This week is all about the arts in DC, or it should be. Just yesterday was Arts Advocacy Day, a day dedicated to supporting and celebrating the arts. As previously posted, many organizations were a small piece of the day, but there is one that is mobilizing the efforts to encourage people in DC to do more to increase arts funding and garner additional support from law makers. DC Advocates for the Arts, a non-profit organization that exists to support public policy on the participation of the arts within the DC community at large, is one of them.
Recently, DC Advocates for the Arts has ramped up their mailings to entice people to give back to their cause, increasing arts funding, by writing to their local government officials, including the mayor. In this plea, it states the fundamental issue with the proposed mayoral budget or 2013;
“The mayor’s recently proposed budget cuts arts funding by $6 million dollars. The DC Arts Commission is amongst the smallest agencies in the city, and while some agencies could easily absorb a $6 million dollar cut, this would cut DC’s arts agency in half.”
The group is asking for additional funding to the tune of $11 million dollars, a sum we think should be obtainable. In order or this to happen though, lawmakers and DC will have to continue making the arts a priority. DC Advocates for the Arts also has a brand new website where you can find additional information about their efforts and how to write a letter of your own to support an increase in arts funding, click here for more details.
Bringing the Art in DC to You – Roxanne Goldberg
