July 17, 2014

Congressional Updates from Americans for the Arts July 15 – The House Subcommittee on the Interior had proposed an $8 million cut each from the FY 2015 budgets of the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. We’re really pleased to report that when this bill came before the Full…

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May 9, 2014

Americans for the Arts’ Creative Industries reports are now available online. Pulling data from Dun & Bradstreet, the Creative Industries: Business & Employment in the Arts reports offer a research-based approach to understanding the scope and importance of the arts to the nation’s economy. Creative Industries is the first national study that encompasses both the…

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May 8, 2014

State Budget Update May 2014 Late last week, the legislature and the Governor agreed on a final budget for FY15.    The Committee makes no changes to the Arts Commission (arts grants)  allocation of $ 1,797,830.  A new $525,000 line item is for a consortium of seven art museums (Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Bruce Museum, Florence…

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February 24, 2014

New Chair Nominated for the NEA On Feburary 13, 2014 President Obama named his choice to lead the National Endowment for the Arts, which has been without a chairman for more than a year. The president announced his intent to nominate Jane Chu, currently the president CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts…

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September 27, 2013

AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS RELEASES  2013 NATIONAL ARTS INDEX Americans for the Arts 2013 Index report delivers a 2011 score of the health and vitality of the arts in the U.S. The arts have effectively leveled off in 2011 as the economy slowly and unevenly recovers from the Great Recession. Read more about the impact…

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July 24, 2013

CONNECTICUT STATE BUDGETFINAL FY14-FY15 The Connecticut State Legislature approved a biennial budget on June 2, 2013. The Appropriations Committee established an Arts Commission and transfers funding from the Culture, Tourism and Arts grant account in the amount of $1,797,830 for both FY 14 & FY 15. This represents a reduction from $2 million from FY…

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June 6, 2013

Federal Issues: The Charitable Deduction The House Ways and Means Committee has had 11 Working groups that have been meeting on various topics and putting together policy options looking ahead to tax reform efforts. We are continuing to monitor a possible threat to the charitable deduction. The Alliance for Charitable Reform, has circulated a letter…

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April 29, 2013

NPR Series Highlights the Benefits of Arts Education: Last week National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast four programs describing the “intersection of education and the arts”. Chuck Close reflects on Learning School Lessons Through Art. One of the superstar artists connected with the Turnaround Arts Initiative is painter Chuck Close. He says that when he was growing…

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April 17, 2013

CONGRESSWOMAN ROSA DELAURO SPEAKS OUT FOR THE ARTS On April 9th,  the Honorable Rosa DeLauro spoke at Arts Advocacy Day in Washington DC, sponsored by Americans for the Arts. Here are her remarks: Thank you, and good morning. I am so pleased to be here, and to see such an enthusiastic crowd ready to make…

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