Theatre North Carolina

Advocacy Update

Thank you for your attention to the Call to Action last month. Thanks to your work, we were able to convince members of the House that the cuts to the NC Arts Council grants programs were far too deep. Cuts were changed from 23% to 15%. Provided there are no additional last-minute changes in the House, we will now focus on the Senate. We are working with ARTS North Carolina to closely monitor the situation and will keep you updated. For the very latest, be sure to follow us on Facebook.

We also hope you'll support ARTS North Carolina by joining and making a contribution. This is a group effort, with many organizations like NCTC working hard on the issues, but ARTS NC takes the lead and we are grateful for their work. Visit www.artsnc.org for more information! 

ARTS NC Call To Action Extended to Monday 5pm

IMPORTANT Call To Action Extended

From ARTS NC

Your advocacy is working.  The Legislature has been overcome with calls and emails asking for restoration of the General Government proposal to cut grants funding to the North Carolina Arts Council by 23%. 

 

Several key items:

• The Call has been extended to 5pm on Monday.  If you were not able contact your Legislator before noon today, you should still try.  Many will be home on the weekend, and their published home numbers can be found at View Member Information in the Header at www.ncleg.net.  All the better, see them in person and tell them your concerns.
•  A word of caution:  The Legislative Assistants are often on our side and have received a few unpleasant phone calls.  Please be respectful in making telephone calls.

 

To follow are fresh Talking Points which were distributed to supporters in General Government yesterday. You can use these are create your own.  The corrected Raleigh numbers are included in this Call. 

 

The arts industry of North Carolina has understood from the beginning that cuts would be necessary.   The proposed 10% reduction in the Governor’s budget was significant but balanced.  However, the 23% cut recommended by General Government is disproportionate and intolerable.  Not only will 172 arts organizations not be funded, but many others will be affected by “the final blow” that comes on top of reduced private giving and earned revenue, particularly in rural areas and in small arts organizations.  It is difficult to estimate how many arts organizations will close, but at the 23% cut, closures are inevitable.

The grantees of the North Carolina Arts Council leverage an additional $17 for every $1 invested by the state.  At the 23% reduction, the actual impact on arts funding would be $25,500,000.

The grant money is distributed to all 100 counties and ensures that both rural and urban areas have access to state funds that stimulate significant economic development. 

Half of the grant money is returned to the state income tax paid by the employees of the funded organizations.  

Funded arts organizations raise and spend $223 million dollars, most of that in local economy.

Keep going and keep pushing.  Your individual actions have and will continue to change the course of a bad budget recommendation.

Call the Raleigh offices of the House Appropriations Chairs

 Representative Harold Brubaker   919-715-4946

 Harold.Brubaker@ncleg.net

Representative Linda Johnson 919-733-5861

Linda.Johnson@ncleg.net

Representative Jeff Barnhart 919-715-2009

Jeff.Barnhart@ncleg.net

Representative Mitch Gillespie 919-733-5862

Mitch.Gillespie@ncleg.net

 Call the Raleigh offices of the House General Government Chairs: (Republicans)

 Representative George Cleveland  919-715-6707

 George.Cleveland@ncleg.net

 Representative Dale Folwell   919-733-5787

 Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net

 Representative Glenn Bradley    919-733-5860

 Glenn.Bradley@ncleg.net

Representative Mike Hager   919-733-5749

Mike.Hager@ncleg.net

Representative Kelly Hastings  919-715-2002

 Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net

 Representative Grey Mills    919-733-5741

 Grey.Mills@ncleg.net

Representative Ruth Samuelson    919-715-3009

Ruth.Samuelson@ncleg.net

 Representative John Torbett     919-733-5868

 John.Torbett@ncleg.net

Send an email only if you are unable to reach the Raleigh office.

Please Take Action Now!

Call To Action 

We are sharing this very important Call To Action from ARTS NC. Arts funding is in serious jeopardy. It is a complex situation that was briefly explained in our last email to NCTC members.This Call To Action is more complicated than most, as the ARTS NC advocacy technology does not allow for us to email representatives that are not from our district. It will take a little more time, but, we all need to communicate with the legislators that are making the decisions that will impact us all. See a hint below for a quick way to send these emails. Please take action.

From ARTS North Carolina:

 

North Carolina Arts Council Grants Funding - Take Action Now

Arts North Carolina believes that funding for the grants programs of the North Carolina Arts Council is in jeopardy. Emails must be sent by everyone to all members of the House and Senate General Government Committees and Appropriation leadership stating your position that arts funding is essential. Please take action no later than Thursday noon and forward this email to other advocates.

 

Instructions:

 

The subject Line of your email should be Arts Funding Essential.

Opening Sentence: I am writing to ask your support for $6,000,000 in grants funding for the North Carolina Arts Council.

If one of the target legislators is from your district, indicate this following the opening sentence.

Keep your communications SHORT. Select only ONE Talking Point from those suggested below and give specific examples from your community.

 

Talking Points (choose one):

• The state invested $6.6 million in arts grants funding in 2009, yet employees of the funded organizations returned $3.3 million in income taxes back to the state. These taxes are a direct return to the state, but the investment continues to multiply in our economy as arts groups spend money on goods and services. 
• The grant money was distributed to all 100 counties and the funded projects attracted more than 9.2 million participants.    
• When a person buys a ticket for a non-profit arts performance, state grants help lower the ticket price so more citizens can participate. Yet for every ticket purchased, the citizen spends on average an additional $27.50 per ticket on restaurants, parking and transportation, gifts and souvenirs, concessions, etc. Grants are essential to attract more audiences who in turn spend more money.

Send your emails to:

 

Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net
Harold.Brubaker@ncleg.net
Jeff.Barnhart@ncleg.net
Mitch.Gillespie@ncleg.net
Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net
George.Cleveland@ncleg.net
Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net
Elmer.Floyd@ncleg.net
Alma.Adams@ncleg.net
Glen.Bradley@ncleg.net
Susan.Fisher@ncleg.net
Rosa.Gill@ncleg.net
Mike.Hager@ncleg.net
Phillip.Haire@ncleg.net
Pricey.Harrison@ncleg.net
Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net
Grey.Mills@ncleg.net
Ruth.Samuelson@ncleg.net
John.Torbett@ncleg.net
Phil.Berger@ncleg.net
Peter.Brunstetter@ncleg.net
Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net
Richard.Stevens@ncleg.net
Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net
Linda.Garrou@ncleg.net
Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net
Jim.Davis@ncleg.net
Dan.Blue@ncleg.net
Malcolm.Graham@ncleg.net
Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net

 

Suggestion from NCTC: Send one email to yourself and blind copy (BCC) all of these recipients.

For additional advocacy information, see Arts North Carolina's new website at  www.artsnc.org 

 

Please forward responses to your communications to advocacy@artsnc.org.

This Week is National Arts in Education Week!

This week is National Arts in Education Week! This summer the US House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring the second week of September Arts in Education Week.  So, how are you celebrating? Tim Mikulski at ARTSblog has some ideas.

Although time was short, I suggested that educators might see this as a way to celebrate this new week for the first time around by starting a project with students that would end later in the fall. For example, a music educator may start writing a new school song to be performed at an assembly in October or November; a visual art educator may start working on a mural project that begins the planning stages next week; or, a dance educator begins a class’ first performance during the week.

No matter what you decide to do to celebrate, it doesn’t have to start and end all during next week.

In fact, some of the brilliant minds that participate in the #ArtsEd chat on Twitter every Thursday night, came up with the idea to have those engaged to pledge to support arts education in their community and vow to testify on behalf of their local programs at a school board meeting during Youth Arts Month in March 2011.

You can find out more about our endeavors on a Ning site created by fellow blogger Joan Weber and officially pledge to testify on this page. For the latter, Americans for the Arts will send you a reminder to testify as we get closer to March and will provide advocacy tools to help prepare you for your big day.

Finally, we’re celebrating Arts in Education Week with our third Arts Education Blog Salon starting bright and early on Monday morning. This time, we have some new friends joining the veterans who have been writing for all three previous incarnations of the ARTSblog event. Join me, member of the Arts Education Council of Americans for the Arts, and 12 other brave souls as we tackle arts education issues big and small during the week. We invite you to comment and start a debate if you feel so inclined!

Because of the short notice given to us by the House, I can’t help but think of this as a dress rehearsal for future Arts in Education Weeks, but if we can manage to put all of this together in a little over a month, imagine what we can do for 2011…

How are you celebrating Arts in Education Week?

"Make Art Save Art" Gets Students Involved

The Huffington Post is reporting on a new campaign designed to get students involved in the fight for arts programing.

DoSomething.org cares about arts education, and they think you do too. A new campaign called Make Art Save Art aims to use artists and students to emphasize the importance of the arts in American schools.

They've teamed up with corporate sponsors HP and AMD to provide laptops and cash prizes to schools who win the "Make Art" contest. Individuals are asked to choose a school to sponsor and then create a visually compelling PC wallpaper on their behalf. The five wallpaper designs that are shared the most via Twitter and Facebook will become finalists, and a panel of judges will select one grand prize winner.

DoSomething has never had trouble garnering celebrity support for their campaigns, and "Make Art Save Art" is no different. The launch event featured appearances by "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, actress Debby Ryan and singer/songwriter Travie McCoy.

Arts Education Task Force Appointed

News from Arts North Carolina:

The North Carolina State Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint the Arts Education Task Force members at its Thursday meeting.

Senate Bill 66 calls for the Task Force to consider and recommend K-12 arts education policy, implementation strategies, and funding needs to the North Carolina Joint Education Oversight Committee by December 1.

The appointees include:

•     Helga Fasciano, Co-Chair (NCDPI)
•     Mary Regan, Co-Chair (North Carolina Arts Council)
•     Becky Bailey, Facilitator (Meredith College)
•     Dan Stirckland – Superintendent, Columbus County Schools
•     Tony Baldwin – Superintendent, Buncombe County Schools
•     Jeffrey Cox – Superintendent, Alleghany County Schools
•     Jan King – Principal, Henderson County Schools
•     Greg Monroe – Principal, Greene County Schools
•     Alan Parker – Principal, Guilford County Schools
•     Noël Grady-Smith – Dance Educator, Davie County Schools
•     Barbara Geer – Music Educator (Retired), Wake County Schools
•     Gordon Hensley – Theatre Educator, Appalachian State University
•     Cheryl Maney – Visual Arts Educator, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
•     Jane Austen-Behan – LEA Arts Coordinator, Pitt County Schools
•     Catherine Demcio – A+ Schools, Wake County
•     Debra Horton – Executive Director, NCPTA
•     Pierce Egerton – President, ARTS North Carolina
•     Martin Lancaster – President (Retired), NC Community School System
•     Senator Katie Dorsett – Co-Chair, Joint Select Committee on Arts Education
•     Genevieve Farmer – Member, Joint Select Committee on Arts Education

Four additional appointees are TBD, including one Senator and one Representative from the North Carolina General Assembly.

ARTS North Carolina will keep us updated on all Committee meetings, locations, processes, and decisions. This is our industry's opportunity to make sure that every child in North Carolina has equal access and opportunity to be successful in school because arts education is valued as an essential core subject.

The Arts Help Kids...

We are big fans of Daniel Pink, author of Drive. He spoke about arts education, among other things, in Charlotte yesterday and from all accounts he was a spectacular as ever. (Read more about the event here)

At his talk he showed this fantastic video that his daughter Sophia Pink created and we wanted to pass it along. What do you think?

Did you know that there will be a book club discussion of Daniel Pink's book Drive at the 2010 NCTC Producing Theatre Gathering? Check back tomorrow for a feature profile on Daniel Pink and more from the Producing Theatre Gathering!

Call To Action for Arts Education

Last week, the House Education Committee voted favorable for a Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 66 that would direct the State Board of Education to appoint a task force including the State Department of Education and the Department of Cultural Resources to create a comprehensive arts education development plan for the public schools.  

Arts North Carolina, our state's arts advocacy organization has issued a call to action to let representatives to the General Assembly know that we support this measure. Please contact your Representative no later than Thursday, June 10 at 5pm.

Support a comprehensive arts education program in our public schools by responding to this Call to Action today!

NCTC Producing Theatre Gathering Profile - Karen Wells

This week we are profiling some of the events, presenters and special guests at the 2010 NCTC Producing Theatre Gathering. In this post we welcome Karen Wells, the Executive Director of Arts North Carolina. Karen will present on Monday, July 26, from 2:30-4:00. Register Now!

The Future of Education
Karen Wells is a passionate advocate for positive change in our schools. She joins us to share her experiences and insight....and to issue a challenge.

What has gone wrong in our public school system? How can the arts be the key to 21st century skills and jobs? How can North Carolina lead this revolution? Karen will share stories that will shock, inspire, and get us all working on this very pressing issue.

About Karen Wells
Karen Wells is ARTS North Carolina's executive director and registered lobbyist. She previously served as performing arts director for the North Carolina Arts Council and for 11 years as executive director of the Arts Council of Wilson. Karen has an Master of Fine Arts in Theatre and a Bachelor of Arts in Education, and has worked extensively in academic, community, and professional theatre before landing in arts administration and advocacy. Karen was born and raised in rural Mississippi and is committed to the practice of the arts as a transformative power in economy, education, and civic life.

About Arts North Carolina

Arts North Carolina is North Carolina’s statewide advocacy organization for the arts. Arts North Carolina calls for equity and access to the arts for all North Carolinians, unifies and connects North Carolina’s arts communities, and fosters arts leadership. We speak for the arts wherever there is need.

About Karen's Inspirations

Karen Wells has many influences, she looks to Bill Strickland as one of her great education inspirations. Bill Strickland is the president-CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation. He's also the author of Make the Impossible Possible, which includes his story of how a kid from Pittsburgh's ghetto would go on to lecture at Harvard and serve on the National Endowment of the Arts board. The MacArthur Fellowship "genius" award winner is also founder of the Grammy-winning MCG Jazz, the most successful jazz subscription series in America.

“A successful life is not something you simply pursue, it is something that you create, moment by moment.”
- Bill Strickland 

There are a number of wonderful videos online of Mr. Strickland speaking. The video below shows Mr. Strickland speaking about how he incorporated music and used it as a way to raise money for his school. We hope you will be as inspired as Karen.

Speak for the Arts - Monday May 24 in Raleigh

Speak for the arts!

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a 
public hearing on the state budget on Monday, May 24th.

We have received word that the House budget could be presented to the Appropriations Chairs as early as Thursday, May 27. The Senate budget included a 5% reduction in Grassroots Arts and a 7% reduction in Program Grants, and we want this money restored in the House budget. 

YOUR ADVOCACY IS NEEDED TO SUSTAIN FUNDING FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA ARTS COUNCIL'S GRANTS PROGRAMS.

The hearing will be held from 7-10 p.m. at the McKimmon Center on the campus of North Carolina State University. Three community colleges across the state will host interactive broadcasts of the hearing and it will also be streamed live on the Internet.

Join other members of the arts community and representatives from Arts NC at 6:00 and sign up to speak at this important public hearing.

Each speaker will have up to two minutes to share information. 

You can also email comments concerning the budget to town.hall@ncleg.net up to midnight of May 25. 

Written comments postmarked by May 25 may be sent to House Appropriations Committee, Suite 401, Legislative Office Building, 300 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC, 27603-5925. 

Additional information will be available at http://www.ncleg.net.
 

The community colleges that will serve as host sites are:
Bladen Community College, Dublin
Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte
Southwestern Community College, Sylva

Visit www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/colleges_map.aspx for contact information and driving directions to each campus.