribution to American Heritage Act of 2003, and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) introduced S. 287 Artist-Museum Partnership Act. Both bills continue to have strong bipartisan support, though it is still unclear when in the coming year either of them will be voted on.
Other issues raised on Arts Advocacy Day concerned improving the visa process for visiting international artists and scholars. Many nonprofit organizations confront untenable delays and uncertainties while getting approval of visa petitions for international guest artists and scholars. While current law requires a maximum fourteen-day process, it now takes the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) up to 120 days to process visa petitions in the categories most used by visiting artists. Delays began in June 2001, when the INS adopted a Premium Processing Service, which guarantees processing within fifteen days upon payment of an additional $1,000; however, most nonprofit organizations cannot afford such a fee. Arts advocates called on Congress to urge the INS to adopt immediate reforms that will ensure timely processing of visa petitions related to nonprofit arts groups.
CAA’s representatives also advocated for an increase in appropriations for cultural exchanges through the U.S. Department of State. They specifically urged Congress to boost funding by $10 million for the Cultural Programs Division, which currently receives only $2 million. This division funds international educational exchange and training programs and supports partnerships among museums around the world.
-Marta Teegen, CAA director of governance and advocacy
Report from Washington: Arts Advocacy Day and Jefferson Day
posted by admin — Mar 16, 2002
CAA cosponsored Arts Advocacy Day on March 11-12, 2002, hosted by Americans for the Arts, and Jefferson Day on March 21-22, 2002, hosted by the National Humanities Alliance (NHA), in Washington, D.C. Both events brought together a broad cross-section of national cultural organizations, academics, and grassroots arts leaders to promote the arts, arts education, and humanities to Congress through increased support for the federal cultural agencies.
In addition to requesting more funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), CAA representatives Marta Teegen and Paul Skiff focused on two key policy issues on Arts Advocacy Day this year: grants for individual artists and fair-market-value tax deductions for artists.
Concerning grants for individual artists, Teegen and Skiff argued that the NEA has always sought to promote America�s cultural heritage and values both domestically and abroad through these grants. Specifically, NEA grants have supported and encouraged ingenuity, freedom of expression, and risk taking. Since Congress eliminated grants to individual artists in 1995, the NEA has placed the majority of its emphasis on education and access programs. To remove artists from the grants program, however, leaves this national arts-funding initiative without positive examples of individual achievement, which provide high standards upon which to base educational goals. A program for funding the arts that does not have examples of individual professional achievement, much less encourage ingenuity and risk taking, does not allow the U.S. to establish cultural authority or credibility worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary that the NEA recognize individual artists with longstanding achievement, and encourage them to be outspoken with their unique viewpoints and innovative, advanced ideas. After all, it is artists who are recognized by the national and international public for being positive examples of American cultural leadership.
While making several congressional visits during Arts Advocacy Day, Teegen and Skiff met with other arts advocates. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these advocates scoffed at our attempt to reestablish a dialogue with our elected officials about grants to individual artists, more often than not stating that ours is a lost cause. To be sure, if arts advocates from around the country are afraid or unwilling to broach this important subject with members of Congress, then it will, sadly, forever be lost. We therefore strongly urge all CAA members to engage your elected officials in a dialogue about the importance of grants to individual artists and to ask them to sponsor legislation that will fund them.
On the issue of fair-market-value tax deductions for artists, CAA has been an advocate for pending legislation for well over a year now. Sponsored by Amo Houghton (R-Corning, NY) and Ben Cardin (D-Baltimore, MD) in the House and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) in the Senate, the proposed legislation would allow artists to deduct the donation of an artwork at its full market value. This will greatly aid museums and other nonprofit recipients of art gifts by making the donation process easier and more valuable for the donor. In all likelihood, the bill will be amended to a larger tax bill; however, it is unclear whether or not there will be such a tax bill this year.
For Jefferson Day, a humanities advocacy event that focuses on increasing support for the NEH, Teegen and CAA�s executive director, Susan Ball, met with several members of the Senate Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies�the group that oversees funding for federal cultural agencies. We explained that NEA and NEH Challenge Grants have allowed CAA to offer awards to individuals from traditionally underrepresented populations at the professional level in museums and universities through its Professional Development Fellowship Program. CAA director of marketing and communications and a New Jersey resident, Richard Selden, also participated in visits (organized by Princeton University’s Office of Government Affairs) to the offices of several New Jersey members of Congress. Unfortunately, the NEH falls under the radar in most congressional offices. We need to help raise the agency�’s profile-to increase awareness of the work that it makes possible, including support for art-historical research and exhibitions, and to improve the understanding of its mission. CAA will continue to work with the National Humantities Alliance, a nonpartisan advocacy group in Washington, D.C., of which CAA is a member, to address these issues.
Also during Jefferson Day, CAA and the NHA cosponsored a reception at the Folger Shakespeare Library in honor of the new NEH chair, Bruce Cole, an art historian. It was well attended by congressional staff, humanities advocates, and NEH staff members.
As reported in the March/April issue of CAA News, President George W. Bush’s budget, which was released in February of this year, calls for modest increases in the NEA’s and NEH’s budgets in FY 2003, just enough to cover the costs associated with the proposed legislative change in accounting for retirement and health benefits costs; thus, program budgets for the two agencies are nearly identical with the present fiscal year, at about $117.4 million for the NEA and almost $126.9 million for NEH. The IMLS, on the other hand, is scheduled for an increase of 8.1 percent over last year’s budget. While advocates urged members of Congress to support a funding increase to $155 million each for both the NEA and the NEH during Arts Advocacy Day and Jefferson Day, it is still unclear whether such increases will occur in the coming fiscal year.
-Marta Teegen, CAA manager of governance, advocacy, and special projects, with Paul Skiff, assistant director of annual conference
Report from Washington: Arts Advocacy Day and Jefferson Day
posted by admin — Mar 16, 2001
CAA cosponsored Arts Advocacy Day (March 19�20), hosted by Americans for the Arts, and Jefferson Day (March 26�27), hosted by the National Humanities Alliance, in Washington, D.C. Both events brought together a broad cross-section of national cultural organizations, academics, and grassroots arts leaders to promote the arts, arts education, and humanities to Congress through increased support for the federal cultural agencies.
In addition to increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), advocates at Arts Advocacy Day focused on two key policy issues championed by President George W. Bush�s administration–taxes and education. Advocates urged elected officials and their staffs to support tax legislation that will encourage private contributions to all nonprofit organizations by expanding the charitable gift deduction to those who do not itemize on their tax returns. Other proposals include the retention of some charitable giving incentives in the estate tax, and permission to direct IRA gift rollovers and withdrawals to charities without penalty. Another tax change could allow artists to deduct contributions of their artworks at full market value. For the first time, Republican legislators and staffers said that they definitely can agree with the arts community on this and were excited to hear about this issue. It is important to note that should Congress enact any charitable tax legislation, the resulting financial benefits to the nonprofit community�and specifically the cultural and education communities�could easily surpass any federal funds currently available through the NEA, NEH, or IMLS. Indeed, some estimates put the amount at $14 to 16 billion.
Advocates also urged members of Congress to support legislation that ensures a place for arts education in all public elementary and secondary education programs, including professional-development opportunities for arts teachers, funding for afterschool arts learning, and support for arts-education partnerships between schools and community cultural organizations. The message was reinforced at the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. Frank Rich, an op-ed columnist and theater critic for the New York Times, spoke about the need to develop audiences for the arts through education and improved access to cultural events.
CAA representatives Marta Teegen and Paul Skiff visited the offices of Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Thad Cochran (R-MS) on Arts Advocacy Day. CAA learned that the general tone regarding an increased level of government funding has stabilized�and overall pessimism has softened�as a result of the benefits museum and visual-arts organizations have emphasized during the past several years on education programs, and because of tangible financial impact on communities served by cultural organizations. To representatives from both parties and legislative branches, however, individual-artist grants continue to be neglected by key arts lobbyists and members of Congress. This year, they were at least willing to discuss reinstating these grants, but, as the office of Senator Cochran acknowledged, these grants have become a political liability for the NEA rather than a substantive flaw in the endowment’s mission. Senate staffers found it easy to consider arts advocacy issues relating to tax questions, but it seems that a more ideological initiative, such as grants for individual artists, is still not something our elected officials have the outspokenness to treat.
One person who was outspoken�though on a different issue�was Arthur Miller, the thirtieth annual Jefferson Lecturer. He targeted the role of “acting” by politicians, and gave a scathing analysis of the recent presidential election. Not only did Miller find fault with President Bush and the Supreme Court, but he also expressed disappointment with Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Attended by more than one thousand people, Miller�s lecture drew loud cheers and applause from many in the audience who shared his opinions.
On Jefferson Day, a humanities advocacy day scheduled in conjunction with the Jefferson Lecture, CAA representatives Marta Teegen, Rachel Ford, and Deirdre Barrett visited the offices of the following senators: Conrad Burns (R-MT), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), Harry Reid (D-NV), and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), all of whom sit on the Senate Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies�the group that deals directly with funding for federal cultural agencies. After explaining that NEA and NEH Challenge Grants have allowed CAA to offer Professional Development Fellowships to individuals from traditionally underrepresented populations at the professional level in museums and universities, CAA was encouraged to hear that, at the very least, Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee members currently have no plans to make further cuts to federal cultural agency budgets in the coming year. Similarly, President Bush presented his first budget request to Congress in mid-April that included level funding for all federal cultural agencies, with an additional request for cost-of-living salary increases for 2002. Neither the Senate nor the president, however, has committed to a specific timetable for budget increases to the NEA, NEH, and IMLS.
�Marta Teegan, CAA manager of governance, advocacy & special projects, and Paul Skiff, assistant director for Annual Conference