Dedicated arts funding is essential for the stability of the local economy. Learn more about local arts funding and take action to support the arts today.
The District of Columbia needs to amend the Universal Commercial Code to protect Artists involved in artist/gallery transactions. Learn more about the issue, and take action today.
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Should all District school-children be guaranteed weekly arts education?
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The DC Advocates for the Arts work to increase support for local arts through interaction with arts leaders and policy-makers. We conduct research, track issues, and serve as a resource for our community, and for policy-makers.
If this is your first time visiting the site please take a few minutes to browse the arts policy resource materials in the Blog and Research pages.
On March 3rd, 2010 the DC Advocates for the Arts conducted our 9th annual Arts Advocacy Day. We met with policy-makers in the executive and legislative branches of the government and discussed what the arts need to thrive in the District. To see what we talked about, check out our Summary of FY 11 Legislative Requests here. To learn more about Arts Advocacy Day, click here.
In today's society, arts advocacy is part of the daily work of being an artist. Much of the world does not understand why the arts are important, or why the arts should receive public funding. The most important way that you can advocate for the arts is to educate yourself on the issues, and speak to your friends, family, and colleagues about the importance of the Arts. Please spend some time browsing the information on our site, and If you'd like to participate in our activities please join our mailing list.
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Jerome Kagan, PhD at Dana Arts, Learning, and the Brain Conference
The Dana Foundation's Arts, Learning, and the Brain conference proceedings highlight both neurological and psychological reasons for inclusion of arts education in urban school curriculum. An excerpt from Jerome Kagan's prepared remarks to the conference on the Dana Foundation site: "The first advantage is that it boosts the self confidence among the children who are behind in mastery of reading and arithmetic... (C)hildren live in an economy where a high school diploma is absolutely necessary and a college degree advantageous for successful adaptation to our technological economy. This was not the case a century or two earlier. Neither Benjamin Franklin nor Abraham Lincoln had more than two years of formal schooling. If we eliminate the estimated 5 to 8 percent of American children who have a serious compromise in their cognitive abilities, due either to genes, or damage to their brain before or during the birth process, a postnatal infection, or a pregnant mother who abused alcohol or drugs, the remaining 92 to 95 percent are psychologically able to obtain both degrees. Therefore, we have to ask why the high school dropout rate is excessively high among youth from poor and working class families, and why the average scores of all American youth on tests of academic skills are below those of many other developed nations. An important reason for this sad state of affairs is that children, like adults, are vulnerable to becoming discouraged when they sense that a goal they desire is probably unattainable." Read his entire piece here.
Doug Mann, Board Chair for the Maryland Citizens for the Arts, joined the DCAA Advisory Board in 2009. Maryland Citizens for the Arts, Inc. is a statewide arts advocacy organization, founded in 1977 to represent all Maryland artists and arts organizations of all disciplines. Our principal mission is to promote adequate funding for the Maryland State Arts Council and to advocate for the arts at the state and federal levels. MCA’s advocacy services fall within two categories: educating (lobbying) state lawmakers about the arts and informing Maryland citizens about how they can support public arts funding.
