Advocates packed Long Beach City Hall on March 2nd to voice support for a series of proposed initiatives benefitting local arts and culture. The City Council expressed strong support for the arts and unanimously approved the measure.
Between 2004 and 2008, Los Angeles County nonprofits engaged in advocacy and organizing generated nearly $7 billion in benefits for local residents, a new report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy finds.
Based on a study of fifteen nonprofits in the county, the report, Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities: Impacts of Advocacy, Organizing and Civic Engagement in Los Angeles County (76 pages, PDF), found that every dollar foundations and other donors provided to community organizations engaged in advocacy and organizing generated $91 in benefits for the communities they serve.
New information as of March 8, 2010.
At the Tuesday, March 2nd Board meeting, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to revisit the potential funding source for the 2010 Arts Internship Program. The item will be taken up again at the Tuesday, March 16th Board meeting.
Supervisors Ridley-Thomas and Yaroslavsky voted against the proposal to delay the decision for another week. Supervisors Knabe, Antonovich and Molina recommended the delay, stating that they were unwilling to approve the motion to allocate $250,000 to this summer’s program.
WESTAF, the Western States Arts Federation, is pleased to announce the release of transcriptions from two sessions of the most recent WESTAF cultural policy symposium, Engaging the Now: Arguments, Research, and New Environments for the Arts, which was held October 15-17, 2009, in Aspen, Colorado. The sessions, titled Messaging I: Constructing the Argument, and Messaging II: Arts and Culture Redefined, are now available online at: http://www.westaf.org/publications.php. The sessions include presentations and discussion about argumentation theory as it relates to the arts, considerations of ways to construct public-sector-focused messaging about the arts, and strategies for making the case for public art funding. Speakers include experts in the fields of communication theory, public policy, advocacy, messaging, economics, and popular culture.
Continued
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Arts for LA, the regional advocacy organization facilitating community support for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) arts education program, has named Charles Segars, CEO of Ovation, as Chair of The Campaign to Save Arts Education in LAUSD. Eli Broad, philanthropist and founder of the Broad Art Foundation, and Maria Bell, renowned arts advocate, have been named Honorary Chairs. The announcement was made today by Arts for LA Executive Director Danielle Brazell.
On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will vote on a motion to restore funding for the Arts Internship Program. The motion is to restore funding for the program in the amount of $250,000, a 50% reduction from FY 2008-09. If restored, the funding would support 75 internships during the summer of 2010, down from 125 internships funded in the previous year.
For a PDF with information about the program and the Tuesday meeting, please click here.
Take Action Now:
1) Send a letter to your Supervisor expressing your support for the Internship Program. Tell your story; make it personal and poignant.
- Former interns: Click here to send a letter.
- Organizations that have had interns: Click here to send a letter.
- General advocates: Click here to send a letter.
2) Spread the word. Encourage others to take action as well. Post on Facebook/Twitter or reach out to your networks via email.
3) Attend Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting. We need a visible presence in the Board room. Click here to RSVP.
Advocacy works.
At the February 16, 2010 meeting, the LAUSD School Board passed a version of the Parcel Tax Measure with the arts included in the 75-word summary.
The motion, made by Board Member Steve Zimmer, was seconded by Nury Martinez was passed 5-1. Tamar Galzan voted no and Margarette LaMotte was not present.
We will post a link to the revised text of the parcel tax when that information becomes available.
Earlier this morning, Arts for LA reported that the LAUSD school board would vote today on whether or not to put a parcel tax ballot measure on the June 2010 ballot. The proposed measure will help raise millions of dollars for the district. The summary parcel tax language did not include designated funding for the arts in the 75-word summary to be used in ballots for the June special election.
Within three hours, nearly 100 local advocates wrote to the School Board asking that the arts be included in the parcel tax summary language. The proposed language was: "To offset severe state budget cuts, improve student achievement in reading/mathematics/science/arts, maintain vocational education and job training programs…"
Click for more information about today's School Board Meeting.
Arts for LA just received word that the LAUSD school board will vote today on whether or not to put a parcel tax ballot measure on the June 2010 ballot.
The proposed measure will help raise millions of dollars for the district. Unfortunately, the summary parcel tax language does not include designated funding for the arts.
Take action now. Click here to send a letter and tell your school board member that you want the arts included in the parcel tax summary language to read: "To offset severe state budget cuts, improve student achievement in reading/mathematics/science/arts, maintain vocational education and job training programs…"
Congratulations, advocates: more than 740 letters have been sent to LAUSD School Board members via Arts for LA's online system from parents, students and community members who live or work in Los Angeles.
Now that we've hit our benchmark goal, let's keep the movement going strong. We are reaching out to people in all seven LAUSD School Board Districts to begin scheduling meetings with their School Board representative. As they're scheduled, meetings will be posted here. Sign up and we'll provide you with a brief teleconference training session, talking points and materials to take to your School Board representative.
If you're interested in scheduling a meeting in your district, please email advocate@artsforla.org. To find your School Board district (which is not the same as an LAUSD local district), please click here.
We learned earlier this week that the general funds allocation for the Culver City Unified School District Arts Consultant position was slated for elimination in the 2010-11 budget. After hearing testimony organized by the Culver City Arts Ed Advocacy Team at Tuesday's board meeting, we are excited to announce that the CCUSD Board of Education unanimously voted to remove the position from the proposed expenditure reduction list.
Please click here to send a personalized thank-you note to the CCUSD Board of Education members.
Read on for more about our advocacy efforts...
Continued