CAA News Today
Participate in the 2008 Global Candlelight Vigil
posted by Christopher Howard — Mar 01, 2008
Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE) and Donny George, former director of the Iraq Museum and former president of the Iraq State Board of Antiquities, invite you to participate in the 2008 Global Candlelight Vigil to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2003 looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.
In the five years since this terrible event, nearly half the missing works have been recovered. Yet thousands of Iraq Museum artifacts remain at large. Meanwhile, museums around the world are increasingly confronted by security challenges, and rampant looting at archaeological sites continues unabated around the world.
“Now is the time for people and museum professionals to gather together: to remember the events of 2003 and take steps to ensure that no museum in the world suffers a similar fate,” says George, who is now a visiting professor at Stony Brook University.
In a global call to action, George urges museum directors and staff, university faculty and students, and citizens around the world to use the fifth anniversary of the looting of the Iraq Museum as an opportunity to reenergize our efforts to protect the world’s cultural heritage.
Museums are encouraged to treat April 10-12, 2008, every year as a time to conduct security audits and update their internal risk management and due diligence practices. Likewise, universities are invited to use these three days every year for education and public awareness about the academic, ethical, and legal consequences of the destruction of cultural heritage with classroom projects, panel discussions, symposiums, or exhibitions.
The SAFE website offers suggestions for universities, museums, community groups, and others to plan an event of any size. SAFE Candlelight Vigil Kits offer a wealth of resources, including the DVD documentary Robbing the Cradle of Civilization: The Looting of Iraq’s Ancient Treasures (Canadian Broadcasting Company) or the documentary Thieves of Baghdad (Al Jazeera). Other relevant videos, such as a Charlie Rose interview with George from 2007, can be used, and SAFE also provides publicity tools.
Hosting a vigil in your community is easy:
• Choose a location and time on April 10, 11, or 12
• Schedule your event and post it to the Host a Vigil section of the SAFE website so that members of your community can learn of it and attend
• Use e-cards, customizable announcement flyers, buttons, posters, postcards, and the press-release template to help publicize your vigil
• Distribute the Candlelight Vigil brochure for distribution at your event. The brochure is being developed in conjunction with the exhibition Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq’s Past at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago
• Gather with friends, family, colleagues, professors, and students. Pause for a moment of silence and light a candle. Discuss the destruction of cultural heritage and looting of ancient sites around the world, fueled by the global trade in illicit antiquities
• Document your vigil with digital photographs or video and send them to SAFE. We will use them in a compilation Video Memorial that includes gatherings from around the world
• You may also choose to light a virtual candle and add your name to the list of other supporters
For more information about the 2008 Global Candlelight Vigil for the Iraq Museum, contact us. Also join our e-mail list to receive periodic newsletters about SAFE activities.
SAFE is a nonprofit organization that creates educational programs and media campaigns to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving cultural heritage worldwide. Having no political affiliations, SAFE is a coalition of professionals in communications, media, and advertising working alongside experts in the academic, legal, and law enforcement communities.
President’s Budget Requests $271,246,000 for IMLS
posted by Christopher Howard — Feb 15, 2008
President George W. Bush’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2009 seeks $271,246,000 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The request, which was released February 4 by the White House, represents an increase of $26,023,000, or 10.6 percent, over the FY 2008 enacted level for the institute’s programs and administration.
Highlights of the IMLS budget request include the following:
$214,432,000 for library grant programs, an increase of $14,469,000 from the FY 2008 appropriation for the same purposes. This includes an increase of $10.6 million for the Grants to States program, bringing it to $171,500,000. This amount will enable the full implementation of a law passed in 2003 to provide a more equitable distribution of state formula grants. The request also includes $26,500,000 for the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.
$39,897,000 for museum grants, an increase of $8.6 million from the FY 2008 appropriation for the same purposes. The request includes $3.8 million for Conservation Project support, $22.2 million for Museums for America, $2.1 million for 21st Century Museum Professionals, and $1.35 million for Museum Grants for African American History and Culture.
This request includes $2.5 million for collecting public-library and state-library statistics, $500,000 to launch a pilot program on museum data collection, and $1 million to study and report on the state of libraries and museums in the United States.
You can download two PDF documents detailing the institute’s appropriations history and budget information: IMLS Appropriations History 1998-2009 and IMLS Requested and Enacted Budgets 2006-9.
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.
Participants Sought for March Hearings on Museum Funding
posted by Christopher Howard — Jan 15, 2008
Avid museum goers, community leaders, museum professionals, and individuals who have encountered barriers to museum-going are encouraged to make their views known at one of three public hearings on the use of public funds for museums, announced Anne-Imelda Radice, director of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The institute is the primary source of federal funding for the nation’s museums and libraries.
“In order to fully understand the impact of public funds for museums, we must hear from interested members of the public on the use of taxpayers’ dollars for these cultural institutions,” Radice said.
IMLS is particularly interested in testimony from school coordinators, older people, special-needs groups, and directors of cultural tours. IMLS would also like to hear from leaders who can speak about the use of public funds for cultural purposes based on their understanding of county, state, and federal budgets and their experiences with any and all kinds of museums, including art, history, natural history, and children’s museums, as well as planetariums, science centers, gardens, and zoos.
Hearings will be held at three locations in March:
March 10, 2008: Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio
March 12, 2008: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
March 14, 2008: Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
Radice and members of the National Museum and Library Services Board will listen to both formal and informal testimony. With the testifiers’ permission, testimony will be recorded and used as part of a report on the public funding of museums that will be released in summer 2008.
The public hearings are the last in a series of IMLS’s information-gathering efforts designed to determine the sources and uses of public funds for museums. Also part of the effort is a rigorous examination by the Urban Institute, which, through a cooperative agreement with IMLS, has gathered information about public funding for museums through a national survey as well as through individual interviews with museum professionals and museum funders in selected states, in order to compare the impact of different funding mechanisms. All the information gathered, including the perspectives from the public, will be part of the IMLS report.
To participate in the public hearings, please contact Mamie Bittner or Celeste Colgan. For more information on the IMLS Museum Study, see www.imls.gov/news/2008/012208_bkg.shtm.
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.
Advocacy Days in Washington
posted by Christopher Howard — Jun 15, 2007
CAA once again cosponsored Arts Advocacy Day (March 12-13, 2007), hosted by Americans for the Arts, and Humanities Advocacy Day (March 27, 2007), hosted by the National Humanities Alliance. Both events were held in Washington, DC, 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.
Arts Advocacy Day
CAA representatives Michele Snyder (director of development, membership, and marketing) and Christine Sundt (former secretary of the Board of Directors) attended Arts Advocacy Day. Snyder visited the offices of Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Michael Arcuri (D-NY), John Hall (D-NY), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Steve Israel (D-NY), Nita M. Lowey (D-NY), Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and Jim Walsh (R-NY).
Advocates focused on several important arts policy matters during these visits to Capitol Hill. They urged Congress to support a budget of $176 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in fiscal year (FY) 2008, an increase over President George W. Bush’s current funding projection of $124.4 million. This increase would reinstate funding to 1992 levels and allow for greater service to arts organizations and artists who depend on NEA support. Additionally, this increase would provide for the creation, preservation, and presentation of the arts in the United States, through the NEA’s core programs: Access to Artistic Excellence; Challenge America: Reaching Every Community; Federal/State Partnerships; and Learning in the Arts.
In addition to increased funding for the NEA, advocates encouraged members of Congress to continue supporting arts education and to approve an increase of $8 million (for a total of $39.9 million) for Arts in Education programs in the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill. With increased funding, Arts in Education programs will sponsor newly emerging initiatives that improve arts learning. Advocates also urged the Congress to support the Artist-Museum Partnership Act (S 548), which will allow artists to take a fair-market-value tax deduction for donating their 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.
Humanities Advocacy Day
For Humanities Advocacy Day, an event that focuses on increased support for the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) and for the humanities at large, CAA representative Alexis Light visited the offices of Senators Clinton and Schumer and Representatives Vito Fossella (R-NY), John Hall (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY). Light joined other humanities advocates in urging Congress to support an NEH budget request of $177 million, an increase over President Bush’s current FY 2008 funding projection of $141.36 million. This increase would reinstate funding to 1994 levels and extend the reach and impact of the NEH’s core programs and special initiatives.
In addition to increased funding for the NEH, Light 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 Bush’s budget request for the third year in a row. The president’s request calls for zero funding both for grants and for staff to administer the NHPRC and its programs. Advocates asked lawmakers to support a minimum FY 2008 funding level of $12 million: $10 million for national grants and $2 million for essential staffing and 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. CAA will continue to work with the National Humanities Alliance, a nonpartisan advocacy group based in Washington, DC (of which CAA is a member), to address these issues.
NEA Grants for 2007
posted by Christopher Howard — Mar 15, 2007
In December, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced that it will award $19.4 million for 848 grants during fiscal year 2007. This will include more than $18 million in funding for Access to Artistic Excellence grants, supporting 798 projects in disciplines including the visual arts, museums, and media arts, as well as in literature, theater, and opera.
Legislative Update
posted by Christopher Howard — Nov 16, 2006
In contrast to the House version of the Interior Appropriations bill, in which the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities received an increase of $5 million each, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved level funding for both endowments. The Senate did include an increase for the Department of Education’s Arts in Education program and for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The House version, on the other hand, followed President George W. Bush’s request for severe cuts to CPB and for zeroing out Arts in Education. Historically the Senate has reversed the president’s recommendation. The full Senate has yet to vote on the bill and, at press time, it seems unlikely it will pass a separate Interior Appropriations bill. Congress is slated to recess through the November elections, which leaves little time for it to complete unfinished legislation, including the Interior Appropriations bills that fund all federal programs. Congress will most likely put off appropriations legislation and pass a continuing resolution to keep the government running at the previous fiscal year’s funding levels through November, when it returns for a lame-duck session to finish the appropriations process. Regardless of whether most spending bills are acted on separately or grouped into a large omnibus package, House and Senate Appropriations Committees need to begin conferencing on fiscal year 2007 spending before the end of the calendar year. Meaningful work on the Interior bill is not expected until after the November election.
In other legislative news, the Senate passed the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which contains a series of provisions designed to stimulate charitable giving and eliminate perceived abuses of charity laws by donors and nonprofit organizations. President Bush signed the measure into law in August. The legislation provides a provision including appraisal reform, increased penalties and fines for excess benefit transactions, and a change to the tax treatment of fractional gifts that greatly restricts donors’ abilities to stretch out gifts of art over several years, which is important for gifts of major artworks. The provision is expected to have a negative effect on museums’ ability to acquire art from private donors. The museum community is working to make recommendations to Congress to eliminate or change the fractional-gift provision as lawmakers consider introducing a bill to revise the measure. Among the charitable incentives included in the legislation is one that would allow donors age 70½ or older to make tax-free distributions of up to $100,000 directly to charitable organizations from either traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) or a Roth IRA. As enacted, the law is effective only for two years. The legislation does not include the long-sought “artist deduction” that would allow artists to claim a fair-market-value tax deduction when they donate their own works to collecting or educational institutions; nor does it include a charitable-giving provision allowing people who do not itemize deductions on their returns to write off a portion of their charitable donations, something the nonprofit community has repeatedly asked for.
IMLS to Give $1.5 Million in Aid
posted by CAA — Sep 16, 2006
On June 1, 2006, First Lady Laura Bush announced that an additional $1.5 million of Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funds will be directed to help beleaguered museums and libraries located in federally declared disaster areas.
Katrina Relief Funding Update
posted by admin — Oct 16, 2005
Congress has passed two very large emergency relief packages totaling $62 billion, most of which has gone to FEMA. Museums, nonprofit arts organizations that are located in historic buildings, and government agencies may be able to qualify for FEMA assistance. Congress is now working on a third “supplemental” package, which will have a broader range. Negotiations are currently under way to allocate up to $20 million of relief funding through the National Endowment for the Arts for grants. These supplemental bills are all for FY 2006 funding. Another possibility is that additional arts funding would be wrapped into a fourth package or, more remotely, could be included in appropriations for FY 2007.
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.
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.